I have many friends and each can be described in different ways, depending on the extent of the friendship, time spent together, common likes/dislikes, whether or not they are online acquaintances versus personal, etc.  I even consider those who email me and read what I have to say friends. Bottom line, you have friends just like I do. 

Then we have the special friends who personally share the trading experience with us.  I have a friend like this.  He is a friend not because he is a trader but he is a friend who happens to be a trader. I’ve known him for over 15 years, long before either one of us became stock traders.  You won’t find him on the internet, nor on CNBC.  I would not trade my friendship with him for the chance at a friendship with 100 well known traders.  He is that special. 

This friend introduced me to trading and I will forever be grateful no matter my trading results. I’ve talked with this friend almost every day for the last six years about much more than trading.  Because I do not have a close relationship with my own father, he has become the father I never had.  I’ve shared everything with him without worry of betrayal.  We’ve argued and disagreed yet met for lunch the next day as if the previous day’s argument never occurred.  Beyond the love I have for my wife and children the love I have for my friend is beyond compare.

Now I am beginning to experience something with my friend that is new and unchartered.  He has been diagnosed with brain cancer.  After successful surgery this week he is now at home recovering.  We have discussed a trip to New York to see a trading friend he has never met and to visit the city and see some sights.  I look forward to that time together.  In the meantime, it is during times like this that we all should realize that trading is nothing compared to the life we can experience outside the charts. 

When we both began this trading journey many years ago, my friend told me that trading would teach us much more about ourselves and our life than about how to read a chart. 

Message to my friend: I am listening… and learning.

Post from: The CrossHairs Trader

TRADING FRIENDS: WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THEM?

Related posts:

1. TRADING STOCKS WITH THE ROLLING STONES

Last 5 posts by David Blair

• IN THE CROSSHAIRS LIVE WEBINAR 3/21/2010 - March 19th, 2010
• THE THINKING TRADER 3/19/2010 - March 19th, 2010
• NEW DESIGN NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CROSSHAIRS - March 18th, 2010
• WARREN BUFFET ROCKS AS AXL ROSE - March 18th, 2010
• PUTTING TOGETHER A GRAND TRADING STRATEGY - March 17th, 2010