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What's the difference between winning traders and losing traders?

Well, first, there are a few similarities. Both are completely consumed by the idea of trading. The winners as well as losers have committed to doing this, and have no intention of ‘going back’. This same black-and-white mentality was evident in their personal lives too. But what about the differences? Here’s what Williams observed:

The losing traders have unrealistic expectations about the kind of profits they can make, typically shooting too high. They also debate with themselves before taking a trade, and even dwell on a trade well after it’s closed out. But the one big thing Williams noticed about this group was that they paid little attention to money management (i.e. defense).And the winners? This group has an intense focus on money management, and will voluntarily exit a trade if it’s not moving – even if it’s not losing money at that time! There is also very little internal dialogue about trade selection and trade management; this group just takes action instead of suffering analysis paralysis. Finally, the winning traders focused their attention on a small niche in the market or a few techniques, rather than trying to be able to do everything. Hopefully the second description fits you a little better, but if the first one seems a little too familiar, you now at least know how to start getting past that barrier.

What's the difference between winning traders and losing traders?

Well, first, there are a few similarities. Both are completely consumed by the idea of trading. The winners as well as losers have committed to doing this, and have no intention of ‘going back’. This same black-and-white mentality was evident in their personal lives too. But what about the differences? Here’s what Williams observed:

The losing traders have unrealistic expectations about the kind of profits they can make, typically shooting too high. They also debate with themselves before taking a trade, and even dwell on a trade well after it’s closed out. But the one big thing Williams noticed about this group was that they paid little attention to money management (i.e. defense).And the winners? This group has an intense focus on money management, and will voluntarily exit a trade if it’s not moving – even if it’s not losing money at that time! There is also very little internal dialogue about trade selection and trade management; this group just takes action instead of suffering analysis paralysis. Finally, the winning traders focused their attention on a small niche in the market or a few techniques, rather than trying to be able to do everything. Hopefully the second description fits you a little better, but if the first one seems a little too familiar, you now at least know how to start getting past that barrier.

BELIEFS

What you believe, consciously or unconsciously, propels your trading in its many directions.  It might be so simple a matter as whether you believe a market is going up or down or nowhere.  Traders have biases that distort their perceptions and effect their actions, and they need to guard against these with various protections and bias detectors.

Other beliefs are more veiled and ubiquitous.  For example, you may consciously intend to make money, but you have a counter impulse that thwarts you due to unconscious beliefs that go against that intention.  Perhaps you unconsciously believe that money is the root of all evil, or that rich people are corrupt, or that there isn’t enough to go around and so you shouldn’t be greedy, or that you should be laying up your treasure in heaven, and not on this earth.  Perhaps on some level you believe you shouldn’t make more money than your parents.

When you want something, you have to really want it and not be ambivalent about it.  It has to be your desire, and not some alien value set by your parents or society.  The flower loves the sun, and stretches to receive its rays.  The plant loves water and digs its roots deep seeking the object of its desire.  If you want to make money trading, you really have to admire money and have good purposes for its use.  If you want to be a master trader, you have to be comfortable with that role, and not see trading as wasteful gambling, or an unworthy profession.

Perhaps you believe that you don’t deserve to make money trading, or that you have to work hard for your rewards.  Maybe you believe that only the big boys win, that the market is stacked against the ordinary trader.  Maybe you believe that it’s impossible to make money in the futures markets or, worse, any market.  Maybe you believe it’s possible to make money trading, but it’s not probable that you can keep your winnings.  All such ideas run in opposition to easy and effective trading.

Just as insidiously you may doubt that your system really works, or that it won’t work this time.  Some traders get superstitious: for example, they believe that they always, or tend to, lose money on Fridays, and so, of course, they do.  When any of their superstitious factors occur, somehow they manage to lose.

Intentions

“Intention = Result. The thing you state as your intention may not be your real intention. In that case, you intend to not manifest your statement intention as part of a larger (secret) intention. For example, you promise to show up on time and show up late. Your intention may be to gain attention by making people wait for you.

So many people fixate on rules and techniques, but forget “intentions”. As you approach your daily life, contemplating how you will find the big score, have you thought about your true intentions? The trading psychology part of the equation is just as important as the quant side of the equation.

What's the difference between winning traders and losing traders?

winners-and-losers1Well, first, there are a few similarities. Both are completely consumed by the idea of trading. The winners as well as losers have committed to doing this, and have no intention of ‘going back’. This same black-and-white mentality was evident in their personal lives too. But what about the differences? Here’s what Williams observed:

The losing traders have unrealistic expectations about the kind of profits they can make, typically shooting too high. They also debate with themselves before taking a trade, and even dwell on a trade well after it’s closed out. But the one big thing Williams noticed about this group was that they paid little attention to money management (i.e. defense).And the winners? This group has an intense focus on money management, and will voluntarily exit a trade if it’s not moving – even if it’s not losing money at that time! There is also very little internal dialogue about trade selection and trade management; this group just takes action instead of suffering analysis paralysis. Finally, the winning traders focused their attention on a small niche in the market or a few techniques, rather than trying to be able to do everything. Hopefully the second description fits you a little better, but if the first one seems a little too familiar, you now at least know how to start getting past that barrier.

Trading and Training the Will

will“Without freedom there is no trading. Trading is a celebration of economic and political freedom. Slaves are traded; they do not trade. All this freedom, however, is for naught if we, ourselves, are not free. It is the deepest of ironies that we experience greater freedom–far broader potentials–than those who came before us. And yet, in our lives, in our abilities to master ourselves, we are no freer.

Amid opportunity, we remain partial: tethered to our conditioning. What it means to be free is to be able to choose, to live with intention.

The free life is one that we guide: a life lived with purpose, direction, and meaning. Trading, like all the great performance activities, is an opportunity to cultivate the intentional life. Pursued properly, it is a path to freedom.”

What is the Purpose of Trading?

It seems clear, doesn’t it? The purpose of trading is to make money. The trade is planned, entered, and exited with the goal of increasing the size of one’s trading account. What other purpose would there be?

The dictionary says this about purpose:

“something set up as an object or end to be attained : intention b: resolution, determination”

What about:

The purpose of trading is to not lose money.
The purpose of trading is to practice discipline.
The purpose of trading is to use my talents.
The purpose of trading is to grow.

Or how about:

The purpose of trading is to express my true nature. I was meant to be a trader.

Maybe the purpose of trading is simply to trade. Because that is what you have been called to do, or what you are meant to do, or it’s the highest expression of your nature as a producer rather than a consumer. When you trade successfully, you are disciplined, you are growing, you are using and developing your talents, you are making money, and you are creating wealth from scratch. But most of all, you are trading because it’s the right thing to do for you.

Nugget's from Nisons Beyond Candlesticks book.

Beyondcandlestick

Here’s the first nugget from Nisons Beyond Candlesticks book.

(It’s A BIBLE and my Hot favourite Book )

“A single candle by itself is rarely sufficient reason to forecast an immediate
reversal” (21)

When you cannot see the state of your opponent, you pretend to make a powerful attack to uncover the intention of the enemy. This concept, as related to trading, is one of the reasons a spring is so important. 57

In effect, these traders act like the aforementioned “moving shadow,” testing the battlefield by entering a large order to try and break support (or resistance). (more…)

6 Elements of Trading

1) What you’re trading – Why are you selecting one instrument to trade (one stock, one index) versus others? Which instruments maximize reward relative to risk?

2) How much you’re trading – How much of your capital are you going to allocate to the trade idea versus other ideas?

3) Why you’re trading – What is the rationale for the trade? Why does the trade idea provide you with an “edge”?

4) What will take you out of the trade – What would lead you to determine that your trade idea is wrong? What would tell you that the trade has reached its profit potential?

5) Where you will enter the trade – Given the criteria that would take you out of the trade, where will you execute your idea to maximize the reward you’ll obtain relative to the risk you’ll be taking?

6) How you will manage the trade – What would have to happen to convince you to add to the trade, scale out of it, and/or tighten your stop loss?

A beginning trader will take time to answer these questions, much as a new driver will need time to properly steer and brake a car. With experience, however, planning can occur very quickly, as much of a trader’s homework is accomplished before the market opens. For instance, before the open, I already have identified the short- and intermediate-term trend of the market; pivot points that will serve as profit targets; and volatility that will guide my position sizing. From there, much of the trade is a function of pattern recognition and execution–seeing selling or buying dry up in a rising or falling market and entering the trade at a level in which I’ll make more by hitting my target than by hitting my stop. 

(more…)

The Purpose of Living Life Purposefully

Here are some good self-assessment questions:
*  How purposeful are you in getting the sleep you need to function at your best?
*  How purposeful are you in getting the exercise you need to function with maximum energy?
*  How purposeful are you in eating the right foods to sustain your health and well-being?
*  How purposeful are you in organizing your time so that you’re spending your highest quality time on your most important priorities?
*  How purposeful are you in cultivating the quality of time with the people who matter most in your life?
*  How purposeful are you in ensuring that, each day, you are accomplishing something meaningful in your life?
Can we really expect to achieve our life’s purposes if we are not living our days purposefully?
Can we trade with intention and discipline if we don’t live the rest of our lives intentionally?
Everything in life can be approached with intention and purpose or it can be approached mindlessly and routinely.  In carrying out daily activities with self-direction, we strengthen our ability to stay mindful and purposeful for life’s greater goals.   
Life is one great gymnasium, but we only develop if we recognize the equipment and conduct our workouts.

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