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Mark Douglas: 7 Keys to Trading in the Zone

Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas book cover“I am a consistent winner because:

1. I objectively define my edges.
2. I predefine the risk of every trade.
3. I completely accept the risk or I am willing to let go of the trade.
4. I act on my edges without reservation or hesitation.
5. I pay myself as the market makes money available to me.
6. I continually monitor my susceptibility for making errors.
7. I understand the absolute necessity of these principles of consistent success and, therefore, I never violate them.”

Six Questions Worth Asking at the End of the Trading Day

six2What opportunities did I miss and what could have alerted me to those opportunities?
* What kind of trades are making me money? Where am I losing my money? What can I do about that?
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* When I took heat on trades, what could I have done to enter at better prices?
* Was the level of risk that I took in trades commensurate with my conviction in the trade ideas?
* What were the themes and markets driving prices today that I should be alert for tomorrow?
* What are the themes, economic reports, and markets that might drive prices overnight that I should be alert for in the morning?

The two best predictors of long-term trading success are

1)  Originality – Traders who develop their own, unique approach to markets are more likely to succeed that traders that employ generic methods.  My common impression when I meet a promising trader is, “Wow…why didn’t I think of that?”  I quickly recognize that the trader has achieved an insight that others have not.  That original thinking is more likely to generate distinctive results than run-of-the-mill thinking you could hear from any of a dozen market participants.
2)  Flexibility – The worst traders I know are perma-bulls or perma-bears.  They fit markets to their own thinking, rather than adapt to changing markets.  The best traders work with a kind of anti-confirmation bias:  they actively scan for information that does not fit with their views.  That enables them to be flexible and adapt quickly to new market conditions.    
If I were to place these two predictors of success under one umbrella, it would be “real-time creativity.”  The successful trader sees and approaches markets in fresh ways–and continually refreshes those perceptions and methods.  

Focus On What You Can Control

  • You can control what stock to buy.Focus on Money
  • You can control how much money you put behind the idea.
  • You can control which markets you trade in.
  • You can control how much you are willing to risk per trade.
  • You can control what type of stocks you buy, big caps, only small caps, only over Rs 50 only under Rs 10, etc.,
  • You can control what kind of set ups you buy.
  • You can control when you get in or out, barring a halt.
  • You can control when to trade or when not to trade.
  • You can’t control the outcome of the trade.
  • You can’t control how the market will react to the news.

Don’t fret over what you can’t control, shake it off, once you put the trade in what the market decides to do is out of your control.

Why Most Trader Lose Money?

ego

Because they would rather lose money than admit they’re wrong. What is the ultimate rationalization of a trader in a losing position? “I’ll get out when I’m even.” Why is getting out even so important? Because it protects the ego. I became a winning trader when I was able to say, “To hell with my ego, making money is more important.”

Process and Strategy

The first step, assuming you have plan, to out perform a strategy is to have an extremely efficient process.

What a process provides:

Clearer mind:  There are many things in trading that are repetitive. Clean up as many as possible.  Find a better use of your time.  Traders are some of the hardest workers I know, they work long hours, but my question is why?  Think of it like making a phone call.  Some traders have to go to the bank to get quarters, then walk two blocks to a pay phone, call the operator for the phone number, and then make the phone call. Some traders hit one button and reach the person.  I am not saying you should not work hard, just work more efficiently.

Focus:  Once all of the little things are taken care of you can now focus on what is important, the market.  This will dramatically improve your execution. You can only execute well over time if it is you and the market. You can take more intelligent risks because you have more of the RIGHT information. Have you ever been in a trade, then when you go back to review a trade, you realize you missed something important? More than likely that is a process problem.  It is important to accurately attribute the importance of that information and realize that hindsight is a horrible recorder. I would rather make that decision when I can do something about it. This takes trial and error but a pattern will develop and once it does it is your responsibility to constantly monitor it for change.

Anticipation: Anticipation is key in trading because the market is always leaving cues to what it is going to do next or that what it is going to do next is not tradeable.  We teach our traders to have a progression, much like a quarterback would.  Anything can happen and having a progression will help you to take advantage of it. (more…)

Biggest Bubble Ever? 2017 Recapped In 15 Bullet Points

Here are his 15 bullet points that show why in 2017 we may have seen the biggest bubble ever (and why we can’t wait to see what 2018 reveals).

  1. Da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” sold for staggering record $450mn
  2. Bitcoin soared 677% from $952 to $7890
  3. BoJ and ECB were bull catalysts, buying $2.0tn of financial assets
  4. Number of global interest rate cuts since Lehman hit: 702
  5. Global debt rose to a record $226tn, record 324% of global GDP
  6. US corporates issued record $1.75tn of bonds
  7. Yield of European HY bonds fell below yield of US Treasuries
  8. Argentina (8 debt defaults in past 200 years) issued 100-year bond
  9. Global stock market cap jumped1 $15.5tn to $85.6tn, record 113% of GDP
  10. S&P500 volatility sank to 50-year low; US Treasury volatility to 30-year low
  11. Market cap of FAANG+BAT grew $1.5tn, more than entire German market cap
  12. 7855 ETFs accounted for 70% of global daily equity volume
  13. The first AI/robot-managed ETF was launched (it’s underperforming)
  14. Big performance winners: ACWI, EM equities, China, Tech, European HY, euro
  15. Big performance losers: US$, Russia, Telecoms, UST 2-year, Turkish lira

As Hartnett summarizes, “2017 was a perfect encapsulation of an 8-year QE-led bull market”

  • Positioning was too bearish for either a bear market or a correction in risk assets.
  • Profits were higher than expected (global EPS jumped 13.4%) this time thanks to a synchronized global PMI recovery.
  • Policy was aggressively easy, as the ECB and BoJ bought a massive $2.0tn of financial assets; fiscal policy also easy (e.g., US federal deficit up $81bn to $666bn).
  • Returns were abnormally high in 2017 (Table 3); corporate bonds and equities soared, but the biggest surprise was stubbornly low government bond yields: thematic leadership of scarce “growth” (e.g. tech stocks), “yield” (e.g., HY, EM and peripheral EU bonds) and “volatility” once again remained the core of the bull.

A to Z : Weaknesses and Strengths of Traders

Ambitious

Makes and follows long term business plan

•Unambitious

Will ignore long term business plan

•Calm

Will handle times of market volatility and make smart decisions

•Worrying

Will panic when markets are volatile and make stupid decisions

•Cautious

Strictly follows Stop-Loss rules and Protects Trading Capital

•Rash

Will not be diligent with Stop losses and will risk trading capital

•Cheerful (more…)

Trend Following -Important points for Traders

  • Trend following historically has a relatively low win percentage, across all asset classes. The positive expectancy from using such a system comes from the size of the winners far exceeding any losses incurred;
  • Trend followers never try to predict tops or bottoms in markets – they buy on strength and sell on weakness;
  • Strict risk managment and position size minimises the losses as far as possible when a losing streak hits;
  • Probably 80% of your trades each year will cancel each other out – consisting of small winners, small losers (restricted to 1R of your capital) and break-even trades;
  • The remaining 20% of your trades will probably account for 100% of your profits, but you never know which ones will generate the profits when you open the position;
  • To achieve this you HAVE to let the profits run until you receive an exit signal;
  • Stops are updated as often as your system rules determine;
  • And you have to adhere to your stops at all times;
  • Nobody knows when a trend will reverse, however when it does, you automatically give back a portion of your profits before your (trailing) stops are hit;
  • If a trend breakout reverses or fails just after entering a position, you will incur losses;
  • Significant increases in volatility can cause losses due to whipsawing or trading ‘noise’;
  • The best market conditions for trend followers are trending, stable markets;
  • The worst market conditions for trend followers are non-trending, volatile markets;
  • There are numerous trend following methods out there, but although the entry/exit parameters may vary, trend followers as a rule will make (or lose) money in the same markets at the same times;
  • If you don’t understand any of the above points, or are not prepared to accept these facts, then you do not have the mindset to follow a trend following method.

How to Develop Yourself as a Trader -Anirudh Sethi

There is a well-known axiom in business: “Neglect to plan and you intend to fall flat.” It might sound chatty, yet the individuals who are not kidding about being fruitful, including traders, ought to take after these eight words as though they were composed of stone. Ask any trader who profits on a reliable premise and they will let you know, “You have two options: you can either efficiently take after a composed arrangement, or come up short.” Mastering the specialty of Forex trading is not as basic as it appears. Each and every day the number of retail traders in the internet trading group is expanding at an exponential rate because of its outrageous level of benefit potential. The master traders at Saxo have secured their money related opportunity in life just by trading the live resources in the market. Be that as it may, keeping in mind the end goal to profit in the internet trading world, you have to know how to deal with your Forex trading account available. Not at all like the expert traders, the tenderfoot traders in the monetary business bounce into the web based trading world without thinking about the market subtle elements and in this way they lose an immense measure of money. In this article, we will examine how to wind up noticeably an expert trader in the Forex trading world. On the off chance that you have a composed trading or venture design, congrats! You are in the minority. While it is still no undeniable certainty of achievement, you have disposed of one noteworthy barricade. On the off chance that your arrangement utilizes imperfect procedures or needs planning, your prosperity won’t come promptly, however at any rate you are in a position to diagram and adjust your course. By archiving the procedure, you realize what works and how to abstain from rehashing expensive slip-ups.

Acknowledging Direct Resources for Profit

In order to develop yourself as an expert Forex trader, you have to consider trading as your business. On the off chance that you take a gander at the expert traders in the money market then you will see that each and every one of them is trading the live resources in their Forex trading account with an extraordinary level. Much the same as the expert specialist the master in the monetary business likewise has a strong trading plan to trade the live resources in the market. A large portion of the fledgling traders in the budgetary market consider trading as a get rich speedy plan and at last, loses money in the internet trading world. So on the off chance that you genuinely need to wind up plainly an expert trader at that point ensure that you build up a trader’s attitude and consider trading as your business. Trading is a business, so you need to regard it in that capacity on the off chance that you need to succeed. Perusing a few books, purchasing an outlining program, opening an investment fund and beginning to trade is not a strategy for success – it is a formula for calamity. Once a trader knows where the market can possibly respite or invert, they should then figure out which one it will be and act as needs are. An arrangement ought to be composed of stone while you are trading, yet subject to re-assessment once the market has shut. It changes with economic situations and modifies as the trader’s aptitude level moves forward. Every trader ought to compose their own arrangement, considering individual trading styles and objectives. Utilizing another person’s arrangement does not mirror your trading qualities. Such a large amount of the reason numerous traders fall flat is that they never seek after trading the correct route, as an execution teach. They don’t have an organized procedure of learning. They don’t have the instruments to legitimately replay, audit, and right there trading. They don’t have guides to good example great trading rehearses. They don’t learn methodologies with genuine edges and rather trade arbitrary examples on outlines or features existing apart from everything else. They don’t have enough funding to survive their expectations to absorb information. They don’t discover the trading markets and styles that best fit their specific qualities.

(more…)

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