Archives of “meditation” tag

rss

‘Essential Qualities of the Speculator’

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

qualities

1. Self-Reliance. A man must think for himself,must follow his own convictions. George MacDonald says: “A man cannot have another man’s ideas any more than he can another man’s soul or another man’s body.” Self-trust is the foundation of successful effort.

2. Judgment. That equipoise, that nice adjustment of the faculties one to the other,which is called good judgment, is an essential to the speculator.
3. Courage. That is, confidence to act on the decisions of the mind. In speculation there is
value in Mirabeau’s dictum: “Be bold, still be bold; always be bold.” (more…)

Dickson G. Watts ‘Speculation As A Fine Art’ – A Speculator’s Essential Qualities

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

His list of ‘Essential Qualities of the Speculator’ and ‘Laws Absolute” show the timeless value of his insight:

1. Self-Reliance. A man must think for himself,must follow his own convictions. George MacDonald says: “A man cannot have another man’s ideas any more than he can another man’s soul or another man’s body.” Self-trust is the foundation of successful effort.

2. Judgment. That equipoise, that nice adjustment of the faculties one to the other,which is called good judgment, is an essential to the speculator.

3. Courage. That is, confidence to act on the  decisions of the mind. In speculation there is value in Mirabeau’s dictum: “Be bold, still be bold; always be bold.”

4. Prudence. The power of measuring the danger, together with a certain alertness and watchfulness, is very important. There should be a balance of these two, Prudence and Courage;Prudence in  contemplation, Courage in execution.
Lord Bacon says: “In meditation all dangers should be seen; in execution one, unless very formidable.”
Connected with these qualities,properly an outgrowth of them, is a third, viz:
promptness. The mind convinced, the act should follow. In the words of Macbeth; “Henceforth the
very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.” Think, act, promptly.

5. Pliability. The ability to change an opinion,the power of revision. “He who observes,”says Emerson, “and observes again, is always formidable.”

The qualifications named are necessary to the makeup of a speculator, but they must be in well-balanced
combination. A deficiency or an overplus of one quality will destroy the effectiveness of all. The possession of such faculties, in a proper adjustment is, of course, uncommon. In speculation, as in life, few succeed,many fail.

These are his ‘Laws Absolute’:

1. Never Overtrade. To take an interest larger than the capital justifies is to invite disaster. With such an
interest a fluctuation in the market unnerves the operator, and his judgment becomes worthless.

2. Never “Double Up”; that is, never completely and at once reverse a position. Being “long,” for instance,do not “sell out” and go as much “short.” This may occasionally succeed, but is very hazardous, for should the market begin again to advance, the mind reverts to its original opinion and the speculator “covers up”and “goes long” again. Should this last change be wrong, complete demoralization ensues. The change in the original position should have been made moderately,cautiously, thus keeping the judgment clear and preserving the balance of the mind.

3. “Run Quickly,” or not at all; that is to say, act promptly at the first approach of danger, but failing
to do this until others see the danger, hold on or close out part of the “interest.”

4. Another rule is, when doubtful, reduce the amount of the interest; for either the mind is not satisfied with the position taken, or the interest is too large for safety. One man told another that he could not sleep on account of his position in the market; his friend judiciously and laconically replied: “Sell down to a sleeping point.”

Doubt everything.Find your own light

  
Education, Life
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

buddha_at_deer_parkThese were the last words of Buddha ,in the Theravada tradition.The title Buddha means ‘Enlightened one ‘ or ‘Awakened One’.In Buddhism ,the Buddha refers to Siddhartha Gautama,born in Lumbini in modern Nepal.According to most traditions ,he lived many lives before coming to our present world era.Born a prince ,at the age of 13 he was escorted out of the palace.Buddha came across the  ‘four sights ‘ :an old crippled man ,a diseased man ,a decaying corpse and finally an ascetic.Gautama realized that age ,disease ,death and pain were inescapable ,and that the poor would always outnumber the rich.However ,even if one was wealthy ,everyone shared age ,disease ,death and pain.Neither money nor peace can relieve people from fear and anxiety ,or lead them to ultimate happiness.

Departing from the palace and wearing rags ,Gautama studied meditation ,becoming an ascetic in his search for enlightenment.He found that the true  liberation from worry could be attained only by reaching a state of absolute tranquillity and enlightenment.Buddhism had evolved into three major schools of teaching ,and its peaceful and forgiving tenets have influenced  later religions.

After 45 years of teaching ,the Buddha passed into Parinirvana ,the state of Nirvana attained at death.in his last sermon ,he encouraged his disciples to diligently ‘doubt everything ‘and seek the truth ,not holding on to that which is impermanent.

Confidence in Trading: The Approach

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

CONFIDENCE01
Have you ever seen a gorgeous goddess?  A woman so magnificent you just are beeming energy inside to go talk to her?  But as you walk over you start to notice how you’re walking, what facial gestures you’re making, where your hands are, confidence fading… You’re becoming self-conscious and that wonderful feeling of excitement has now turned into fear.  Do you remember the last time you talked to a woman in this energy? In this self-conscious / fear mentality?  Didn’t go so well did it?  Why is a stock any different?

It’s all about the approach and mental confidence prior to the trade.  When you approach an event with fear that energy gets transferred into it.  I’ve talked about how The Energy of Fear is Consumption in this prior post.  So if you’re feeling nervous before a trade take note of this.  Where is this fear coming from? Is it related to money? Lack of confidence in yourself? Lack of self worth? It could be a million different things but you need to find and focus on the one that resonates with you.  I’m currently working on a meditation that will assist you through the process of finding this fear and making it your ally.

Remember the emotion will come during the “approach.” Keep track of how you feel, as this will set the course of how the rest of your interaction with the trade will go.  Keep in mind that magnificent woman: Do you approach her as nervous, not confident, and fearful of reject or strong, confident and full of love?

The Overt & Covert Danger of Leverage

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #

Buying stocks with borrowed money doesn’t make anything a better investment or increase the probability of gains.

It merely magnifies whatever gains or losses may materialize. And then, leverage brings destruction if things go bad…really bad. And they often do.

Nassim Taleb says that we should judge people by the costs of the alternative, that is if history played out in another way.

As he wrote in his brilliant book Fooled by Randomness – “Clearly, the quality of a decision cannot be solely judged based on its outcome, but such a point seems to be voiced only by people who fail (those who succeed attribute their success to the quality of their decision).”

In the same way, be very careful of judging your stock market success by the outcome you achieve, but by the decision you made.

“Leverage can help me magnify my returns” is a great statement to make. But more often now, leverage – which is a result of arrogance created by good short-term returns or a result of survivorship bias, which is concentrating on the people or things that “survived” some process and inadvertently overlooking those that did not – will not only your destroy your savings and sleep, it will also destroy your reputation. (more…)

Essential Qualities of the Speculator

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

1. Self-Reliance. A man must think for himself,
must follow his own convictions. George
MacDonald says: “A man cannot have another
man’s ideas any more than he can another
man’s soul or another man’s body.” Self-trust
is the foundation of successful effort.

2. Judgment. That equipoise, that nice
adjustment of the faculties one to the other,
which is called good judgment, is an essential
to the speculator.

3. Courage. That is, confidence to act on the
decisions of the mind. In speculation there is
value in Mirabeau’s dictum: “Be bold, still be
bold; always be bold.” (more…)

Prudence

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

The power of measuring the danger, together with a certain alertness and watchfulness, is very important. There should be a balance of these two, Prudence and Courage;Prudence in contemplation, Courage in execution.Lord Bacon says: “In meditation all dangers should be seen; in execution one, unless very formidable.”Connected with these qualities,properly an outgrowth of them, is a third, viz:promptness. The mind convinced, the act should follow. In the words of Macbeth; “Henceforth the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.” Think, act, promptly.

Go to top