How do you teach the seemingly unteachable? It’s a question that Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading has asked himself over and over again. A hugely successful day trader himself, nearly a decade ago, Cameron found in himself the desire to pass on his knowledge to others – to share his passion for chasing the markets. Here’s what led Ross Cameron to teach trading and how he teaches budding traders.
“I really enjoy teaching,” Cameron said in an interview earlier this year. “You could say that teaching is in my blood.”
Turns out Ross Cameron is the third generation in his family to teach. His grandparents, his parents, and even his aunt and uncle worked in the school system.
“It comes naturally to me,” Cameron said.
The Warrior Trading Way starts with an anatomy lesson
The way he teaches trading is to try to make the concepts very easy to understand. Initially, it focuses on simple concepts, such as: what is an action? What are the characteristics of a stock worth trading? What should a price chart look like?
“I start by laying a very simple foundation and try to keep it simple. The idea is that when people start to get interested and they start to feel invested in learning, they start filling in all kinds of details around these simple core concepts – but the concepts themselves are quite simple,” said Cameron of Warrior Trading.
Ross Cameron begins talking with his students about the imbalances between supply and demand for a title. It explains what creates demand – for example, the latest news about a company.
“Then I start introducing the role in the emotion business — fear, greed, excitement, things like that,” Cameron said, explaining that often FOMO — the fear of missing out — can create a demand in a stock, while the supply side of the equation is the number of shares available for trade. “So, we see these moments of extreme imbalances between supply and demand. It’s volatility. And volatility is an opportunity. Learning to trade really starts with understanding the anatomy of these moments of opportunity.
Once the students understand the anatomy of stocks and tradable moments, Ross Cameron then begins to discuss where and when he buys and sells, and how he manages risk.
“Teaching trading starts out being very simple, because you need to be able to make it intuitive for the student,” Cameron explained.
At the top level, Cameron layers some of the more nuanced – but incredibly important – elements of “tape reading” (the ability to watch price movements without checking a chart).
“These skills help new traders get a real sense of market flow.”
Ross Cameron admits he’s the kind of person who learned by assembling things himself and getting his feet wet in the trading pool.
“I like to give my students the opportunity to trade in a simulator, so they can start practicing right away,” he said, explaining that he’s had students win and lose more. a billion dollars in the simulator because they do “crazy things.”
“A trading simulator is a tool for students to use and experiment with. It’s a safe place to start discovering the art and science of trading and applying some of the things they’ve learned in the courses,” said Cameron of Warrior Trading.
Ross Cameron explains what it takes to be a successful day trader
To be successful, Cameron said knowing market and trading fundamentals is essential.
“It’s a shame to say it, but not everyone can learn the concepts of trading,” he said. “There are complex things to really understand. You need basic intelligence and aptitude even just to start. This doesn’t mean you have to be a college graduate, but you have to be a critical thinker. You need to be a bit of a problem solver.
The trading simulator, Cameron said, is a great place to help people figure out if they have what it takes – without losing their shirt.
Cameron said traders often have a more independent personality than the average person. Often these are people who enjoy solving puzzles.
“Trading is a bit of a headache,” Cameron said.
There is also an emotional disposition – the psychology of trading.
“Emotional disposition is really the biggest challenge for any trader I’ve ever known – including me,” said Cameron of Warrior Trading. “You can know all the textbooks on trading and then find yourself in the heat of the moment, throwing everything out the window and making emotionally impulsive decisions. You may tell yourself that you are making a decision based on intuition and experience, but in fact you might be trading based on an emotional response to – for example – having experienced a loss, frustration or anger. And suddenly you can start snowballing.
Teaching trading is also teaching introspection, says Ross Cameron
Part of teaching trading, Cameron said, is helping people know themselves.
“One of the things that people don’t expect is that trading is going to force you to really look at yourself in the mirror – to understand your ability to control yourself, to be disciplined and to develop a real sense of awareness. to check in with yourself every day,” Cameron said. “Am I good at trading today? Am I really on top of my game today? Is the market good for me today Is it suitable for the strategies I am trading These are the questions you need to ask yourself at the start of every day you sit down to trade.
And that’s what Ross Cameron himself does every day.
“Every morning, when I sit down, I ask myself: have you eaten well? Did you just sleep well? Do you have a few stocks that you like? And if you do, what is the overall market condition? Was it hot? Was he weak?
For example, we are currently in a bear market.
“We’ve been in a bear market for over a year, and I still managed to have a great year last year. But it was really entirely because of my ability to hold myself back and slow down to trade the market I encountered, not the market I wanted to trade in,” said Cameron of Warrior Trading. “We all want to hit a home run every day, where we make a ton of money. But that’s not the reality. So you can either choose to accept the current reality or choose to fight it. And the people who fight it are digging themselves into big holes.
Teaching these concepts can be difficult, admits Ross Cameron.
“But it’s incredibly satisfying when you see your students negotiating well,” he said. “And that’s why I love teaching trading.”
