You’re probably familiar with bullish and bearish market conditions, but what do these animals mean when it comes to trading style? Various animals define specific trader characteristics. You could be a bull, wolf, or even a sheep. Read on to find out which animal best describes your trading style.
BULLS AND BEARS
The bull represents an optimistic trader who believes that the market will continue its upward trend. The bear is the total opposite of the bull. It’s pessimistic about the future and is convinced that the market is headed for a fall.
THE OTHER ANIMALS
PIG
A pig is any trader who likes trading big and often while disregarding sound trading strategies and principles. The pig normally has a lofty profit target, large position size, and trade time frame and doesn’t know when to exit a winning trade. Pigs are greedy, impatient, and emotional traders who often take on too much risk. They are on the look-out for hot trading tips that will allow them to make money fast, but often this approach often has the opposite effect.
WHALE
This trading animal represents the big traders and market movers with a substantial amount of capital. The whale often attracts many piggybackers who may see increased profits when they trade alongside the right whale.
SHARK
A shark’s main concern is making money so it gets into trades, makes money, and gets out. The shark thrives on simplicity and has little interest in complicated trading theories and methods.
RABBIT
This animal avoids overnight or long-term risk and only takes the opportunity of making quick profits during the day. The rabbit takes a position for a very short time and the typical trading time frame is that of minutes.
CHICKEN
A chicken is any trader who is driven by fear and is too worried about losing money to take on any risk. This trading animal avoids large trades and typically sticks to conservative instruments such as bonds and bank deposits.
SHEEP
A sheep likes to follow the crowd and experts. This type of trader doesn’t change their trading style to suit market conditions. They usually don’t develop their own trading strategies and will often piggyback on others’ trading methods. The sheep often misses out on meaningful market moves because it’s usually the last one out of a downtrend and the last one into an uptrend.
WOLF
The wolf is the opposite of the sheep. A wolf thrives by trading at the market turning points or when there is “blood on the streets” and is normally trying to get on the opposite side of the sheep. Wolves are powerful traders who sometimes use unethical means to make money. For example, Jordan Belfort, whose life was depicted in the Hollywood movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ was a wolf who defrauded people with his penny stock operation and stock market manipulation.
STAG
This trading animal is a short-term speculator who only looks out for opportunities and has no interest in bull or bear markets. A stag moves in and out of positions quickly and tries to profit from short-term market movements.
TURTLE
A turtle is unconcerned with live-action and is more interested in the end-of-day results and weekly activity. The turtle likes being on the right side of the big trend but is typically slow to sell or buy and only trades for the long-term. This trading animal tries to make as much as possible from the least amount of trades.
OSTRICH
The ostrich represents traders who bury their heads in the sand during bad markets. Ostriches will ignore negative news and they tend to disappear during bear markets only to reappear when the markets improve.
Making your trading style work for you
Regardless of your trading style, successful trading requires a thorough knowledge of the markets, discipline, and a robust trading strategy. Undisciplined traders can be slaughtered on the markets if they are unaware of capital preservation, taking profits, and cutting losses.
Which animal best describes your trading style? Do you think you could improve your trading by changing your style? Join the conversation and share your thoughts.
