You are an...

Accurate Trader

Congratulations! As an Accurate Trader, you possess one

of the three core qualities of top traders: you are decisive
and orderly. You have the potential to do well in the markets
if you so choose because you have some other inherent
strengths that will help you as a trader. Ask yourself,
however, if success in the markets is the kind of “work” that
fulfills your purpose and aligns with what you really want
to create. Your psychological makeup is better suited for
concrete processes rather than something as abstract as
financial market behavior. You could find a trustworthy
money manager to handle your account to allow you to
focus on the more important parts of your life and find
fulfillment there. I have some advice about that at the end of
this report. That being said, if success in the markets is very
important to you, are you willing to do a few things?

First, are you willing to take complete responsibility for your

trading results? There is no room to blame the market,
your broker, your education, or anything else. Second, can
you change your thinking so that you treat your trading as a business? Initially, this means writing a
thorough business plan. Third, could you develop a trading system that fits you? Most people want to
start here, at the technical side and back end of trading; however, I recommend saving this until you
have completed the other tasks first. My studies have revealed that your psychological biases and
issues will affect your trading system development if you have not taken the time to work on yourself
first as the core of your trading.

All those things just mentioned are what you can read about in our weekly newsletter. You are now
subscribed. Should you find it less than useful, you can click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of
the newsletter anytime you desire.

Top Three Core Trader Qualities: Helping traders become their best is our mission at
the Van Tharp Institute and we’ve helped thousands
of traders do that for over 25 years. We offer excellent
1. The ability to see the big educational and training programs designed for both
picture, new possibilities and beginning and advanced traders/investors. If you
connections between things. have questions or would just like more information,
please visit our web site at www.vantharp.com.
2. Making decisions based on
logic and analysis. So let’s get to your report. The next page describes
your trader type based on your answers. Look for
3. Being decisive, orderly and
what rings true for you and keep in mind that no
doing things sequentially.
individual will match up exactly with a profile. Next,
you’ll discover how to leverage your strengths and
challenges to become a better and more profitable
trader. And finally, we list the trader types and their
potential for success in the markets.

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com

 Accurate Trader Type
As a Trader... you are the type of person that I’d want keeping track of my trades and that is
your strong point. However, trading/investing ideas tend to be very abstract. In addition, the
trading world tends to be very solitary. Thus, you will have to really stretch yourself to meet
the requirements necessary to be successful in this field. You can do a lot if you are properly
trained.
Example Trader
SUMMARY Queen Elizabeth II

You tend to be quiet and very responsible in meeting your obligations even beyond the call of duty. Queen Elizabeth is one of the
You are also thorough, practical and very accurate. You are the type of person that I’d want keeping
wealthiest women in the world,
track of my trades and that is your strong point. Your world probably tends to be very concrete and you
with a net worth of $650
value harmony and cooperation. However, trading/investing ideas tend to be very abstract. In addition,
million in 2008, according to
the trading world tends to be very solitary. Thus, you will have to really stretch yourself to meet the
requirements necessary to be successful in this field. You can do a lot if you are properly trained.
Newsweek magazine. Much
of her wealth is inherited, but
You tend to be loyal and you notice and remember specific details about the people who are important she has been very shrewd
to you. You are very concerned about how others feel and you strive to make them feel comfortable. about her investments during
However, these qualities have nothing to do with successful trading and easily could be a distraction. her reign as queen.
Even though she gave up
You tend to take in a tremendous amount of information about things that you believe to be important the right to avoid English
to you. Thus, if the markets are important, you’ll be able to learn a lot about them. And because of taxes in 1992, she still has
your accuracy, this information tends to be very detailed and complete. However, you also have a a prominent financial status.
great sense of how things should be and if you accept the status quo about the markets, without going Other estimates have put her
deeper, this could be a serious problem.
personal fortune at more than
$4 billion, or even as much
You’d probably learn trading best by having a mentor, allowing them to show you how to do it and
as $16 billion if the Royal
learning from practical applications. This is your preferred learning style, so we recommend that you
Collection, which includes the
apply it to trading.
crown jewels, is included.

TRADING STRENGTHS TRADING CHALLENGES

• If someone hands you a system that • Thinking too much could lead to analysis
works, you can follow through with it. You paralysis, which could be a constant
like things that are proven. threat. You tend to over analyze and make
too many rules for yourself. In trading,
• You are very committed and determined
this comes in part because the markets
to succeed and you love analyzing details.
are abstract and you may have trouble
• You are open to what works in trading and representing how they really work.

probably would do well with a mentor. • You may have an overwhelming need
to be right, based on your belief in your
encyclopedic knowledge, and may be
susceptible to the Loss Trap.

• You have a noticeable aversion to risk.

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com

 LEVERAGING YOUR
STRENGTHS AND
ADDRESSING YOUR
CHALLENGES AS AN
ACCURATE TRADER

LEVERAGING YOUR STRENGTHS AND ADDRESSING YOUR CHALLENGES AS AN ACCURATE

TRADER

As an Accurate Trader you are very thorough and responsible and will find out all that you need to know
about any subject that interests you. If you are finding out the wrong information, it could adversely
affect your trading. You would do best with a mentor or someone that you trust to work with you in really
understanding the world of trading.

LEVERAGING YOUR STRENGTHS

Strength #1 – Liking Proven Ideas Strength #2 – Committed and Analytical Strength #3 – Open to What Works
Accurate Traders tend to be able to Your strengths of commitment and Because you look for what works, you
use ideas that have stood the test of analysis are good for any trading. may see that traditional “investing”
time. Beliefs in proven concepts can How do you put them in a structure may not get you the results that you
be a highly useful trait for trading. to support your trading? Trading desire. How do you think about
Do you have any idea how your systems are one key way to leverage trading the markets though? I outline
beliefs might affect your trading? this strength. some of my ideas in the following
Understanding how your beliefs affect Read the Article “What Is a Trading article
System?” Read the Article “Tharp Think”
your trading and even identifying
your beliefs is critically important.
The following article details why that
is so. Read the Article “Your Beliefs
About Trading”

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com

 As an Accurate Trader, you are thorough and responsible and will find out all that you
need to know about any subject that interests you. If you are finding out the wrong
information, it could adversely affect your trading. You would do best with a mentor to
work with you in really understanding the world of trading.

ADDRESSING YOUR CHALLENGES

Challenge #1 – Over-Analyzing
You tend to over analyze and make too many rules for yourself. Thinking too much could
lead to analysis paralysis, which could be a constant threat to your trading. Good trading
requires some analysis and often swift action. That action—entering a trade—is often
without complete information and therefore without complete analysis. By the time a full
analysis might have been finished, the market would have usually moved on.
Read the Article “Analysis Paralysis”

Challenge #2 – The Need to be Right

You may have an overwhelming need to be right, based on your belief in your
encyclopedic knowledge, and may be susceptible to the Loss Trap. To win at trading, you
must understand the loss trap and how to overcome it.
Read the Article “The Loss Trap”

Challenge #3 – Aversion to Risk

You have an aversion to risk even if it’s the kind of risk that could make you big profits.
Using risk effectively is a required skill for trading. In effect, risk aversion is a type of worry
and you may be worrying yourself out of profitable trades. Read how you might be doing
that in the following article.
Read the Article “Stop Worrying Yourself Out of Profits”

Read on for Additional Resources....

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
First, if you choose not to become a serious trader, that’s OK. You are
certainly doing lots of creative things in this world and trading might just
not fit in. One suggestion that may work for you is to find a financial
newsletter with a good track record with a kind of trading you can
understand and believe in. Alternatively, you could find someone you
can trust with your money and let them manage it for you. If you have
someone else manage your money, there are some principles to follow
so that you don’t find yourself dealing with someone like Bernard Madoff.
This article was actually written by a money manager to help people
avoid getting ripped off by unscrupulous advisors and managers. It’s
from the book Panic Proof Investing by Tom Basso. Please keep it for
future reference.
Read the Article “Good Money Manager”

If you do choose to pursue trading excellence, the Van Tharp Institute

has numerous books, courses, and aids to help Accurate Traders
become better. My book Trading Beyond the Matrix is an exhilarating
blend of trading principles and how spirituality and psychology affect your trading. Even non-traders
experience life-changing benefits from the material in this book.

As an Accurate Trader, you like proven approaches. I have provided a lot of tested trading ideas in
my book Super Trader: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets. The five sections of the
book delve into the key areas for every trader to focus on for success: working on yourself, business
planning, trading systems, position sizing, and monitoring your psychology. Whether these terms
are familiar or brand new to you, Super Trader’s fifty chapters are all short and each has one or two
actionable ideas to help you improve your trading. It’s become my favorite book and there are fun
parts in it you would probably enjoy.

Most people don’t have a good understanding of how they operate and that’s trouble for any trader.
Because Accurate Traders are motivated by being correct, accurate, and successful, it’s paramount
that you understand these aspects of yourself before you can trade well. I highly recommend the Peak
Performance Home Study Course. It has four CDs and five volumes and of readings and exercises.
Accurate Traders will find value in all five volumes but I’d like to point out two of them in particular.
Volume 1 covers the topic of risk. You tend to avoid risk, but risk is a necessary element of successful
trading. If you learn to accept manageable trading risks, you will be able to trade successfully for a
long time. Volume 3 on attitudes would also be very valuable for you.

As you can find strong motivation in your practicality, it’s important that you understand that your
attitudes, values, and feelings play an important role at a deep level. There are numerous exercises
that help bring out your hidden attitudes—ones that might cause behavior and actions you might not
understand sometimes. Knowing yourself, what you believe, and how you’ll react in different situations
is critical in trading before you put money on the line. Learn how to identify, understand, and manage
your attitudes and feelings and you can find trading a rewarding experience.Learn how to use your
analytical skills to understand risk and how to put risk to work for you. Along with Peak Performance
Home Study, you can also take Investment Psychology Inventory Profile to examine in even further
detail your strengths and weaknesses.

To view and learn more about our entire line of products, please visit www.vantharp.com/products.asp.

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com

 LIST OF THARP TRADER TYPES AND THEIR POTENTIAL
FOR SUCCESS IN THE MARKETS

HIGH POTENTIAL FOR MARKET SUCCESS:

Strategic Trader
Planning Trader

GOOD POTENTIAL FOR TRADING SUCCESS WITH SOME WORK:

Detailed Trader
Facilitative Trader
Innovative Trader
Spontaneous Trader
Independent Trader
Administrative Trader
Values Driven Trader
Socially Responsible Trader
Accurate Trader
Adventurous Trader

POTENTIAL FOR TRADING SUCCESS WITH LOTS OF WORK OR

HAVE OTHERS MANAGE THEIR MONEY:

Supportive Trader
Artistic Trader
Fun Loving Trader

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com

 THANK YOU for taking the Tharp Trader Test, which evaluates psychological tendencies relating
to how you gather, store, comprehend and act upon information and input. After modeling and
studying thousands of traders, I’m able to help you understand a little about yourself with just a few
questions, based on a much lengthier profile that we use to evaluate traders. This test was designed
simply to introduce you to some of the issues that affect your trading.

After all, YOU are the single most important factor in your trading performance but how well do
you understand that? How well do you know yourself, and what kind of internal forces are at work
when you trade? The Tharp Trader Test helps you identify strengths that should help you trade and
challenges that may interfere with your trading. It also helps evaluate your possession of the three
core qualities of top traders:

1. The ability to see the big picture, new possibilities and connections between things.

2. Making decisions based on logic and analysis.

3. Being decisive, orderly and doing things sequentially.

For more information, click on the links in this report or visit our website at www.vantharp.com.

You will start receiving your newsletter sometime in the next month (or sooner). Until then you can find issues (current and for
many years back) on our website under the Newsletter link at the top of the home page.

Also, be sure to read each section of the Tharp Think Concepts if you have not already. These concepts take the mystery out of
trading by helping you understand who you are as a trader, how your personal psychology can work for you instead of against
you, how to think about and manage risk, and how to develop winning trading systems.

Again, thank you very much for taking the Tharp Trader Test and good luck to you.

Sincerely,

Van K. Tharp
Trading Coach
Founder and President,
The Van Tharp Institute
www.vantharp.com

!
What if you have read this report and only some of it or even very little of it seems to apply to you? That’s possible. To make this test
fast to take (and very low cost!), I kept the sampling questions to a minimum; the resulting trader profile is merely a rough estimate of
who you are. If it seems off-base, you could consider taking the test again or simply just be aware that the results in this profile are not
you; they are an extremely simple model of you. In most cases, however, I have found it to be fairly accurate. If a more scientifically
rigorous psychological profile interests you, we offer that on our website in the products section.

102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com