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Five Rules for Traders

You can avoid the emotionalism, the second guessing, the wondering, the agonizing, if you have a sound trading plan (including price objectives, entry points, exit points, risk-reward ratios, stops, information about historical price levels, seasonal influences, government reports, prices of related markets, chart analysis, etc.) and follow it. Most traders don’t want to bother, they like to ‘wing it.’ Perhaps they think a plan might take the fun out of it for them. If you’re like that and trade futures for the fun of it, fine. If you’re trying to make money without a plan-forget it. Trading a sound, smart plan is the answer to cutting your losses short and letting your profits run.

Do not overstay a good market. If you do, you are bound to overstay a bad one also.

Take your lumps, just be sure they are little lumps. Very successful traders generally have more losing trades than winning trades. They don’t have any hang-ups about admitting they’re wrong, and have the ability to close out losing positions quickly.

Program your mind to accept many small losses. Program your mind to ‘sit still’ for a few large gains.

Recognize that fear, greed. ignorance, generosity, stupidity, impatience. self-delusion, etc., can cost you a lot more money than the market(s) going against you, and that there is no fundamental method to recognize these factors.

17 Points from William J. O’Neil

READITWilliam O’Neil is likely one of  the greatest traders of our time based on many things. O’Neil made a huge amount of money while he was only in his twenties, enough to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He runs an amazingly successful investment advisory company to big money firms. He is also the creator of the CAN SLIM investment strategy which the American Association of Individual Investors named  the top performing investment strategy from 1998 to 2009. This non-profit organization tracked more than 50 different investing methods, over a 12 year time period. CANSLIM showed a total gain of 2,763% over the 12 years. The CAN SLIM method is explained in O’Neil’s book “How to Make Money in Stocks”

Those closest to O’Neil that have seen his private trading returns say that they are greater tna Warren Buffett of George Soros over the same period of time. Here are some of the best things that he is quoted as having said.

RISK MANAGEMENT

  1. I make it a rule to never lose more than 7 percent on any stock I buy. If a stock drops 7 percent below my purchase price, I will automatically sell it at the market – no second-guessing, no hesitation.
  2. Some people say, “I can’t sell that stock because I’d be taking a loss.” If the stock is below the price you paid for it, selling doesn’t give you a loss; you already have it.
  3. Letting losses run is the most serious mistake made by most investors.
  4. The whole secret to winning in the stock market is to lose the least amount possible when you’re not right.

METHOD

  1. 90% of the people in the stock market, professionals and amateurs alike, simply haven’t done enough homework.
  2. The first step in learning to pick big stock market winners is for you to examine leading big winners of the past to learn all the characteristics of the most successful stocks. You will learn from this observation what type of price patterns these stocks developed just before their spectacular price advances. (more…)
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