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9 Things-Jesse Livermore said regarding excessive trading

“Money is made by sitting, not trading.”

2. “It takes time to make money.”

3. “It was never my thinking that made the big money for me, it always was sitting.”

4. “Nobody can catch all the fluctuations.”

5. “The desire for constant action irrespective of underlying conditions is responsible for many losses in Wall Street even among the professionals, who feel that they must take home some money everyday, as though they were working for regular wages.”

6. “Buy right, sit tight.”

7. “Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon.”

8. “Don’t give me timing, give me time.”

and finally, the most important thing:

9. “There is a time for all things, but I didn’t know it. And that is precisely what beats so many men in Wall Street who are very far from being in the main sucker class. There is the plain fool, who does the wrong thing at all times everywhere, but there is the Wall Street fool, who thinks he must trade all the time. Not many can always have adequate reasons for buying and selling stocks daily – or sufficient knowledge to make his play an intelligent play.” (more…)

Consistent And Discipline

Trading-In order to realize the full potential of your trading systems it is critical that you take every trading entry, adjust every stop, and close out every trade as and when your system says you should do. This takes extreme confidence in your trading systems, good robust reliable technology, and the mental discipline to stick to your trading plan whatever happens.
An underlying assumption about being consistent and disciplined is that you have a pre-defined plan for every situation you may face in your trading, so that you know how you are defining what being consistent is. Your plan needs to include at least the following items:

All your trading rules for entering, adding to, and exiting positions
What you will do if your trading computer, internet connection, broker, power, telephone
etc. fails
What you will do if you are unable to trade (more…)

HOW DISCIPLINE HELPS IN TRADING

“Discipline in executing each and every trade according to your trading methodology is the secret to your success. If you want to improve your trading, what you need to do is very simple. Before you enter any trade, imagine that you will have to explain this trade to a panel of your peers, by explaining to them the reason for your entry, your money, trade, and risk management guidelines, and why you exited the trade. Imagine having to explain why you chose this particular market and this particular time frame, along with how you set objectives for the trade, and how you determined where your initial protection would be. If you can truly do this, I strongly believe that you can be successful.

Just prior to entering every trade, try to imagine yourself executing the trade perfectly. Imagine how it will feel when you enjoy having made money with your trading.

Yes I know, you don’t have time to do that. Why? Because you never plan your trades ahead of time. You probably don’t have a strategy, and instead of waiting patiently for trade that meets your well-defined parameters and your thought-out plan, you just jump in the minute you think you see something that looks good.

You need to take a lesson from a spider. The spider waits patiently in his web until some unsuspecting insect flies into the spider’s trap.

Have you been flying into any of my traps? I wait for trades that meet my expectations, trades that fit my plan. I wait patiently, and being kind-hearted I don’t want any of my readers to land in my web. I’d rather the unsuspecting are readers of someone else’s newsletter. But it’s amazing how often I get to feed.”

Investment Jokes

The Godfather, accompanied by his stockbroker, walks into a room to meet with his accountant. The Godfather asks the accountant, “Where’s the three million bucks you embezzled from me?” The accountant doesn’t answer. The Godfather asks again, “Where’s the three million bucks you embezzled from me?”

The stockbroker interrupts, “Sir, the man is a deaf-mute and cannot understand you, but I can interpret for you.” The Godfather says, “Well, ask him where the @#!* money is.”

The stockbroker, using sign language, asks the accountant where the three million dollars is. The accountant signs back, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The stockbroker interprets to the Godfather, “He doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to the temple of the accountant, cocks the trigger and says, “Ask him again where the @#!* money is!”

The stockbroker signs to the accountant, “He wants to know where it is!” The accountant signs back, “Okay! Okay! The money’s hidden in a suitcase behind the shed in my backyard!”

The Godfather says, “Well, what did he say?” The stockbroker interprets to the Godfather, “He says that you don’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”

The Pessimist sees the glass as half empty. The Optimist sees the glass half full. The Stock Market Day Trader JUST ADDS WHISKEY …

Market statistics are like a bikini:

What they reveal is important, what they conceal is vital!

Know When to Trade (and When Not to Trade)

Successful traders know when to trade: they trade when their system tells them to. That might seem like an obvious point, but people too often forget it during the excitement of actually having money on the line.
A trader should be governed by his or her system, not by the circumstances of the moment, the market, or the outcome of a few trades. Keep a long-term perspective which focuses on developing a consistent, repeatable strategy. You won’t know what is successful or what fails if you constantly change your reasons for trading.
It is hardest to keep this kind of control when you’re experiencing losses. But this is also the most crucial time to be consistent. Otherwise, you won’t know how to avoid downturns in the future, or how to prevent them from becoming too damaging. (more…)

27 Motivational Quotes for Traders

1. IF A TRADER DOES NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENS TO HIM PSYCHOLOGICALLY WHILE IN A TRADE, HE IS DOOMED TO LOSE UNTIL HE DOES OR HE RUNS OUT OF MONEY.
2. THE MARKET PAYS YOU TO BE DISCIPLINED.
3. BE DISCIPLINED EVERY DAY, EVERY TRADE AND THE MARKET WILL REWARD YOU.
4. ALWAYS LOWER YOUR TRADE SIZE WHEN YOURE TRADING POORLY.
5. NEVER TURN A WINNER INTO A LOSER.
6. YOU’RE BIGGEST LOSER CANNOT EXCEED YOUR BIGGEST WINNER.
7. DEVELOP A METHODOLOGY AND STICK WITH IT.
8. BE YOURSELF. DON’T TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE.
9. YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND PLAY THE NEXT DAY.
10. EARN THE RIGHT TO TRADE BIGGER.
11. GET OUT OF YOUR LOSERS.
12. THE FIRST LOSS IS THE BEST LOSS.
13. DON’T HOPE AND PRAY.
14. DON’T SPECULATE.
15. NEVER TAKE A BIG LOSS.
16. HIT SINGLES NOT HOME RUNS.
17. CONSISTENCY BUILDS CONFIDENCE.
18. LEARN TO SWEAT OUT YOUR WINNERS.
19. MAKE THE SAME TYPES OF TRADES OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
20. BE A BRICKLAYER.
21. DON’T OVER ANALYZE.
22. ALL TRADERS ARE EQUAL IN THE EYES OF THE MARKET.
23. IT’S THE MARKET ITSELF.
24. ITS BORING. ITS A JOB. PATIENCE.
25. 70% OF THE MONEY FLOWING COMES FROM INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS.
26. STRONG VOLUME IS 150% OF NORMAL VOLUME.
27. TRADE WHAT YOU SEE, NOT WHAT YOU THINK.

Trading Wisdom – Andrew Gordon

Legendary stock trader Jesse Livermore had it right: The big money is in the big moves … and the trick to making the big money is knowing how to sit tight and ride the trend for all it’s worth. As obvious as that may seem, many investors have trouble doing it.

They are, as cognitive psychologists like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky would say, “risk-averse.” The pain they experience in losing money is far greater than the pleasure they experience in making it. As a result, these investors typically sell their investments too soon for fear of incurring a real or even a paper loss.

To profit the most from an investment, you need to be able to wait long enough for it to achieve its full potential. So if you’re “risk-averse” by nature, it might be a good idea for you to avoid paying too much attention to the news. If you’re watching television and the nightly business report comes on, change the channel. Set aside the business section of the paper to read on a rainy day. Ignore cocktail chatter about investing. That way, you’re more likely to stick to your trading plan instead of letting your emotions overpower your better judgment. 

Ten Questions to ask Yourself Before Every Trade

If you are just randomly trading what you like with no real underlying system, method or planning then unfortunately your odds of success in the long term are slim. Trading a winning methodology is what creates an edge in trading.

Consistently trading a robust system or methodology enables you to trade in a way that historically wins, controls risk, and does not bring your ego and your emotions into your trading in a destructive way.

Ten questions to ask yourself before every trade:

  1. Does this trade fit my chosen trading style? Whether it is:  swing trading, momentum, break out, trend following, reversion to the mean, or day trading?
  2. How big of a position do I want to trade? How much capital am I going to risk? Am I limiting my risk to 1% or 2% of my trading capital?
  3. What is my risk of ruin based on my capital at risk?
  4. Why am I entering the trade here? What is the trigger to trade?
  5. How will I exit with a profit? A price target or trailing stop? (more…)

Mark Douglas’s Five Fundamental Truths

1.       Anything can happen.  Translated – you have no control over the market.

2.       You don’t need to know what’s going to happen next in order to make money.  You don’t need to be psychic, or try to predict the market.  This is not to say that you cannot predict what the market will do next and be correct, only that you don’t have to, and that by trying to predict you shackle yourself to ‘the need to be right’ and the associated ball and chain.

3.       Wins and losses are random – You will never know when a trade will be a winner in advance, only that the conditions that define your edge are present.

4.       Your edge is nothing more than a higher probability of one thing happening over another.  Your edge is no guarantee of a winning trade, just of winning over time.

5.       Every moment in the market is unique.  Just because a similar trade won last time does not mean it will this time, and by treating each trade as totally unique you can see the truth of the trade without relating it to ‘what happened last time’.

These beauty in these theories is that they take the emphasis off any one trade, and turn your trading into a big picture endeavour.

6 Random Thoughts

1) Everyone needs a “mental break” from trading once in a while. The best time to take one is during corrective markets. It helps you protect capital and confidence.

2) If you have a -50% loss, it takes a +100% gain to get it back. In other words, CUT YOUR LOSSES!

3)  If you have trouble with discipline and staying away from the market, turn off your computer and get out of your chair. If you sit in the barbershop long enough, you’ll eventually get a haircut.

4) The “fear of missing out” is the downfall of most traders.

5) Whoever said that money doesn’t buy happiness clearly didn’t know where to shop.

6) “There is nothing new on Wall Street. What has happened in the past will happen again and again and again. This is because human nature does not change, and it is human emotion that always gets in the way of human intelligence. Of this I am sure.” — Jesse Livermore

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