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

You are an... Artistic Trader

Your ArtisticTrader Report

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.

As an Artistic Trader, you possess none of the three core qualities of top traders. Your psychological makeup is better suited for creative processes rather than repetitive processes. Successful trading tends to be repetitive and you are likely to find using a trading system boring. You do have the have the potential to do well in the markets if you so choose because you have some inherent strengths that will help you as a trader. However, ask yourself if success in the markets is the kind of “work” that fulfills your purpose and aligns with what you really want to create. If not, find a trustworthy money manager to handle your account to allow you to focus on the more important parts of your life. I have some advice about that at the end of this report.

If success in the markets is very important to you though, 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. Thank you for signing up for it. Should you find it less than useful, you can click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter anytime you desire.

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 educational and training programs designed for both beginning and advanced traders/investors. If you have questions or would just like more information, please visit our website at www.vantharp.com.

So let’s get to your report. The next page describes your trader type based on your answers. Look for what rings true for you and keep in mind that no 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.

YOU enjoy what’s going on around you and

being in the “now.” You like to have your own

space and work within your own time frame.

In this sense you enjoy the independence of

trading, although not the fixed hours of the

markets. One of your strengths is your ability

to be open-minded, adaptable and flexible,

so if you can figure out how to apply that

to trading, it will improve your chances of

success.

You are into the world of sensation: noticing

how things look, feel, taste and sound. At the

same time, you probably don’t like the world

of ideas, concepts and abstract reasoning.

As a result, you may have lots of difficulties

dealing with the idea of markets where

everything tends to be abstract.

You are strongly committed to your own

values and to the people that you consider

important. You’ll work toward realizing your

own value oriented goals and you’ll rebel

against anything that is in conflict with

those goals. At the same time, you dislike

disagreements and conflicts and you tend to

keep things to yourself.

You’ll probably struggle with many of the

things that are necessary for trading success.

You are a doer who doesn’t like abstract

thinking, and you tend to just jump into things.

Be very careful about being too compulsive

when it comes to the markets. This could

easily be your undoing.

Artistic Trader TypeAs a Trader... you enjoy the independence of trading, although not the fixed hours of the markets. You are strongly committed to your own values and to the people that you consider important. You’ll work toward realizing your own value oriented goals and you’ll rebel against anything that is in conflict with those goals.

Example TraderSteven Spielberg

By 12, Steven Spielberg had made his first amateur film, an 8-minute Western called The Last Gun, which young Steven had financed with a tree-planting business. He’d charge admission to his home movies, getting his sister to sell popcorn, and his projects rapidly became more ambitious in scale and scope.

His major directorial debut on the big screen was Jaws, which cost $8.5 million to make and grossed $260 million. And his career took off from there with films such as ET, the Indiana Jones movies, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, etc. Although he gave much of his fortune to charity, he is set for life and tends to focus on more serious pictures such as Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and Munich.

The following quote really summarizes Steven as creative investor. “I’d love to build a company that will continue to make movies well beyond me someday. And I’d like to help start something great, even investing in it myself.” That company, of course, is Dreamworks.

TRAdINg STReNgTHS• You have an ability to be open

minded, adaptable and flexible within your trading.

• If you can find a long term trend, or pattern and see what’s going on; you can leverage this and find other ways to make it better.

• You can be very effective in detecting the patterns and early signs of market changes.

TRAdINg CHALLeNgeS• Finding and fixing mistakes are not

preferred behaviors. After a string of bad choices your emotions can carry forward into your next trades.

• Because you need tangible and concrete evidence, the markets may not be able to give you the answers you want.

• You have a need for excitement.

LeVeRAgINg YOUR STReNgTHS ANd AddReSSINg YOUR CHALLeNgeS AS AN ARTISTIC TRAdeR

As an Artistic trader, you like to experience things in a tangible way through your senses. You are independent and like to be in control of your own time, not working to someone else’s schedule. The markets and game of trading may not be a satisfying place for your talents. If you really have an affinity for trading, it would be wise to understand the challenges that a trader of your type is likely to encounter and the solutions to remedy them.

LeVeRAgINg YOUR STReNgTHSStrength #1 – Open MindedArtistic Traders tend to be very flexible people. Your adaptability stems from your focus on the current situation (i.e., what’s happening now). That can be a useful trait in the markets. Beyond external awareness, are you aware of what’s happening inside of you? Understanding yourself is an even more important step for successful traders. Use your open mind to consider what makes a healthy psychology necessary for trading well.

LeVeRAgINg YOUR STReNgTHS ANd AddReSSINg YOUR CHALLeNgeS AS AN ARTISTIC TRAdeR

Free – Read the Article “A Healthy Psychological Profile for Successful Trading”

Strength #2 – Leverage Trends, PatternsYour probably have high visual acuity, which helps you see patterns and trends rather easily in charts. As you might imagine, this is a valuable skill for a trader. However, knowing that a price is likely to move the way you think it will is but one part of trading. What if your idea was wrong? When do you get out of your position? How do you take profits? How much of your equity do you put into each trade? Find out the answers to those questions and what else makes up a trading system in the following article. Free – Read the Article “What Is a Trading System?”

Strength #3 – Notice Market Changes Quickly Your quick mind helps you see opportunities in the market—often before many others will. You can develop a useful set of beliefs about the market and then harness those to trade well. First, you need to understand what those beliefs are. Free – Read the Article “Your Beliefs About Trading”

AddReSSINg YOUR CHALLeNgeS

Challenge #1 – Recognizing MistakesFinding and fixing mistakes are not preferred behaviors for you which can have adverse consequences in trading. After a string of bad choices your emotions can carry forward into your next trades and cause you additional problems. Has this happened to you? Can you see how a negative emotion might affect your ability to enter a good trade and then exit it well also? I have written about this process in the following article.Free – Read the Article “Mistakes”

Challenge #2 – Needing EvidenceBecause you need tangible and concrete evidence, the markets may not be able to give you the answers you want. You prefer the specific facts and details, whereas the markets can be abstract and intangible.Free – Read the Article “How to Evaluate a Good Money Manager”

As an Artistic Trader, you like to experience things in a tangible way through your senses. You are independent and like to be in control of your own time, not working to someone else’s schedule.

As an Artistic Trader, you like interesting approaches.

Continue reading to learn more.

Challenge #3 – Need to be Rightgood trading is boring. It means daily preparation, following rules, and repetitive processes—hardly exciting stuff. To fulfill your need for excitement, you will need other ways to fulfill your need for excitement (such as poker).Free – Read the Article “Poker and Expectancy”

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.Free – 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 Artistic Traders become better.

As an Artistic Trader, you like interesting approaches. I have provided a lot of stimulating 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. If you are interested, the best way to get Super Trader is online at Amazon.

Most people don’t have a good understanding of how they operate and that’s trouble for any trader. Because Artistic Traders are driven by their urge to build, create, and act on the moment, 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. Artistic 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 readily accept risk, perhaps even seek it out, which can be dangerous for trading. If you are able to master the principle of risk, you will be able to trade successfully for a long time. Volume 3 on attitudes would also be very valuable for you as well. As you can find strong motivation in your feelings, it’s important that you understand attitudes, values, and feelings 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 trading will be a rewarding experience.

Of course, we have a series of other products and workshops that you may find useful in time, but, Super Trader and the Peak Performance course are truly the starting points before going on to other study other topics.

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

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

Sincerely,

Van K. TharpTrading CoachFounder and President,The Van Tharp Institutewww.vantharp.com

P.S. Keep reading if you’d like to see a complete list of Tharp Trader Types and their potential for success in the markets.

www.vantharp.com102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408

LIST OF THARP TRAdER TYPES ANd THEIR POTENTIAL FOR SuCCESS IN THE MARkETS

HIgH POTeNTIAL FOR MARKeT SUCCeSS:

Strategic TraderPlanning Trader

gOOd POTeNTIAL FOR MARKeT SUCCeSS WITH SOMe WORK:

detailed TraderFacilitative TraderInnovative Trader Spontaneous TraderIndependent TraderAdministrative TraderValues driven TraderSocially Responsible TraderAccurate TraderAdventurous Trader

POTeNTIAL FOR MARKeT SUCCeSS WITH LOTS OF WORK OR HAVe OTHeRS MANAge THeIR MONeY:

Supportive TraderArtistic TraderFun Loving Trader

Precaution

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.