Trader, know thyself. It’s been said that 97% of successful trading is understanding and utilizing one’s own strengths and limitations. If you continually put yourself into trades that don’t play into your strengths, then you’re going to lose money, and you’re going to beat yourself up mentally in the process.
– StoryTeller, TMF Boards
Traders are often surprised when I tell them that the single most important factor in their success or failure is the quality of their records. The records you keep have a greater impact on your performance than any indicator, system, or service.
Good records allow you to learn from your wins and losses, identify problem areas, and correct mistakes before they damage your account. Traders who keep bad records tend to be chronic losers, while successful professionals have good records.
– Alexander Elder
If somebody had told me my method would not work I nevertheless would have tried it out to make sure for myself, for when I am wrong only one thing convinces me of it, and that is, to lose money. And I am only right when I make money. That is speculating.
– Jesse Livermore, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
You cannot expect to watch television or drink beer every evening and find the answers to something as complex as the stock market.
– William O’Neil
Of course there is always a reason for fluctuations, but what the tape does not concern itself with the why and wherefore. It doesn’t go into explanations. The reason for what a certain stock does today may not be known for two or three days, or weeks, or months. But what the dickens does that matter? Your business with the tape is now – not tomorrow. The reason can wait. But you must act instantly or be left.
– Jesse Livermore, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Any person who tries to be in the market at all times is almost certain to lose money, for there are many periods when even the most skillful trader is in doubt as to what will happen. A wise man lets the market alone when the averages disagree.
– Robert Rhea, The Story of the Averages
It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.
– George Soros
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