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Timeless Qualities Essential to Speculation

    1. Self-reliance: A man must think for himself and must follow his own convictions. Self-trust is the foundation of successful effort.
    2. Judgment: That equipoise, that nice adjustment of the faculties of one to the other, which is called good judgment—essential to the speculator.
    3. Courage: That is, confidence to act on the decisions of the mind. In speculation, there is value in the dictum: Be bold, still be bold; always be bold.
    4. Prudence: The power of measuring the danger, together with a certain alertness and watchfulness, is very important. There should be a balance of prudence and courage; prudence in contemplation, courage in execution.
    5. Pliability: The ability to change an opinion, the power of revision. He who observes and observes again is always formidable.

Some advice from Jeff Bezos

During one of his answers, he shared an enlightened observation about people who are “right a lot”.

He said people who were right a lot of the time were people who often changed their minds. He doesn’t think consistency of thought is a particularly positive trait. It’s perfectly healthy — encouraged, even — to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today.

He’s observed that the smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a well formed point of view, but it means you should consider your point of view as temporary.

What trait signified someone who was wrong a lot of the time? Someone obsessed with details that only support one point of view. If someone can’t climb out of the details, and see the bigger picture from multiple angles, they’re often wrong most of the time.

Twenty Rules For Traders

  • 1. Forget the news, remember the chart. You’re not smart enough to know how news will affect price. The chart already knows the news is coming.
  • 2. Buy the first pullback from a new high. Sell the first pullback from a new low. There’s always a crowd that missed the first boat.
  • 3. Buy at support, sell at resistance. Everyone sees the same thing and they’re all just waiting to jump in the pool.
  • 4. Short rallies not selloffs. When markets drop, shorts finally turn a profit and get ready to cover.
  • 5. Don’t buy up into a major moving average or sell down into one. See #3.
  • 6. Don’t chase momentum if you can’t find the exit. Assume the market will reverse the minute you get in. If it’s a long way to the door, you’re in big trouble.
  • 7. Exhaustion gaps get filled. Breakaway and continuation gaps don’t. The old traders’ wisdom is a lie. Trade in the direction of gap support whenever you can.
  • 8. Trends test the point of last support/resistance. Enter here even if it hurts.
  • 9. Trade with the TICK not against it. Don’t be a hero. Go with the money flow.
  • 10. If you have to look, it isn’t there. Forget your college degree and trust your instincts.
  • 11. Sell the second high, buy the second low. After sharp pullbacks, the first test of any high or low always runs into resistance. Look for the break on the third or fourth try. (more…)
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