1.) When it comes to trading, it turns out that the skills we learn to earn high marks in school, advance our careers and create relationships with other people, turn out to be inappropriate for trading. Traders must learn to think in terms of probabilities and surrender all of the skills acquired to achieve in virtually every other aspect of life.
2.) Within 9 months of moving to Chicago, I had lost nearly everything I owned. My losses were the result of both my trading activities and my exorbitant lifestyle, which demanded that I make a lot of money as a trader.
3.) You don’t need to know what’s going to happen next to make money. Anything can happen. Every moment is unique, meaning every edge and outcome is truly a unique experience. The trade either works or it doesn’t.
4.) More or better market analysis is not the solution to his trading difficulties or lack of consistent results. It is attitude and “state of mind” that determine his results. A winner’s mindset means learning how to think in probabilities.
5.) The edge means there’s a higher probability of one outcome than another. The greater your confidence, the easier it will be to execute your trades.
6.) Do you ever feel compelled to make a trade because you are afraid that you might miss out?
7.) People , expressing their beliefs and expectations about the future, make prices move- not models. The fact that a model makes a logical and reasonable projection based on all the relevant variables is not of much value if the traders who are responsible for most of the trading volume aren’t aware of the model or don’t believe in it. In other words, people who trade don’t always act in a rational manner.
8.) Price movement could be so volatile that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to stay in a trade in order to realize the fundamental analysts’ objective. (more…)
It has been exactly nine months since the S&P 500 bottomed on March 9th at 676.53. Since then, the index has rallied 62%. Below we provide a chart of the rolling 9-month change (%) for the S&P 500 going back to 1928. As shown, 1933 was the only other time when the S&P 500 had a bigger 9-month gain. The 9-month period ending on May 12th, 1983 is the next best behind the current one with a gain of 60%. Also, the 9-month 62% gain was preceded by a 9-month decline of 51%. The only time that the index fell more over a 9-month period was in 1931/32 when it dropped 68%. It’s easy to forget how crazy things were over the last 18 months, but stats like these provide a staggering refresher.