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Trade To Win, Not To Lose!

TradetowinWhen athletes are consumed by not losing rather than by winning, the game is over, often before it has even started. The same precept applies to trading. As crazy as it sounds, most traders aren’t making the money they could be — and the reason, I’d argue, is the fear of losing it. Traders are far too worried about giving money back. This paralyzing phobia can transform talented, elite professionals into disappointing underperformers.

How many times have you been up in a trade and started to think about the money? Your head tells you to bank it quickly and then play it safe. After all, you made your mark for the day, or even the week, so your job is complete. That’s not the mark of a trader; that’s the mark of an accountant.

 Trading is an occupation based on fleeting moments of opportunity. (more…)

Trading Wisdom

If we want to be successful as traders it is crucial that we have great filters. We must filter out all the noise that separates us from the actual price action. In the end it is just us versus the market. We need to seek  to learn how to trade from others and not look for trades. We have to play a lone hand because we have our own tolerance for pain, our own goals, and we should have our own trading plan with a robust methodology. Others do not know our time frame and we do not know theirs. Their position sizing may be ten times what ours is.

Before we trade we should have a watch list, a risk percent per trade, a methodology, and a trading plan. We should be running our trading like a business not a casino. Information and opinions can bias our trading. Be very careful about the information that you let into your mind. You should attempt to trade as close to your system and methodology as possible without allowing anyone’s opinions our thoughts to come between you and the charts. Actual price action is the king everyone’s opinions are just that, opinions. (more…)

Trade To Win, Not To Lose!

When athletes are consumed by not losing rather than by winning, the game is over, often before it has even started. The same precept applies to trading. As crazy as it sounds, most traders aren’t making the money they could be — and the reason, I’d argue, is the fear of losing it. Traders are far too worried about giving money back. This paralyzing phobia can transform talented, elite professionals into disappointing underperformers.

How many times have you been up in a trade and started to think about the money? Your head tells you to bank it quickly and then play it safe. After all, you made your mark for the day, or even the week, so your job is complete. That’s not the mark of a trader; that’s the mark of an accountant. 

Trading is an occupation based on fleeting moments of opportunity. They’re here one second, gone the next and entirely out of anyone’s control. The best traders love this, and even crave it. When the action is on, they’re prepared and trained to strike hard, as they have no idea when the next great trade will appear. 

It’s akin to fishing: You can be out on the water all day and not get a bite, but when you hit a school of tuna, you better have your rods ready and baited to maximize the opportunity. All that matters, ultimately, is how many pounds of fish you caught, not how long it took to reel them in. 

The key is to force yourself to step outside your comfort zones.

  1. Develop guidelines that will require you to increase your position size.
  2. Should you fail to follow your rules you must impose severe consequences.

The goal is not to change your personality or eliminate your fear, but rather the purpose is to get you out of the comfort zone of hording money.

Money in itself is useless, unless it is put to use!

Amateur & Professional

The true mark of an amateur trader who is never going to make it in this business is one who continually blames everything but his or herself for the outcome of a bad trade. This includes, but is not limited to, saying things like:
1. The analysts are crooks.
2. The market makers were fishing for stops.
3. I was on the phone and it collapsed on me.
4. My neighbor gave me a bad tip.
5. The message boards caused this one to pump and dump.
6. The specialists are playing games.
The mark of a professional, however, sounds like this: 

•It is my fault. I traded this position too large for my account size.
•It is my fault. I didn’t stick to my own risk parameters.
•It is my fault. I allowed my emotions to dictate my trades.
•It is my fault. I was not disciplined in my trades.
•It is my fault. I knew there was a risk in holding this trade into earnings, and I didn’t fully comprehend them when I took this trade. (more…)