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The way to learn

  
  Education
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Learning to trade is not very different from learning any other discipline. It takes a lot of efforts and finding the right teachers. At some level of experience, the best teacher for you will be you, but before such level is reached having someone to show you the direction of least resistance is priceless.

For example, in his early years, one of the most notorious composers ever –  Mozart, imitated and mimicked the work of others. From their lessons, later in his life, he gradually builds his own unique style. This is a common path to success in music. Common path to success in trading.

In music first you learn the notes. Then you try to replay other guys’ compositions until one day you start to compose in your own unique style. In trading, first you learn the basics of supply and demand, some common market anomalies and basic market psychology. Then you read about other, already successful, people’s methods and try to mimic them until one day you become experienced enough to create your own style of trading that satisfy you financial and personal goals best. These are three different levels of expertese in each field and they should be mastered in the mentioned sequence.

10 WAYS TO BE A TRADER NOT A GAMBLER

  
  Education
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  1. Trade based on the probabilities NOT the potential profits.
  2. Trade small position sizes based on your account NEVER put your whole account at risk of ruin.
  3. Trade a plan NOT emotions.
  4. Always enter a trade with an edge that can be defined DO NOT trade with entries that are only opinions.
  5. Trade based on quantifiable facts NOT opinions.
  6. Trade after extensive research on what works and what does not. Don’t trade in ignorance.
  7. Trade with the correct position sizing since risk management is your number one priority and profits are secondary concern.
  8. Trade in a way that eliminates any chance of financial ruin NOT to get rich quick.
  9. Trade with discipline and focus DO NOT change the way you trade suddenly due to winning or losing streaks.
  10. Trade in the present moment and DO NOT get biased due to old wins or losses.

Are You Happy?

  
  Education
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areuhappyTake this test to find out how happy you are. Using a scale of 0
(no relevance) to 4 (very relevant), rank each question as to how relevant it is to your trading life.

I often break my trading rules.
Each day, I do not look forward to trading.
Tension or stress hurts my trading performance.
I fear losses and lust after profits.
I do not appreciate my trading successes as much as I should.
It bothers me when my unrealistic trading expectations are unmet.
I trade for the wrong reasons which creates an emotional rollercoaster.
Trading has taken over my life.

Total your scores. The closer to 32 your score, the more unhappy you are as a trader.

 

4 Trading Quotes From Mark Douglas

  
  Education
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There is a random distribution between wins and losses for any given set of variables that define an edge. In other words, based on the past performance of your edge, you may know that out of the next 20 trades, 12 will be winners and 8 will be losers. What you don’t know is the sequence of wins and losses or how much money the market is going to make available on the winning trades. This truth makes trading a probability or numbers game. When you really believe that trading is simply a probability game, concepts like ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘win’ and ‘lose’ no longer have the same significance. As a result, your expectations will be in harmony with the possibilities.

If you really believe in an uncertain outcome, then you also have to expect that virtually anything can happen. Otherwise, the moment you let your mind hold onto the notion that you know, you stop taking all of the unknown variables into consideration. Your mind won’t let you have it both ways. If you believe you know something, the moment is no longer unique.

To whatever degree you haven’t accepted the risk, is the same degree to which you will avoid the risk. Trying to avoid something that is unavoidable will have disastrous effects on your ability to trade successfully.

The less I cared about whether or not I was wrong, the clearer things became, making it much easier to move in and out of positions, cutting my losses short to make myself mentally available to take the next opportunity.

The Man Who Thinks He Can- Written some 100 years ago , which nicely captures the value of 'Self Belief'

  
  Education
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The Man Who Thinks He Can.
By Walter D.Wintle.
If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
Traders Must Read ……………….EveryDay

15 Points for Traders

  
  Education
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1. Anger over a losing trade – Traders usually feel as if they are victims of the market. This is usually because they either 1) care too much about the trade and/or 2) have unrealistic expectations. They seek approval from the markets, something the markets cannot provide.
2. Trading too much – Traders that do this have some personal need to “conquer” the market. The sole motivation here is greed and about “getting even” with the market. It is impossible to get “even” with the market. Trading too much is also indicative of a lack of discipline and ignoring set rules. This is emotionally-driven.
3. Trading the wrong size – Traders ignore or don’t recognize the risk of each trade or do not understand money management. There is no personal responsibility here. Typically, aggressive position sizes are used, however if risk is not contained, then it could spiral out of control. Usually, this issue comes from traders wanting to make a huge killing. Maybe they do win, but the point is that a bad habit emerges if a trader repeats this behavior.
4. PMSing after the day is over – Traders are on a wild emotional roller coaster that is fueled by a plethora of emotions ranging throughout the spectrum. Focus is taken off of the process and is placed too heavily on the money. These people are very irritable akin to the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (something I wouldn’t know about personally).
5. Using money you can’t afford to lose – Usually, a trader is pinning his/her last hopes to make money. Traders fear “losing” the “last best opportunity”. Self-discipline is quickly forgotten but the power of greed drives them, usually over a cliff. Here, the rewards are given more attention and overall personal financial risk is ignored.
6. Wishing, hoping, or praying – Do this in church, but leave this out of the market. Traders do not take control of their trades and cannot accept the present reality of what’s happening in the market.
7. Getting high after a huge win – These traders tie their self-worth to their success in the markets or by the value of their account. Usually, these folks have an unrealistic feeling of being “in control” of the markets. A huge loss usually sobers them up pretty quickly. It’s important to maintain emotional restraint after wins, just as you would for losses.
8. Adding to a losing position – Also known as doubling, tripling, quadrupling down, typically, this means that the trader does not want to admit the trade is wrong. The trader’s ego is at stake and #6 comes into effect as the trader is hoping the markets will “work in their favor”. If you are wrong, you have a near 0% chance of making a full recovery. (more…)

How did we end up with two, different definitions of risk?

  
  Education
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When I say “risk” and you say “risk,” chances are high we don’t mean the same thing.

The finance industry defines risk as something measurable. It is variability within a set of known limits. You may have heard it referred to as standard deviation or even volatility. Ultimately, it represents how much an investment wiggles over time.

I’m an adviser who talks to humans. I also happen to be human. From my experience, I know humans outside the financial world define risk differently. In everyday life, we tend to think of risk as uncertainty, or what is left over after we have thought of everything else.

With uncertainty comes variability within a set of unknown limits. It’s the stuff that comes out of left field, like Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s black swan events. Because we can’t measure uncertainty with any sort of accuracy, we think of risk as something outside our control. We often connect it to things like running out of money in retirement or ending up in a car crash.

But how did we end up with two such completely different definitions of the same thing? My research points to an economist named Frank Knight and his book “Risk, Uncertainty and Profit.”

(more…)

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