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Trading and Tennis

  
  Education
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The accompanying comments  were inspired from Brad Gilbert‘s book,  Winning  Ugly, which was written about tennis. There are many parallels between tennis and trading, both being individual performance disciplines. 

And on that last note, remember that ATTITUDE is everything. How you frame out an individual experience or event will affect your success in the long run. Do you see a trading loss or bad drawdown period as a major setback, or do you see it as a learning experience from which you can figure out how to be on the RIGHT 

The accompanying comments (see sidebar) were inspired from Brad Gilbert‘s book,  Winning  Ugly, which was written about tennis. There are many parallels between tennis and trading, both being individual performance disciplines.

 

 

And on that last note, remember that ATTITUDE is everything. How you frame out an individual experience or event will affect your success in the long run. Do you see a trading loss or bad drawdown period as a major setback, or do you see it as a learning experience from which you can figure out how to be on the RIGHT

●     Desire. The most successful players are the ones who have a burning desire to win.

●     Defy Failure! Don’t check out of the game. Never give up!

●     Consistency. Improve your consistency. Stay active, stay involved, and keep your feet moving.

●     Patience. Be patient. Do not force a trade that isn’t there. Wait for the play to set up.

●     Management. When you get a good trade, go for it.

Manage it. Trail a stop. Don’t be too eager to get out.

●     Flexibility. Be flexible – if what you are doing isn’t working, change what you are doing!

●     Confidence. When down, get a little rhythm and confidence going. Don’t worry about being too ambitious.

●     Concentration. Stay with your game. Don’t let outside distractions bother you. They take energy and break your concentration.

●     Know Yourself. Match your particular strengths to the type of market conditions.

●     Clean Up Your Act. Hate making stupid mistakes and unforced errors. This includes not getting out of a bad trade when you know you are wrong.

●     Stay Positive. Many players will play their best game when they are coming from behind.

Some Suggestions for Traders

  
  Education
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Have you written down your trading rules? Do you have rules for entry and for exit with a profit and with a loss? Do you have a rule telling you whether a market is trending and what the trend is? Do you have rules stating when the market is in a trading range and what that range is? Do you have rules saying what markets you will trade and what has to happen to trade them?

Or do you simply shoot from the hip and call it artistry or intuition? Does this work for you?

Do you follow your rules rigidly without flexibility or discretion? Does this serve you over time?

Do you abandon your rules in the heat of trading, only to regret it? Do you stubbornly go against your rules thinking this time you know better? What would happen if you didn’t do this?

Some people don’t like rules. They don’t want to be told what to do even if it’s themselves telling themselves what to do. They even more don’t like following rules that came with a system for which they paid good (any or excessive) money. They have a polarity response to direction even after it becomes apparent that they’d be more profitable simply following the rules.

Others like to be told what to do, but somehow their rules are conflicting, obscure, or so bound up with discretion as to be meaningless. These traders may not even be aware that in essence they have no rules.

Whatever your situation turns out to be, it may be helpful to think in terms of commandments or suggestions. You may think in terms of absolute rules or simple guidelines.

Do you like clear directions as to what to do? In this case you can think in terms of commandments. For example, when The Ten Commandments says, “Thou shalt not kill,” it doesn’t leave much discretion. Reword your rules as commandments that are precise and clear and easy to follow.

Do you resist being dictated to and bossed around by outside forces? In this case, reformulate your rules as guidelines or suggestions. Give yourself some leeway in certain situations. Reword it so that when you read it, it sounds like a good idea and not a demand.

However, be certain in advance that whether you choose a suggestion or command, the results will be profitable if followed consistently or even most of the time. There’s nothing worse than a bad idea or a rule that doesn’t work. Remember the basics: Find out what works. Verify that it works. And do it.

COMMANDMENTS For Traders

  
  Education
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Have you written down your trading rules? Do you have rules for entry and for exit with a profit and with a loss? Do you have a rule telling you whether a market is trending and what the trend is? Do you have rules stating when the market is in a trading range and what that range is? Do you have rules saying what markets you will trade and what has to happen to trade them?

Or do you simply shoot from the hip and call it artistry or intuition? Does this work for you?

Do you follow your rules rigidly without flexibility or discretion? Does this serve you over time?

Do you abandon your rules in the heat of trading, only to regret it? Do you stubbornly go against your rules thinking this time you know better? What would happen if you didn’t do this? (more…)

Becoming a Successful Speculator

  
  Education
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The capacity for rigorous thought; the flexibility and resilience to adapt to changing circumstances; the love of disciplined risk-taking; the hungry intellect: perhaps successful speculators already display those qualities in other life domains and then learn to apply them to markets.

What should you look for in a trading system?

  
  Education
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1. Profitability: This is a must when we look for a system .Lowering the risk factor and increasing the reward is simply the answer to a profitable system

2. Probability: One of the important elements of a trading system, but it does not always mean it will be a profitable trading system, if the proper money management is not in use.
3. Consistency: Without consistency we will not be able to breath in the on going changing market condition. A consistently profitable system will pick up some drawdown as soon as the extreme condition is over.

4.Flexibility: Providing Simple, Easy and Powerful System which can be used in any time frame and on any financial instrument.

Kung Fu vs. Trading

  
  Education
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You can learn a lot on trading by watching Kung Fu. Sounds crazy? Let me explain by the following video.

The first scene is where the market offers you an opportunity for a duel. Your opponent seems strong and fierce, but it’s not just about muscles and brute force.

– Bruce Lee shows respect for his opponent in the first scene. This is very important. Never understimate the market and always be nimble.

– When his opponent tries to scare him by breaking a wooden board, Bruce Lee does not show fear. You should never fear the market. Always have a clear mind but be watchful at all times. The market will test you. It will find your weak spots.

– It is okay to test the waters with small positions if you are not sure. As Bruce Lee shows by striking the first two blows, he is just testing his opponent’s speed. Checking to see if the water is safe to jump into.

– When Bruce Lee does a backflip kick, he shows his flexibility. The market might sneak up on you with a move you did not expect. It is your job to be prepared for anything and move as flexible as you can.

– Sometimes the market will go bezerk on you, trying to grab you by the balls. Again, you have to play tight defense at all times so you will not get hurt.

– Bruce Lee shows his amazing talent by performing a backturn kick onto his opponent. This is a highly effective and powerful strategy. Once you have developed a system that works for you, don’t try to change it for the sake of entertainment. It if works, it works! And that is great!

– From time to time you will make a great trade. Like when Bruce Lee kicks his opponent into the crowd. Don’t let this get into your head by thinking you own the market! Always stay nimble and be ready to strike again.

– You may think a fight is over. You may turn your back on a position thinking you have won. If you are up nice on a position and trade without a stop, you can still get hurt. Always play with stops. The market may sneak up from behind and pull a big gap down on you! Don’t let this happen. Always stay watchful and never trade without stops.

– Bruce Lee decides to end the fight finally. Don’t overstay your welcome in a trade. If you are up nicely and can take profits do so. We are not investors. We are traders. Finish the fight now and then and take profits. If you never finish a fight you will never take profits. If you never take profits you will never make money.

Flexibility in Markets

  
  Education
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Persistence is a key. Always keep looking for new trading ideas.

Knowing when to quit is another key. If you’re wrong, admit it and move on. Managing risk is the name of the game.

But flexibility, in my opinion, is the toughest one. Just because you’re long and get stopped out, doesn’t mean you can’t turn around and go short it if the market tells you it’s a good idea. In fact, my favorite trades are when traditional charting patterns don’t work out the way the book says they should. Turning around and doing the opposite, a lot of times, offers the best risk/reward.

And most importantly, you can’t marry your ideas. If the market proves you wrong, pay attention. No egos remember? I came in a few weeks ago looking to short treasury bonds on a breakdown. And they ripped right in my face. So what?

It’s not about being right, it’s about making money.

Be flexible

29 Points for Traders

  
  Education
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1. Train with deadly seriousness.

2. Educate yourself.

3. Be vigilant.

4. Take away emotion.

5. Be your sternest critic.

6. Feel your way to a win.

7. Be Patient.

8. Don’t be afraid to lose.

9. Know your strengths and weaknesses.

10. Lead a healthy life and diet. (more…)

8 Skill Every Traders must have

  
  Education
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  • Passion. The best investors I’ve seen truly love what they do. It’s the only way they are able to put in the time needed to become great.
  • Experience. The pros have seen it all. They’ve been through all sorts of market cycles. Long periods of sideways choppiness, uptrends, and downtrends. And not just the short term 15-20% corrections but the big 50% corrections too.
  • Adaptability. Markets change. And the strategies that were working in one market may eventually deteriorate. Good traders will change their methodology to match the new market conditions.
  • No ego. None. If you go into trading with an ego the market will eat you alive. The elite investors are able to admit when they’re wrong. They even embrace it. Being wrong quickly means they can move on to being right faster.
  • Emotionless. This goes hand in hand with ego. Along with pride, investors face a daily trio of emotions of hope, fear, and greed. The worst investors allow their emotions to control their trading; the best avoid any emotional attachment at all. (more…)

10 Trading Quotes

  
  Education
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“Good investing is a peculiar balance between the conviction to follow your ideas and the flexibility to recognize when you have made a mistake.“ –Michael Steinhardt

Do not stay bullish or bearish go with the current flow of the market>

“There is only one side of the market and it is not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side.”-Jesse Livermore

Putting it all together, it is more than just numbers>

“Successful trading depends on the 3M`s – Mind, Method and Money. Beginners focus on analysis, but professionals operate in a three dimensional space. They are aware of trading psychology their own feelings and the mass psychology of the markets. Each trader needs to have a method for choosing specific stocks, options or futures as well as firm rules for pulling the trigger – deciding when to buy and sell. Money refers to how you manage your trading capital.” – Alexander Elder

The money is in the primary market trend, not jumping in and out>

“I think it was a long step forward in my trading education when I realised at last that when old Mr. Partridge kept on telling other customers, “Well, you know this is a bull market!” he really meant to tell them that the big money was not in the individual fluctuations but in the main movements-that is, not in reading the tape but in sizing up the entire market and its trend.” – Jesse Livermore

This is one of the best ways i Know to measure short term trends, and be on the right side of the primary moves>

“The 10 day exponential moving average (EMA) is my favourite indicator to determine the major trend. I call this “red light, green light” because it is imperative in trading to remain on the correct side of moving average to give yourself the best probability of sucess. When you are trading above the 10 day, you have the green light, the market is in positive mode and you should be thinking buy. Conversely, trading below the average is a red light. The market is in a negative mode and you should be thinking sell.” – Marty Schwartz

Why it is so important to let your winners run and cut your losers short>

“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you‘re wrong.” -George Soros

Eliminating the risk of ruin in one easy step>

By risking 1%, I am indifferent to any individual trade. Keeping your risk small and constant is absolutely critical.” Larry Hite.

Never add to a losing position becasue you are fighting the trend>

“Losers average losers.” this was posted in Paul Tudor Jones’ Office

This is successful stock trading summarized>

“My basic philosophy is: Expose your portfolio to the best stocks that the market has to offer and cut your losses very quickly when you’re wrong. That one sentence essentially describes my strategy.” – Mark Minervini

Trend Trading in a nut shell>

“It is always the best discretion to let the market show us where it is going and just simply follow (this would be prudent), rather than predict where the market is going and place a position (this would be gambling).” -Anne-Marie Baiynd

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