rss

Has A New Euro Downtrend Started?

Standard Chartered think so, targeting an eventual move to 1.15.

They feel the ECB is getting closer to monetisation and euro-zone economy is weakening.

Dow Jones reporting the banks’ strategist Steve Barrow saying ‘In short, has the euro started a journey that will lead to significant declines in coming months? We think the answer is ‘yes,’ he says’

10 Steps to Profitable Trading

  • 1. Manage Risk: Learn to trade a manageable portion of you portfolio (I recommend to risk less than 2% of you overall portfolio equity on each trade). Always establish a risk/reward ratio before making a trade. Without the ratio, how do you know your risk?
  • 2. Understand Position Sizing: All traders must learn to know “how much” to trade on each position. Do not overtrade or you will runt he risk of ruin. Position sizing is rule number one of managing risk.
  • 3. Cut Losses: Do not allow losses to run wild. You must learn to cut losses and understand that losses are a part of the game, a large part of the game. Check you ego of winning at the door. We are here to make money, not go undefeated. Play sports if you want to keep score with a record rather than your bankroll.
  • 4. Learn when to Sell: You must learn when to sell. Selling is more important than buying as it ties directly to risk management. Use stops if you haven’t yet developed the discipline to get out at your predetermined stop or profit goal.
  • 5. Average up in Price: I will never hesitate to add shares in a stock that is moving higher (see Mastercard) but I always avoid averaging down. Remember, cut losses and never throw good money after bad because we know that’s a quick way to the poorhouse.
  • 6. Have Patience: It takes years to master trading as an advanced skill; even then, you are never done learning or adapting.
  • 7. Buy 52-week Highs, not 52-Week Lows: Don’t be afraid to buy stocks making new highs. The garbage sits at the bottom of the market along with poor earnings, weakness and further downward pressure. Buy strength and the momentum moving higher. Stocks are typically priced at the levels they trade for good reason. This applies to most premium items in life.
  • 8. Ignore the Talking Heads: Do not listen to the stories, gossip and rumors flying around on network television, stock forums or the major financial newspapers. It a surefire route to bad information and clueless advice. Do your own research; you’ll come out much further ahead. This applies to crappy blogs and internet sites as well.
  • 9. Understand Technical Analysis: Fundamental analysis is a solid part of my trading system but technical analysis brings in the dough. You must learn, understand and use technical analysis on a daily basis. Fundamental analysis tells me what and technical analysis tells me when, where and how.
  • 10. Control Emotions: Enough said – You must control your emotions or the game is over!Understand you!

Managing the Mind to Stay in the Game

  • “The creation of bad trades is easy:  trade your opinion, trade big, don’t cut your losses, just hold on and hope.  Bad trades fight trends; they put out a lot money with the risk of making little.  The entry and exit signals for bad trades are hope and fear, with the ego stepping in and refusing to honor the stop loss.”
  • “Dramatic and emotional trading experiences tend to be negative; pride is a great banana peel, as are hope, fear, and greed.  My biggest slipups occurred shortly after I got emotionally involved with positions.”  -Ed Seykota
  • A good trade is taken with complete confidence and follows your trading method; a bad trade is taken on an opinion.
  • A good trade is taken with a disciplined entry and position size; a bad trade is taken to win back losses the market owes you.
  • “Ninety-five percent of the trading errors you are likely to make–causing the money to just evaporate before you eyes–will stem from you attitudes about being wrong, losing money, missing out, and leaving money on the table.”  -Mark Douglas
    • A loss is not when I lose money; it’s when I don’t follow my plan
    • Turn down the heat when you are getting smoked (pare back position size, trade smaller in a drawdown)
  • A good trade is taken when your entry parameters line up; a bad trade is taken out of fear of missing a move
  • A good trade is taken to be profitable in the context of your trading plan; a bad trade is taken out of greed to make a lot of money quickly.
  • A good trade is taken according to your trading plan; a bad trade is taken to inflate the ego.
  • A good trade is taken without regret or internal conflict; a bad trade is taken when a trader is double-minded.

Bankers never learn

The reason for the Recession — simplified.

A naked and drunken woman boards a cab in London one night.

The Gujju driver keeps staring and does not start the cab.

Woman : Haven’t you ever seen a naked woman before ???

Gujju Driver : I am not staring at you lady ….. just wondering where you kept money to pay !!

The Moral : That is what most of the American and European banks failed to do. (i.e.) Assessing repayment capacity before taking exposure !!!

Long live Gujju enterprise…

4 Quotes from Michael Marcus

You have to learn how to lose; it is more important than learning how to win. If you think you are always going to be a winner, when you lose, you will develop feelings of hostility and end up blaming the market instead of trying to learn why you lost.

If trading is your life , it is a torturous kind of excitement. But if you are keeping your life in balance, then it is fun. All the successful traders I’ve seen that lasted in the business sooner or later got to that point. They have a balanced life; they have fun outside of trading. You can’t sustain it if you don’t have some other focus. Eventually, you wind up over trading or getting excessively disturbed about temporary failures.

I think the leading cause of financial disablement is the belief that you can rely on the experts to help you. It might, if you know the right expert….Typically, however, these so-called “experts” are not traders. Your average broker couldn’t be a trader in a million years. More money is lost listening to brokers than any other way. Trading requires an intense personal involvement. You have to do your own homework, and that is what I advise people to do.

Perhaps the most important rule is to hold on to your winners and cut your losers. Both are equally important. If you don’t stay with your winners, you are not going to be able to pay the losers.
You also have to follow your own light. Because I have so many friends who are talented traders, I often have to remind myself that if I try to trade their way, or on their ideas, I am going to lose. Every trader has strengths and weakness. Some are good holders of winners, but may hold their losers a little too long. Others may cut their winners a little short, but are quick to take their losses. As long as you stick to your own style, you get the good and bad in your own approach. When you try to incorporate someine else’s style, you often wind up with the worst of both styles. I’ve done that a lot.

Go to top