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Some behaviors that virtually guarantee losses in the markets

Lack of discipline: It takes an accumulation of knowledge and sharp focus to trade successfully. Many would rather listen to the advice of others. They just want to believe, like Fox Mulder.

Impatience: Some have an insatiable need for action. The day trading adrenaline rush and the gamblers’ high can have heroin-like addiction pull.

No objectivity: Some are unable to disengage emotionally from the market. They create a virtual “lifelong” marriage to their trades. Divorce is not an option.

Greed: A desire for quick profit blinds many from the diligent work needed to actually win in the long run.

Refusal to accept truth: Some do not want to believe that the only knowable truth is price action. They feel more secure following cult leaders serving Kool-Aid.

Impulsive behavior: Many jump into investments based on the morning paper or Good Morning America. Thinking that if you act quickly, somehow you will beat everybody else in the great race is a recipe for a messy failure.

Inability to stay in the moment of now: To be a successful trader, you cannot spend your time thinking about how you are going to spend your profits. Trading because you have to have money is not workable.

Stay open-minded: Come into the day knowing your future steps. Do not be stubborn when the market does not go your way. Cut your losses and follow your stinking trading plan.

Avoid false parallels: Just because the market behaved one way in 1995, 2000, or 2008 does not mean a similar pattern today will give you the same result. A great example of this: The Hindenburg Omen. It is a technical analysis pattern that is said to portend a stock market crash. The problem: Sometimes it is right, sometimes not. You don’t want to bet your life savings on a coin flip.