It is not given to any man to know it all. When he thinks he’s the smartest man in the world, he puts himself in a class we call fools.
– Roy Longstreet, Viewpoints of a Commodity Trader
On June 8, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
On June 7, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
You should either make a business of trading or else not try to be a trader.
– Richard Wyckoff, How I Trade and Invest in Stocks and Bonds
On June 6, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
It took me over a decade to figure out my natural direction. I’d suggest that you take the time to seriously ponder whether the path you are on is the one you want to be on. Perhaps your journey will then be shortened.
– Jack Schwager, The New Market Wizards
On June 5, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
It was not that all I needed to learn was not to take tips but follow my own inclination. It was that I gained confidence in myself and I was able finally to shake off the old method of trading. That Saratoga experience was my last haphazard, hit-or-miss operation. From then on I began to think of basic conditions instead of individual stocks. I promoted my self to a higher grade in the hard school of speculation.
– Jesse Livermore, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
On June 4, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
In your market analysis, do not get so cerebral that you are ineffective. It doesn’t matter if the computer says so, reality is the last sale. Traders and investors have a tendency to overanalyze. One of the stages every trader (and many investors) goes through is over reliance on mechanical and computerized trading systems. These are very useful tools, but they are not answers. Many times I have seen the technical indicators say, ‘sell,’ yet the market just refuses to cooperate. It keeps trading up. The only truth is the last sale. Fight the tape and you will collapse.
– Dean Lundell, Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Traders and Investors
On June 3, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
Investors with large amounts of capital obtained from a windfall or from inheritance are much more likely to suffer large losses because they are less likely to truly feel the pain of losing money. Because they did not go through the arduous process of earning it themselves, they view their capital as ‘found money.’
In comparison, the long-term trader is able to feel the pain of losing and, accordingly, takes the necessary steps to mitigate his losses and to reduce the likelihood of incurring similar losses in the future. Financial survival in the markets is very difficult without the capacity to feel pain, for pain and fear can function as a protective covering, which the psychiatrists claim allows the organism the opportunity to recover and return to a neutral state.
– Franklin Chu, The Mind of the Markets
On June 2, 2010, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
The mature trader arrives at a stage where most trading actions have become nearly automatic. This gives you the freedom to think about strategy. You think about what you want to achieve, and less about tactics of how to achieve it. To reach that point, you need to trade for a long time. The longer you trade and the more trades you put on, the more you’ll learn. Trade a small size while learning and put on many trades. Remember, the first item on the agenda for a beginner is to learn how to trade, not to make money. Once you’ve learned to trade, money will follow.
– Alexander Elder, Come Into My Trading Room