For the last 7 years I have had the privilege of working with some of the top commodity traders in South Africa. There are literally scores of different “types” of traders, but physical commodity traders are certainly not amongst the more flamboyant type.
Typically conservative, White, Afrikaans-speaking, God-fearing, family men, they work hard and enjoy their booze, play golf or other sports and, to a man, hunt in Winter. Their intellectual property consists of their experience of the markets and their extensive network of contacts built up over many years, that is only now being slowly eroded locally by younger, emerging black traders in this sector.
Risk-averse, they use the markets strictly to hedge physical positions, with the occasional maverick “punting” with a small intraday speculative position.
A far cry from the Lambo Lifestyle of the 20-year old Forex, binary and crypto traders in the US and UK whose “careers” can be measured in weeks rather than decades. I use the term “traders” very loosely here as these individuals are nothing more than gamblers with zero experience of the markets they trade in and literally roll the dice with borrowed money and massive gearing.
Like a typical Ponzi scheme, they often extend their short trading lives by conning the naive into pumping more and more money into their schemes or sell expensive (yet worthless) training courses to the gullible.
In the coming weeks I am going to slowly unpack my experiences in trading and what I have found, by observation and practice, works. I cannot promise you a Rolex or a Lamborghini but I may just spur you on to consider a career in trading.
Later
Synaptoman
S Y N A P T O M A N 