Gospel Business Men Fellowship will have her National Convention 2026 in Lagos Sheraton Hotel Main Hall on the 26th August 2026. All members are cordially invited.
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Become Master of Professional Trading
Trading Psychology
Reasons Traders Fail and How to Win
Professional Trading
The history of professional trading has evolved from ancient barter systems and maritime trade to highly sophisticated electronic, algorithmic, and decentralized systems. Professional trading emerged as specialized roles, such as brokers or proprietary traders, began acting on behalf of institutions or using their own capital to profit from market fluctuations.
Early Foundations (12th – 18th Century)
12th-13th Century: Early brokers traded commodities and various types of debt in Europe.
1602 (Amsterdam): The Dutch East India Company established the first official stock exchange to trade company shares, formalizing equity trading.
17th-18th Century: Dutch merchants developed early forms of foreign exchange (Forex) to convert payments from international voyages, with Amsterdam as the central hub.
The 19th Century and Industrialization
Gold Standard (1800s): The implementation of the gold standard (1821 in UK, 1873 in US/Germany) stabilized currency, leading to the rise of professional forex traders.
Trading Technology: The introduction of the telegraph and stock tickers in the mid-1800s allowed for faster, long-distance information sharing and trading.
The 20th Century: Formalization and Electronic Trading
Early 1900s: Proprietary trading took root on Wall Street, with banks employing traders to manage risk and generate profits.
1970s & 1980s (Golden Era): Following the collapse of the Bretton Woods agreement, currencies floated freely, creating the modern, volatile Forex market. The 1975 deregulation of commissions and the introduction of computer-based, electronic trading in 1971 modernized the industry.
1980s: Deregulation of financial markets allowed banks to engage in riskier, proprietary trading, leading to the rise of independent prop firms.
1990s – Present: Algorithms and Digital Age
1990s: Technological advancements brought about algorithmic trading, where computer programs executed trades based on pre-defined criteria.
2000s: High-frequency trading (HFT) became popular, with firms using automated strategies to capitalize on small, fast price movements.
2008 Financial Crisis: The crisis led to stricter regulations, such as the Dodd-Frank Act’s Volcker Rule in the U.S., which limited banks from engaging in speculative proprietary trading.
2010s-2020s: Independent prop firms thrived as banks downsized their desks. The rise of fintech allowed for the proliferation of online prop trading, allowing retail traders to trade with firm capital.
Key Developments in Trading Types
Options Trading: Traced back to 17th-century Dutch merchants hedging risk, it became a standardized, professional market with the founding of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) in 1973.
Day Trading: Once exclusive to professionals, it grew in popularity after 1975, accelerating with online platforms in the 1990s.
Cryptocurrency/DeFi: The 21st century introduced blockchain technology, allowing for decentralized, 24/7 trading outside traditional financial intermediaries.
Are You a Professional
Many people are employees, but not all of them are professionals. So, how do you know, if you are one? This article describes the experience of my pathway and my personal thoughts on the professional developement. Maybe you’ve observed the same?
1. You deal with your priorities
The metamorphosis of becoming a graceful butterfly out of an inconspicuous caterpillar often (but not necessary) comes together with a change in your employment situation. Let’s say, instead of hoping from one opportunity to another you decide to consciously choose a future job. Or you are offered a job after your internship and you don’t know if you should stay in this company. Or you hate your job and just wanna escape. In all these cases it starts with the painful question — “What kind of job/position/role do I actually want?”. Being professional begins way before the final answer is there. It starts at the point when you deal with the question itself. That is, when your professional ego is being designed.
2. You no longer enjoy the newbie protection
When you work as a student assistent or do your internship, there is an underlying understanding that you are here to learn and the company is there to support you in it. Sure, you still have to do your best, but the expectations are rather “we teach you first, you perform later”. Once you have a postion as a full-fledged employee, you are supposed to deliver as soon as possible. Of course you should keep learning, too, but this is rather seen as your responsibility. There is no supervisor, no mentor, no dedicated teacher. This realizaton might be scary at first, but it is a necessary step towards becoming a professional.
3. You build up your knowledge base
The reason why you no longer enjoy the newbie protection is simply because you are no longer one! You’ve gathered some first experiences and got some basic skills, so now you can develop them further. I’ve had 4 jobs by now, but only in my current position I finally do not start from scratch in a completely new field but continue where I stopped at the previous one. I eventually feel that I have the basics to advance in what I’m doing.
4. You start noticing the difference between you and trainees
Suddently you realize that you have a different status and a different (more mature) standing. It might start with more obligations and additional perks that you get as an employee (like a corporate phone), or with the way you handle unpredicted or stressful situations. You learn to respond flexibly to challenges and not to get overwhelmed by little things. The number of workshop participants has doubled? No problem, just improvise accordingly. Need to prepare an internal presentation? Ok, this is just a presentation, no big deal.
5. The professional aspect becomes part of your personality
Suddenly you realize, that you can define yourself not only as a loving sister, a caring partner or a fond friend, but also as a teacher, frontend developer, designer etc. Even if you cannot describe this “thing” in one word, you know, what is your current scope, interests and topics that belong to the area of your capabilities. You value what you are doing, you value the role of your job in the society. Not only you’ve decided it for yourself, but you are also ready to communicate it externally and stand up for it.
6. You reach out to the community
Once you dare to name yourself professional in front of other people, you tend to reach out to the like-minded. You initiate exchange of thoughts and ideas, provide input and search for insights. With this standing, you are ready to share your knowledge with others. You perceive yourself as a member of a huge professional guild.
8. You have the ambition
Since you can no longer escape the responsibility by saying that you are still learning (point №2) and you have the relevant skills to achieve your goals (point №3), you realize that you have the ambition to do so. Since the professional aspect of your life has become part of your personality (point №5), this ambition is highly personal — you wanna manage it, you wanna take the challenge, you wanna make the difference! This is the driving force of your motivation.
9. You have a professional to-do list
If you are determined to achieve your professional goals, you will have a to-do list in your head or notebook. It is not about all the annoying little things that you have to do in the office. I rather mean the topics and plans that belong to the scope of your profession (the way you defined it for yourself). Read a particular book, attend a conference, write an article — you name it. Professional developement is part of your development as a personality. And you (not your manager or the company) have a plan for it.