rss

Traders needs Patience , Decisiveness & Gratitude

1. Patience
 
“The waiting is the hardest part” – Tom Petty
 
“Patience pays. Wait. Let the hand of God work for you. One who has created you let Him create all the environments, circumstances, and facilities & faculties” – Yogi bhajan
 
I don’t know about you but I trade to put food on the table for my family. In the long run if f I don’t make money – we don’t eat. A lot of trading is waiting. Waiting for the best trade to come to you, waiting for your scales to be hit, waiting for final target to be hit, etc. If you are impatient you lack the ability to wait for these things. If you are trading for excitement or thrills then you will find yourself taking stupid trades out of a need for action and in return you will not experience the results you desire. Much better to head to Vegas or go bungee jumping. Before I put ONE DOLLAR at risk I want to be sure that the odds are stacked in my favor. You won’t find me trading out of boredom, or taking a low odds trade because I feel the need to do “something”. I am fine being flat. You should learn to love the waiting – the waiting is what enables you to make the money.
 
2. Decisiveness.
 
“It’s better to be boldly decisive and risk being wrong than to agonize at length and be right too late” – Anonymous
 
“Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk” – Colin Powell
 
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in” – Napoleon Bonaparte
 
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing” – Theodore Roosevelt (more…)

Traits of a Successful Trader

We urge you to use this checklist for your own trading and investing preparation.  We truly feel that these traits are very important for you to understand.  These trader traits coupled with the proper psychology can make a huge positive difference in your overall trading performance.     

•  The ability to act on your decisions.

•  The ability to accept responsibility for your actions.

•  You must have emotional detachment from the markets.

•  The ability to accept risk and take losses (you’ll never be right 100% of the time). (more…)

Trading Rules from -Full Metal Jacket

I look at charts so often, I usually have to have something on in the background to keep the rest of my brain from rioting. Typically, that “something” is usually a movie or some music, and today I put in Full Metal Jacket (which, like most of my DVDs, I’ve seen many times).

Semi-watching the movie made me curious about the Marines, and I found this really interesting code of principals, which I’ve put below. It’s an impressive list, and I think every element shown here is relevant to trading. Please read it:

INTEGRITY
Uprightness of character and soundness of moral principle. Absolute truthfulness and honesty.

KNOWLEDGE
Acquired information, including professional knowledge and understanding of your Marines.

COURAGE
A mental quality that recognizes fear of danger or criticism, but enables a Marine to proceed in the face of it with calmness and firmness.

DECISIVENESS
Ability to reach decisions promptly and to announce them in a clear, forceful manner.

DEPENDABILITY
The certainty of the proper performance of duty.

INITIATIVE
Seeing what has to be done and commencing a course of action, even in the absence of orders.

TACT
The ability to deal with others without creating offense.

JUSTICE
The quality of being impartial and consistent in exercising command.

ENTHUSIASM
The display of sincere interest and exuberance in the performance of duty.

BEARING
Creating a favorable impression in carriage, appearance, and personal conduct at all times.

ENDURANCE
The mental and physical stamina measured by the ability to stand pain, fatigue, distress, and hardship.

UNSELFISHNESS
Avoidance of providing for ones comfort and personal advancement at the expense of others.

LOYALTY
The faithfulness to country, Corps, unit, and to your seniors and subordinates.

JUDGEMENT
The quality of weighing facts and possible solutions on which to base a sound decision.

Decisiveness

“It’s better to be boldly decisive and risk being wrong than to agonize at length and be right too late” – Anonymous

“Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk” – Colin Powell

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing” – Theodore Roosevelt

If you have the patience to wait for your setup then you better have the decisiveness to GET IN THE TRADE once price comes to you and your entry parameters are present. How many people wait for the trade to come and then when it arrives start analyzing if they should take it? When the trade has arrived it is time for action, not analyzation. This is what preparation is for. If you have done your homework there is no need for hesitation – you already know what to do. At the same time trading is not static. There are times when the odds are high that the market will reverse before your final target is hit. Do you have the decisiveness to reverse the position or flatten when this situation is present? It has been said that the number one ingredient to being a great trader is the trading guts to pull the trigger as soon as a reverse is anticipated. Be decisive.