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21 Trading Quotes

1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” ~ Mark Twain
2. “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” ~ John Maynard Keynes.
3. “I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon.” ~ Baron Rothschild
4. “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” ~ John Maynard Keynes
5. “Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.” ~ Warren Buffett
6. “It is not our duty as speculators to be on the bull side or the bear side but upon the winning side.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
7. “The  principles of successful speculation are based on the supposition that people will continue in the future to make the mistakes that they made in the past.” ~ Thomas F. Woodlock
8. “It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting tight. Got that?” ~ Mr. Partridge in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
9. “They say you never grow poor taking profits. No, you don’t.  But neither do you grow rich taking a four-point profit in a bull market.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
10. “Remember that prices are never too high for you to begin buying or too low to begin selling.  But after the initial transaction, don’t make a second unless the first shows you a profit.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
11. “A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does the damage to the pocketbook and the soul.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
12. “If a man didn’t make mistakes, he’d own the world in a month.  But if he didn’t profit by his mistakes, he wouldn’t own a blessed thing.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
13. “The man who is right always has two forces working in his favor – basic conditions and the men who are wrong.  In a bull market bear factors are ignored.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
14. [What advice would you give the novice trader?] – “First, I would say that risk management is the most important thing to be well understood.  Undertrade, undertrade, undertrade is my second piece of advice.  Whatever you think your position ought to be, cut it at least in half.” ~ Bruce Kovner in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards
15. “There is probably no class of trades with a higher failure rate than impulsive trades.” Jack Schwager in Market Wizards
16. [What is the most important advice you could give the novice trader?] – “Trade small because that’s when you are as bad as you are ever going to be.  Learn from your mistakes.” ~ Richard Dennis in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards
17. “The elements of good trading are: (1) cutting losses, (2) cutting losses, and (3) cutting losses.  If you can follow these three rules, you may have a chance.”  ~ Ed Seykota in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards
18. “Charting is a little like surfing.  You don’t have to know a lot about the phsyics of tides, resonance, and fluid dynamics in order to catch a good wave.  You just have to be able to sense when its’s happening and then have the drive to act at the right time.” ~ Ed Seykota in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards
19. “I have two basic rules about winning in trading as well as in life: (1) If you don’t bet, you can’t win.  (2) If you lose all your chips, you can’t bet.” ~ Larry Hite in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards
20. “Perhaps the most important rule is to hold on to your winners and cut your losers.  Both are equally important.  If you don’t stay with your winners, you are not going to be able to pay for the losers.” ~ Michael Marcus in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards
21. “Lose your opinion – not your money” ~ Unknown

21 Quotes for Traders

1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” ~ Mark Twain

2. “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” ~ John Maynard Keynes.

3. “I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon.” ~ Baron Rothschild

4. “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” ~ John Maynard Keynes

5. “Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.” ~ Warren Buffett

6. “It is not our duty as speculators to be on the bull side or the bear side but upon the winning side.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

7. “The  principles of successful speculation are based on the supposition that people will continue in the future to make the mistakes that they made in the past.” ~ Thomas F. Woodlock

8. “It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting tight. Got that?” ~ Mr. Partridge in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

9. “They say you never grow poor taking profits. No, you don’t.  But neither do you grow rich taking a four-point profit in a bull market.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

10. “Remember that prices are never too high for you to begin buying or too low to begin selling.  But after the initial transaction, don’t make a second unless the first shows you a profit.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

11. “A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does the damage to the pocketbook and the soul.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (more…)

MANAGING RISK

Well, perhaps the best way is to emulate some of the trading principles used by the pundits of yesteryear who beat the stock market no matter the emotions and mechanics of the institutional herd. For instance:

Bernard Baruch – Some 70 years ago, he would research a stock, buy it, and then each time the stock rose 10% from his purchase price, buy an additional amount equal to his first purchase. If the stock began declining he would sell everything he had bought when the drop equaled 10% of its top price …

Baron Rothschild – His success formula was centered on the famous quote attributed to him – “I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon.” …

Jesse Livermore – This legendary speculator profited enormously by calling the various 1921 – 1927 advances correctly. In 1929 he reasoned that the market was overvalued, but finally gave up and became bullish near the top in the fall of that infamous year.

He quickly cut his losses, however, and switched to the “short side.” Livermore listed three major points for his success:

1. Sensitivity to mob psychology

2. Willingness to take a loss

3. Liquidity, meaning that stock positions should not be taken that cannot be sold in 15 minutes “At the market” …

Addison Cammack – A stockbroker from Kentucky who swore by the two-point stop-loss rule. “If you’re wrong,” he said, “you might as well be wrong by two points as ten.” He followed this method successfully and was one of the few bears to make a fortune on Wall Street and keep it …

Interestingly, all of these disciplines have one thing in common. They all adhere to Benjamin Graham’s mantra, “The essence of portfolio management is the management of RISKS, not the management of RETURNS. Well-managed portfolios start with this precept.”