I hope you have been enjoying this 7-part series and have benefited from what I have said so far. By the time this article is posted, I will have already spent a weekend in Hong Kong helping Optionetics in the annual Investor Fair. I am constantly looking for the opportunity to help people who are currently in the 95% Club get their admission ticket to the 5% Club. Will it be you?

This week, I would like to discuss the sixth essential credential - " Kaizen." This credential sounds easy to achieve but in real life, it depends. First of all, please do not confuse this word with Delta, Gamma, Rho and Theta. Kaizen is not a Greek but a Japanese word. I learnt this term some two decades ago when I took Management Accounting as part of my undergraduate study. Until now, it seems amazing that I can still remember this Japanese term. Kaizen means "continuous improvement."

You may wonder why I am talking about Kaizen. This article is not about Activity-Based Costing in Management Accounting but trading. Well, remember those days when you were still a junior trader--you explored and learnt new things every day. You were just like a sponge. You might have asked Roger Tng, our Singapore-based trading tutor, all sorts of trade-related questions. You might have asked Roger after attending your first 2-day class how to look for a trading opportunity because you still did not know how to do it.  Now that you have a hand on this business somehow, you should realize that what you have gone through is a process of discovery, pondering, receiving, understanding, challenging and acceptance. Different people will be subjected to different processes because it all depends on their level of commitment and dedication of time and effort into this business.

Some people might take a very short time to do so. Are they geniuses? Not necessarily. Some may take a longer time. Are they incapable? Not necessarily. No matter what, one common thing I notice is that all successful Optionetics students do not hesitate to educate themselves continuously - which fit to the term "Kaizen." They are never complacent with where they are currently at. Instead, they continue to absorb new knowledge. This discovery and learning process is going on and on.

So, how about you? As an Optionetics student, you have the privilege of repeating 2-day seminar without any further cost on you for the rest of your life. Do you exercise your right to repeat the seminars and make sure that you build a strong foundation? Did you ever ask the instructors when you did not understand something? Did you ask Roger? Did you ask me? Did you ever go to Brewerkz every Saturday to meet with a group of traders (by the way, Brewerkz is a restaurant at Riverside Point, Singapore, with self-made beer. A group of traders meet every Saturday from 3pm to 6pm there unless it is a public holiday). There are so many avenues around you.

Another common feature among some students I know of, and also from my fellow instructors, is that as the 2-day seminar provides free repeats, they will just go there and listen to the stuff again and again. I am not against such an idea, actually. However, what the 2-day seminar does is to lay down the foundation and rules are provided to ensure that beginners are able to start this business (when they are ready) by following the rules. However, ask yourself if you do not want to understand the basis upon which these rules are set. Would you not want to unlock these rules and tweak them as your own guidelines so that they can fit your unique trading style and risk tolerance? I don''t know about you. I would do it and in fact have already done it. Believe me, some students are very good at regurgitating the rules, e.g. "Optionetics teaches me to exit a long call by 30 days to expiration," or "According to Alex Mendoza, you should not buy a call during the expiration week."

I asked them, "Why these rules?" You probably know their response. In fact, who cares whether it is Optionetics or Alex Mendoza telling you this and that? Not me. As the Chief Executive Officer of my trading business, my job is to understand how these rules came about and I am able to use my own thought to explain such rules.

I remembered before I took my first Interactive Computer [ICT] Class back in April 2005, I did the 2-day seminars 6 times throughout a period of one year. I had different instructors - Mike Lawch, Mike Wade, Alex Mendoza, Peter Zomaya, Rob Roy. However, a 2-day seminar can only do what it is supposed to do. No more, no less. In order to enhance my knowledge in this business, I continued to learn. So, I took my first ICT Class with Mike Wade and Joe Contes in Perth. I realized at that time why these rules were set for the newbies. Since then, I continued my education, including Master ICT Class, Interactive Technical Trading Class, Advanced Classes with George and Tom, and Master Advanced Class with the same gang. I started unlocking many, if not all, of the rules I learnt in 2-day seminar.

My experience in this area somehow can tie to what I said in Part IV of the 7-series: Investing in yourself provides the best return of investment. Spending otherwise money on buying a car or a cellphone is totally different as they are depreciable asset. So, if you believe that you need to learn how to do this business properly, please do not hesitate to spend money in order to educate yourself, provided you are financially capable. Successful traders around you are constantly ''upgrading'' their skills. So, you should follow suit or else successful traders will continue to be successful, leaving the unsuccessful ones behind.  

Before I put down my pen, I wish to relay a recent encounter with an ex-floor trader who was in Singapore. He is a finance degree holder but his success in the trading business had nothing to do with his finance degree. When we exchanged our ideas, somehow he asked me how I did in my trading business. He did laugh at me when I told him that I am able to take 10% a month in my portfolio. I said "yes, only 10% a month and I am not a greedy person."  I know he was joking as later on he congratulated me and said "Jack, actually 10% a month is very good. Don''t aim for more than 10%. Just do what you are doing and remain consistent."

To access previous articles written by Jack Wong, please click here.

Jack Wong 
Staff Writer
Optionetics.com ~ Your Options Education Site
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