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Wise quotes from Bernard M. Baruch

263-1Wise quotes from Bernard M. Baruch:
Bernard Baruch was a stock market speculator who became a millionaire by age 30 in the early 1900’s and eventually a statesman and advisor to multiple Presidents during WWI and WWII.

  • -A speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs.
  • -If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he is wrong.
  • -During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think.
  • -Age is only a number, a cipher for the records. A man can’t retire his experience. He must use it. Experience achieves more with less energy and time.
  • Do not blame anybody for your mistakes and failures.
  • Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.
  • I made my money by selling too soon.
    I never lost money by turning a profit.
  • Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.
  • Never pay the slightest attention to what a company president ever says about his stock.
  • Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever follies I have witnessed in private and public life have been the consequence of action without thought.

Basic principles

Risk management- Plan your loss before planning your profit.

Diversification- Be bullish, be bearish, be involved in various groups/markets.

Proper Position Sizing- Trade small, trade safe.

Effective Trading Plan- Make sure your plan works, and/or makes money.

Cutting Losses Short- Enter a trade that offers a small loss.

Letting Winners Run- Don’t kill your winners.

Curbing Your Emotion- This is a bi product of trading small.

Long: My rules

Short: My emotion

Update: If you took any part of this post personal, don’t. You know I am not in the business of attacking, just trying to get a message across. If I were mad, I wouldn’t have addressed it at all.. When all else fails, “Fresh Tactics.”

Reacting versus Predicting in Trading

Most of the best traders I have read about and know of personally do not predict what will happen they trade what is happening. New traders always want to predict, they want to argue about their beliefs and why something must happen or will happen. Most rich traders are rich because they are flexible, they have no strong opinions and are just looking at possibilities and ready to take a set up, buy a break out or short a break down. A new trader believes that ‘conviction’ about a trade is important, holding through an adverse move is usually a bad idea, especially if a key level is reached that is showing the trader that they are wrong. A rich trader is waiting for some price level to trigger their entry then another price level to trigger their exit. A new trader is trading off a belief and has no real exit plan most the time because they are sure that they are right.

The money I have pulled out of the market over the past 10 years has come from trading price action not predicting. I have entered at high probability moments on break outs above resistance levels. I have trailed my winning trend trades with a stop and sold when the trend reversed through key short term support. When I was wrong I stopped out for a small loss, when I was right I let the winner run up for a very big win. I am always trend hunting, always taking my high probability trades, always cutting losses short, and when not seeing a great trade doing nothing and waiting.

Good Luck-Advice for Traders

Always seek out differing opinions and challenge your beliefs. Except when you know you’re right, then that other bullshit just becomes a distraction. Good luck with that.

It is very important to be flexible and open-minded. But invest with set rules and an iron discipline. Good luck with that.

Technical analysis and charts only tell you about what has already happened in the past. It’s much better to use the information from the future that we have when making decisions.  Good luck with that.

Never run with the herd. It’s much better to be all alone on open ground, running in the wrong direction and wholly conspicuous to predators. Good luck with that. (more…)

Discipline

A day trader should leave no room for fear and greed to take over, otherwise, this will be the key to your losses. A good trader should be disciplined, make discipline a habit, and act in accord with trading systems/strategies. You can do your trade in a consistent and reliable manner this way. Certain situations require an individual to make decisions based on their pre-set criteria and parameters.

 You should make it a point to habitually follow your trading system/plan. When you’re making trading decisions, don’t let your emotions rule you. A day trader should always be disciplined, and once you attain your objective, leave the market first. Oftentimes people plunge in deeper because they are influenced by greed and fear.

 There are also day traders who are quite reluctant to lose money. For instance your stock goes down,and you’re still hoping that after some time it will rise again. And to your surprise, the share price goes further down. If only you were not reluctant to lose money, you could have sold it the first time its price went down, and prevent further loss.

 Day traders need to make fast executions and confirmations of the trade, so you must have a fast internet connection. They also need to receive and deliver quotes, news, and other pertinent market data. A fast internet connection allows you to make your day trading in a timely fashion. If you’re serious with your day trading. You would need hardware and software requirements to put a sufficient platform at home for online trading.

 You can practice through simulated trading before using real money. Here you can incorporate all your trading techniques and see if they actually work. Don’t be a scared to lose a certain amount of money. But it doesn’t mean that you should not limit your losses. Most importantly, you should learn from your past losses. Becoming a day trader is a simple thing. But in any case it requires dedication, time and effort. You will reap profits that you’ve never imagined, if you are able to put all of these things together.

Speculation and Trading vs. Gambling

When does trading become gambling? There is a very thin line. I maintain that most traders ARE gamblers. They use markets as a substitute for a casino.

1. IF you enter trades without a clear trading plan, you just might be a gambler.

2. IF you trade just to be trading, you just might be a gambler.

3. IF your bored and enter a trade, you just might be a gambler.

4. IF you look at potential profit before assessing potential loses, you just might be a gambler.

5. IF you have no impulse control, you just might be a gambler.

6. IF you have no methodology, you just might be a gambler.

7. IF you rely on others for your trading decisions, you just might be a gambler.

8. IF you do not take full responsibility for your trading outcomes, you just might be a gambler.

9. IF you increase your risk due to losses, you just might be a gambler.

10. IF you do not use stop losses or do not adhere to them, you just might be a gambler.

And my all time favorite

11. IF you get an adrenaline rush when your entering trades, you just might be a gambler.

In summation I would like to say that I do enjoy casino gambling as a form of entertainment. I strive to over come the house’s edge when I do gamble. Gambling is entertainment and trading is a business and should be approached as a business enterprise. IF your using the markets as a gambling outlet, be my guest. Traders that approach trading with a positive expectancy WILL take all your money. They will send you stumbling out into the night, cross-eyed and mumbling to yourself. Be smart. You can either feed the trading gods or feed your head. Do the work and get educated before risking one thin dime. Employ laser like focus in your trading and use iron discipline. The end result can be well beyond your wildest expectation.

Mind over the Market Video Interview with Mark Douglas

What is the most important part of your trading? The chart? Managing the risk? Finding the Holy Grail of trading that can’t lose? (I have bad news for you about the Holy Grail).

I am convinced how a trader emotionally reacts to the markets while trading will determine their success more than anything else.

Mark Douglas is a trader and author of Trading in the Zone and The Disciplined Trader two great trading books for traders at all levels that deal primarily with how to develop the correct mindset to be a successful trader.

My favorite Mark Douglas quotes.

Trader Psychology: (more…)

Don't Lose the Lesson!

lessonLosing trades can have the same affect – if you let them. However, if you look at each trade as just one of your next 100 or even one of the next 1000 trades you’ll make in the next year, you’ll begin to attach far less emotion to the outcome of each trade. Detaching emotion from individual trades is one of the best ways to build confidence in yourself and your long-term success as a trader.

Losses are inevitable; they simply are a part of trading. How you handle losses is what can ultimately determine your level of success moving forward. Even a losing trade can be beneficial if you take what you can from it. Ask yourself, “Why did this trade fail? Is it a function of a market reversal, or a miscalculation on my part? Was my stop-loss set too close as a result of too large a position? Did I micromanage this trade and adjust my numbers on the fly? Did I completely abandon my trading plan?” A loss means you’ve already paid the tuition, so you might as well stick around for the lesson.

Ask the right questions when a trade doesn’t work out or when you hit a rough patch with your trading. The answers you find can help you greatly as you progress as a trader. Whether those answers allow you to avoid making the same mistake again or if they just give you some closure following a bad experience, take what positives you can find and move forward.

Bottom line: cut the loss but keep the lesson!

Trading Wisdom by Larry Hite & Marty Schwartz

Larry Hite

While the speculator doesn’t have the product knowledge or speed, he does have the advantage of not having to play. The speculator can choose to only bet when the odds are in his favor. That is an important positional advantage.

In the above quote, Larry is referring to the fact that smaller retail traders have the advantage of being able to sit out an wait patiently for the best opportunities. Bigger institutional traders have to trade more and whilst they might have a speed advantage, the retail trader has to use his advantage of being able to trade like a sniper to its fullest.

Frankly, I don’t see markets; I see risks, rewards, and money.

The above quote stresses the importance of seeing each trade as a risk reward ratio, rather than just a potential profit opportunity. Pro traders calculate their risk first and then their reward, if the risk reward ratio of a trade doesn’t make sense then they don’t trade.

Marty Schwartz

 I always laugh at people who say, “I’ve never met a rich technician.” I love that! It’s such an arrogant, nonsensical response. I used fundamentals for nine years and got rich as a technician. (more…)

15 Trading Rules

1.  Don’t be a tradeaholic

  • Someone who has to have a trade on at all times or they feel their missing out

2.  You trade to make money – not for fun, games, or to escape boredom

3.  Never add to a bad trade

  • This may work occasionally, but will hurt you in the long run

4.  Once you have a profit on a trade, never let it turn into a loss

5.   No hoping, no wishing, no would’ve, no opinions, no should’ve

 6.   Don’t be a one way trader – be flexible, opportunities on both sides

7.   Know your risk on each trade. Trade with stops to limit losses

  • Sell down to the sleeping point (My favourite since 15 yrs )

8.   Look for 3-1 profit objective trade

9.  When initiating a trade, always get your price (use a limit order)

10.  When liquidating a bad trade, always use a market order

11.  Have a plan. Trade it. Monitor it.

12.  Make 10 points on a million trades, not a million points on one trade

  • Aim for consistency (it adds to your batting average)
  • There are more opportunities to make many reasonable trades

13.  Learn from your own mistakes

14.  Pay attention to weekly lows and highs

15.  Technicals and fundamentals are equally important.

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