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10 Market Insights from Mark Douglas

  
  Education
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They say that you cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it within himself. “Trading In the Zone” by Mark Douglass is one of those rare books, which has played the role of an eye opener for many seasoned traders. It is a favorite read – not because it shares some hidden algorithms or tells a riveting story, not because it reveals some secret market formula or it analyzes the irrational exuberance of the crowd; but because it deals with the only hurdle that stays between a trader and his profit – his psychology.

Here are 10 of my favorite quotes from the book:

1. The four trading fears

95% of the trading errors you are likely to make will stem from your attitudes about being wrong, losing money, missing out, and leaving money on the table – the four trading fears

2. The proverbial empathy gap

You may already have some awareness of much of what you need to know to be a consistently successful trader. But being aware of something doesn’t automatically make it a functional part of who you are. Awareness is not necessarily a belief. You can’t assume that learning about something new and agreeing with it is the same as believing it at a level where you can act on it.

3. The market doesn’t generate happy or painful information

From the markets perspective, it’s all simply information. It may seem as if the market is causing you to feel the way you do at any given moment, but that’s not the case. It’s your own mental framework that determines how you perceive the information, how you feel, and, as a result, whether or not you are in the most conducive state of mind to spontaneously enter the flow and take advantage of whatever the market is offering.

4. The flaws of fundamental analysis

Fundamental analysis creates what I call a “reality gap” between “what should be” and “what is.” The reality gap makes it extremely difficult to make anything but very long-term predictions that can be difficult to exploit, even if they are correct. (more…)

20 Nuggets from a Book : A Better Way to Make Money

  
  Education
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1.  The secret to losing money in the market is to know why.  “The losers “were ‘playing the market’, not using it intelligently.  The fellow at the other end of the deal, who was using it intelligently, not ‘playing the market’, is the one who got the money.”

2.  “It is an undeniable fact that indiscriminate trading in a hectic market will send one to financial oblivion quicker than any other known process.”

3.  “The most careful preparation-a systematic plan-is one of the essentials of success.”

4.  “Market action is not complex but surprisingly simple.  Yet it is often made to appear complex by newspaper forecasters and market letter writers.”

5.  “Market action is human nature in action.”

6.  All market movements are based on “two deep-seated and entirely natural emotions:  the desire for gain and the fear of loss.”

7.  “So anxious are people to find some talisman, some magic wand, that will help them secure the hidden riches of the market, that they will try anything from coin-flipping to crystal gazing to secure the desired assistance.”

8.  “What marvelous results could be attained in the business of making money if those who buy stocks would take a little time to learn a few simple facts about the market in which they are blindly reposing their faith.”

9.  “Market students are continually diverted from making true evaluations of securities and commodities because they study the statistics made by prices instead of the psychology of prices.”

10.  “Adopt one system of trading and stick to it, just as you employ and stick to one physician in whom you learn to have confidence.” (more…)

THE COLLECTIVE MADNESS OF CROWDS

  
  Education
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All I can say about the following is WOW, talk about THE perfect explanation for the reason behind unreasonable and illogical crowded moves in the stock market…

The most striking peculiarity presented by a psychological crowd is the following: Whoever be the individuals that compose it, however like or unlike be their mode of life, their occupations, their character, or their intelligence,the fact that they have been transformed into a crowd puts them in possession of a sort of collective mind which makes them feel, think, and act in a manner quite different from that in which each individual of them would feel, think,and act were he in a state of isolation. There are certain ideas and feelings which do not come into being, or do not transform themselves into acts except in the case of individuals forming a crowd. The psychological crowd is a provisional being formed of heterogeneous elements, which for a moment are combined, exactly as the cells which constitute a living body form by their reunion a new being which displays characteristics very different from those possessed by each of the cells singly.

…and it was written by a psychologist in 1896!

The influence Of Hope & Fear

  
  Education
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In trading psychology, two emotions that are constantly to the fore are hope and fear. One of the traders who recognised this was the legendary trader W D Gann. 

“Hope and fear: I have written about this often in my books and I feel I cannot repeat it too often. The average person buys commodities because they hope they will go up, or because someone advises them, they will go up. This is the most dangerous thing to do, never trade on hope. Hope wrecks more people’s lives than anything else. Face the facts, and when you trade, trade on the facts, eliminating hope”
“Fear causes many losses. People sell out because they fear commodities are going lower, but they often wait until the decline has run its course and sell near the bottom – never make a trade on fear”

Traders and Drinkers…Are We Different After All?

  
  Education
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If you find this post offensive, relax. This post is not intended to offend, only to discuss more trading psychology. I pass no judgments on this topic because I have lived through this subject in different aspects myself. I came across an article that correlates destructive trading to destructive alcohol consumption. Take a quick look at this questionnaire that professionals use to determine the severity of alcohol abuse…

1) Have you found that your drinking is bringing unwanted, negative consequences?

2) Have you recently felt guilty over the way you have been drinking?

3) Do you find you need to drink more just to get the good feeling?

4) Do you find that your personality changes when you drink excessively?

5) Do you find it difficult to take a break from drinking, even when part of you knows that this would be best for you?

6) Do you find yourself drinking to feel good about yourself?

7) Do you sometimes feel that you cannot control how much you drink?

8) Do you find yourself getting angry when someone close to you questions your drinking?

9) Do you find yourself vowing to limit your drinking, only to slip back into overdrinking?

10) Do you find it difficult to not drink given the opportunity, even when the occasion is not really appropriate?

Like I mentioned, these were questions that are typically asked by a psychologist when confronting someone struggling with alcohol consumption. You can apply this to any substance abuse, addiction, or whatever struggles you cope with. The question is “What about trading?” Take a look at the modified questionnaire…

1) Have you found that your trading is bringing unwanted, negative consequences?

2) Have you recently felt guilty over the way you have been trading?

3) Do you find you need to trade more just to get the good feeling?

4) Do you find that your personality changes when you trade excessively?

5) Do you find it difficult to take a break from trading, even when part of you knows that this would be best for you?

6) Do you find yourself trading to feel good about yourself?

7) Do you sometimes feel that you cannot control how much you trade?

8) Do you find yourself getting angry when someone close to you questions your trading?

9) Do you find yourself vowing to limit your trading, only to slip back into overtrading?

10) Do you find it difficult to not trade given the opportunity, even when the occasion is not really appropriate? (more…)

5 Types of Mindset

  
Analysis, Education
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1) An open mindset – Traders succeed when they see things that others don’t. Sometimes those are overarching themes and trends; sometimes they are short-term patterns in market behavior. To see things differently, we need a mind that is open to new and different information and open to shifts in market behavior.

2) A quiet mindset – Minds filled with noise can’t process new information. When we’re focused on ourselves and our profits/losses, we’re no longer focused on markets. We can’t exercise self-control in our actions if we are not able to sustain control over our thought processes.

3) A constructive mindset – Losses happen. We miss opportunities. The great trader learns from mistakes and embraces the lessons from drawdowns. If every day brings wins from trading or wins from learning, there is always something of value to be taken from each day.

4) A positive mindset – It’s because we cannot count upon our profits and losses to make us happy that we need to lead a fulfilling life outside of trading. A life that is filled with meaningful activities, fun activities, activities that bring us close to others, and activities that give us energy is most likely to provide us with the emotional fuel needed to power through challenging market times.

5) An action mindset – All the best ideas and intentions will get us nowhere if we aren’t prepared to act upon them. The action mindset is one focused on plans, translating excellent ideas into excellent risk/reward opportunities. Preparation is idea-focused, but also execution-focused. It is as important to work on our implementation of ideas as our generation of them.

The Development of Mindfulness Skills Helps the Trader

  
  Education
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  • Reduce stress
  • Tame the fear response
  • Counter the strong tendency toward loss aversion
  • Strengthen decision making
  • Strengthen internal emotional regulation
  • Improve and develop emotional intelligence
  • Reduce the dominance of intuitive decision making and cognitive error
  • Increase deliberative attention
  • Better see the market and its trading opportunities
  • Stay on task
  • Overcome the negative‐reinforcing properties of ineffective trading
  • Enhance overall psychological well‐being.
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