People should let the stock tell them what to do. They are not controlling the stock. Millions of decisions are, and you’ll never know all of those millions of decisions.
– Jesse Barkasy
On August 10, 2009, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
The journal is very basic and includes what trades I made during the day and my reasons for getting into the trade. My journal has changed a little bit over time since my reasons for entering a trade now are pretty consistent. There are two reasons for having a journal, in my opinion. One reason is to have a manual backup in case there’s a system or software failure. I had to take advantage of this a couple of times, in one instance where the software recorded the trade twice and put me short a stock by mistake.
The second reason that I have kept a journal is for learning and improving as a trader. I go back and review, trade by trade, what I was thinking and doing out of the ordinary in a given week that caused my results to be better or worse than average. And really, I don’t need a lot of detail in the journal. For me, just having the trade and the time and any other comments, such as whether it was an active or quiet market, to help me re-live the day.
– Albert Mazzone
On August 9, 2009, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
The market has nothing to do with you. The market is a beast that doesn’t care who you are. So the trick is not to take anything personally.
– Shay Horowitz
On August 8, 2009, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
One of the best rules anybody can learn about investing is to do nothing, absolutely nothing unless there is something to do. Most people – not that I’m better than most people – always have to be playing; they always have to be doing something. I just wait until there is money lying in the corner, and all I have to do is go over there and pick it up. I do nothing in the meantime. Even people who lose money in the market say, ‘I just lost my money, now I have to do something to make it back.’ No, you don’t. You should sit there until you find something.
– James Rogers, Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
On August 7, 2009, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
You can’t control performance over a short period of time, but hard work and experience matters. You must, however, love what you’re doing and have conviction in your methodology.
– Spiros Segalas, Wizards of Wall Street by Kirk Kazanjian
On August 6, 2009, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
A speculator must not merely be a student, he must be both a student and a speculator.
– Jesse Livermore, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
On August 5, 2009, In Thought of the Day, by ElfLord
A lot of people take issue with calling the markets an “opponent,” but one should remember that a lot of this “opponent” is, psychological; it is within you.
– Richard McCall