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Confusion and Frustration for Traders

Maslow one commented that, when all you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as a nail. So it is with psychologists that involve themselves in markets. Lacking an understanding of actual speculative strategies and tactics–not to mention portfolio construction–they reduce performance problems to the lowest, psychological denominator. In so doing, they confuse cause and effect: they observe frustrated traders and assume that relieving frustration is the key to making money.

The professional speculator, unlike the retail daytrader, rarely falls into performance problems because of derelict discipline or runaway emotions. Rather, it is the very competence of the professional that leads to performance challenges. *It is when pros are most in sync with markets, identifying and profiting from themes and patterns, that they are most vulnerable to ever-changing patterns of direction, volatility, and correlation*. The confidence that permits healthy risk-taking under the best of speculative conditions inevitably gives way to confusion and frustration when skilled participants are no longer in sync with their markets. (more…)

22 Trading Rules

1)All successful traders use methods that suit their personality; You are neither Waren Buffett nor George Soros nor Jesse Livermore; Don’t assume you can trade like them.

2)What the market does is beyond your control; Your reaction to the market, however, is not beyond your control. Indeed, its the ONLY thing you can control.

3)To be a winner, you have to be willing to take a loss; (The Stop-Loss Breakdown)

4)HOPE is not a word in the winning Trader’s vocabulary;

5)When you are on a losing streak — and you will eventually find yourself on one —
reduce your position size;

6)Don’t underestimate the time it takes to succeed as a trader — it takes 10 years to
become very good at anything; (There Are No Shortcuts)

7)Trading is a vocation — not a hobby

8)Have a business/trading plan; (Write This Down)

9)Identify your greatest weakness, Be honest — and DEAL with it

10)There are times when the best thing to do is nothing; Learn to recognize these times
(Nothing Doing)

11)Being a great trader is a process. It’s a race with no finish line.

12)Other people’s opinions are meaningless to you; Make your own trading decisions
(The Wrong Crowd)

13)Analyze your past trades. Study what happened to the stocks after you closed the
position. Consider your P&L game tapes and go over them the way Vince Lombardi
Bill Parcells reviewed past Superbowls

14)Excessive leverage can knock you out of the game permanently

15)The Best traders continue to learn — and adapt to changing conditions

16)Don’t just stand there and let the truck roll over you

17)Being wrong is acceptable — staying wrong is unforgivable (I liked this one! –
BMB)

18)Contain your losses (Protect Your Backside)

19)Good traders manage the downside; They don’t worry about the upside

20)Knowing when to get out of a position is as important as when to get in

21)To excel, you have to put in hard work

22)Discipline, Discipline, Discipline !

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