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Mastering the Trade, quotes by John F. Carter

  
  Education
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The quotes below are provided by John F. Carter, master day trader; pulled directly from his new book Mastering the Trade.

This may be the best quote of all:
“The financial markets are naturally set up to take advantage of and prey upon human nature. As a result, markets initiate major intraday and swing moves with as few traders participating as possible. A trader who does not understand how this works is destined to lose money”

“The financial markets are truly the most democratic places on earth. It doesn’t matter if a trader is male or female, white or black, American or Iraqi, Republican or Democrat. It’s all based on skill.”

“A trader, once in a position, can deceive himself or herself into believing anything that helps reinforce the notion that he or she is right”

“…professional traders understand this all too well, and they set up their trade parameters to take advantage of these situations, specifically preying on the traders who haven’t figured out why they lose”

“…markets don’t move because they want to. They move because they have to.”

“After all, the money doesn’t just disappear. It simply flows into another account – an account that utilizes setups that specifically take advantage of human nature.” (more…)

Life Lessons from Trading

  
  Education
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In trading, we can all agree that fewer conditions or filters results in better conclusions, better understanding, and less curve fitting. Conditions or filters block information. Too filters can result in less new insight and fewer opportunities.

Here is where trading is a good lesson for life. As we grow older our tendency is to filter out information, people, paths. It’s partly a necessity to avoid the bad or overload, but good things can be missed. Our experience tends to specialize our knowledge and narrow our focus. Though this has some benefit in expertise what opportunities or knowledge or growth may be missed. Ignoring, filtering or refusing to hear or listen to ideas we disagree with or that are different than our own may lead to narrow mindedness, missed opportunity to change and important information. For younger people it might be seen as closing doors. Meeting new people, hearing new ideas, going to new places. Nobel laureates advise not to tighten parameters too tightly as the surprise result may reveal itself. I recommend opening up parameters, let the fresh air in. Let’s not become grumpy old men. We’ve seen closed small minded people and don’t look on them with respect. Broad vision is necessary to see above and beyond the noise. You really need to force yourself against the tendency to close the mind.

The secret to trading success: You.

  
  Education
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You are the weakest part of your system. It is a defeatist statement. It makes your expectation to fail easier to accomplish and more importantly it makes failure easier to handle. It shifts the pressure away from you and unto fate.

Would you fly on an airline if their motto was “Our pilots are the weakest part.” I do not think so. You are your system. Even if your system is automated you added the inputs, parameters.

Taking responsibility for your action is not easy. Taking control of the outcomes of trading or life is a huge responsibility. You will have moments of weakness, but you are not weak. The market does not go straight up and either does the road to success.

 

Improve your Trading Skill

  
  Education
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Would you believe that a 14th century priest, and his concepts, can help make you a better trader?  Well, English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham really can make you a better trader.

Ockham developed the concept commonly referred to as Occam’s Razor.  Simply put, this principle favors the simple over the complex, when there is a choice to be made, or a path to be followed.

How can this apply to trading? A few different ways.

First, if you are a system trader, perhaps your approach has too many rules, too many parameters, or too much optimizing.  While every parameter you add might make your system better historically, the more parameters you have, the less prone the system is to work going forward.  Simpler concepts and simple rules tend to be based on fundamental market principles – ones that aren’t as likely to change.

Second, if you are a discretionary trader, you might trade off of news reports from CNBC, Bloomberg and multiple other sources.  Multiple news sources might give you more data, but does it really give you more knowledge?  You might find that with multiple, conflicting pieces of information, you actually can’t trade at all – rather, you are a victim of “analysis paralysis.”

Third, maybe your trading office looks like the control room for the Space Shuttle. If you try to trade off all of the information shown on all the screens, you might just find yourself overwhelmed.  It is better to stick to a few monitors of information, and know that information very well.  The best traders don’t need a dozen monitors to trade well – usually 1 or 2 monitors is plenty.

Many new traders tend to think that that more complicated they make trading, the easier it will be to “solve” the markets.  Instead, they should be listening to William of Ockham, and making things simpler.  Simple, done correctly, can lead to more profits, and stand the test of time better than complicated approaches.

5 Steps for Traders

  
  Education
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  1. STAY DISCIPLINED AND ONLY TRADE YOUR METHOD. If you do not have a robust system, method, or strategy do not trade again until you have one.
  2. ONLY TAKE TRADES WITH IN THE PARAMETERS OF YOUR TRADING PLAN. Trade your plan not your emotions. If you do not have a plan that defines entries, exits, and position sizing do not trade again until you have one.
  3. YOUR FIRST LOSS IS YOUR BEST LOSS. When your planned stop is first hit just get out. In trading hoping is a very expensive emotion
  4. UNDERSTAND THE MARKET ENVIRONMENT. There are times to be short, times to be long, and times to be out. Volatility is many traders kryptonite.  If the market itself is not conducive to your strategy wait until it is.
  5. CHOOSE YOUR SPOTS CAREFULLY. Do not rush trades, wait until you get the right set up, trend, or break out you are waiting for, the market isn’t going anywhere, wait for the fat pitch.

SIMPLIFY

  
  Education
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simplifyWhen we follow a standardized process for trade execution, we help negate the impact that emotions can have on that process.  And when we create a set of rules within which is a subset of rules that allow for less mechanical, more intuitive management of our trades, we can potentially realize additional profits from those intangible insights into market direction without over-exposing our account to risk.  Here is how it works:

  S – Scan your charts .  Create a “Watch List” to help manage your inventory of trading opportunities.

I – Identify a high probability set up.    

 M – Map out the trade’s entry point, stop-loss exit point, and profit exit point. 

P – Pull the trigger.  By systematizing the process as we are talking about here, the anxiety associated with executing a trade is greatly reduced.  Instead of focusing on whatever issues keep you from pulling the trigger, your focus is on following a procedure, a set of instructions.  Mapping out and understanding exactly what our risk is also reduces the anxiety of entering a trade.    

 L – Let the market do its thing.  It’s not very often that you won’t have to take some heat on a trade.  It’s a great feeling when a trade goes in your favor immediately and stays that way.  But that’s the exception and not the rule.  As a good friend of mine would say, “Let it breathe!”  (more…)

Two Trading Plan for Traders

  
  Education
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The Trading Plan comes first and should account for the following parameters:

1.  Entering a trade.

2.  Exiting a trade.

3.  Stop Placement.

4.  Position Sizing.

5.  Money Management.

6.  What to Trade.

7.  Trading Time Frames.

8.  Back Testing.

9.  Performance Review.

10.  Risk vs. Reward.

The Game Plan consists of putting the parameters of the Trading Plan to work in day to day trading with the following benefits:

1.  It will force the trader to select a trading style.

2.  It will encourage market study.

3.  It will aide in helping pick the correct trades.

4.  It will prepare the trader for what the market has to offer.

5.  It will help in properly monitoring and exiting trades.

6.  It will keep the trader from overtrading.

7.  It will help with finances.

8.  It will keep the trader focused.

9.  It will take the gambling out of trading.

10.  It will make a better trader out of you.

What is important in trading

  
  Education
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Trade with your personality

Regardless of what has been working for other people, you have to trade a system that suits your personality. It either has to compliment your strengths, overcome your weaknesses or both. That is not to say that a system that someone else creates cannot work for you, but you have to figure our your own unique way of trading it.

You have to have an edge

You have to have a specific, definable edge over the market. Like with any other endeavor, if you are not skilled, you will not do well. The best traders understand the edge that they have over the markets and constantly exploit it for profit.

Work hard, work smart

All of the top traders worked hard to refine their technique and constantly improve themselves in order to become better traders. It is not only about putting in a lot of hours, it is also about being open to ways of improving that may seem foreign or strange at the beginning.

No loyalty to a position

Top traders know how to cut losses short and take profits when the target is hit. They don’t get too excited about a position and make a business decision to take the profit or take the loss, based on the parameters of their system.

51 Professional Trading Tips

  
  Education
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1. Trading is simple, but it is not easy.

2.  When you get into a trade watch for the signs that you might be wrong.

3.  Trading should be boring.

4.  Amateur traders turn into professional traders once they stop looking for the “next great indicator.”

5.  You are trading other traders, not stocks or futures contracts.

6.  Be very aware of your own emotions.

7.  Watch yourself for too much excitement.

8.  Don’t overtrade.

9.  If you come into trading with the idea of making big money you are doomed.

10.  Don’t focus on the money.

11.  Do not impose your will on the market.

12.  The best way to minimize risk is to not trade when it is not time to trade. 

13.  There is no need to trade five days a week.  

14.  Refuse to damage your capital.

15.  Stay relaxed.

16.  Never let a day trade turn into an overnight trade.

17.  Keep winners as long as they are moving your way.

18.  Don’t overweight your trades.

19.  There is no logical reason to hesitate in taking a stop.

20.  Professional traders take losses because they trust themselves to do what is right.

21.  Once you take a loss, forget about it and move on.

22.  Find out what loss parameters work best for your setup and adjust them accordingly.

23.  Get a feel for market direction by “drilling down” (looking at multiple time frames).

24.  Develop confidence by knowing and executing your trade setups the same way every time.

25.  Don’t be ridiculous and stupid by adding to losers.

26.  Try to enter a full size position right away.

27.  Ring the register and scale out of your position.

28.  Adrenaline is a sign that your ego and your emotions have reached a point where they are clouding your judgment.

29.  You want to own the stock before it breaks out and sell when amateurs are getting in after the move.

30.  Embracing your opinion leads to financial ruin.

31.  Discipline is not learned until you wipe out a trading account.

32.  Siphon off your trading profits each month and stick them in a money market account.

33.  Professional traders risk a small amount of money on their equity on one trade.

34.  Professional traders focus on limiting risk and protecting capital.

35.  In the financial markets heroes get crushed.

36.  Stick to your trading rules and you will never blow up your trading account.

37.  The market can reinforce bad habits.

38.  Take personal responsibility for each trade.

39.  Amateur traders think about how much money they can make on each trade.  Professional traders think about how much money they can lose.

40.  At some point all traders realize that no one can tell them exactly what is going to happen next in the market.

41.Losing trades don’t diminish you as a person. You’re also not your winning trades. They are just by-products of the business you’re in.

42.Act in your best interest – placing a trade because you’re afraid of missing out on a big move is NOT acting in your best interest.

43.Flawless execution comes from forming a habit. A habit is formed when it is repeated over and over again. Start practicing.

44.Don’t let personal/external factors affect the trading for thou judgment is clouded. Let the market show you what to do. Always.

45.Make sure your trading goals are 1) realistic, 2) attainable, 3) measurable. If they don’t meet these criteria, then the goal is nothing.

46.You want to own the stock before it breaks out, then sell it to the momentum players after it breaks out. If you buy breakouts, realize that professional traders are handing off their positions to you in order to test the strength of the trend. They will typically buy it back below the breakout point—which is typically where you will set your stop when you buy a breakout. (In case you ever wondered why you get stopped out on a lot of “failed” breakouts).

47.Amateur traders always think, “How much money can I make on this trade!” Professional traders always think, “How much money can I lose on this trade?” The trader who controls his or her risk takes money from the trader whose head is in the clouds.

48.. Siphoning out your trading profits each month and sticking them in a money market account is a good practice. This action helps to focus your attitude that this is a business and not a place to seek thrills. If you want an adventure, go live in Minnesota for a winter. If you want excitement, deliberately forget your anniversary. Just don’t trade.Adrenaline is a sign that your ego and your emotions have reached a point where they are clouding your judgment. Realize this and immediately tighten your stop considerably to preserve profits or exit your position.

49.

50.Averaging down on a position is like a sinking ship deliberately taking on more water.

51.You Need MONEY -MIND-METHOD & Target to get success in Trading.If u miss any one of them…its my challenge to anybody in World …U will never ever be succesful !!

Updated at 22:45/07th Sept/Baroda

DISCIPLINE IN TRADING

  
  Education
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Discipline: “Habit of Obedience”

 Have a trading plan or system is essential to the exercise of good discipline, as it normally imposes certain parameters and sets out certain criteria which dictate how trading decisions should me made and what needs to be done in certain situations. Habitually following your plan is what is meant by the exercise of good trading discipline, which, in turn, will help you realize the best expected results possible from your plan. If you find that your trading plan or system is not meeting your expectations, despite habitually following it for a reasonable period of time, good discipline requires that you be prepared to review it and make any adjustments or fine tuning necessary for future use.

 Lack of Discipline

Day traders who suffer from lack of discipline often allow their emotions to rule their trading decisions, which often leads to bad decisions and unacceptable trading losses. Never allow your emotions to rule your trading. In order to trade successfully, you must develop a trading plan. (more…)

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