There is not a direct comparison, perhaps, to be made between police and trading work. But now I wrote a message into a friend who acts as a police officer in a few of the biggest cities in the world, and started to compose some ideas about how trading and police work could possibly be compared. I thought I would share the ideas with everyone to find out if there could be some discussion (constructive) about some of the ways that other experiences in life relate to trading. Here's what I wrote to my friend:

1. When confronting someone who might have done something wrong, or from the practice of arresting someone, do you ever wonder why a person that has done something wrong does not want to admit it at first? Why don't they just come clean? I suspect that may be fruing. Well, that poor dude is like a poor trader that will not admit they made a poor trade -- so they just keep letting it get worse and worse.

2. Can you believe that function as an officer could be chaotic? But at precisely the same time, you have pretty much seen it all? It is that strange dichotomy that exists in trading, in my own opinion. The market could be disorderly (self-regulating), but once you dive in and begin to comprehend the underlying patterns, there is very little that surprises you. Allow me to put it a different way:

3. Do you feel that on a demanding day as an officer, then you only need to go with the flow, that to combat the negative stuff coming your way is just going to become counter-productive? Well, it is the same in trading. You do not fight the market. You place yourself in a place to stand back and take advantage of what comes your way, or you be sure you stay out of this way of the bad stuff (that is where you've got a decision in trading that you don't as a officer).

4. Could it be fair to say that the top officers understand the mental side, the plogical facet of the jobs just as much as they are in good physical shape? They have both physical and mental strength? Well, it is the same for trading. You do the best when you've got a strong mental foundation AND the ability set. You can imagine the dumbest guy who is in fantastic shape may not be a police officer. The strangest man (really bad money management methods ) with the greatest trading platform in the world isn't going to make any money. You can imagine, also, there were some fantastic officers and detectives that weren't always Jack LaLane or Mr. Universe. Well, that's the same for the many very good traders: they have a valid mental perspective and that may compensate for the fact that they might not understand some secret trading platform, or have some inside information about the management of the US dollar.