I admitted I was powerless over my affliction to taking small profits.
I made a decision to turn myself over to the care of those who affably might help me as God has helped others.
I made a searching inventory of all the losses I have taken.
I admitted to other human beings especially the spec list the nature of my wrongs.
I am ready and willing, but perhaps not able, to remove these defects.
I humbly ask all my supporters and friends to help me remove them. (more…)
The ANTICIPATION Phase: this is where all the left hand chart reading takes place in preparation for the right hand chart battle. It’s the PROCESS that precedes the ACTION to put on a trade. A technical trader anticipates that a past price pattern will repeat again, so he identifies the pattern, locates a current one and determines a suitable match is present. Technical analysis is nothing more than finding previous price patterns matched with current market conditions. Traders anticipate such repetitive behavior based on human nature and seek to take advantage of it.
The ACTION phase involves hitting the BUY key based on the previous ANTICIPATION process. Since no one can tell the future or what the right hand side of the chart will reveal, the ACTION is based on the confidence that the trader will do what is right once a trade is put on, which is to exit gracefully at a pre-determined loss line or exit humbly at a pre-determined profit target (P2), fully accepting either/or, or an OUTCOME between one or the other, depending on current market conditions.
The REINFORCEMENT phase occurs after the trade is closed. Whether or not the trade is a win, lose, or draw, the self-talk immediately following trade closure is vitally important for the next trade, and even the next series of trades, as future trades can be negatively or positively affected by building pathways to future success. These pathways are neurologically based and can make or break a successful trading career. While it is important to ANTICIPATE right side chart OUTCOMES, what is more important is DEVELOPING right side brain reinforcement.
“Fibonacci” is a well-known word. It’s the name of an Italian mathematician who became famous by discovering a peculiar series of numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, etc).
Every number in this sequence is the sum of the two preceding ones. The ratios of these numbers mysteriously correspond to the proportions of things in the universe, from sunflowers to galaxies.
Long ago traders found that Fibonacci numbers and ratios can be suitable for technical analysis. Firstly, they are nicely mathematical and add a pleasing element of nerdiness. Secondly, they produce objective price reference points and thus reduce the subjectivity of analysis if used correctly.
Today, MetaTrader has a built-in set of Fibonacci tools. It includes retracement, expansion, fan, arcs, and time zones.
Fibonacci tools are used for 2 main purposes:
Let’s focus on Fibo retracement levels and Fibo expansions as these tools offer the greatest merit to Forex traders. (more…)
Here are some of my favorite passages in the book:
On bank stocks’ book value:
He concluded that there was effectively no way for an accountant assigned to audit a giant Wall Street firm to figure out whether it was making money or losing money. They were giant black boxes, whose hidden gears were in constant motion.
Regarding the value added by sell-side analysts:
You can be positive and wrong on the sell side. But if you are negative and wrong, you get fired
On Manipulation of the masses:
How do you make poor people feel wealthy when wages are stagnant? You give them cheap loans
On Recognizing when a credit driven bubble is about to burst: (more…)
Too many traders believe that their last trade is a reflection of just how good of a trader they are (but they are the only ones who feel that way about themselves). This boils down to one word – expectation. 
If you expect to win all the time, or even the vast majority of the time, you’re setting yourself up for a lot of heartache. That frustration, though, is the very same force that will truly make your negative perception of yourself a reality. And even a good trade can be damaging if you let it warp your disciplined approach. The fact of the matter is that this is a game of odds, and should be played over a long period of time. Focus on the war – not the battle.
1. Attitude produces better overall results than analysis or technique.
2. Positive winning attitude = expecting a positive result from your efforts, with an acceptance that whatever results you get are a perfect reflection of your level of development and what you need to learn to get better.
3. Winning in any endeavour is mostly a function of attitude.
4. Losing and being wrong are inevitable realities of trading.
5. The market has no responsibility towards the individual trader. Taking responsibility means acknowledging and accepting, at the deepest part of your identity, that you – not the market – are completely responsible for your success or failure as a trader.
6. If you perceive the endless stream of opportunities to enter and exit trades without self-criticism and regret, then you will be in the best frame of mind to act in your own best interest and learn from your experiences.
7. You will need to learn how to adjust your attitudes and beliefs about trading in such a way that you can trade without the slightest bit of fear, but at the same time keep a framework in place that does not allow you to become reckless.
8. Trading is an activity that offers the individual unlimited freedom of creative expression.
9. The unlimited characteristics of the trading environment require that we act with some degree of restraint and self-control, at least if we want to create some measure of consistent success.
10. The hard reality of trading is that, if you want to create consistency, you have to start from the premise that no matter what the outcome, you are completely responsible.
11. One of the principal reasons so many successful people have failed miserably at trading is that their success is partly attributable to their superior ability to manipulate and control the social environment, to respond to what they want. (Unfortunately) the market doesn’t respond to control and manipulation (unless you’re a very large trader).
12. The tools you will use to create this new version of yourself are your willingness and desire to learn, fuelled by your passion to be successful. Successful traders have virtually eliminated the effects of fear and recklessness from their trading.
