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Driving is like Trading

  
  Education
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Driving a motor car or motor bike is probably the best analogy I can think of for trading.

Start, Stop, traffic lights, dogs and cats on the road, cows, give way signs, t intersections, signs saying “kangaroos for next 50 kilometres ahead–and that is just in the first few 100 metres of leaving home– and then when you hit the express way, and consider yourself in the clear, there may be road works, or fog, and unsighted hazards ahead.

It’s very rare you can enter an express way…of start to finish, or finish a journey uninterrupted.

It is our jobs as traders to close down all risks as they appear, in whatever form, to cause minimal bumps and bruises to ourselves. Problematic situations will appear when you expect OR when you least expect them, and when you do get uninterrupted runs, you appreciate them, since it is what you have planned for, but see less often than one may hope for.

Be flexible, bend like the tree, always give way when on the road, and when you hear the sirens move top the left and beware of trouble ahead.

Mix It Up A Little

  
  Education
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Does boredom cause you to do silly things? If so, you’re certainly not alone.

More and more I see traders make simple mistakes primarily because they are bored with what they are doing NOT because they don’t know what they’re doing.

Contrary to popular opinion, traders and investors often do get bored. I know I certainly have. After all, if you’re doing it correctly, good trading and investing should be both boring and routine. If that’s not the case for you, it probably is because you’re either trading far too aggressively (i.e. the gambler) and/or you have no risk management skills whatsoever.

In my experience, most humans and including those of us who are very disciplined and focused, will from time to time seriously crave to change things up a little. No one, including me, likes to do exactly what they need and should do every day. Most of you are no different than me. The problem is that when we both get bored, very bad things tend to happen if we don’t first realize that our trading and investing is being negatively impacted by boredom and do something about it.

For example, in my experience traders tend to either disconnect from the market entirely (which can be dangerous with positions open or lost opportunity) or they do the exact opposite by increasing their overall risk to “make it more interesting.” Likewise, investors tend to become far more active (i.e. they turn into traders and churn positions) just to do something to keep themselves preoccupied or they buy and sell stocks that normally they wouldn’t even consider. In either case, neither one tends to work very well.

When you start to see the signs that you are becoming bored and have the urge to do something “different,” I recommend mixing things up a little. For example, when I become bored with my trading and daily routine I often do the following which seems to help:

  • Head to the gym (intense and exhausting exercise is the best cure for boredom I know)

  • Mix up the daily routine (I like to flip my day around and do things I usually do at the end of the day first)

  • Try to learn something new (I often try to study a different sector/different market now, but in previous years I would enjoy playing around with a new indicator or two)

  • Read about something you know nothing about (if you do this, you’ll be amazed by how much it will stimulate your brain)

  • Take some time off and do something else (while I always have a long “honey-do” list to keep me busy, that’s also why there are golf courses!)

Now, for those of you who make a living trading and who feel they cannot leave the game for an hour, much less an entire trading day, I have some suggestions for you as well: (more…)

11 Symptoms Of A Bad Stock Trader

  
  Education
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Ultimately the only sign of a bad trader that counts is if you’re losing money, but there are some individual signs and characteristics of a bad trader. See if you possess any of them.

1)Your only news source is Blue Channels /Cheap Websites

 2)You can’t get over missed trades/opportunities. What if

3)You don’t track your trades.

4) You’re opposed to learning new techniques.

5)You have trouble breaking off bad trades.


6)You put too much stock in what others think.  

7)You panic and sell every time you see red.

8)You only buy on green days.

9)You blame other traders for your stock’s bad performance.

10)You use every indicator known to analyze a stock.  

11)You don’t know what stops are. (Then u Shout/Bark )

Let me know what you think. Are there any other symptoms of a bad trader?

Learn to be Disloyal

  
  Education
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Loyalty many be a virtue in family ,friends ,and pets ,but it is a fatal flaw for a trader.Never have loyalty to a position.The novice trader will have  lots of loyalty to his original position.He will ignore signs that he is on the wrong side of the market ,riding his trade into a large loss while hoping for best.The more experience trader ,having learned the importance of money management will exit quickly once it is apparent  he has made a bad trade.However ,the truly skilled trader will be able to do a 180- degree turn ,reversing his position at a loss if market behaviour  points to such a course of action.

Ego & Nervous Traders

  
  Education
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There are a whole host of characters who regularly lose money in the market place, and most fall into two catogories:

False Ego Traders

& Nervous Traders The false ego mistakes come from a mixture of false pride and bravado and are the most dangerous mistakes to make. The trader, generally a beginner or intermediate — call him Tader A — gets an opinion in his head about market direction. His analysis may have even been sound, but his opinion keeps him from reading/seeing the signs that a change is occuring in the market he has targeted. He subconsciously see the changes, but false pride is the devil, and blocks the information from making it into his conscious decision making process. The change he needs to see may even be pointed out to him by a fellow trader –Trader B– but Trader A’s false ego blocks this because he knows “I’m smarter than Trader B…In fact I think its a good idea to fade Trader B”.

Trader A is also likely someone who is accustomed to being listened to. He may have been upper management in a company, or even owned the company. “People better listen to me” is how he sees it. He is likely more accustomed to talking rather then listening.

Despite trader A’s previous success’ Mother Market will bring him down quickly. Any early success he has in the market will only make for bigger losses down the road as he gets caught in the spiral of trying to make up for lost money and still make money. He doesn’t just want to get his money back, he wants that and then some. His time is valuable. He is going to make the market pay.

Well we all know how that works out, which is to say we won’t be seeing Trader A around for long. (more…)

Symptoms Of A Bad Stock Trader

  
  Education
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Ultimately the only sign of a bad trader that counts is if you’re losing money, but there are some individual signs and characteristics of a bad trader. See if you possess any of them.

  1. Your only news source is Blue Channels
  2. You can’t get over missed trades/opportunities. 
  3. You don’t track your trades.
  4. You’re opposed to learning new techniques.
  5. You have trouble breaking off bad trades.
  6. You put too much stock in what others think. 
  7. You panic and sell every time you see red.
  8. You only buy on green days.
  9. You blame other traders for your stock’s bad performance.
  10. You use every indicator known to analyze a stock. 
  11. You don’t know what stops are.

Let me know what you think. Are there any other symptoms of a bad trader?

4 signs of out of control trading

  
  Education
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1) Overtrading:  This is a very common problem for an out of control trader.  If you find that your size is much bigger than normal or you are trading at times that you don’t usually traffic, then make sure you slow down and write down a plan and stick to it.

2) Comfort in bigger losses:  When I hear a trader feeling comfortable about larger than usual losses that scares me.  This comfort tells me that the trader is not thinking rationally as losses should never be tolerated and especially outsized losses.

3) Trading new securities:  If a trader deviates at all from the strategy that made him successful, especially when he is a down streak, this concerns me.  

4) One sided trading:  This sign is correlated to having an opinion on the market.  If I see a trader constatnly focused on one side, regardless of what the broad market is doing, this person is so focused on being right that nothing else matters.  It is so important to be right that even if they make up 20% of what they lost it will seem like a victory to them.

Trading Rules for Thirsty Traders

  
  Education
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“Don’t ever put your ego out there where you’re afraid to say that you’re wrong, because the market is right and you are wrong. Respect that.”

 “If you’re right at the wrong time, you’re wrong.”

 “The markets are like water. They will flow to the weakest point that they can push through, and they always do.”

“The market is smarter than you will ever be, with its combined knowledge of all participants. Pay attention to the signs. Be quick to admit that you’re wrong. Don’t be afraid to miss something.”

 “I believe money is fascist. It craves stability more than anything else. Nothing bothers money more than uncertainty.”

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