Remember, you do not have to be in the market all the time.
Profits take care of themselves – losses never do.
The only time I really ever lost money was when I broke my own rules.
Throughout all my years of investing I’ve found that the big money was never made in the buying or the selling. The big money was made in the waiting. (more…)
Archives of “right moment” tag
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The market is a tough battle. Each day there are chances and opportunities to make money though, it is the greatest form of free market capitalism known to man. It’s a vast ocean with treasures; we just have to be able to unearth them at the right moment. We have the ability to navigate carefully through markets, put our bets out there and see where the chips fall.
But if we are too loose with our capital then we are headed for a bad ending. Discipline is one of the keys to success: learn your craft and practice. Each day that passes is one more great learning experience – capture it, analyze it and grow from it. Use a trading system, pay attention to the timeless patterns of price/volume and believe in what you see and not what you hear. (more…)
The Virtue of Patience
Waiting for the right opportunity increases the probability of success. You don’t always have to be in the market. As Edwin Lefevre put it in his classic Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, “There is the plain fool who does the wrong thing at all times anywhere, but there is the Wall Street fool who thinks he must trade all the time.”
One of the more colorful descriptions of patience in trading was offered by Jim Rogers in Market Wizards: “I just wait until there is money lying in the comer, and all I have to do is go over there and pick it up.” In other words, until he is so sure of a trade that it seems as easy as picking money off the floor, he does nothing.
Mark Weinstein (also interviewed in Market Wizards) provided the following apt analogy: “Although the cheetah is the fastest animal in the world and can catch any animal on the plains, it will wait until it is absolutely sure it can catch its prey. It may hide in the bush for a week, waiting for Just the right moment. It will wait for a baby antelope, and not Just any baby antelope, but preferably one that is also sick or lame. Only then, when there is no chance it can lose its prey, does it attack. That, to me, is the epitome of professional trading.” (more…)
Self Improvement
If you are having trouble achieving your trading goals, take time out to examine the real causes of your problems. Working towards improvement will take a dedicated approach on your part. Identification of the problems are the first step. Attacking the problems one at a time is the first part of the solution. Doing the right thing at the right time based on the information you have should be your goal. Sit down and have an in depth talk with yourself and ask yourself some hard questions. For example: – do I have the emotional makeup necessary for this business? – do I have the financial reserves so that I am not relying on trading to pay the bills while I learn? – do I really enjoy doing this? Coming up with honest answers will be the only way to ultimately overcome issues that keep getting in your way. If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results, so you’ll need to change. Plain and simple. Best not to delay in sorting things out.
Waiting for the right moment to enter and exit definitely comes with experience. Correct order execution, taking profits when they are offered and cutting losers are also vital to your success.
My mind is not bogged down by indicators, rumours, conjecture or analyst’ reports. It is much easier for me then to concentrate on what really matters – recognizing what the charts are telling me and acting on this information.
Concentrate on the problems you might have. Hesitation, taking big losers, selling winners to soon, screwing up order entry, racing heart and sweaty palms. (more…)