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20 Lessons From Stock Market Wizards

3994-1Most of you have probably heard of this book and some may have read it. For the benefit of those who have not read it or heard of it, Stock Market Wizards is basically a book that consists of interviews with 15 top stock traders in America. These top traders come from a myriad of backgrounds and have varied interests- from mathematician, historian, scientist, to those with an interest in photography and even farming. But they have quite a few things in common when it comes to trading:
DISCIPLINE
LOSS CONTROL
HARD WORK

Most of the traders interviewed were quite forthcoming, but a few were reluctant to talk about their strategies (even past strategies that worked but is now no longer used) for fear that disclosure would render its effectiveness. Of the 15 traders, only Mark Cook and John Bender are options trader. By the way, Mark Cook’s story is one of my favourite and he is also the guy that likes to farm.
I am interested to read about these traders, not simply because they are top traders, but also because many of them encountered major failures and lost tons of money before they become successful in trading. The path to success is never easy and this book really keeps me inspired. I think in future if I meet with setbacks in my trading journey, This is 4th time ,I had completed reading this book.

Here’s my 20 lessons from Stock Market Wizards (more…)

Five surprising lessons from a career on Stock Market

1) Deep thought: Surprisingly few people rolled up their sleeves and thought deeply about why things in market are the way the are. What causes markets to go up and down? Why do things blow up? Why do most investors under-perform markets? Lots of myths and urban legends, not nearly as much quantitative evidence.

If you get really deep about it and study the data, there are some rules to learn. To succeed in markets, one needs to become a philosopher-mathematician.

2) Long-Term Greedy: Too many people went for the easy money, but that was never what motivated me. It was more about intellectual curiosity and honing ones craft, and less about the quick hit. I made less money compared to many of my peers, but I kept more of it and never blew up.

The phrase “long-term greedy” was coined by former Goldman Sachs director Gus Levy many years ago. You can make (lots of) money over time, but only by serving clients’ interests. Its amazing to me that view is so far out of fashion today.

3) Hard Work: There is no other field where a person of average skills and intelligence who is willing to put their head down and work hard can makes 100s of thousands or even millions of dollars a year — but only if they are diligent and patient and willing to put in the hours. (more…)

HOW TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS

When you have the time make a decision to watch the following program on making better decisions.  You may find that you made the right decision to do so.
FROM THE INTRODUCTION:According to science: We are bad at making decisions. Our decisions are based on oversimplification, laziness and prejudice. And that’s assuming that we haven’t already been hijacked by our surroundings or led astray by our subconscious!
Featuring exclusive footage of experiments that show how our choices can be confounded by temperature, warped by post-rationalisation and even manipulated by the future, Horizon presents a guide to better decision making, and introduces you to Mathematician Garth Sundem, who is convinced that conclusions can best be reached using simple maths and a pencil!