General Comments
All traders struggle. For most, it’s a matter of getting through years of struggle at the beginning to see some consistent success. Some traders are unlucky enough to start at just the “right” time, or to be in the right market at the right time, and to make money
Trader Development
I have received several questions about overtrading over the past few weeks. Each question touched on a different aspect of the problem,; this is a serious question that many traders are asking about (and many more are facing and don’t realize it!) Rather than choosing one question to answer,
Psychology
Many traders struggle with making impulsive trades. For some reason, we can create the best and most carefully crafted trading plan, review the patterns we intend to trade, and resolve ourselves to doing everything correctly—but then we discover that half the trades we execute don’t fit into the
General Comments
An interesting debate emerged in the comments to one of my posts. In the post, I had suggested the discipline was the most important thing; a reader countered that patience was more important. Now, I could (and did) argue that patience is a subset of discipline, but the discussion could
Psychology
I wrote a few posts last week about how to never miss the move. Today, I want to dig into that idea a little bit deeper, and think about why, sometimes, you really do want to miss the move! Understanding this idea gets right to the heart of what it
Psychology
This post might make you mad. You might think I'm blind to risks or that I don't understand the world. You might end up telling me how wrong and stupid my view are. That's ok, because this post can also help you, and that&
Psychology
One of the problems with successful trading is that everything matters. In the scope of: when to get in, when to get out, how much to buy or sell, how often to adjust your position, etc., every decision matters. There's no one thing that is most important. You
General Comments
I've written a series of short posts this week on simple trading rules that can make a difference. I've tried to make this as broad as possible, so that they will apply to traders working in all styles and timeframes. Today I want to share a
Individual Traders
You have to be disciplined to trade successfully; we all know that, and it's one of the few pieces of trading advice that might apply universally. No matter what your trading style, market, timeframe, risk profile--whatever you do, you have to do it consistently and with discipline. It&
General Comments
I have a little pile of reader's questions here, so let me just get to them. John asks: "Should I use stop or stop limit orders to protect profits and limit risk?" John, like pretty much everything else in trading, the answer is a solid "
Trader Development
You have to be a disciplined trader. This is one of the nuggets of trading wisdom we hear constantly, and for good reason--it's true. Without discipline, we will make many mistakes in the highly competitive market environment. But it's not as simple as saying to yourself
Individual Traders
So you're a trader, huh? (Or investor... if you think of yourself as an investor, just read "invest" instead of "trade"; this message is for you too!) If you are a trader, what do you do? What is your job? It's too