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Hope Quotes for Traders

  
  Education
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hope-trader“The speculator’s chief enemies are always boring from within. It is inseparable from human nature to hope and to fear… The successful trader has to fight these two deep-seated instincts. He has to reverse what you might call his natural impulses. Instead of hoping he must fear; instead of fearing he must hope. He must fear that his loss may develop into a much bigger loss, and hope that his profit may become a big profit.”

– Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 

“Hope is not a strategy.”

– Rigo Durazo

“There is no worse course in leadership than to hold out false hopes soon to be swept away.”

– Winston Churchill

“It is not enough to rely on luck or hope to carry us past the weak parts of our game. These parts must be attended to. The system must be whole and complete.”

– Zen and the Art of Poker (more…)

3 most critical aspects of trading

  
  Education
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  1. Discipline
  2. Timing
  3. Stock selection

Discipline alway is on top. Be accountable to yourself. Treat your money as if it was entrusted to you by whomever you most love, respect, fear… whatever works.

Have a reason to make every trade. Be able to verbalize that reason. As importantly, have a reason to exit a trade. You hear “cut your loses and let your winners run”….That is so true. I so often have seen traders get our of good positions because they have achieved their “target price” “target of profit”….I say this is bad thinking. If the trade REMAINS a trade you would put ON at the time you “achieve target”, why in the world would you take it off? To me, it is as important to have a reason to get out of a trade as to get in. Anyone can say to themselves they have a reason to exit a losing trade…”cut your losses”..Why then is it so hard for so many to have a real reason to get our of a winner?

It should be, and is, easy. It just takes DISCIPLINE. If you give back X% of your profit; if the market changes, if the group starts to get weak, whatever. You have to have your disciplines and stick to them. Make your own rules, and stay consistant to them.

I hope that all this typing can result in just one positive thought to just one person here. I have gone to so many “brainstorming” meetings in my career. I have listened to a million opinions, statements and arguments. I go though because I KNOW that if I pick up one single constructive thought I will have spent my time wisely. and believe me, they are few and far between. But I can remember single sentences said years ago in long boring meetings. Those senteces have added up to serve me well.

Timing should be easier for new traders to learn. Just be patient and buy or short at the price you pre-determine. Don’t chase.

Stock selection…this is a bit tougher. I could write a hundred pages on this issue. But not being so inclined, have standards. Volume, percent of average volume, relative strength, news, whatever you are comfortable with. Know what your quote provider can tell you other than quotes alone. Look for trades, but don’t be impulsive. Sometimes not making a trade is a great trade.

One Liner-Trading Wisdom

  
  Education
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If your not sure and don’t have an edge, cash IS a strategy.
If you are on a cold streak, reduce size by 70% and tighten stops for a week.
Stocks aren’t people, they cant be trusted, an algorithm doesn’t care that you think you know the story or the chart.
Don’t be “all in” in any name, you will blow up your account.
It’s totally cool to change your mind right after a trade, the market changes by the minute, so should you.
Pick one strategy and stick to it. This may take time if you are a beginner.
You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, so take losses but keep them very small.
I haven’t taken someone else s idea in a long time, you have just as good a chance of being right or wrong as some other putz.
Don’t have 15 technical indicators on your screen, that’s and EKG not a chart. Less is more.
Don’t trade pissed off, it will crush your P&L
Guess who wins when you “revenge” trade?
Take partial profits on the way up and raise your stops.
When you have three losing trades in a row, take a walk around the block. You may get an epiphany, at the very least it’s therapeutic.
Realize early that the market will always be smarter than you.

cfor Traders

  
  Education
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1) Cut Risk – It’s that “above all else, do no harm” principle. If you don’t have a feel for the market, trade small while you regain your feel. Preserve as much of your capital as possible to lay the foundation for your recovery;

2) Focus on Your Strengths – It’s not unusual for frustrated traders to try to make all kinds of changes in their trading in a frantic effort to gain some traction. These efforts can compound difficulties by getting traders further and further from their strengths. During rebuilding periods, you want to focus on the markets and strategies that you know most about, that represent your strengths.

3) Reach Out – It’s especially helpful to reach out to traders who trade markets and strategies similar to yours. Are they also struggling? If so, this suggests that market changes, indeed, may be at the root of the problem. If the traders you contact are succeeding, try to find out what they’re doing differently from you. It may well be that a simple tweaking of execution, holding times, and risk management could turn your performance around.

4) Stay Constructive – You may well be in a rebuilding period. This happens to the best athletes and sports franchises. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost all talent and skill. Identifying the kinds of trades that are working for you is a start toward rebuilding: you want to find the common denominators behind your successful trades so that you can emphasize these going forward.

5) Work on Your Self-Talk – Hard as it is, it’s important to stay positive during a rebuilding period. The last thing you want to do is create additional interference by beating up on yourself and dampening your motivation. This is one of the areas where coaching can be helpful. Setting attainable goals and creating plans for learning new patterns and trading strategies can fuel optimism, determination, and focus.

6) Control the Budget – It very much helps to have a cash cushion to weather these rainy day periods. Living within one’s means also helps greatly. I’ve generally found that traders can adapt to shifting markets if they have enough time to make the transition. It’s when the pressures of bringing in money month to month add to the performance pressures of a drawdown period that turnarounds become difficult to sustain.

Perhaps the best advice, however, is preventive. Identify slumps early and control losses before they get out of hand. Perform regular inventories of your winning and losing trades, so that you’re always on top of what’s working for you and minimizing what’s hurting performance. During your best times, remember that markets always change and keep powder dry to weather the inevitable lean times. Ironically, the best way to master declines in trading performance is to embrace them early and turn them into prods for learning and development.

The MASTER TRADER

  
  Education
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The MASTER TRADER…
…is rational.  He does not trade for egotistical reasons.
…is skilled in self-mastery thus able to deal with market reality.
…is able to see through the noise in the markets and find low-risk, high reward trade opportunities.
…is hard working and has the discipline to follow through with well thought out plans.
…is committed to his methodology and able to cut losses when called upon to do so.
…is humbled by his need to rely on the support of others.
…is adaptable to market changes.
…is up to the challenge of the trading game.  Enjoys profits and endures losses.
…is able to handle both success and failure without self-destructing. 

Wisdom Thoughts for Traders

  
  Education
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If your not sure and don’t have an edge, cash IS a strategy.

If you are on a cold streak, reduce size by 70% and tighten stops for a week.

Stocks aren’t people, they cant be trusted, an algorithm doesn’t care that you think you know the story or the chart.

Don’t be “all in” in any name, you will blow up your account.

It’s totally cool to change your mind right after a trade, the market changes by the minute, so should you.

Pick one strategy and stick to it. This may take time if you are a beginner.

You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, so take losses but keep them very small.

I haven’t taken someone else s idea in a long time, you have just as good a chance of being right or wrong as some other putz.

Don’t have 15 technical indicators on your screen, that’s and EKG not a chart. Less is more.

Don’t trade pissed off, it will crush your P&L

Guess who wins when you “revenge” trade?

Take partial profits on the way up and raise your stops.

When you have three losing trades in a row, take a walk around the block. You may get an epiphany, at the very least it’s therapeutic.

Realize early that the market will always be smarter than you.

Trading Advice

  
  Education
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1) Cut Risk – It’s that “above all else, do no harm” principle. If you don’t have a feel for the market, trade small while you regain your feel. Preserve as much of your capital as possible to lay the foundation for your recovery; 

2) Focus on Your Strengths – It’s not unusual for frustrated traders to try to make all kinds of changes in their trading in a frantic effort to gain some traction. These efforts can compound difficulties by getting traders further and further from their strengths. During rebuilding periods, you want to focus on the markets and strategies that you know most about, that represent your strengths. 

3) Reach Out – It’s especially helpful to reach out to traders who trade markets and strategies similar to yours. Are they also struggling? If so, this suggests that market changes, indeed, may be at the root of the problem. If the traders you contact are succeeding, try to find out what they’re doing differently from you. It may well be that a simple tweaking of execution, holding times, and risk management could turn your performance around.  (more…)

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