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Eleven Rules

Rule #1
Be data centric in your approach.
Take the time and make the effort to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trading decisions should be objective and based upon the data.

Rule #2
Be disciplined.
The data should guide you in your decisions. This is the only way to navigate a potentially hostile and fearful environment.

Rule #3
Be flexible.
At first glance this would seem to contradict Rule #2; however, I recognize that markets change and that trading strategies cannot account for every conceivable factor. Giving yourself some wiggle room or discretion is ok, but I would not stray too far from the data or your strategies.

Rule #4
Always question the prevailing dogma.
The markets love dogma. “Prices are above the 50 day moving average”, “prices are breaking out”, and “don’t fight the Fed” are some of the most often heard sayings. But what do they really mean for prices? Make your own observations and define your own rules. See Rule #1.

Rule #5
Understand your market edge.
My edge is my ability to use my computer to define the price action. I level the playing field by trading markets and not companies.

Rule #6
Money management.
Money management. Money management. It is so important that it is worth saying three times. There are so few factors you can control in the markets, but this is one of them. Learn to exploit it.

Rule #7
Time frame.
Know the time frame you are operating on. Don’t let a trade turn into an investment and don’t trade yourself out of an investment.

Rule #8
Confidence and conviction.
Believe in your strategies and bet wisely but with conviction. There is nothing more frustrating than having a good strategy work as you expect, yet at the end of the day, you have very little winnings to show for your efforts.

Rule #9
Persistence.
It takes persistence to operate in the markets. Success doesn’t come easy, and if it does, then I would be careful. Even the best strategies come with losses, and they always seem to come when you get the nerve to make the big bet. Stay with your plan. If you have done your home work, the winning trades will follow.

Rule #10
Passion.
In the end, trading has to be about your bottom line, but you have to love what you do and no amount of money is worth it if you aren’t passionate about the process. No matter how much success you enjoy, in the markets you can never stop learning.

Rule #11
Take care of yourself.
No amount of money is worth it if your health is failing or you have managed to alienate yourself from family and friends in the process.

11 Rules For Better Trading

Trading in the markets is a process, and there is always room for self improvement. So as we start the new year, here are my 11 rules that help me navigate the markets. By no means is this list exhaustive or exclusive.

Rule #1
Be data centric in your approach.
Take the time and make the effort to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trading decisions should be objective and based upon the data.

Rule #2
Be disciplined.
The data should guide you in your decisions. This is the only way to navigate a potentially hostile and fearful environment.

Rule #3
Be flexible.
At first glance this would seem to contradict Rule #2; however, I recognize that markets change and that trading strategies cannot account for every conceivable factor. Giving yourself some wiggle room or discretion is ok, but I would not stray too far from the data or your strategies.

Rule #4
Always question the prevailing dogma.
The markets love dogma. “Prices are above the 50 day moving average”, “prices are breaking out”, and “don’t fight the Fed” are some of the most often heard sayings. But what do they really mean for prices? Make your own observations and define your own rules. See Rule #1.

Rule #5
Understand your market edge.
My edge is my ability to use my computer to define the price action. I level the playing field by trading markets and not companies.

Rule #6
Money management.
Money management. Money management. It is so important that it is worth saying three times. There are so few factors you can control in the markets, but this is one of them. Learn to exploit it.

Rule #7
Time frame.
Know the time frame you are operating on. Don’t let a trade turn into an investment and don’t trade yourself out of an investment. (more…)

Does Your Financial Guru or Doomster Resemble A Cult?

Does your financial Guru or Doomster resemble a cult? To satisfy your curiosity, it might be worth taking  simple test that will give you an idea whether what you thought was innocent objective altruistic financial advice and unbiased analysis is actually something more nefarious that wants to control your mind, your trades, and empty your bank account.

 1. Does your Guru always make out like he’s right?

2. Does you Guru paint a picture that the other [non-disciples] are always wrong?

3. Is there any exit from the Guru’s philosophy without following the philosophy?

4. Does the Guru’s group use its own “Cult-speak”?

5. Does “group-think” dominate, suppressing dissent and enforcing conformity of thinking?

6. Is Guru’s advice irrational at times, contradicting previous or other tenets of Guru advice?

7. Does Guru’s philosophy suppress disbelief?

8. Does Guru’s philosophy denigrate competing ideas, schools of thought, and other Guru’s?

9. Does Guru make personal attacks upon critics?

10. Does Guru believe non-followers need “fixing”?

11. Does Guru insist that his interpretation is the only correct way? (more…)

Eleven Rules for Traders

Trading in the markets is a process, and there is always room for self improvement. So as we start the new year, here are my 11 rules that help me navigate the markets. By no means is this list exhaustive or exclusive.

Rule #1
Be data centric in your approach.
 Take the time and make the effort to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trading decisions should be objective and based upon the data.

Rule #2
Be disciplined.
 The data should guide you in your decisions. This is the only way to navigate a potentially hostile and fearful environment.

Rule #3
Be flexible.
 At first glance this would seem to contradict Rule #2; however, I recognize that markets change and that trading strategies cannot account for every conceivable factor. Giving yourself some wiggle room or discretion is ok, but I would not stray too far from the data or your strategies.

Rule #4
Always question the prevailing dogma.
 The markets love dogma. “Prices are above the 50 day moving average”, “prices are breaking out”, and “don’t fight the Fed” are some of the most often heard sayings. But what do they really mean for prices? Make your own observations and define your own rules. See Rule #1.

Rule #5
Understand your market edge.
 My edge is my ability to use my computer to define the price action. I level the playing field by trading markets and not companies. (more…)

11 Trading Rules

Rule #1
Be data centric in your approach.
Take the time and make the effort to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trading decisions should be objective and based upon the data.

Rule #2
Be disciplined.
The data should guide you in your decisions. This is the only way to navigate a potentially hostile and fearful environment.

Rule #3
Be flexible.
At first glance this would seem to contradict Rule #2; however, I recognize that markets change and that trading strategies cannot account for every conceivable factor. Giving yourself some wiggle room or discretion is ok, but I would not stray too far from the data or your strategies.

Rule #4
Always question the prevailing dogma.
The markets love dogma. “Prices are above the 50 day moving average”, “prices are breaking out”, and “don’t fight the Fed” are some of the most often heard sayings. But what do they really mean for prices? Make your own observations and define your own rules. See Rule #1.

Rule #5
Understand your market edge.
My edge is my ability to use my computer to define the price action. I level the playing field by trading markets and not companies.

Rule #6
Money management.
Money management. Money management. It is so important that it is worth saying three times. There are so few factors you can control in the markets, but this is one of them. Learn to exploit it.

Rule #7
Time frame.
Know the time frame you are operating on. Don’t let a trade turn into an investment and don’t trade yourself out of an investment.

Rule #8
Confidence and conviction.
Believe in your strategies and bet wisely but with conviction. There is nothing more frustrating than having a good strategy work as you expect, yet at the end of the day, you have very little winnings to show for your efforts.

Rule #9
Persistence.
It takes persistence to operate in the markets. Success doesn’t come easy, and if it does, then I would be careful. Even the best strategies come with losses, and they always seem to come when you get the nerve to make the big bet. Stay with your plan. If you have done your home work, the winning trades will follow.

Rule #10
Passion.
In the end, trading has to be about your bottom line, but you have to love what you do and no amount of money is worth it if you aren’t passionate about the process. No matter how much success you enjoy, in the markets you can never stop learning.

Rule #11
Take care of yourself.
No amount of money is worth it if your health is failing or you have managed to alienate yourself from family and friends in the process.

Be a cynic

 Don’t argue with the tape but look at the other side of every coin. I’ve long noticed that as a group Russian and British traders are better than average. Why? Because by nature they question widely accepted beliefs. New opinions translate to revaluations. Leave your dogma at the door and be open to the unexpected and seemingly illogical. Winning traders have a reason to be in the trade. Even if based on nothing more than a vague, ethereal feel, a good discretionary trader has a profile in his mind and the moment his thesis is no longer provable or valid he is out of the position.

Artificial Intelligence, Chess, and the Stock Market

In 1997 chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov met the Singularity. And the Singularity won.

In 1985 Kasparov easily beat a chess-playing computer, even though he resorted to a trick to out-Kasparov the machine’s Kasparov program. Eleven years later, though, the chess legend struggled with Deep Blue, a computer with even more powerful processing power. But even Kasparov couldn’t compete with Deep Blue once its development team doubled the processing power a few years later.

Kasparov was beat, but he drew new lessons from the run-in that he details in New York Review of Books. These lessons might help you become a smarter–and less anxious–trader.
According to Kasparov, the exponential gain in technology didn’t ruin the game; it actually had some surprising aftershocks.
 

First, the game became more global. With access to computer programs that could train students available anywhere and everywhere, students far from the chess epicenter of Russia began to crop up.

Kasparov says:

“With the introduction of super-powerful software it became possible for a youngster to have a top- level opponent at home instead of need ing a professional trainer from an early age. Countries with little by way of chess tradition and few available coaches can now produce prodigies.” (more…)

My 11 Trading Rules

Trading in the markets is a process, and there is always room for self improvement. Here are my 11 rules that help me navigate the markets. By no means is this list exhaustive or exclusive.

Rule #1
Be data centric in your approach. Take the time and make the effort to understand what works and what doesn’t. Trading decisions should be objective and based upon the data.

Rule #2
Be disciplined. The data should guide you in your decisions. This is the only way to navigate a potentially hostile and fearful environment.

Rule #3
Be flexible. At first glance this would seem to contradict Rule #2; however, I recognize that markets change and that trading strategies cannot account for every conceivable factor. Giving yourself some wiggle
room or discretion is ok, but I would not stray too far from the data or your strategies.

Rule #4
Always question the prevailing dogma. The markets love dogma. “Prices are above the 50 day moving average”, “prices are breaking out”, and “don’t fight the Fed” are some of the most often heard sayings.
But what do they really mean for prices? Make your own observations and define your own rules. See Rule #1. (more…)

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