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Good Traders & Bad Traders

  
  Education
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Good Traders

  1. The good traders that I have met are generous with their time and knowledge.
  2. Good traders are flexible in their trades and opinions they follow where the market takes them.
  3. The majority of good traders have simple charts that focus on price action. They focus on the simplicity of what works.
  4. A good trader will admit a loss and share what happened.
  5. Good traders are first and foremost traders, any service or product they offer is secondary.
  6. Good traders are humble and respect the market and the reality of trading.
  7. Good traders at times will call real trades and post entries and exits.
  8. Good traders are on social media not for show but for teaching and friendships and having fun.
  9. Good traders go with the current market trend.
  10. Those who make a comfortable living trading are playful, joking and happy .

 Bad Traders

  1. Many bad traders try to tear down others to make themselves feel superior. Good traders have no need to do this they have highly self esteems already. (more…)

Trading Wisdom :-2500 year old

  
  Education
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Sun Tzu, known for his treatise The Art of War, would have made an excellent trader.  The principles he taught for proper military strategy are just as applicable today on the stock trading battlefield as they were 2500 years ago when originally penned.  I have taken the liberty to translate a few of his principles for the modern day stock trading warrior. 

1. Now the successful trader prepares before he enters battle.  The unsuccessful trader makes but a few, if any, preparations before he enters battle.  Proper preparation leads to victory; a little preparation leads to defeat; and no preparation leads to ultimate destruction!  The one who is properly prepared is the one who is most likely to win.

2. In trading, let your great object be a quick and decisive victory, not the slow death of a lengthy loss.

3.  If you know who the enemy is and you know yourself, you will never fear the next trade.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, you will win one lose one.  If you do not know the enemy or yourself, you will lose on each trade.

4.  The quality of entry is like a well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

5.  Proper preparation may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of the trigger.

6.  Just as water retains no constant shape, so in trading know the market is constantly changing.

7.  Ponder and deliberate before you enter a trade.

8.  To refrain from entering a market that is prepared to defend its current course is the art of practicing patience by studying current market conditions.

9.  He who does not think through his trade while making light of the situation is sure to fall victim to a loss.

10.  Do not trade unless you see there is an advantage in doing so; use not your money unless there is something to be gained.

11.  The successful trader is heedful and full of caution.  This is the way to have peace of mind and to live to trade another day.

12.  What enables the wise and successful traders to trade and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary traders, is proper preparation.

Think and Act !!

Technically Yours

Anirudh Sethi/Baroda

CHANGE IS ESSENTIAL

  
  Education
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The stock market, just like life, can change on a dime.  In the market, just as in life, we must learn to adapt to change.  What separates the great trader from the rest of the crowd is his or her ability to change based on current market conditions.  In other words, NO EGO ALLOWED.  Mark Douglas, in his first book entitled The Disciplined Trader writes,

“There must be a difference between these two types of traders-the small majority of winners and the vast majority of losers who want to know what the winners know. The difference is that the traders who can make money consistently on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis approach trading from the perspective of a mental discipline.  When asked for their secrets of success, they categorically state that they didn’t achieve any measure of consistency in accumulating wealth from trading until they learned self-discipline, emotional control, and the ability to change their minds to flow with the markets.”

We trade the current market conditions as they unfold with a plan to trade one way or the other.  To do otherwise would be to fight an undefeated foe.

12 Wisdom Points for Traders

  
  Education
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1. Now the successful trader prepares before he enters battle.  The unsuccessful trader makes but a few, if any, preparations before he enters battle.  Proper preparation leads to victory; a little preparation leads to defeat; and no preparation leads to ultimate destruction!  The one who is properly prepared is the one who is most likely to win.

2. In trading, let your great object be a quick and decisive victory, not the slow death of a lengthy loss.

3.  If you know who the enemy is and you know yourself, you will never fear the next trade.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, you will win one lose one.  If you do not know the enemy or yourself, you will lose on each trade.

4.  The quality of entry is like a well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

5.  Proper preparation may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of the trigger.

6.  Just as water retains no constant shape, so in trading know the market is constantly changing.

7.  Ponder and deliberate before you enter a trade. (more…)

The Market Is King

  
  Education
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If you are a disciplined, follow the rules trader, then I am sure you are familiar with the many and various ways the stock market can play tricks on you.  For instance, a disciplined, technical trader will adhere to a particular strategy based on current market conditions.  In so doing, trades are assessed and entered based on specific criteria, usually by combining mechanical and discretionary means.

Technical traders base their current trade decisions on past price action, noting distinct historical patterns that have the possibility of replication.  However, the outcome of two strategically similar trades are never exactly alike if for no other reason than those trading a specific stock now are not the same ones who traded it two months, or even two weeks or two days previous.  The elements of uncertainty (e.g., changes in sentiment and differences of opinion) exert such an influence on stock prices that exact replication is impossible.  Therefore, the market enjoys a “King Jester” status. (more…)

EWI Article: Blaming Market Manipulation is an Obstacle to Success

  
Analysis, Education
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The folks at EWI (Elliott Wave International) released a provoking new article today entitled:

“Blaming Market Manipulation for Losses is a Huge Obstacle to Success.”

The article encourages traders to take responsibility for losses instead of finding scape-goats to blame.

Losses may have just been the result of a bad outcome from a high-probability trade… or might have been the result of a bad trading habit like doubling down on losers or chasing a fast price move.

Mr. Prechter makes the point that “Losses are part of the game” and should be used as learning experiences.

You won’t learn if your loss was a result of random probability or a bad trading behavior if you do not analyze the loss, and instead sweep it under the rug as a painful memory.

I particularly liked the quote:

“You don’t have to be perfect to win in the markets, either; you “merely” have to be better than almost everybody else, and that’s hard enough.”

The article is actually the 4th Point in an article published years ago (not during the current market melt-up!) by Robert Prechter on what it takes to be a successful trader.

It’s brief, but thought-provoking!

The Right Side

  
  Education
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A quote from one the best traders of our time, Jesse Livermore: “It takes a man a long time to learn all the lessons of all his mistakes. They say there are two sides to everything. But there is only one side to the stock market; and it is 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 speculation.”

Being a bull or a bear alone is meaningless out of the crucial context of the current market conditions. All that really matters for the great game of speculation is being on the “right side”, knowing when the markets are in a bull or a bear trend and deploying your speculative capital accordingly.

Once again Livermore ties speculation back into the speculator’s own internal emotions. He points out that it makes no sense to be bullish or bearish as a rule, but to carefully watch the market conditions in order to be on “the right side” at any given moment. Most speculators are burdened with an innate emotional bias to be bullish that is dangerous and must be eradicated if they wish to succeed in speculation. (more…)

Market changes mind like a girl changes clothes

  
  Education
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changingcloth

The current market is unique. It has never been so volatile; therefore the danger and the opportunities have never been so plentiful. No one has ever traded in such market, so past knowledge and experience may only be a hinder to adopt faster in the new environment. No system is profitable all the time and traders with 20+ years of profitable track record are in the process of realizing that. In time of extreme changes survives the one, who is more flexible, not the stronger one.

Conventional wisdom will bring you only losses. You have to learn to think out of the box. Conventional wisdom says that in bear markets you should be only short or neutral. In case you absolutely have to have long positions in your portfolio, you should choose among the stocks with highest relative strength – the ones that somehow managed to weather the storm. Wrong.

Market is so volatile that it takes stops out on a regular basis, shaking out both long and short swing traders. Percentage stop losses don’t work in this environment. If you are going to survive and thrive, you need to decrease your trading horizon and the size of your trading. I remember that about a year ago, I found out that many, who were swing traders at the beginning of their careers at some point switched to day trading. I wondered why and started asking questions.

Markets are made from people. In theory everyone could be profitable if there is a continuous flow of fresh money into the market. Recently this has not been the case. Someone has to lose. In order to be profitable you need to follow a very simple rule – to buy only what you could sell later at higher price and to sell short only what you could buy later at lower price. Like the owner of a small shop, you should not buy inventory that you personally like, but stuff that could easily be sold this season. Yes, stock traders are in the retail business and their products are called stocks. I realize how unscrupulous such way of thinking may sound and that it contradicts the initial purpose the market were created, but this is the reality.
Initially markets were created:

  • To offer an alternative exit strategy (therefore motivation) for entrepreneurs;
  • To provide new means of cheaper financing for business’ expansion;
  • To allow ordinary citizens, who don’t have the idea, the will or the necessary capital to start their own business, with the opportunity to participate effectively in the economic growth of the country/the world.

All those things don’t matter anymore. Markets have long turned into a speculation arena, where everyone tries to outsmart the other.

Practical Aspects of Trading…

  
  Education
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Successful traders examine the current market conditions to determine if they are bullish, bearish, or a trading range environment. After determining the current market environment traders can select the tools from the their trading tool box that perform best in the current conditions. When the market conditions change then traders need to adapt to the new market environment by selecting new tools that are most appropriate for the new market conditions.

In addition to adapting to the current market conditions by using the appropriate tools from the trading tool box there are several practical aspects of trading that traders need to master.

Never enter a position without having a plan for exiting the position. If you Do not know where to get out of a position you should not enter it in the first place. In swing trading time frames stocks often run to the next resistance or Support level and then stall. We have seen that stocks rarely remain outside the Bollinger bands for long, so when a position reaches the Bands it is often a good Place to look at profit taking, especially in trading range environments.

There is usually no need to rush in when the markets trend changes. Any trend worthTrading does not require you to be in on the first day, by definition. It is usually better to make sure the trend change is real and then react rather than assuming that the first Day of a potential change is something that is going to continue.

There are a lot of jobs where people get paid every Friday. Trading is not one of them. There will be profitable weeks and losing weeks as the normal statistics work out. Remember that if you make enough trades there is a reasonable probability of seeing…

 

 

 

 

ten losing trades at some point, even with good trading systems. This is part of trading and traders need to allow for it when they work out position sizing and money management techniques.

You do not have to trade every day or take trades just because they came upon the evening scan. Carefully consider the recent price and volume action in the market before taking positions. Look for the best trades, consider long trades that have not shown a lot of recent distribution and have ‘room to run’ before hitting the next resistance area or the upper Bollinger Band.

Make sure that your position sizing is such that if all your current positions were stopped out that the total loss is something that is still comfortable. This happens from time to time and wishing it did not will not change it. Be prepared by using sensible position sizes.

Review each of your positions every evening and determine if it is something you still want to be holding based on the recent market action and the price volume patterns of the position. Longs going up on declining volume are showing weakness and I generally close out those positions and put the money to work in something stronger. You are hiring a stock to do a job for you, if it is not doing the job fire it and hire another. (more…)

THE THREE PHASES OF A TRADE

  
  Education
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The ANTICIPATION Phase:  this is where all the left hand chart reading takes place in preparation for the right hand chart battle. It’s the PROCESS that precedes the ACTION to put on a trade. A technical trader anticipates that a past price pattern will repeat again, so he identifies the pattern, locates a current one and determines a suitable match is present.  Technical analysis is nothing more than finding previous price patterns matched with current market conditions.  Traders anticipate such repetitive behavior based on human nature and seek to take advantage of it.

The ACTION phase involves hitting the BUY key based on the previous ANTICIPATION process.  Since no one can tell the future or what the right hand side of the chart will reveal, the ACTION is based on the confidence that the trader will do what is right once a trade is put on, which is to exit gracefully at a pre-determined loss line or exit humbly at a pre-determined profit target (P2), fully accepting either/or, or an OUTCOME between one or the other, depending on current market conditions.

The REINFORCEMENT phase occurs after the trade is closed.  Whether or not the trade is a win, lose, or draw, the self-talk immediately following trade closure is vitally important for the next trade, and even the next series of trades, as future trades can be negatively or positively affected by building pathways to future success.  These pathways are neurologically based and can make or break a successful trading career.  While it is important to ANTICIPATE right side chart OUTCOMES, what is more important is DEVELOPING right side brain reinforcement.

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