rss

Advice To Traders From The Year 1923

Your biggest enemy, when trading, is within yourself. Success will only come when you learn to control your emotions. Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (1923) offers advice that still applies today.

  1. CautionExcitement (and fear of missing an opportunity) often persuade us to enter the market before it is safe to do so. After a down-trend a number of rallies may fail before one eventually carries through. Likewise, the emotional high of a profitable trade may blind us to signs that the trend is reversing.
  2. PatienceWait for the right market conditions before trading. There are times when it is wise to stay out of the market and observe from the sidelines.
  3. ConvictionHave the courage of your convictions: Take steps to protect your profits when you see that a trend is weakening, but sit tight and don’t let fear of losing part of your profit cloud your judgment. There is a good chance that the trend will resume its upward climb.
  4. DetachmentConcentrate on the technical aspects rather than on the money. If your trades are technically correct, the profits will follow. 
    Stay emotionally detached from the market. Avoid getting caught up in the short-term excitement. Screen-watching is a tell-tale sign: if you continually check prices or stare at charts for hours it is a sign that you are unsure of your strategy and are likely to suffer losses.
  5. FocusFocus on the longer time frames and do not try to catch every short-term fluctuation. The most profitable trades are in catching the large trends. (more…)

Sense, Sensex and Sentiments :Book Review

The book should be read by all patriotic Indians as it educates us on the apathy of the government to prevent the loot of the country.

The book Sense, Sensex and Sentiments written by M R Venkatesh, an experienced chartered accountant, describes the ways corruption is practiced in India with illicit outflow of domestic capital.


 As per John Christensen, an authority on secrecy jurisdictions, who has written the foreword of the book, India ranks fifth in the world, in terms of the scale of its illicit outflows, and between USD 22-27 billion of domestic capital flows illegally out of India every year. With the increase in corruption levels in the country in the last few years, scams hitting the headlines every day, and the government remaining a silent spectator, the book is very timely and educative for all.

 As the author has pointed out, corruption is the manifestation of poor governance and results in the flight of capital from an economy. Capital flight causes poverty, which in turn feeds on terror. Terror leads to chaos, crisis and calamity and in this situation, the corrupt, criminals and terrorists flourish.

As an accountant of great experience, the author has shared details of hawala, money laundering and tax havens. While there are no official estimates of the amount of illegal wealth parked in tax havens abroad, as per the most conservative estimate, USD500 billion is parked in tax havens. Information about 1000s of Swiss bank customers from about 180 nations is available, which is now in the possession of the French government. Spain, Italy and Germany have obtained their share of the data, but there is no mention about India showing any interest in this matter.

 The book has touched upon important aspects of market sentiments, the role of the media in the swings and its effect on the stock market. The investment by the financial sector into the commodities and futures market is affecting food prices, irrespective of the demand-supply relationship.

Today, as we witness an abnormal rise invegetable prices and the government’s helplessness to control the rise, the discussion in the book on this aspect is pertinent. The media plays a very important role in influencing the psyche of the people. As such, the role of the financial players in influencing the views of the media also needs to be looked at. The arrangement between the media and financial players through ‘treaties’, affects the media’s role as an independent commentator. (more…)

Psychological

.PsychologicalThe goal of any trader is to turn profits on a regular basis, yet so few people ever really make consistent money as traders. What accounts for the small percentage of traders who are consistently successful is psychological—the consistent winners think differently from everyone else.

The defining characteristic that separates the consistent winners from everyone else is this: The winners have attained a mind-set—aunique set of attitudes—that allows them to remain disciplined, focused,and, above all, confident in spite of the adverse conditions.

Those traders who have confidence in their own trades, who trust themselves to do what needs to be done without hesitation, are the ones who become successful.They
no longer fear the erratic behavior of the market. They learn to focus on the information that helps them spot opportunities to make a profit, rather than focusing on the information that reinforces their fears.

You don’t need to know what’s going to happen next to make money; anything can happen, and every moment is unique, meaning every edge and outcome is truly a unique experience.

The trader that it’s his attitude and “state of mind” that determine his results.

Go to top