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Jesse Livermore : Trading Quotes

  
  Education
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Speculating

If somebody had told me my method would not work I nevertheless would have tried it out to make sure for myself, for when I am wrong only one thing convinces me of it, and that is, to lose money. And I am only right when I make money. That is speculating.

Risk

If all I have is ten dollars and I risk it, I am much braver than when I risk a million if I have another million salted away.

Personality

Every stock is like a human being : it has a personality – a distinctive personality – aggressive, reserved, hyper, high-strung, volatile, boring, direct, logical, predictable, unpredictable. I often studied stocks like I would study people; after a while their reactions to certain circumstances become more predictable.

Loss

A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does damage to the pocketbook and to the soul.

Entry

When I’m bearish and I sell a stock, each sale must be at a lower level than the previous sale. When I am buying, the reverse is true. I must buy on a rising scale. I don’t buy long stocks on a scale down, I buy on a scale up.

General Stock Market

There is only one side to the stock market;….not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side. It took me longer to get that general principle fixed firmly in my mind than it did most of the more technical phases of the game of stock market speculation

Know When to Trade (and When Not to Trade)

  
  Education
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Successful traders know when to trade: they trade when their system tells them to. That might seem like an obvious point, but people too often forget it during the excitement of actually having money on the line.
A trader should be governed by his or her system, not by the circumstances of the moment, the market, or the outcome of a few trades. Keep a long-term perspective which focuses on developing a consistent, repeatable strategy. You won’t know what is successful or what fails if you constantly change your reasons for trading.
It is hardest to keep this kind of control when you’re experiencing losses. But this is also the most crucial time to be consistent. Otherwise, you won’t know how to avoid downturns in the future, or how to prevent them from becoming too damaging. (more…)

Trading and alpine climbing

  
  Education
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“To climb mountains is to make decisions…. Good decisions are contextual, based on actual circumstances, and cannot be reduced to a set of rules…. In fact rules, guidelines, and codes, although useful for introducing concepts, ultimately become counterproductive when it comes to actually making choices… The simplest climb involves circumstances far too complex to be adequately addressed by rules. The mountain environment itself forces you to rely on your own skills of observation, your understanding of what you observe, and an accurate assessment of risks and of your own abilities.”

The authors continue: “Rules must be replaced by that mysterious quality called judgment. The acquisition of judgment begins with a mountaineer’s very first climb and continues throughout the climber’s entire career. It is a process that cannot be bypassed nor ever be considered complete.”

Principles that help guide decision making are:

Anticipate changes. “Continually look forward. Every change in terrain, route difficulty, or hazard may require a new strategy, mode of movement, or protective system to deal with new circumstances.” (p. 15)

Keep options open. “Any given decision can either maximize or limit other possible options in the future.”

Analyze benefits and costs. “Addressing one risk or solving one problem often entails introducing other risks or aggravating other problems.”

Maintain momentum. “Staying focused on forward movement means always being a little bit stressed, but in such a potentially dangerous environment, some level of stress is, arguably, appropriate.”

Gather information. “Preparing ahead of time will give you a head start…. Above all, remember what you see. Every glimpse is a new piece of the puzzle.”

Recognize and correct errors. “Rather than expecting perfection, strive to recognize errors as early as possible, and take steps to correct the situation. Do not carry on blindly, hoping that everything will work out. Denial causes delay, piling error upon error until only good luck can prevent things from spiraling out of control.” (p. 16)

Assess your own skill and knowledge. “An honest and dispassionate self-critique is indispensable. For example, the capacity to observe, predict, and respond to cues improves over time, just as movement skills and climbing ability improve with practice; but on the other hand, competence can be degraded temporarily by states such as fear or fatigue or by inadequate information and inaccurate perception.” (p. 17)

Alpine climbers take on considerably more risk than traders. After all, traders lose only money; climbers can lose their lives. But the way to the top demands similar decision-making processes.

Coach Yourself as a Trader

  
  Education
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What are the three things (i.e. courses of action, strategies, resources) that you’ve found most helpful in mentoring/coaching yourself as a trader?

coach

And here is how I answered:

  • 1. Understand me. The most powerful tool I have found in life and in this specific case, the market, is what I, as a person, am capable of doing as a trader. I finally understand that personal characteristics that are engrained in my DNA will only allow me to trade successfully under specific circumstances. For example, I am much more consistent and profitable as a medium term and longer term trend trader than as a day trader (even more so on the long side). I don’t need to be everything, all the time as long as I continue to focus on the areas that bring me the greatest success. Understanding “me” has been my holy grail of understanding how to trade the market with some type of consistency and profitability.
  • 2. Learning to cut losses. It’s almost cliché but not many people can do it (in any aspect of life). I have learned to cut losses in my trading, my career, my hobby of competitive poker and everything else in life where the rule applies. Without this rule, there wouldn’t be a third rule. (more…)

12 Insightful Thoughts from “The Most Important Thing” by Howard Marks

  
Education, Life
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1. People usually expect the future to be like the past and underestimate the potential for change.

2. When everyone believes something is risky, their unwillingness to buy usually reduces its price to the point where it’s not risky at all. Broadly negative opinion can make it the least risky thing, since all optimism has been driven out of its price.

3. In investing, as in life, there are very few sure things. Values can evaporate, estimates can be wrong, circumstances can change and “sure things” can fail. However, there are two concepts we can hold to with confidence: • Rule number one: most things will prove to be cyclical. • Rule number two: some of the greatest opportunities for gain and loss come when other people forget rule number one.

4. Very early in my career, a veteran investor told me about the three stages of a bull market. Now I’ll share them with you. • The first, when a few forward-looking people begin to believe things will get better • The second, when most investors realize improvement is actually taking place • The third, when everyone concludes things will get better forever

5. Investors hold to their convictions as long as they can, but when the economic and psychological pressures become irresistible, they surrender and jump on the bandwagon.

6. Even when an excess does develop, it’s important to remember that “overpriced” is incredibly different from “going down tomorrow.” • Markets can be over- or underpriced and stay that way—or become more so—for years.

7. If everyone likes it, it’s probably because it has been doing well. Most people seem to think outstanding performance to date presages outstanding future performance. Actually, it’s more likely that outstanding performance to date has borrowed from the future and thus presages subpar performance from here on out. (more…)

Trust Your Gut

  
  Education
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TRUST YOUR GUTThroughout my years trading, I’ve learned many things. In fact, it’s rare that a day goes by without learning something new. Which brings me to my first point; If anyone ever tells you they know everything there is to know about trading stocks, run away from that person as fast as you can!

OK, now that I got that out of the way let’s get back to the purpose of this post. One very important rule I have learned as a Trader is to trust your gut. Now, this rule only applies in specific circumstances. There are times when I have tried to convince myself that my gut wants me to do something. That’s no good! If you have to convince yourself that your gut agrees with a move you want to make in the market, it’s bogus.

The same applies if you have to ask yourself if your gut is telling you to make a move. Seeing a good trade idea and then sitting back and asking yourself if your gut agrees is not the way to go about applying the “trust your gut” rule.

Based on my experience, the only time to truly listen is when a “gut feeling” comes out of nowhere. It just happens…there’s no real explanation. You know it when it occurs, and I highly suggest you don’t ignore it.

That said, please do not add “what does my gut say?” to your pre-trade entry checklist. Also, please do not try to force a gut feeling. Let it come naturally! My objective here is to heighten your senses and hopefully make you more confident in acting those gut feelings when they come.

Psychology of Day Trading

  
  Education
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ReadingNewspaperRead today’s paper tomorrow. When you read yesterday’s paper each day with the
 knowledge of what the market already did, you will affirm that this mornings paper with  yesterday’s news has nothing to do with today’s market.

exitfromtradeYour decision to exit a trade means you perceive changing circumstances. Don’t suddenly  think you can pick a price, exit at the market.

judgement Remember the “power of a position.” Never make a market judgment when you have a  position.

Coach Yourself as a Trader

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

What are the three things (i.e. courses of action, strategies, resources) that you’ve found most helpful in mentoring/coaching yourself as a trader?

And here is how I answered:

  • 1. Understand me. The most powerful tool I have found in life and in this specific case, the market, is what I, as a person, am capable of doing as a trader. I finally understand that personal characteristics that are engrained in my DNA will only allow me to trade successfully under specific circumstances. For example, I am much more consistent and profitable as a medium term and longer term trend trader than as a day trader (even more so on the long side). I don’t need to be everything, all the time as long as I continue to focus on the areas that bring me the greatest success. Understanding “me” has been my holy grail of understanding how to trade the market with some type of consistency and profitability.
  • 2. Learning to cut losses. It’s almost cliché but not many people can do it (in any aspect of life). I have learned to cut losses in my trading, my career, my hobby of competitive poker and everything else in life where the rule applies. Without this rule, there wouldn’t be a third rule.
  • 3. Study and work hard. Sounds so simple but we live in a very lazy society. It is extremely important to my success for me to continuously study the markets on a fundamental and technical level and learn from my successes and mistakes. If you think about it, we would all start at square one on every trade if we didn’t learn from past situations where we succeeded or failed. Applying the knowledge gained from past experiences allows me to properly analyze similar situations in the future with slightly greater odds of success (or at least I would like to think). Never stop learning is a phrase that I will never stop saying as it proves to be truer the older I get.

Trade Like an O'Neil Disciple:Must Buy -Must Read !

  
  Education
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Here is my brief review. Detail review will follow later.
In a year around 40 to 50 books on trading are published, I read most of them, there are very few which have actionable trading ideas and can help you enhance your trading skills. Trade Like an O’Neil Disciple: How We Made 18,000% in the Stock Market is one of the best books I have read in recent years. I am already reading it second time and taking extensive notes.
If you are growth/ IBD/ momentum/ CANSLIM kind investor you will find practical ideas and some new ways of entering and exiting trades. You will also learn how explosive returns are possible under right circumstances using those methods.
The book also goes in to details of short selling and has couple of good short selling strategies.
The book is not for beginners and those looking for simple methods without much effort, you need to have some foundation about growth and momentum investing before appreciating and understanding it.
A must buy for growth/momentum investor who want explosive returns…..

Objectivity and The Fundamental Theorem of Poker

  
  Education
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 poker-

From David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker:

Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, you lose; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see their cards, they lose.

An analogy in trading can be made concerning objectivity while holding a position:

Every time you execute a trade that you would not have executed had you been flat, you lose; additionally, every time you refrain from executing a trade that you would have executed had you been flat, you lose. (more…)

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