Interview with Larry Pesavento
Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I am a private stock market trader, trading educator and mother of two. I love trading the markets and sharing and teaching what I do. It is my way of giving service to other budding traders and educating them on the keys to successful trading.
How did you get started trading?
I started trading actively in 1963 when I was a senior at Indiana University. I mainly traded Silver with a college professor that got me interested in trading.
What do you like best about trading?
Making money is fun. However, over the past 50 years I have met some of the most wonderful people in the world. Also, I have been able to change a lot of people’s lives and that is the real enjoyment that I get out of it. Of course, the freedom that you have with trading is unparallel because you can work anytime and anywhere in the world and no can tell you how and when to do it.
What markets do you trade?
I trade primarily the major forex markets, the top 12 cross rates, and I also trade the major futures market, crude oil, gold, soybeans, stock index futures, occasionally sugar, copper, but mainly its forex and futures. I do very little in stock trading because of the action is a little to slow and the margins are too great, the liquidity is better in the forex and futures market.
What style of trading do you use?
I am a pattern recognition swing trader which means basically I do not care which direction the market is going. I am looking for higher bottoms to be a buyer. Looking for lower tops to be a seller. And I have developed patterns that fit within that scenario to tell me whether to be a buyer or a seller that gives me the risk parameters that are needed to put on the trade.
What have been the biggest influences on your development as a trader?
I have had three major mentors in my life. The main one was Dr. Ruth Miller who taught me about financial astrology. There was also Dave Nelson who taught me about overall trading, Gartley Pattern, and Fibonacci numbers. Then there was John Hill from futures truth that taught me about technical analysis. I then put that all together in the late 60’s, early 70’s to develop the program that I use now that I have been implementing since the last 30 years.
What is the one biggest lesson that you have learnt since starting trading?
The biggest lesson is that you should never give up no matter how bad things look. Trading is a journey and it’s not a destination. Trading teaches you mainly about yourself.
Trading really is a mirror of all the flaws that you have or all the strengths that you have so trading is actually a mirror of your own psychology.
About Your Trading Coaching
How did you get interested in coaching other traders?
That started by accident in 1986. I was trading out of California and I got a phone call from a doctor in Lubik, Texas who got my name from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) where I have been a member for several years and did quite successful as a floor trader. He said he wanted me to teach his wife who was a real estate agent to be a trader. I told him I was not interested in teaching because I never had done that before, and the doctor said I will pay you $10,000 if you would take her for a week and try to teach her. So I said well the price is right so I will give it a try and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because she went on to be a very good trader. She ended up teaching her two sons and from that I started teaching other traders and was able to change a lot of lives.
Do you focus on coaching of one particular area of trading, e.g. risk management / psychology or finding trades?
No I give the whole program. I do one on one mentoring. I teach people how to find the patterns that we need to be profitable. They have to know the derivation from these patterns and where they come from. They need to know the mathematics that is related to these patterns. They need to see them in their sleep. There is also the money management and most importantly there is the mental aspect to trading that has to be taught. Also the day to day format of how you operate as a trader. What type of trades are you going to take and whether you are going to be able to be a short term trader or a long term trader, what vehicle you like to trade whether its options or stocks. That all changes with each person. This is why it has to be tailored to each person on a one on one basis. I cannot teach 20 people at a time. It is impossible for me to do that.
There is no time limit on the teaching that I have because one the person makes the commitment I cannot teach them all they need to do is make the commitment.
How do you work together with your clients? E.g. phone / email / screen sharing?
The student that I work with is very easy now. We can work by phone, email, Skype. We can do screen sharing with Skype with people from all the way from South Africa, China, and all over the world. I also make myself available to the students that would like to come to visit me in my trading office here in Tucson, Arizona. I am also available for them to do that. My basic commitment is that if you give me the time I can give you the profession. If an individual follows what I teach you will be successful. If you break the rules the odds of you being successful are reduced dramatically. I tell them that upfront.
What sort of results do your clients get after coaching with you?
I can tell you I have taught well over 1000 students in the past 30 years and I am still in touch with well over 600 of these because they get my emails every day, and we chat occasionally. Some will come to visit on a social basis so I know there is quite a few of them out there and many of them are successful. Some a far more successful than others but they are all doing well. They are still following the program and doing what they should be doing.
What is the most satisfying part of coaching traders?
The most satisfying part of the coaching is the letters I get from the people that I trained and also the families, the children, the wives, spouses that I have changed. They expressed how their lives changed when the freedom came in and they were able to make a living and not to worry about anyone else and that is one of the reasons that coaching became so important in my life and why I enjoy it so much.
You feed them for a day but if you teach a person how to fish they will eat for a lifetime.
What is the biggest but most easily fixed mistake that you see traders make?
My biggest and most easily fixed mistake they make is that they set their stops too close, and they trade too much. If you have a trading plan and follow the patterns then you will not be doing that.
Do you recommend journals or other record keeping as an important part of trading?
Yes I recommend daily journals. Something very simple. Write down a few sentences of what the person did right or wrong every day. I think this is very important because they will stop repeating the same mistake and if they refer to that journal just a little bit, and it does not have to be really elaborate it just needs to pinpoint things that need to be fixed.
What are the most common issues that you see in your clients that prevent them from becoming better traders?
One is lack of commitment. They are very lazy. Human nature makes them lazy so you cannot be lazy. You have to be dedicated. That is the really one thing you need to do, and the final one and the most important is desire.
If you have the desire to be a trader and you follow the rules this is a simple business and all you have to do is follow those rules to be able to make it. If you have the desire the rest of it will fall into place.
General Advice
What advice would you give traders who are just starting out?
I would say first thing search around for a mentor and find references and to make sure they get two or three, or four people that they actually worked with that person for X number of days-weeks-years. Ask if the satisfaction was there and that the mentor was there for them and taught them the right things and they did work. Do not buy any black box programs that say you go long here or go short here. If that type of money machine existed Goldman Sachs would buy it and we would never see it. These things do not work they are curve fitted. You have to do a lot of research, ask a lot of questions, and kick a lot of tires. In the end you will find someone that you can end up with that will give you an even break at becoming a professional trader. Its not going to be less than a year. It is hardly possible to teach anyone less than a year. A few people do it, but most people it is a year or more, before they get their feet on the ground and trade professionally.
What 3 books do you recommend traders read?
Trading in the Zone, Mark Douglas
Trade What You See, Larry Pesavento
Tony (Anthony) Robbins, read any of the positive NLP books