Archives of “February 2019” month

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Legendary Commodities Trader Marc Rich Has Died

  
Analysis, Education
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BREAKING NEWS-FLASHMarc Rich, father of modern oil trading and founder of the group that became Glencore Xstrata, has died at the age of 78, the head of his philanthropic foundation said on Wednesday.

 Many of the biggest players in oil and metals trading trace their roots back to Rich, whose triumph in the 1960s and 70s was to create a spot market for oil, wresting business away from the world’s big oil companies.

Rich, however, was also a controversial figure. He was forced to flee the United States for Switzerland in 1983 after allegedly taking advantage of the 1980 U.S. embargo against Iran to make huge profits in illicit Iranian oil sale.

“Marc Rich passed away this morning at his home in Lucerne. He will be brought to Israel for burial,” Avner Azulay, managing director of Marc Rich Foundation, said by telephone. (more…)

Livermores Seven Trading Lessons

  
  Education
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Lesson Number One: Cut your losses quickly.

As soon as a trade is contemplated, a trader must know at what point in time he’ll be proven wrong and exit a position. If a trader doesn’t know his exit before he takes the entry, he might as well go to the racetrack or casino where at least the odds can be quantified.

Lesson Number Two: Confirm your judgment before going all in.

Livermore was famous for throwing out a small position and waiting for his thesis to be confirmed. Once the stock was traveling in the direction he desired, Livermore would pile on rapidly to maximize the returns.

There are several ways to buy more in a winning position — pyramiding up, buying in thirds at predetermined prices, being 100% in no more than 5% above the initial entry — but the take home is to buy in the direction of your winning trade –  never when it goes against you.

Lesson Number Three: Watch leading stocks for the best action.

Livermore knew that trending issues were where the big money would be made, and to fight this reality was a loser’s game.

Lesson Number Four: Let profits ride until price action dictates otherwise.

“It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting.”

One method that satisfies the desire for profit and subdues the fear of a losing trade is to take one half of your profit off at a predetermined level, put a stop at breakeven on the rest, and let it play out without micromanaging the position.

Lesson Number Five: Buy all-time new highs.

The psychological merits of buying all-time or 52-week highs are immense and shouldn’t be discounted as a part of your overall strategy. (more…)

Trade in Private

  
  Education
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do_not_disturb_signs

Never under any circumstances reveal your trading positions to anyone. Your mind must be in complete harmony with your trading positions. When you reveal your positions to someone, they will immediately start to question the trade and start to erode your confidence and concentration in the trade. You will then be a less effective trader and eventually lose.

Successful traders think differently than the rest and they never quit…win, lose, or draw.

  
Analysis, Education

As in life so also in trading…if you are going to succeed you will have to learn to fail and fail often.  Don’t take failure personally as if something is wrong with you or the market is out to get you.  The markets do not care about your analysis, or your indicators, or your chart patterns.  The markets simply test the resolve of those who choose to play the game.

Your long term success will be based on your willingness to keep on speculating while managing uncertainty, fear and greed, losses and gains, the knowns and the unknowns.  Success is about speculating again after multiple, managed losses knowing that the next big winner may just be the next trade.  Success is about speculating again after a winner, not fearing that the next trade may chip away at your recent gains.

 

61 -One Liner on Strategy

  
Analysis, Education
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1. Always change a losing game; never change a winning game.

2. Always have a plan going into a match, and a backup plan.

3. Always have a surprise to pull out all the stops.

4. Reconnoiter your opponent before the match for his strengths and weaknesses.

5. Have a general strategy against all power players, and another against all control players.

6. Analyze every match – how would you play it differently next time.

7. Keep a log of your strategies, and of the opponents.

8. Always have a customized strategy against each opponent, if possible.

9. Call a timeout whenever you skip two straight shots, or the opponent runs three straight points.

10. Keep a coach in the crowd for a second opinion. (more…)

10 Different Types Of Traders. Which One Are You?

  
  Education
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Here are a list of ten types of traders I have observed on social media. We have all likely been more than one of these types at some time or another while trading. But we need to focus like a laser on the only real reason we should be trading: to make money and once we have made it, to keep it.

  1. Greedy Traders: They trade too big and risk too much because their only goal is the easy money. They usually end up blowing up their account.
  2. New Traders: They have no idea how the markets work so their only goal should be knowledge. New Traders do well to stay students until they have done their homework. Rushing in to make money without risk management, a winning method, the right mind set, and a trading plan will result eventually in failure 100% of the time.
  3. Arrogant Traders: Their only goal is to prove they are right and satisfy their fragile egos. Arrogant traders will lie, delete tweets and posts, never admit when they are wrong. When they are wrong they will hide it under a cloak, when they are right they will scream it from the roof tops.
  4. Trend Traders: Their only goal is to ride a trend and make money. Trend traders will buy high and sell much higher, they will short and cover much lower. They look like genius’ and prophets in a trending market either way it trends but they look like they can’t even trade in choppy or whipsawing markets. In the long term they do very well.
  5. Scared Traders: Their only goal is to not lose their capital. Scared traders will immediately close losing trades and also immediately take profits. They are very stressed out in trading due to not understanding the nature of trading itself or just can not handle the uncertainty or risk. They either need to do their homework to develop their faith in or if they have done the homework trading may just no be for them. (more…)
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