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Those who study technical analysis will know that a double bottom looks like a “W” and a double top looks like an “M”. When you see a double bottom with a breakout with volume, it is actually a good time to buy. When you see a double top with a downside breakout, it is a good time take profit.
“Any thought put into your mind and nourished regularly, will produce results in your life.” John Kehoe
An affirmation is a statement made in the present about the future as if it had already occurred in the past. Let me say it more simply. An affirmation is a simple statement about what you want to become true in your life. You state it in the present tense as if it were already true. You repeat your hopes and dreams. You declare the opposite of your fears. For example, the fear that you could lose all your money becomes: “I grow my capital through consistently applying my winning methods.”
Be careful to word the affirmation in the present tense. Statements made in the future stay in the future. “Next month I’ll turn my trading around.” stays out there in the future. Now is when you need to turn the trading around.
Affirmations can be repeated to yourself silently or aloud. You can incant them with feeling or whisper them to yourself. You can record them and play them, or write them and read them. A good time to assert them is just as you’re falling asleep or waking up, or any other time of the day. You can say them while you drive or wait in a bank line or as you watch the market or manage a trade.
And here is a little miracle. You don’t have to believe the truth of the affirmation in order for it to have an effect. Of course, it’s better if you imagine it to be true or becoming true.
Sometimes it’s more believable if it’s a process statement. “I am slender” can change to “I am becoming slender.” “I am consistently profitable” changes to “I am becoming more consistently profitable.” There are times when the process is more credible than the reality.
You can also turn the statement into a question. “In what ways am I becoming a better trader?” “How am I becoming a more professional trader each year?” The mind accepts the truth of the question and searches for evidence. (more…)
1. “I can’t commit to this as I have other priorities at the moment.”
If you are too busy to engage in the request/offer, this will be applicable. This lets the person know your plate is full at the moment, so he/she should hold off on this as well as future requests. If it makes it easier, you can also share what you’re working on so the person can understand better. I use this when I have too many commitments to attend to.
2. “Now’s not a good time as I’m in the middle of something. How about we reconnect at X time?”
It’s common to get sudden requests for help when you are in the middle of something. Sometimes I get phone calls from friends or associates when I’m in a meeting or doing important work. This method is a great way to (temporarily) hold off the request. First, you let the person know it’s not a good time as you are doing something. Secondly, you make known your desire to help by suggesting another time (at your convenience). This way, the person doesn’t feel blown off.
3. “I’d love to do this, but …”
I often use this as it’s a gentle way of breaking no to the other party. It’s encouraging as it lets the person know you like the idea (of course, only say this if you do like it) and there’s nothing wrong about it. I often get collaboration proposals from fellow bloggers and business associates which I can’t participate in and I use this method to gently say no. Their ideas are absolutely great, but I can’t take part due to other reasons such as prior commitments (#1) or different needs (#5).
4. “Let me think about it first and I’ll get back to you.”
This is more like a “Maybe” than a straight out “No”. If you are interested but you don’t want to say ‘yes’ just yet, use this. Sometimes I’m pitched a great idea which meets my needs, but I want to hold off on committing as I want some time to think first. There are times when new considerations pop in and I want to be certain of the decision before committing myself. If the person is sincere about the request, he/she will be more than happy to wait a short while. Specify a date / time-range (say, in 1-2 weeks) where the person can expect a reply.
If you’re not interested in what the person has to offer at all, don’t lead him/her on. Use methods #5, #6 or #7 which are definitive.
5. “This doesn’t meet my needs now but I’ll be sure to keep you in mind.”
If someone is pitching a deal/opportunity which isn’t what you are looking for, let him/her know straight-out that it doesn’t meet your needs. Otherwise, the discussion can drag on longer than it should. It helps as the person know it’s nothing wrong about what he/she is offering, but that you are looking for something else. At the same time, by saying you’ll keep him/her in mind, it signals you are open to future opportunities. (more…)
1. Never, under any circumstance add to a losing position…. ever! Nothing more need be said; to do otherwise will eventually and absolutely lead to ruin!
2. Trade like a mercenary guerrilla. We must fight on the winning side and be willing to change sides readily when one side has gained the upper hand.
3. Capital comes in two varieties: Mental and that which is in your pocket or account. Of the two types of capital, the mental is the more important and expensive of the two. Holding to losing positions costs measurable sums of actual capital, but it costs immeasurable sums of mental capital.
4. The objective is not to buy low and sell high, but to buy high and to sell higher. We can never know what price is “low.” Nor can we know what price is “high.” Always remember that sugar once fell from $1.25/lb to 2 cent/lb and seemed “cheap” many times along the way.
5. In bull markets we can only be long or neutral, and in bear markets we can only be short or neutral. That may seem self-evident; it is not, and it is a lesson learned too late by far too many.
6. “Markets can remain illogical longer than you or I can remain solvent,” according to our good friend, Dr. A. Gary Shilling. Illogic often reigns and markets are enormously inefficient despite what the academics believe.
7. Sell markets that show the greatest weakness, and buy those that show the greatest strength. Metaphorically, when bearish, throw your rocks into the wettest paper sack, for they break most readily. In bull markets, we need to ride upon the strongest winds… they shall carry us higher than shall lesser ones.
8. Try to trade the first day of a gap, for gaps usually indicate violent new action. We have come to respect “gaps” in our nearly thirty years of watching markets; when they happen (especially in stocks) they are usually very important.
9. Trading runs in cycles: some good; most bad. Trade large and aggressively when trading well; trade small and modestly when trading poorly. In “good times,” even errors are profitable; in “bad times” even the most well researched trades go awry. This is the nature of trading; accept it.
10. To trade successfully, think like a fundamentalist; trade like a technician. It is imperative that we understand the fundamentals driving a trade, but also that we understand the market’s technicals. When we do, then, and only then, can we or should we, trade. (more…)
It seems like there has been a steady stream of information and opinion flowing on breaking rules. Originally I had planned to talk about the pros and cons of breaking rules. I realized that would be a disservice. The following is not negotiable.
Day trader vs professional trader.
Rules are what separate a day trader from a professional trader. The only good time to break a rule is never. Barriers are made to be broken not rules, you can have one or the other not both. If you break a rule, what power does anyone of the other rules have? Do you have a rule for breaking rules and what if you break those rules? It adds unnecessary levels of complication.
The most important rule.
Eventually I will back traders assuming there is not some horrible tax or regulation that makes it a stupid risk. A trader must create their own rules. They know themselves the best. The rule that cannot ever be broken is losing more than limit down. I will fire them that day. I do not even like to take clients who break that rule. They are destined to fail. (more…)
Most of us remember the Michael Jordan “Failure” commercial. It is 30 seconds of pure wisdom for life and for trading. As the market continues its twists and turns and while many churn and burn their trading accounts, now might just be a good time to revisit the basketball legend and the commercial that explains his remarkable success…and can explain ours too!
I missed more than 9000 shots in my career.
I’ve lost almost 300 games.
26 times I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.
I have failed over and over again in my life…and THAT IS WHY I SUCCEED.
