Karl Dean: Navigating The Stock Market Successfully
“The goal of a successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary.”
-Alexander Elder
What makes a successful trader, has been one of the most frequently asked questions by aspiring traders globally. You might also be wondering what constitutes a successful trader. Is it simply a matter of luck or purely a game of intelligence? Different people attribute their success to multiple factors that have worked for them. Despite the various qualities that make a successful trader, there is one quality that all of them share. All successful traders share the trait of never being motivated primarily by financial gain. They merely wish to execute the most profitable trades according to their predetermined rules.
Successful traders use all of their skills to locate and execute profitable trades, the best trades. They are cognizant of when to enter a particular trade, predict trends in the market, where to invest, and when to pull out of a bad trade. One such individual who has amassed huge success as a trader is Karl Dean, a professional stock trader, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, educator, and mentor.
Dean was born in Liverpool, England, and later, his family moved to South Africa and then to Ontario, Canada. He moved to Calgary, Alberta, in the 1980s. He had a knack for scuba diving as a teenager and kept on diving and ultimately logged over 5000 dives. His hobby turned into a passion, and he mastered the sport, thereby becoming a scuba instructor. In 1999, he attended Mount Royal University taking courses in Advanced Mathetics and Physics. After that, he pursued an accounting degree from the Certified General Accounts Association of Alberta (CGA) but left in his third year. His love for designing and building led him to attain a Structural Drafting Certificate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
Dean started his entrepreneurial career by founding GSI Limited. With his father, they developed a software program for Scuba Divers to log their dives, UnderwaterAlien Dive Logs.
He has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry as a professional structural designer. He has had the opportunity to work on many different types of projects ranging from oil sand mining to SAGD applications, as well as traditional copper and gold mining. Dean has also worked for some of the largest companies and gained considerable experience in the design of complex foundations, pipe racks, and buildings.
Dean quickly recognized that the current industry was fragile and susceptible to layoffs. Dean determined that he could utilize his financial knowledge to build a Plan B, providing him the flexibility to withstand industry and market swings. This was an early example of a trader mindset, a person that can change the direction of their journey according to the current trends. Dean has considerable knowledge about the stock market from his accounting education, coupled with his constant practice reading market charts. In 2005, he started to work with a mentor who had been in the trading industry for many years.
Dean founded Alien Investment Corp in 2007 to upgrade his trading and investing game. He was able to invest on a greater scale and in a variety of areas, including the stock market, currency and commodity markets, cryptocurrency markets, and venture capital. It was during the financial crisis of 2008, a time when people were experiencing massive losses in the market, that Dean took a few weeks off from his engineering job to focus on the opportunities that were emerging. He shorted the banking and mortgage companies which were on the verge of collapse, including Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Bear Steams, and Fannie Mae.
Dean established Dark Pool Trading in order to impart the right education to new traders so that they are inspired to explore markets independently. The company was initially named Black Money Traders, a name borrowed from the oil and gas industry that was a source of seed money for Dean’s trading ventures. Its name was changed to Dark Pool Trading during the peak of COVID. Dark Pool Trading provides education to both novice and seasoned traders.
Dean educates people by drawing on his experience in trading and investment along with his financial education. He has observed market trends for more than two decades and devises new strategies according to shifting market conditions. He not only provides education to traders but also has the desire to spread awareness about stocks and market patterns among young people. For this reason, he designed the course Stock for Kids, a platform that enables young people to acquire basic knowledge about the stock market and learn about chart patterns, bull markets, investing patterns, and different types of exchanges. This type of knowledge is seldom provided to young children. However, Dean feels that if he can plant the seed of financial awareness early, then kids will have a great head start toward financial freedom in the future.
Whether it’s navigating the complexities of global markets, analyzing data to make informed decisions, or embracing the ever-changing landscape of technological advancements, Dean has found trading provides a platform for him to test his skills, exercise his intuition, and thrive in a fast-paced environment. While the path may be challenging, the potential rewards are boundless. Through dedication, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt, Dean’s trading career has opened doors to financial independence, personal fulfillment, and the satisfaction of making a meaningful impact on others through his courses. So, for those who seek excitement, intellectual stimulation, and the pursuit of success, a trading career can be a truly rewarding and fulfilling choice.
