A Strong Trading Mind

Introduction
21 March 2015
04:56 PM
I firmly believe that trading is all in the mind. If you want to improve your trading success, you need to improve your think ing.
If you take a system which works reasonably well and give it to a trader having weak mindset and poor money management skills , he will still continue making
huge losses.
If however you give the same system to a trader with a strong mindset and good money management skills , he will continue mak ing huge profits.
I will post quotes/articles/short stories, etc related to Trading Psychology.
Hope this helps all fellow traders and Me as well.
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A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 1
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Daily Habits of Wealthy People

21 March 2015
05:05 PM
If you think becoming rich is about luck, think again. It may have more to do with how you spend your day, beginning with
the hour you wake up.
Financial planner Tom Corley spent five years observing more than 350 rich and poor people, how they live, work and
even sleep and captured them all in his book, "Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals." He defined
wealthy as earning at least $160,000 annually and holding at least $3.2 million in assets. Poor was income under $30,000
a year and less than $5,000 in assets.
I realized, its not so much whats going on in business, its the daily habits, the activities, that are the reason for your wealth
or your poverty, says Corley.
Early Risers
Corley found that rich folks often take advantage of those wee morning hours. Specifically, 44% wake up three hours before
their 9-to-5 job. In those hours they focus on self improvement, reading educational material, like trade journals or industry
blogs. Theyll squeeze in a workout, too, which Corley says leads to a more productive day at work.
Keep a Running List of Tasks
Once they reach their offices, the wealthy dont waste time. Most maintain a daily to-do list and check off 70% of their tasks
each day. And theyre not just obsessed with short-term plans. Seventy percent of the wealthy surveyed set long-term goals, as
well.
No Long Lunches
Taking a long, leisurely lunch isnt a wealthy habit, either. Instead, 55% network, wheel and deal between bites.
Calorie Counting
Speaking of eating, rich folks are big calorie counters. Corley found most wealthy people limit alcoholic consumption and
keep junk food snacks to just 300 calories per day, not just so that they can fit into their skinny jeans. Wealthy people are
healthy people. To wealthy people being healthy is about making more money, says Corley. If theyre healthy they have
fewer sick days, theyre exercising, they have more energy, they maintain health their entire lives so they can work longer
careers.
No Gossiping
Consider this before spreading the latest workplace rumors: 79% of low-income people admit to gossiping, compared with just
6% of wealthy individuals.
Limited Internet
Finally, when its time to punch out at the end of the day, how do you unwind? Head to the bar? Veg out in front of the TV?
While most wealthy folks reported activities such as networking, volunteering and socializing, Corley found a majority of
those struggling with their finances spent more than an hour on recreational Internet use, and were twice as likely to hop on
Facebook every day.
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Daily Affirmations Will Improve Your Trading

21 March 2015
05:12 PM
This article is guaranteed to improve both your trading and your life.
Positive affirmation
Dont believe me? Well I am living proof that the concepts in this article work. I am not just talking about trading here, I am talking about life,
happiness, success and freedom. Everything I have achieved in my life or in business can be attributed to the concepts in this article in some
way. So do yourself a favour and read this article twice.
Today I would like all of my readers to leave a comment and tell me how you plan to use these new powerful skills to improve your trading or
your life, I want to hear from you.
Anything you want to achieve in this world can be attracted to you by following the core principles in this article. For those reading this who
have the goal to become a better trader please take this knowledge, practice it and harness its power to improve your trading and your life.
An affirmation is defined as: The assertion that something exists or is true. Daily affirmations are a widely practiced method for attaining
success and accelerating your ability to achieve goals.
Napoleon Hill is one of my favourite authors, and in my opinion he was the best motivational coach of all-time. He became famous by
interviewing many of the most successful people of his time like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and others, and the one thing
that they all seemed to have in common was that they acted as if what they desired most already existed before they had it. Indeed, this is the
core philosophy of Hills work and is the main reason why daily affirmations are so important to long-term success in any field, including
trading. Heres my favourite quote from his work:
What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve Napoleon Hill
This is perhaps the most famous motivational quote of all time, I have it on the wall in my trading office and I read it out loud to myself every
day, I strongly suggest you do the same. After reading this article you can check out Napoleon Hills Videos here to learn more about his
amazing work on personal development and attaining success.
Here is a list of 17 daily trading affirmations that you can incorporate into your trading plan and that you should read out loud to yourself every
day. Doing this will work to keep you motivated to practice proper trading habits and generally stay on the path to Forex trading success:
1. What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve Napoleon Hill
This is the most important motivational quote of all time, which is why I have it listed again. If you havent read Napoleon Hills Think and
Grow Rich Book, I suggest you do so in the near future, its the single best piece of motivational literature ever written in my opinion, and it
will likely have transformative effects on your trading and your personal life.
2. I am a successful trader
If you repeat to yourself everyday that you are a successful trader, it will make you a lot more likely to do the things that are necessary to
become one. If you do not believe you are a successful trader, you will never become one, as with anything else in life, you have to believe in
your cause or goal before you can make it a reality.
3. I am consistently following my trading plan
You need to approach (Forex) trading as a business and be strategic and logical in following your trading plan; dont deviate. If youve taken
the time to formulate a comprehensive trading plan based on your trading strategy, your trading will be the most effective when you follow
your plan, since you were objective and clear-minded when creating it.
4. I have a Trading Journal and I use it
If you have a trading journal and you actually use it, you will be far ahead of most traders. Its critical to keep a running track record of your
trading performance so that you have a tangible piece of evidence that reflects your trading ability or lack thereof. A trading journal will also
give you something to stay accountable too and help you remain disciplined and organized.
5. I practice proper risk management
Its important to remember that trading success is defined over a large series of trades, not over one or two. This means that you should not
give too much significance to any one trade, and the way to do this is by never risking more than you are comfortable with losing per trade. By
that I mean, never risk an amount that keeps you up at night thinking about or watching your trades. Remember to take small losses and that
you are going to have losing trades; its just part of doing business in the Stock market.
6. I trade according to what the market IS doing, not what I think it should be doing
We want to trade what we actually see on our price charts, not what we think should happen or what we want to happen. At the end of the
day, it doesnt matter what you want the market to do; its going to do what it wants, so your job is to learn how to read its price action and
take advantage of it, not fight against it.
7. I will only take trades that give me a reward which clearly outweighs my risk
7. I will only take trades that give me a reward which clearly outweighs my risk
The goal of any trader or investor is to make sure that the prospective reward of a trade clearly outweighs the risk involved. You need to gauge
the market structure prior to entering a trade and make sure there is a logical reason for expecting that the risk reward on the trade is at least
1:1.5 or 1:2 or better.
8. I will find other things to do besides watching my trades after they are live
Theres nothing wrong with checking in on the market every 4 or 8 hours, but if you are sitting there addicted to your charts like a junkie, you
are going to self-sabotage your own trades and probably end up losing a lot of money in the process. We have to learn to let the market do the
work and just forget about our trades for a while after they are live. The set and forget trading strategy is something that I stand by and that I
implement in my own personal trading, because meddling in your trades after they are live is an emotional decision and thus its usually the
wrong thing to do. Find anything to do except watch your charts after you enter a trade.
9. I am not emotionally affected by my profits or losses
Both losses and profits have the ability to induce emotional reactions in us. A loss can cause us to want to take revenge on the market and try
and make back the money we just lost. A profit can cause us to become overly-confident or even euphoric, which can cause us to deviate
from our trading plan and take a trade that is lower probability than what we normally would take. Either way, you have to always be
on guard against making an emotional trade immediately after a trade closes out, whether it was a winner or a loser. The best thing to do is to
simply remove yourself from the markets for 12 to 24 hours after any trade.
10. I try to trade with the dominant daily trend as much as possible
I know youve heard this before, and I know its very clich, but its also very true; the trend is your friend. I am often amazed at how many
emails I get from traders telling me they are losing money in the markets and simultaneously asking me to comment on the chart theyve
attached to the email that shows a counter-trend trade on the intra-day charts. The easiest way to make money in any financial market is and
has always been trading with the dominant trend. There are times when trading counter-trend is warranted, but until youve mastered trendtrading you should forget about counter-trend trading. Remember, dont fight the dominant daily chart trend, instead, capitalize on it and
ride the momentum until it ends.
11. Instead of over-trading, I will be patient and let trading opportunities present themselves to me
Dont trade just because you feel like you have to or you want tomake sure theres a real reason to do so and never trade when your predefined trading edge is not present. The downfall of most traders is over-trading, because most traders simply dont have enough patience to
trade like a sniper and not a machine gunner.
12. Im a professional trader and thus I will not engage in gambling my money in the markets
Gamblers make random bets in casinos or elsewhere, and traders who dont have trading plans or who dont follow their trading edge are also
gamblers. Its really easy to click your mouse and put a trade on and hope to get lucky, kind of like pulling the arm of the slot machine at a
casino. The difference is that you can actually develop and implement a high-probability trading edge like price action strategies when trading
the markets. So, its up to you if you want to be a gambler or a trader.
13. I will not interfere with my trades without just cause
This one is similar to number 8, but its so important I wanted to touch on it again. Interfering with trades is usually an emotional reaction born
out of risking too much or over-trading, both of which cause you to become overly attached to any one trade, which in turn causes you to overanalyze your trades and meddle with them once they are live. There are times when theres just cause to interfere with your trades, such as a
giant pin bar reversal that forms counter to your position, or some other opposing price action. However these instances are rare and it takes
time and effort to develop your discretionary trading sense to the point where you can effectively interfere in your trades.
14. News and fundamentals will not influence my trading decisions
Traders who fall into the temptation to over-analyze the thousands of Forex news variables that occur each day, usually end up losing their
trading accounts pretty quickly. All market variables are reflected via the natural price movement of the market, so by analyzing and trying to
figure out whats going to happen by reading economic news or watching CNBC youre simply adding unnecessary and confusing variables
to your trading approach.
15. I am happy to take a profit and I will not be greedy
Take your profits when your targets get hit, dont change targets in an effort to try and get just a little bit more profitThese attempts to get
a little more profit are usually in vain, and they usually lead to you letting a winning trade turn into a losing trade. Traders with smaller
accounts especially need to take logical profits as they come, in order to build their accounts up and their confidence. If you get a 1 to 1.5 or 1
to 2 risk reward, theres nothing wrong with taking the money off the table. Dont fall into the trap of hoping that every trade you take goes on
a parabolic run in your favor, the markets ebb and flow, meaning they dont go in straight lines for very long.
16. I invest in my trading education & myself
Investing in your own education is paramount to success in any field. Trading is no different; whether its a book on trading psychology or the
knowledge of an experienced Trading coach, learning something each day to make yourself a better trader will only improve your edge in the
markets.
17. I believe in my trading strategy completely and whole heartedly
17. I believe in my trading strategy completely and whole heartedly

Its critical to your trading success that you learn and trade with a strategy thats proven and that you personally enjoy trading with. You have
to follow it without deviation by remembering the fact that one loss does not negate the whole trading strategy. Dont jump from one strategy
or system to the next just because you stumble upon a few losing trades; losing trades are a natural part of any trading method. The key lies in
losing trades properly and making sure you are trading with a strategy that is both simple and effective, like price action.
I trust that youve learned something from todays article and I hope you write down or print out the above daily affirmations and read them
out loud to yourself every day before analyzing the markets. Eventually, they will become cemented into your thinking and will thus turn into a
habitual part of your trading routine. At that point, you will have transformed yourself from a losing trader to a successful and confident one.
The Trading Mindset: Frustration Leads to Learning

21 March 2015
05:15 PM
I was listening intently to an interview of a professional athlete, talking about playing against one of the best teams in th eir league. Instead of being
intimidated by the prospect of playing such a highly dominant team, they had the following to say;
These are the games you really look for. They force you to test yourself, to find out what you are doing well, and what you need to work on.
If there is a mindset or quality Id like to install in every trader, it would be what this athlete was conveying. They looke d forward to the challenge
they were up against. They werent worried so much about making mistakes, or not being able to handle the more dominant team.
If they couldnt, it meant they had things to work on.
Frustration Leads to Learning

Developing traders need to build this type of successful mindset. Losses will happen, you will be frustrated at times, and th e market will not always
make sense. These experiences can last for hours, days, weeks, perhaps months. How you respond to each and every trade matter s more than you
can imagine.
If you as a trader are going through, or have recently gone through a frustrating period you have to let that feeling of frustration be temporary. It
is ok to experience stress in trading, but it is not constructive to define yourself by your frustration. Frustration must le ad to learning.
Better to have the approach that any losses, mistakes, or frustrations are learning experiences . That you actively seek out the challenges inherent in
the markets. Approaching every single trade as a learning experience, will help you see the bigger picture and build confidence in your tr ading.
Opportunities to Learn
Each trade and moment behind the charts is an opportunity to learn. Are you really trading like a sniper, or just sitting on your hands waiting for
some perfect setup? Are you trading to be right, or are you actively focusing on improving your skills? Are you working to ac celerate your learning
curve, or are you letting your emotions define your experience?
Frustration must lead to learning in fact all trades must lead to learning. You either win, lose, or learn from each trade. The first two you cannot
control entirely, but you can with the last. And which do you think leads to your development as a trader?
The best athletes, professionals, and successful traders learn from each trade, and maximize every chance to learn. This is p art of building a
successful mindset, which is essential and required for trading successfully.
Ask yourself, how would your trading experience and mindset differ if you looked forward to the challenges, and the frustrati ng moments, learning
from each? How would this change your daily approach and thoughts when engaging the markets each day? What parts of the above can you work
on, and what have you noticed about yourself after reading this article?
Hope is Not an Investing Strategy

21 March 2015
05:59 PM
I hope the stock market continues to rise, my friend Ravi told me as we met for dinner last week.
Why? I asked.
I have put in a lot of money over the last few monthsthats why! he replied.
Ravi, its good to be an optimist by nature, I said, But ironically, it doesnt work that way in the stock market.
Why do you say so Vishal? Isnt it a basic human nature to hope for the best?
Of course yes. In fact, I believe that hope is a component of a healthy state of mind, and opposite of negativity that we see all around. But
then, when it comes to the stock market, hope is dangerous.
But why?
You see, Ravi, once you buy a stock, you obviously want it to earn you good long-term returns. But if the stock that you bought is a real value
and you bought it right, all you need is the patience to sit on it with the knowledge that over time its value will be realiz ed.
Yeah Vishal, so even when I think I made the right decision, I would hope that it turns out to be true in the future. Isnt that so?
No dear! The keyword here is patience, not hope. As Richard Russell wrote in one of his Dow Theory letters, Any time you find yourself
hoping in this business, the odds are that you are on the wrong path or that you did something stupid that should be corrected.
But why do you say so?

Ravi, I say so because I have seen a lot of hopes ending in disasters simply because people made mistakes in buying bad businesses or
expensive stocks, and then hoped that a tooth fairy would absolve them by taking the prices higher! So Ive heard people say things like
I hope Suzlons business would turn around.

I hope Reliance Power would come back to its listing price.
I hope Opto Circuits management would come out clean.
I hope this speculation would pay off in the long term.
I hope this time its really different.
Unfortunate it may sound, but hope is a big money-loser in the investment business. It is hope that keeps you from selling your losing stocks.
It is hope that stops you from cutting your losses before they get bigger.
So Vishal, what do I do if not hope?
Make well-studied investments Ravi, and then be patient with them. Also, be willing to accept reality, especially when its harsh, and then be
willing to reconsider your decisions with changing times.
But pleaseplease dont HOPE! Avoid it! Instead, embrace patience and realityhowever painful it may be.
And finally remember this there are many good investing strategies: buying cheap stocks, buying high quality businesses, turnarounds, top
down, bottom up, to name only a few. Hope is not among them.
I hope you understand!
What Crocodiles can teach You about Trading?

21 March 2015
06:03 PM
Here in tropical Australia, the saltwater crocodile is a fearsome and intelligent predator known to wait patiently for days or weeks on end until
unaware prey come to the waters edge and become its next meal. Crocodiles are by many accounts the most successful animal that has ever
lived; theyve been around for about 200 million years and have out-lived the Dinosaurs, and theyve evolved over time to become perhaps the
most successful predator on Earth, next to humans. Crocodiles are opportunistic predators; theyve been known to learn the behavior of their prey
and lie in wait for long periods of time almost to the point of starving, and then when the time is right they snatch their prey with confidence and
precision.
In fact, it is quite common for people to swim with these animals for days or even weeks without any sign of aggression, until one day somebody
goes swimming, fishing or even walking, and they never return. This demonstrates real-world evidence that one of the oldest and most
methodical predators on Earth is also one of the most patient and disciplined that has ever lived. Darwins survival of the fittest theory certainly
favors this creature; theyve been around since Dinosaur times because their method of hunting and adapting is so successful. The salt water
crocodile is perhaps natures ultimate sniper it only needs to eat once a week or so because it makes high quality kills rather than a high
quantity of low-quality kills.
As traders, theres a ton of things we can learn from the crocodile, lets discover some of them
Crocodiles are a traders best role model
The crocodile is actually our best role model as traders; their behavior is really the perfect metaphor for how a trader needs to behave. We are
without doubt predators, not just trading predators, but as humans we are naturally built and function as hunters. As traders, we must copy the
crocodiles methods of hunting; we must be disciplined, patient, adaptable and methodical in our approach. Crocs have also demonstrated an
ability to learn quickly and avoid risky situations as we will discuss more about later, these are also things that we need to do as traders.
Think of the crocodilehes big, fat, long and needs A LOT of protein in his diet to survive, to swim and to hunt. Is his energy best spent going
around all day eating little bait fish which are easy to catch? Imagine how much energy he would expend trying to catch a high quantity of lowquality prey like that all day. If you have ever seen these crocodiles like I have in person, you will understand what I am saying; crocs are
designed and have evolved to be patient sniper huntersmany little meals do not interest them as much as a big juicy nourishing meal does.
By trading less our aim is to make a nice large meaty size trade that sustains us until our next trade. Sure we may have a few losses along the
way to our big prize, but the goal here remains clear; waiting on the sidelines (or the shores of the river like the crocodile) to pounce on our prey
and cop a huge nourishing meal. We dont want to be running all over the pond or river looking for any small piece of meat or fish that we can
findwe are going to wait it out and score ourselves a nice big juicy profitable trade (or in the crocodiles case, probably a kangaroo, a dog, or
maybe even a human).
There is an expression in the English language that most will have heard at some point in their lives: All good things come to those who wait.
This phrase is merely discussing the merits of being patient, possibly frugal, disciplined and well planned, but its implications are profound and
very true for both the crocodile and the trader.
It may shock some of you to know that nowadays I may trade only 3 times per week or even less some weeks. Youre probably thinking Thats
not enough trades to make money, I dont blame you for thinking that way and its easy to think that way with most mainstream Forex websites
pumping day trading and high frequency trading. But, my own personal experience is that its much more lucrative to wait patiently for highquality trade setups than it is to stay glued to your charts all day and night trying to trade everything you can find. The best trades are obvious,
they almost talk to you and tell you to trade them, once you know what youre looking for this will become apparent to you.
For definitions sake I would refer to myself as a swing trader and a trend follower. I attempt to capture the larger moves that occur over multiple
trading sessions or possibly multiple days or weeks. In this way, I am very much analogous to a crocodile in my trading, in fact I might even buy
a picture of a crocodile and hang it up in my trading office to remind me of how successful a predator the crocodile has been throughout history
and most importantly, why it is so successful.
Crocs have a high strike-rate
Its fairly safe to say that if a croc gets its jaws around its prey, the prey is not getting away.
Crocs have a good strike-rate because they are patient and wait for the easy opportunities and then act with confidence and speedthey dont
hesitate. Whereas a Lion might have many failed hunting attempts trying to catch a Gazelle or some other quick animal, expending a lot of
energy in the process, crocs tend to have less losing trades or failed hunting attemptsbecause they dont waste time or energythey wait and
wait and control themselves with precision until their prey almost walks into their mouththen they feed.
As traders, waiting and being patient can increase your strike rate. Controlling ourselves is really all we can do as traderswe cannot control our
prey (the market)we can only conserve our money and wait patiently until our trading edge presents itself. This is how you get a high strike
rate as trader, not by trading a hundred times a week in some futile effort to scalp the markets.
Crocodiles are good at avoiding risky situations; they learn fast
crocCrocs learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation. They particularly learn to avoid dangerous situations very quickly, according
to the article The Extraordinary Lives of Crocs. The article went on to discuss that this ability of crocs to learn quickly and avoid dangerous or
risky situations is yet another reason theyve outlasted the dinosaurs and are still thriving today. Avoiding risk is one way that a species can
survive over time and win the evolution battle of the fittest. Similarly, not taking on more risk than is necessary as well as learning quickly are
two very important keys to becoming a successful trader.
two very important keys to becoming a successful trader.

I have said many times before that risk management is KEY to becoming a profitable trader. Some traders dont learn quickly like crocs do,
instead they repeat the same mistakes over and over until they blow out their trading account. Even though we are clearly far more intelligent
than crocs, we have a lot more emotions too, and these emotions often cloud a traders gut feel and cause them to hesitate, second-guess
themselves and over-analyze the market. A croc does not second-guess itselfits simply such a fine-tuned predator that being patient,
disciplined and executing with confidence are in built habits.
As traders, we need to learn from our mistakes, and fast, because money is on the line. Our version of avoiding risky situations is not overtrading and not risking too much per trade.
Conserving energy for the next kill
The crocodile waits for the big meal because it makes more sense to wait and conserve energy by eating a large chunk of protein less often. The
croc conserves energy and time by eating this way and it also is one of the main things that have ensured the survival of crocodiles over hundreds
of millions of years during many periods when food was scarce.
If you think about not interfering with your trades as helping to make you money, it might make it easier to do. I actually imagine that I am
making money by not trading and by simply doing nothing, because by not losing money from over-trading and over-involvementtechnically
you ARE making money. A crocodile would probably eat less food overall if it was constantly running around trying to find small prey, the
crocodile intuitively knows that by being patient and disciplined it has a better chance at getting a higher-quality meal. The crocodile knows
itself and its own limitations and uses its strengths to its advantage. Indeed, the fact that the crocodile has been around since dinosaurs walked the
Earth is evolutionary proof that the concept of patience and discipline most certainly pays off.
The crocodile intuitively knows that it needs to conserve energy and wait for a big kill, this patience is actually a skill for the crocodile and its
also a habit that has developed and reinforced in crocs over millions of years of providing them with large tasty meals. Longevity is critical to a
trader; we need to conserve the money in our trading accounts so that when the easy prey or obvious trades come along we can get the most
out of them. If we go around trading everything we see we will shrink our trading accounts and we wont have enough money in our accounts to
get the most out of the high-probability signals. Just as if a croc ran around all day trying to catch smaller prey it would not have the energy or
positioning to grab the bigger and better prey.
Crocodiles are highly adaptable

Crocodiles learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation. This is a large part of how and why they have survived for millions of years
whilst many other animals have become extinct during that same time. According to the article I mentioned earlierThe Extraordinary Lives of
Crocs; crocodile researchers often have to change their capture techniques because its very hard to catch them [crocs] with the same trick
twice.
Many researches think that the adaptability of the crocodile, including its ability to ignore hunger for long periods while it waits patiently for
the perfect feeding opportunity, is one of the main reasons they survived whatever killed off the dinosaurs. Its clear that the crocodiles ability
to adapt to its environment and to changing situations is one of the reasons it has survived and thrived for millions of years.
As traders, we have to adapt to changing market conditions, and as weve already discussed we need to have ice cold discipline to only trade
when our prey is ripe for the taking. One of the beautiful things about price action trading analysis is that its an inherently adaptable trading
strategy. Whereas many trading systems are rigid and make you stick to a strict set of rules or conditions, price action analysis gives you more of
a framework to work off of when analyzing the markets and this framework can be used to trade any market condition as well as adapt to
changing market conditions.
Crocodile trading should become a habit for you
In the past, I have written about the value of patience and how it is the core attribute of some of the greatest traders that have ever lived. I have
put forward the argument on many occasions that less is more and I think in todays market conditions that statement is even more relevant.
Over the years I have written countless articles which discuss how to implement a patient trading approach. My favorites being, Trading like a
sniper and not a machine gunner and The minimalist guide to trading. Hopefully many of you are really starting to connect the dots by now
and have discovered first hand just how powerful these concepts are and what they can do for your overall trading performance and profitability.
Its almost funny that its taken me until now to write an article on what traders can learn from crocodiles considering I live in Australia where
crocs are world-famous and plentiful. Furthermore, almost every behavior of a crocodile directly parallels what it takes to be a successful trader,
the similarities are almost uncanny. The crocodile is natures proof that less is more and that waiting patiently for the higher-quality
opportunities is a recipe for success. This recipe has kept crocodiles thriving on the Earth for 200 million years, and it can and will help you
thrive in the markets if you use it properly.
Its critical for the crocodile to understand its prey and to know where to look for it and remain calm and patient until it arrives. As traders, we
have to know what our trading edge looks like and where to look for it and then control ourselves enough to not over-trade before it arrives. If
you want to learn more about this crocodile trading approach and fully understand your prey (price action strategies) then checkout my price
action trading course. My trading course and other members content essentially models and teaches you how to trade like a crocodile; in a
patient and methodical manner with a mastery of your hunting skill.
Trader Psychology Questionnaire

22 March 2015
09:35 PM
http://www.tradersstateofmind.com/questionnaire.html
Below you will find a 20 item questionnaire that will help you assess your current readiness for success in peak performance trading. This
questionnaire will need to be printed and then filled out, click here for a printable PDF of the Questionnaire. This is not a test. Answer honestly. It
is designed to help you evaluate whether your personal psychology is helping you or hindering your growth as a successful tra der. And it will
show you where improvement is needed to master the inner game of trading.
Directions:
Read each statement and circle a number between 1 and 5 that best describes your agreement with the statement.
Where: 1 = Rarely, 2 = Sometimes, 3 = Typically, 4 = A lot, and 5 = Almost Always.
After you finish the questionnaire, add up the numerical value you assigned to each statement. Copy this number into the Tota l Aggregate Score
Box. Let's get started.
1.) I wake up or go to sleep worried about my trading.
2.) I let yesterdays trades influence my current decisions.

3.) I am worried that my capital will not survive my learning curve.
4.) I spend my profits before I have realized them.

5.) I have a hard time pulling the trigger because I second guess myself and/or fret about losing another trade.
6.) I catch myself trading outside the rules of my methodology.
7.) My heart rate and blood pressure go through the roof as I trade.
8.) I feel the need to make up for prior losses.
9.) I can do simulation trading well, but not once I start trading with my capital.
10.) I have difficulty acknowledging my mistakes and/or learning from my mistakes.
11.) I was trading fine until I raised the number of my contracts.
12.) I get impatient waiting for a trade.
13.) Trading mistakes I make seem obvious to when I later review them, but I don't seem to learn from them.
14.) Trading has become a chore and unenjoyable.
15.) I over trade after a windfall which causes me to give back my earnings.
16.) Im losing money in my trading despite having a reliable methodology.
17.) I feel tense or sick to my stomach when I trade.
18.) I keep making the same trading mistakes I dont seem to learn.
19.) I move my stops and targets in my trades.

20.) I become conservative once I win and stop trading even if I haven't reached my plan goal.
________________________
________________________ Total Aggregate Score (add all your responses together)
_________________________ Subscale F-SD Total (1,3,5,7,9,11,14,17,20). Add these together.
_________________________ Subscale G-I Total (4,6,8,10,12,15,18). Add these together.
_________________________ Subscale F-SD/G-I (2,13,16,19). Add these together.

_________________________ Subscale F-SD/G-I (2,13,16,19). Add these together.
The Man On The Steps Of The Bankruptcy Court

22 March 2015
09:36 PM
Today, Im going to tell you a story that really inspired me, made me laugh and got me personally to understand something imp ortant about wealth
and more importantly, living life.
This is a story about a man who got very, VERY wealthy, he had many millions and businesses all over the place.
Then something hideous and unforeseen happened, and he lost the lot and then some and found himself in bankruptcy court.
When he came out, he had absolutely nothing left.
Coming down the steps, he spots one of the creditors and calls him over and right there on the steps, sets up his NEXT busine ss deal!
What this guy knew was HOW TO MAKE MONEY period.
He would always make money because he knew HOW it is done. In principle.
Thats what I always wanted to know too, because if you know that, then you just cant fail.
Its never about the money, but about how to make it.
Take 60 Seconds now to recall an inspirational story that MADE ITS MARK ON YOU like this one did on me.
Close your eyes, take a deep breath and DO IT NOW!
Trend trading help

22 March 2015
09:38 PM
Q: I am trapped in counter trend trading. Mind always find reasons to justify it. Is there any cure to it? Please help.
-A: Many unsuccessful and successful traders over a period of time believe that the market is highly oversold or highly overbo ught. They then
keep their opinion rigid and get stuck in counter trend trading.
I always believe in the old adage , " The Trend is your friend until it bends".
All classical Technical Analysis including Dow Theory, Elliot Waves point to the fact that 90% of all your trades should be done trading with
the Trend and only 10% of the trades should be done against the trend.
Going by the above statistic , it would be wiser to stay out of the trade if you are trying to trade against the trend.
So the bottom line is
STOP trading counter-trend!
Everything you wanted to know about Visualization for Trading

22 March 2015
09:41 PM
Ever wondered how to make visualization work for trading ?
Here is one of the best articles I came across on the net.

A fantastic three part series on " How to use visualization in trading?"
http://www.smbtraining.com/blog/ever...ization-part-1
5 Characteristics of a Strong Mind

22 March 2015
09:42 PM
http://michaelhyatt.com/strong-minded.html
I define a strong mind as having a great capacity to face challenges. Being strong means having the resources, the mental skills, and the physical
capabilities to confront difficulties of all kinds. When a person is strong-minded, they have the energy and stamina to face a challenge without
being robbed of inner strength.
Mental toughness gives us the courage to grow from the stress we experience in life. It is a mindset comprised of several qua lities and attitudes.
The Secret Ingredients
What secret ingredients do heroes possess? They have five elements:

Confidence
Courage
Commitment
Control
Purpose
If you are strong-minded, you express these attitudes and skills on a daily basis, no matter what is happening in your life. Some people may
naturally be more mentally tough than others, but the good news is that you can learn to become even stronger.
Here are some tips to building a strong mind that I learned while in new agents class at the FBI Academy:
1. Confidence
When I took the physical fitness (FIT) test at the FBI Academy I was the 1 percent that makes the top 99 percent possible. I failed miserably, so
my challenge became twofold: maintaining confidence in myself while training to pass the rigid FIT test.
My confidence plummeted. I worked with a coach at the Academy and he taught me the secret to building confidencesmall steps.
By taking steps so tiny that they seem trivial, you can sail through obstacles that you never thought you could defeat. Slowly, you can cultivate an
appreciation for the small improvements when they happen. Success builds upon itself, and slowly, it lays down a permanent ro ute to change.
Small steps are concrete. Mountains are climbed one step at a time, not by giant leaps. We are less likely to feel out of control if we can locate the
smaller problems within the larger situation. My coach encouraged me to acknowledge the small accomplishments and savor them before moving
on to the next.
TIP: Confidence is a belief in yourself and your ability to meet your goals.
2)Courage
Everyones hell is different. I was scaredif I didnt get pass the Academys physical fitness requirements, I wouldnt become an FBI agent. I
needed courage. My strength came from facing the reality of the obstacles in front of me and reaching deep within for the resolve to overcome
them. My courage came from facing inward and developing a strong mind. I told myself:
Dont run
Dont panic
Face the situation
Believe you can do it
Fix it as soon as possible
Waiting would only make the situation worse
Now is the best time
I am the best person
The fear I felt did not weigh me down but deepened my resolve. A strong mind is not built on something that is slapped togeth er on a shallow
foundation. It needs solid rocklike a skyscraper, the higher you want to go, the deeper you must go.
TIP: Courage is the tendency to see lifes obstacles as challenges to be met rather than threats to be avoided.
3)Commitment
In the deepest part of me I knew that I would make the FBI my career. It wasnt a stepping-stone to something better that might come along. I was
a disciple of my own deep values and beliefs. I had the will to subjugate my feelings to those values.
In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes, If you are an effective manager of your self, your disciple
comes from within.
People are often unsuccessful because they lack commitment to their deepest values. Competence is not an inherited trait, like blue eyes.
Competence is the result of working hard and concentrating on bringing about the desired result. No one succeeds overnight; f ailures do not
happen overnight, either. A person who is fully committed can find a creative solution to almost any task.
As Jim Collins once said,

The best form of commitment comes from a single-minded passion for what they do and an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think
and work.
4)Control
To be in control means that, through personal struggle, you can find ways to empower yourself and influence both the directio n and outcome of
your own life. A strong mind shuts out feelings of fear and inadequacy and focuses on reaching the goal.
I learned a great deal about developing a strong mind in firearms. As a shooter, I employed many of the contemplation techniq ues I used in prayer;
emptying my mind of extraneous thoughts and keeping my minds eye focused on one thingthe target. And then I narrowed the focus even
further so my total concentration was on one thingthe thing immediately before me.
Once your mind is quiet, you can challenge the beliefs you hold about yourself that are false or can be changed. Athletes wil l not improve their
performance unless they reach for the goal that is beyond their grasp. If you settle for mediocrity in yourself, thats what youre going to get, so
dont be surprised when your response is not what you had hoped it would be. Challenge the beliefs you hold about yourself an d enlarge your
territory.
TIP: Control is having a certainty that you are able to shape your destiny rather than passively accepting events as they come along.
5)Purpose
I learned from my firearms instructors that if you aim at nothing, youll hit it every time. Live your life with a purpose. No matter how many major
changes and transitions you go through in your life, if you rely upon guiding principles and values that are important to you , they will always give
your life meaning.
Dr. Benjamin Mays said,
The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach. It isnt a calamity to die with dreams
unfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. Its not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is
not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach.
TIP: Strong-minded people have a dedication that comes from a purpose thats in alignment with their deepest values.
The five elements of a strong mind are not only for heroesthey are for people like you and me, people who are struggling through the tough
times, so we can savour the good ones. Toughness is in the spirit and soul, not the muscles. Building a strong mind is a life long task. It will not
only pay off when obstacles are in your way, it will become habit, and eventually a part of your identify. Be Strong!
Are You an Average Trader?

22 March 2015
09:50 PM
Check your symptoms
6 Tips to Feel More Alert and Focused During the Trading Day
09 April 2015
04:36 PM
Trading full time can put a strain on your body. Waking in the early hours of the day and keeping your focus throughout the entire
session can be a challenge. Here are 6 tips to help you feel more alert and focused during the trading day.
How to Focus Your Mind
1. A Little Caffeine Can go a Long Way
If youve ever found yourself overwhelmed with too many tasks Im sure youve wanted to know how to concentrate better.
Nothing cures that lack of productivity bug like a little caffeine. While I am not a coffee drinker, every so often I do take a shot of
espresso or crack open a Pepsi for that extra burst of motivation and energy.
Scientific studies do show that caffeine improves focus and concentration. While I wouldnt recommend jumping on the 3 cups a day of
coffee a day wagon, every so often it can be the perfect pick-me-up to improve your productivity.
2. Why Exercise Benefits the Brain
Not only is exercise good for the body physically, it is also a great way to stimulate the brain and boost your mood.
After youve finished exercising for 45-mins or so you probably notice youre in an upbeat mood, can think clearly, and generally feel
good about yourself.
When you do things like go on walks, take part in a sporting activity, or even household choirs like gardening and maintaining the lawn,
you are helping your body combat diseases, control your weight and boost your energy.
Exercise releases endorphins which are the bodys natural feel good chemicals. The body also releases serotonin, dopamine, and
adrenalin which help to alleviate stress and keep you in good mental health as you age.
3. Feed Your Body Right

Feed your body right and it will reward you.
A glass of orange juice or something sweet with breakfast can help boost alertness and mental ability. Pair that with a healthy breakfast of
granola cereal, wheat toast, egg whites, and some fresh fruit and youll be set for the mornings trading.
Berries, nuts, whole grains are great snack foods and will keep you going throughout the day. Celery and Almonds are especially good
for an added pick me up during the afternoon.
For dinner, fish, broccoli, green beans, brown rice, and a glass of milk is a great way to cap off the trading day and keep the body
motoring through the week.
Most importantly, dont forget to stay hydrated! Water flushes out the body and keeps you healthy.
4. Distract Your Mind with Music
Listening to music during a mundane or dull task increases our focus and creativity. With soft music in the background, the part of our
mind which becomes easily distracted is now occupied with the music.
Ive found that listening to music without lyrics is most effective. My choice while trading is techno, but I also enjoy jazz and even
classical. I urge you to give it a listen!
5. Sleep in 90-min Cycles

While it may be obvious that sleep is important, most people dont realize how much sleep their body actually needs.
As we age our bodies require less and less sleep, however your activity level plays a large part in the amount of sleep you need.
Sleep helps reduce stress, improves memory, and keeps your heart healthy. An average sleep cycle takes approximately 90-mins to
complete. This varies for each person, but not by much, maybe by a couple minutes
Try this exercise
Time your sleep habits for one week. Set your alarm so you wake up just after 6, 7.5, or 9 hours of sleep. This ensures that youve
completed a full cycle and arent waking up in the middle of REM sleep causing you to feel groggy and tired.
6. Bring the Outdoors In
Studies show when people live and work in a well lit environment, they are happier, healthier and overall more productive. In addition,
cracking a window and letting the sounds of the outdoors into the office is something that I find really enjoyable.
Natural light also reduces eyestrain, a vital issue when starring at a computer screen all day long.
If you dont have access to natural light, utilize short 5-10 minute walks outside during the day to recharge and alleviate any stress on
your eyes. Sitting in a dim lit room on a sunny day is simply not enjoyable. Bring some outdoors in!
Time Management
09 April 2015
04:38 PM
5 Uncommon Rules of Wealthy Traders

09 April 2015
04:42 PM
Some of the traders make hundreds of thousands even millions of dollars each trading their own account. These arent your typical always
use a hard stop loss type of rules . These are actual guidelines successful traders follow religiously.
1. They plan every single trade. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Every trader Ive talked with that makes money consistently knows the following about every single trade they take before they even begin
entering a limit order into their trading platform:
a) the highest price they are willing to pay (if they are going long) or the lowest price at which they are willing to sell (if they are going short)
b) their profit target where they will exit if they are right
c) their stop loss where they will exit if they are wrong
d) the risk/reward ratio of the trade
e) the exact percentage of their account they are risking
Lots of traders do one or two of these things. Few do all of them. In simple terms they know exactly what they want to pay, h ow much money
they anticipate making (or losing) and a very clear idea on the probability of the trade working out.
2. They stopped trying to pick tops and bottoms years ago
The funny thing is that only a very few successful traders I have ever talked to trade that way. Simply put, 95% of the trade rs out there that make
money are buying higher highs and selling lower lows. They do the exact opposite of nearly everyone out there because they fo und out long ago
that picking tops and bottoms is a suckers bet. One trader described it to me by saying that its much easier to just participate in what a market is
already doing than trying to guess when that behavior will change . Flip-flop your strategy to agree with what the market is doing rather than
guessing on when it will change its mind, and youll be in a much better position to make money trading.
3. They are patient with winners and ridiculously impatient with losers.
Dennis Gartman is famous for boiling down great trading to one thing: Do more of what is working and less of what isnt. Sure makes a lot of
sense to me.
Most traders have a great deal of patience with their losers but get nervous about locking in gains and sell them to quickly the exact opposite of
what wealthy traders do. Wealthy traders realize that they may actually have more losing trades than winning trades so they quickly get out when
they are wrong. It is the only way to ensure that they can give their winners the attention they deserve .
4. They trade one market. ONE
The vast majority of successful traders concentrate on one market and become so comfortable with it that they begin to know the behavior of
that market just watching price and volume. Test yourself if you arent able to get rid of all your charts and simply look at price and volume to
trade, youre probably not concentrating enough on one market in order to know its moods . What were really talking about here, of course, is not
the mood of the market itself but the moods of the market participants!
Focus on trading one market exceptionally well rather than try to trade whatevers hot thats how wealthy traders do it.
5. Their benchmark for success is anything but money
Money changes everything. It sure does. Were all in this to make money. The trouble is, when traders use the amount of money they make to
judge their own success, something happens to them to all of us, really that clouds our decision-making ability.
Wealthy traders have realized this and instead focus on other things to determine if theyve had a successful day. Whether it be how well they
were able to execute on their trading plan (see rule #1), or their overall ability to predict short -term movements in whatever they are trading, they
know that if they do those things correctly, the money will follow.
Yes of course the money is important. Any trader who says otherwise is a fool. Why else would we put ourselves through this d aily ride. But
there is something about making it a secondary focus that allows the best traders to make better decisions. The growing tradi ng account simply
becomes a nice result a side benefit if you will of making good decisions and reading the market well.
Trader Intuition: How to Know When Youve Got it and When to

Trust it
09 April 2015
04:43 PM
As traders, we look at the world differently than most people. Weve trained our brains to think in terms of risk, and we assess new
opportunities from many different angles (at least I do).
When I first started out as a trader I read and listened to a lot of interviews of top traders.
You and only you are responsible for your trades.
Over and over again I would hear them talk about how trading is a direct reflection on yourself. The style you choose and the way you trade
must fit with who you are.
What is Trader Intuition?
Great traders have the ability to sense the rhythm and pace, and can pick up on the nuances of the market.
The traders I know down in the pits at the CBOT use this feel everyday to make trading decisions. So how then, do we develop this intuition
ourselves and know when to trust it?
The answer lies in differentiating our intuition from our emotions. New traders execute trades based on how they feel or what they want to
happen at the time of the trade, they dont have a calculated edge, theyre just shooting from the hip.
Experienced traders execute trades based on calculated risks and a predetermined edge. For those of us who consider ourselves experienced,
weve learned to let go of the emotional attachment to a trade or idea. This opens up the door for objective observation.
Think of Yourself as an Observer

When you place a trade based on an emotional response you will most often lose. In the long run its certain to lead to ruin. Instead of
approaching the markets with the attitude of myself versus the market, I prefer to take a more passive approach as observer; only jumping in
when I can identify a clear edge.
The most objective role we can pay is the role of the observer. Over time, I found that Im just as calm and level headed while in a trade as I
am on the sidelines, this is a big step in the path to progressing as a trader.
When to Disregard Your Intuition
Realize that the tendencies and biases you bring to trading will 99 times out of 100 be wrong. Your initial feelings and instincts are simply
human in nature, thus new traders act just as others do. Make a note of these initial feelings and learn to set them aside, do not act on them.
After a few years of studying the markets, focusing in on one method and a few select markets I began to develop a feel for the markets I
was trading. This is the intuition you want to listen to.
Understanding Your State of Mind
There are things we pickup on in the markets without us even consciously realize it. When I feel good, I trade well. When Im in a groove or
rhythm I come into each day looking at the markets in an objective manor, I can clearly assess the risks, and determine where the best
opportunities lie.
Its only when you can accept the risks and trade without fear that you will be in a state of mind to become completely in tune with the
markets.
How to Get into a Trading Groove
Mark Douglas (and more commonly great athletes) call this feeling being In the Zone.
Being in the zone doesnt necessarily mean that you are currently in a position. You could be sitting on the sidelines waiting for a setup when
you notice something different about the markets, a small change. Maybe you cant pin point it exactly, its usually a combination of factors
you pick up on subconsciously. This is the time when I trust my intuition.
I know what its like to think the market should do one thing and have it do another. Things dont always make sense. The more you observe
your thoughts and reactions the better prepared you will be to react on the right side of the market.
Notebooks, Journals, and Post.
Im a big fan of post it notes. I keep them all over my desk. I record little things that I want to revisit later. Key levels, bigger picture items, a
stock that caught my attention that Id like to look at later in the week. These act as great reminders.
The notebooks are great too. When I created my trading journal I leave plenty of room for notes. I am constantly reviewing my old notebooks
and observations.
Youll know when youre in the zone, that groove, that rhythm, listen to your intuition when youre in this state of mind. Just make sure not to
Youll know when youre in the zone, that groove, that rhythm, listen to your intuition when youre in this state of mind. Just make sure not to
get too cocky and think youre invincible. Its when we fall back on our emotions that the rug gets pulled out from under us.
The Bottom Line
Its only when we are in a rhythm that we should be listening to our intuition. When you have developed a rhythm and are in a clear state of
mind and thinking objectively our intuition can be of great value.
Why is Day Trading So Difficult?

03 June 2015
12:17 PM
There are three main reasons why day trading is so difficult:

1)When day trading, trading time is compressed. Losses and wins come at you faster and more often which requires a mature, developed psychology to properly
handle that kind of instantaneous feedback in such a short period of time.
2)You must develop the psychology not to be seduced by the open market. Trading must remain emotionless and objective.
3)Your day trading results can be highly impacted by trading at higher time frames and the shorter your time frame, the greater this effect will have on you.
The psychology of day trading requires you to not let a string of losses or wins that occur in a short period of time affect your mental state. A frail ego or mind
will not do well in handling the results of immediate trade feedback in such a compressed amount of time. It will be too over whelming and may cause incredible
frustration and a feeling of hopelessness. This is why position trading using daily charts is recommend for new traders because it allows them time to absorb trade
feedback in a manner they can handle while they get a grasp of their trading results.
The open market can be quite seductive especially to the new trader. Day trading requires that you make trading decisions based on sound judgment and analysis
void of emotion. New traders that day trade have a tendency to become seduced by the excitement of the open markets and therefore often become emotional
traders acting on impulse rather than sound analysis and judgment.
When comparing day trading to position trading, it is easy to see that position trading requires using higher time frame charts like the sixty minute, daily, weekly,
and even in some cases the monthly chart. If you are position trading using a daily chart you dont have many time frames above you that could impact your
trading. Compare this to day trading where many time frame are above you. If you are day trading using a one minute chart for example, you have the three, five,
ten, fifteen, thirty, forty five, sixty, daily, and weekly traders above you. As a one minute trader you have many traders above you that can throw off your trading
approach no matter how good it is. As a position trader, you may have only the weekly and monthly traders above you who do not trade that often.
The differences between day trading and position trading can be as distinct as the difference between day and night. Your success will all depend on your
psychology, trading abilities, skills, and your aptitude. As a new trader you will more than likely need to walk before you run, and believe me, day trading is
running!
6 Simple Ways to Construct A Better Trading Mindset

03 June 2015
12:31 PM
How to Get Motivated, Right Now!

Achieving a long-term goal can be overwhelming. It all starts with TAKING ACTION! Any action, even the smallest step will propel you forward. Stand up, get off
the couch, say to yourself, I can do this and I will do this.
Grab a sheet of paper and start by writing down your goal, then work backwards, listing all the things that need to happen in order to achieve that goal.This will help
keep you motivated.
Steps to Building a Financially Secure Lifestyle

Here are 6 things you can do immediately (right now, today) that will contribute to your trading success and help you lead a full-filling life.
1. Build Slowly for the Long-Term

One of the best things I ever did was setup a weekly auto-deposit from my checking account into a separate savings account.Auto-deposits are found to be the single
most effective way to build a net worth for retirement.
Keep in mind the interest rate is irrelevant. The goal is to set aside money on a weekly basis that you can then use down the road to fund investment opportunities.
Start small; you can increase this amount over time. Trust me, you wont even notice its gone, and after a few months youll be smiling.
2. The Advantage of Being a Part-time Trader

If you trade part-time, thats great. Take advantage of the benefit package at your job and (if its offered) contribute the maximum to your pension fund
3. Adopt a Millionaire Mind

Keep a running list of expenses. Take a look at your bank statements as most online banking tools organize your expenses into categories making this process quick
and easy.
For any potential purchase of $100 or more wait 1 day and ask yourself, do I really need this item? Many people act rich and spend money frivolously; this is NOT
the lifestyle path of true millionaires.
4. Get Rid of Your Cash

If you have lurking credit card balances thats ok. If youre paying them down slowly while sitting on cash thats not okay.
Paying off small credit balances is a great first step in cleaning the slate and climbing out of debt.One or two credit cards is all anyone should need.
5. Turn Compounding Interest In Your Favor

Set it and forget it is not dead. In fact, its one of the easiest ways to build your net worth.Dont spend a lot of time searching for the perfect fund, a basic asset
allocation fund will work.Throw some numbers into a compound interest calculator youll be amazed at the results.
What is important is that you keep contributing a small amount each week (or month) and do not withdrawal money from the account. Often times whats so easy to
do, is easy NOT to do.
6. Work Less, Earn More

What is your time worth to you? Timothy Ferris explains it perfectly in the 4-Hour Work Week how to work smarter, not harder.Look for ways to streamline your
life and make repetitive tasks more efficient.If you divide your hours worked into your yearly salary how much are you really making per hour?
Trading is a career that takes massive amounts of time commitment up front, but as the years go by you become compensated with flexibility and time.
While it may take more than one year to achieve, the concept remains valid. The 4-Hour Work Week is a great book filled with useful ideas you can implement
today to work less and earn more.
Heres Your First Step

Identify the top 3 things from this list that you feel would have the biggest impact on your life. Pick one and take action.This takes about 10-minutes to do you will
see the benefits both immediately AND years down the road.
Why These Actions Will Improve Your Trading

Trading is as much about being in the right frame of mind as it is about executing quality trades. Going through this list and taking the steps mentioned will help
bring you closer to the mindset that is required to become a successful trader: calm, objective, and without fear of trading scared money.
The goal is not to quit your job to trade full-time, only to become a slave to 16-hour days and a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs. Its to build financial
security, consistent cash flow and in the end, lead to a fulfilling life.
All Trading Skills are Learnable

03 June 2015
12:32 PM
Its important to understand that all trading skills are learnable. Some of the mental skills that a successful trader must possess are easier for some people to develop
than others, but if you want it bad enough you can develop them. I am not saying that becoming a successful trader is necessarily easy, but nothing thats worth
while in life is. You should take comfort in the fact that the only real obstacle blocking your path to trading success is YOU. Once you accept this and start doing the
things you need to do to overcome it, you will be well on your way to unlocking your full trading potential.
The first big step to unlocking your full trading potential is emulating successful traders and learning the type of trading methods that they use and trying to get a
feel for how they think about and trade the market. Price action trading is something that every successful trader understands and uses either as their main strategy or
as part of their strategy, it is an essential component to any successful traders trading method.
If youre still lost in indicator land and dreaming about some Holy Grail trading system, you are about as far away from consistently profitable trading as you
can be. To truly unlock your full trading potential, you need to come down to reality and learn how professionals trade the market with price action strategies.
20 Things to do in the Morning to Have a Good Day

03 June 2015
12:35 PM
Here is a good, long list of 25 things to do in the morning that will get you ready to have a marvelous day!
1. Wake up on time. Most of us hear that loud ringing sound in our ears and just bang it until you hit the snooze button and then go back to sleep for 9 more
minutes. Then it goes off again!This means you wake up late and have to rush to work or school and rushing things is always a call for disaster. Instead, get up
at the right time so you can have enough time to get ready and stuff.
2. Take an early morning walk or jog. If you have a lot of time on your hands, this will surely wake you up. Get up, get some shorts or something on, and go
for a walk with the dog or a jog. It allows you to awaken strong for a good day!
3. Take a shower. Taking a shower allows you to be cleansed of all the gross stuff your body picked up overnight. You dont want to go to work with horrible
looking hair! You want to keep your job dont you? Taking a shower also offers some relaxation for your morning.
4. Take your time getting dressed. When taking your time, really at anything, you avoid error. If you rush through something like getting dressed and mess up
somehow, you will be regretting it.
5. Eat a good breakfast. Once you have done the first 3 thing, its time for the food, everyones favorite! Eat a good breakfast for energy for the day. Choices
include an apple or banana or both, cereal, bacon and eggs, anything that will give you energy for the day.
6. Drink coffee. Drinking coffee allows every bit of you that didnt get waken up by the first 4 steps to be waken up, haha. Coffee is good for when you are tired
to wake you up. What are you in the morning? Tired. What do you need to do? Wake up! Drink coffee.
7. Read the newspaper. This can be done while you eat and drink breakfast. Reading the newspaper allows you to catch up on the news. Who knows, you
might read something that you like that will put you in a good mood for the rest of the day, or you might read something bad which creates a bad mood. Just
read the homes or sports section.
Ok, so now you have about an hour til you need to leave for work. Good, thats plenty of time to do many things to have a good day.
8. Watch the morning news. Just like reading the newspaper, the morning news will allow you to catch up on the current news. It will also provide something
to talk about at work.
9. Relax a little. You still have quite a bit of time, so now go sit out on the balcony (if you have one) or a porch. Just sit in the chair and watch the water, plants,
or whatever you are facing. Hearing the birds call in the morning or watching the sunflowers blow around in the wind, it provides a good relaxation period.
10. Clean a little bit. When you clean something like a table or a cabinet or whatever you clean, you feel like you have achieved something valuable.Just clean
a little bit to ensure a good feeling. Feeling good about yourself enables self esteem which creates a good mood then creating a good day!
11. Wake the kids up. Possibly the best thing to being a parent is seeing your children, according to most parents. Seeing your kids wake up and give you a hug
and a kiss in the morning will definitely get you in a good mood.
12. Wake your wife up. A husbands most proud procession, besides the TV remote, is his wife. Seeing her in the morning just like seeing your kids will set
you in a good mood. If you are smart, you should have her cook breakfast for you or you cook breakfast for her!
13. Pet the dog awhile. Aw, the dog. Your kids love that mutt and you are convinced you kinda are starting to love it. Just give the dog a little rub down to let
them start off with a good day! Seeing your pet happy will make you happy.
14. While driving to work, turn on music you like. If you prefer quietness while you drive, that is just fine. It creates more time for relaxation. One thing that
puts me into a good mood is my favorite type of music. Turn on some tunes and enjoy the drive.
15. Try not to get pulled over. This is top in creating a BAD day. Getting a traffic ticket, especially from that cop you really do not like, will not help a good
day. Dont speed, wear a seatbelt and follow the law!
16. Take your time driving to work. Once again, take your time! Rushing through might cause for someone to get mad at you which will create a bad day for
them and then you might even get in a wreck! That would really not be a good day.
17. Arriving at work. Arrive at work with a smile on your face, especially if you are passing your fellow co workers. Sometimes, all people need is a good
smile to change their day around.
18. Walk into work happy! Odds are, you really do not want to be at work. If you storm in with a frown on your face and stomping your feet, people will
notice you are not having a good day. Instead, walk in happy and say hello to everyone, or at least try too.
19. Speak to a close friend. By speaking to a close friend or co worker, you are interacting kindly to another human being. Acting kindly whether to yourself or
another person will put you in a good mood. Plus, you might talk about something funny or silly. Humor always creates a good day!
20. And finally, have the right mindset. Sometimes people pass this step up. They do all these steps but still turn out having a bad day for some reason. Put it
in your head that you will have a good day today no matter what happens. You can always pray and ask God to provide you with a good day and he will
definitely provide you with one.
The main things to remember are to never rush at anything, watch/listen/do something funny or humorous, and remember that you can pray and ask God
because he will always provide.
The Power of Positive Affirmations

03 June 2015
12:36 PM
Its the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. Claude M. Bristol
The power of positive affirmations have the potential to create a life of happiness and peace.The truth is that living each day with a positive attitude and happy
emotions is possible, but it takes some work in order to be able to get there.
If you ask the best happiness gurus, they will tell you that happiness can only come from the inside. So much time and energy is spent by people seeking to find
happiness externally in their jobs, their lovers, their toys, vacations, and much more. This journey of outward seeking is fairly normal and many people spend
years and years seeking fulfilment in people and things.
The thought Ill only be happy if gets ingrained in the subconscious.
Ill be happy if I find that special someone.
Ill be happy when I get that promotion.
Ill be happy when I have a house.
Ill be happy when I have a baby.

It can go on and on. Now goals are certainly wonderful and you should have goals. You should feel a sense of accomplishment and some happiness when you
reach those goals, but to tie all sense of fulfillment in externals simply sets you up for long term disappointment and unhappiness.
Positive affirmations have the power to transform your thought life and the thoughts that you have about you. If your self-worth is low, you may tend to look
toward others for affirmation and base your happiness level on them, which never works out quite the way you think.
But if you recite positive affirmations on a daily basis, you are creating positive subconscious thoughts, which will help you to build a happy internal dialogue.
This will certainly help you to reach inside for your happiness instead of outside.
When it comes to positive affirmations, you want to really feel the emotion of happiness when you recite them. It is a wonderful idea to recite them out loud with
enthusiasm and vigour. Feeling the positive energy associated with the affirmation helps transform your thoughts and physiological state, which is necessary for
change. It takes about 21 days to really make a difference in your mindset, so be sure to be persistent with the recitations.
Make a list of positive affirmations or print out the list at the end of this article. Post the list in a place that you see frequently to serve as a reminder to speak the
affirmations regularly. Some people find it useful to write affirmations on note cards and post them in certain areas throughout the house, in the car, and at work.
The more you see them, think them, and say them, the more you will notice your perspective and mindset changing.
You can also listen to positive affirmations via audio podcasts or CDs as you drive, clean your home and while walking. This will help you develop the habit of
positive thinking and feel better about yourself, which will surely help you to feel fulfilled and joyful.
Here are some positive affirmations that you can recite as often as youd like. Feel free to print them out and recite out loud and internally.
My life is wonderful and I am so grateful.
I am worthy of love I adore myself.
I am relaxed, peaceful, and serene.
My thoughts are positive.
I choose to hold a positive perspective each day.
I experience deep joy simply because I am alive.
I am highly successful.
I have favour with people.
My business is growing every day.
I add value to humanity often.
Smiling naturally occurs for me.
My finances are continually increasing.
I laugh often.
I am confident I can accomplish anything I want.
People like me.
I radiate light and love wherever I go.
I am becoming more conscious daily.
I am deeply grateful for all the good in my life.
I am more than enough.
I feel happy and free.
The skys the limit for me.
I have extreme potential.
I am super smart and love learning.
I have an adventurous spirit.
All of my relationships are thriving.
Money Management: Why Market Wizards Claim Its the Secret

Sauce
03 June 2015
12:44 PM
In his Market Wizards books, Jack Swagger interviews an outstanding collection of renowned investors, traders and money manag ers. The single most
common thread that each mentions as being a major contributor to their success is their money management skills.
Each individual investor needs to answer in writing in a manner most appropriate for him or herself on what is money manageme nt.
How do you get your money? What are the sources of your cash flow and are they dependable or variable?
How do you feel about money? Did you inherit your wealth and see money management as a burden or part of your lifestyle? What is your
tolerance for risk?
Where do you move your money? What percentage of your assets are you comfortable placing in various asset baskets? Do you see yourself
as an investor, a trader or a watcher?
How do you move your money? What are your investment analysis routines and which trading methodology do you employ?
Why do you move your money? How will you decide its time to invest?
How do you protect your money? What sell disciplines do you have in place? Have you adequately insured yourself and your fami ly to protect
all your assets?
How do you spend your money? What are your lifestyle priorities? How much money will you invest, spend and distribute?
When will you spend your money? What is your time horizon and does your current estate plan reflect your present wishes?
Money management is a written, personally-appropriate financial framework describing the types of investments and strategies that you feel will align
with your personal goals, objectives and priorities. These guidelines describe the rules and tools you deem appropriate in ma naging your wealth. They
acknowledge your risk tolerance and the risk management techniques you employ to protect your assets. Finally, they provide a n ever-changing lifelong
timeline and roadmap recording the methodologies and resources you use to ensure disciplined stewardship of your assets as yo u attempt to maximize
the return on your investments.
The key take-aways for all you budding market wizards are these:
A. Get organized and put it in writing.
B. Put the odds in your favor by having clear goals, routines and an investment methodology.
C. The roadmap to success requires that you know yourself and know enough to stick to your rules.
Trade well; trade with discipline!
-- Gatis Roze
The Lazy Mans Guide to Forex Trading; Let the Market Do the
Work
03 June 2015
12:47 PM
Excerpts:
When we think of a lazy person we typically imagine someone laying around at home watching TV on the sofa with a bag of potato chips in one hand and a
cheap beer in the other. One thing that we almost never associate with a lazy person is success or wealth.
The word lazy is often associated with negativity in most social circles, but depending on what youre being lazy about, it can actually be a good thing. When
it comes to trading or investing, it could even be said that being lazy or relaxed can actually increase your chances of success.
The lazy trader concept I am using for todays lesson is simply a metaphor for trading in a manner that is relaxed and unemotional, but the theory behind it
makes sense.
Lazy traders arent glued to their charts all the time
The best traders I know dont bother analyzing the market or watching their charts all the time. They know they cant change where the market is headed, so
they just set orders/alerts when certain prices are reached or they look at the market in the morning and in the evening briefly. Successful traders take a
relaxed and no-stress approach.
The most profitable traders and investors dont addictively watch their positions all night while they should be sleeping. They make a decision and let the
market determine the outcome without interruption or interference.
It feels right to sit there and watch the markets and watch your trades tick away. But this really accomplishes nothing except making you more likely to do
something stupid like enter another position, close your position before it really gets moving, etc.
Lazy traders have bigger winners
Lazy traders dont sit there and watch their trades after they are live, thus they are not looking at every up and down move during the intraday session, and
thus they eliminate most of the temptation to interfere with their trades. This leads to bigger winners and a higher overall risk reward return over the long run.
The Lazy trader goes to sleep whilst the obsessed trader is sleep deprived
Lazy traders are relaxed and calm; they get a good nights sleep and let the market do its thing. When they wake up in the morning they turn on the computer
and look at the overnight price action for a few minutes and then carry on with their lives.
The longer you sit there and think about the markets and your trades, the more likely you are to make a stupid / emotional trading mistake.
Lazy traders develop confidence in their trading ability
There are basically two types of traders; those traders who are happy trading around their current job and schedule and those who look at trading as their only
option for income and put all their eggs in the trading basket right from the start. What this means is that one trader is starting from a point of no pressure or
emotion and another trader is already putting pressure and emotion into the mix before they even make their first trade.
Putting pressure on yourself to make a lot of money from your trading right out of the gate is going to flood your mind and body with emotion and adrenaline
which is naturally going to cause you to do stupid things like over-trading and over-leveraging your account. Whereas, if you take a lazy trader approach and
just check the market before and after work each day, you will slowly but surely gain confidence and also have better longer-term results since you will have
largely eliminated emotion from the mix.
The true market picture can easily be seen after analyzing the price action on the charts for just a few minutes at the close of each trading session. (end of
day chart analysis). However, when obsessed traders sit there and continue to analyze the market, they inherently make up all kinds of things that could
happen and they manifest patterns and trade setups that are nothing more than low-probability random price movements.The lazy trader develops a better
gut feel for the market because he is just looking at whats there and then moving on, rather than sitting there manifesting different combinations of things
that could happen.
Lazy traders develop positive trading habits
The lazy trader flicks open a EURUSD chart, looks for something obvious to trade and either trades or passes on the opportunity. He is not worried about
news events or what the media is saying; he is not over-thinking it and he does not care if he enters a trade or not. Trading in this manner develops positive
trading habits because you are reinforcing a minimalist trading approach.
It is often the case that the more serious and obsessed traders typically develop addictive and self-destructive personalities, or they already have these
personalities when they start trading and they arent willing to change.
The key to lazy trading
You should only be risking an amount that allows you to forget about the trade, when traders start risking more than they are comfortable with losing per trade
they put themselves at a very high risk of becoming over-attached to their tradesand this is not the lazy trader approach, this is the obsessive / addictive
approach that never works.
Be sure youve mastered an effective trading edge like price action strategies and that you fully know how to trade it.
Lazy = better trading and a better life
Whether its business, trading, relationships or life in general, we often destroy them by trying too hard, doing too much, over-thinking, overanalyzing and simply stressing ourselves or others to death.
Dont lock yourself in the office or in your trading room and think that the more hours you put in the better the outcome will be, that kind of thinking will destroy
you, blow up your trading account and possibly destroy your relationships with others. Your wife/partner will probably notice a huge change in your personality
if you make the commitment to be more relaxed.
I encourage you to pursue a change in your trading & life. Its life changing.
Peak Performance and States of Arousal in Trading

03 June 2015
02:12 PM
In this discussion we are focusing on the component of an emotion called arousal. Arousal is preparation for action that happens in your body as an
emotion prepares us for action. Powerful levels of adrenaline and cortisol are pumped into a trader's body as he becomes excited by the trade. That
excitement, as the arousal increases, becomes fixated on the object of pursuit bringing down the home run trade.
This is called a high arousal and is a great component to some peak performance states of mind particularly ones that more physical exertion and less
cognitive functioning.
A peak performance trading state of mind requires low arousal. Impartiality, discernment, dispassion, and calm states of mind are the emotional
components sought after for trading success. This is because cognitive functioning is what is necessary for trading peak performance, rather than physical
exertion. The moment that high arousal states become apparent in trading, the trading has lost his capacity to take a step back emotionally and think
impartially. You can be passionate about trading, but you cannot be passionate while trading.
Managing Arousal
Until a trader learns how to manage their emotional arousal levels, trying to use the mind to manage emotions often creates more (not less) stress and
fixation.
Fortunately our breathing is both automatic and volitional this is key to emotional regulation. If let on automatic, your breathing style will accelerate the
arousal of an emotion as it triggers.
Breathing is both automatic and volitional. With training, a trader has learned how to stay in a calm, impartial state of mind, in part, by managing the kind of
breathing he does throughout a trading day. Once he understood that peak performance trading requires low arousal state of mind, he began using
diaphragmatic breathing to manage his emotions while trading. He has much better control of his overtrading. He does not wait to feel arousal kick in.
Instead, a trader uses diaphragmatic breathing to help kept his emotions in check.
The moment he senses the triggering of arousal, he volitionally uses his breathing to cut off the gasoline supply to the fire of the aroused emotion. Rather
than fear of missing out, greed, or a desire to pursue hijacking his mental faculties, he now is consciously able to calm the excitatory process of the
emotional brain. Having learned how to manage the levels of adrenaline and cortisol in his body by managing breathing style, he is much less reactive in
the management of his trading days.A trader now maintains a calm, impartial, and disciplined state of mind from which to trade.
Trader Mark Cook Reveals His Rules for Day-Trading Markets

03 June 2015
02:13 PM
A day trader is a cross between an extrovert and an introvert, with both characteristics in balance, according to Mark Cook, a veteran trader from East Sparta, Ohio.
Cook won the 1992 U.S. Investment Championship with a 563% return on his money.For 12 years, Cook has kept a daily diary of t rading patterns he has observed.
He said the diary is priceless because price patterns occur much more frequently than most realize. Regarding keeping a dia ry, Cook uses the adage: If you dont
know history, youre doomed to repeat it.
The following are Cooks seven major rules for day trading:
DO NOT TRADE THE LAST HOUR OF THE DAY The probabilities of a successful trade diminish in this timeframe due to the impulsive and reckless buying
and selling by institutions just because they didnt get their trading done earlier, said Cook.
IF YOU DONT LIKE THE TRADE YOURE HOLDING, GET OUT.

AFTER TWO HOURS OF TRADING, ASK YOURSELF: DO I FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY TRADING TODAY? Once two hours have passed, Cook says
a day trader should have made at least two, or perhaps more, trades, but enough to review what you have done. If the trader feels good about the days trading,
continue. If not, stop trading that day.
ALL CYLINDERS OF THE ENGINE MUST BE RUNNING EFFICIENTLY. Day-trading is a job, and your paycheck is determined by your ability. You can
only maximize your ability if you have all the information you need to make trading decisions. If a piece of equipment that one uses for trading is not working, stop
trading.
HAVE COMPLETE FAITH IN YOUR INDICATORS. This is a must for success, said Cook. Many times your indicators give you a buy or sell signal, and
you dont follow it because you dont have the confidence the signal is right this time. Successful day traders believe in th eir indicators, but also are aware that
nothing is 100% foolproof.
TO ANYONE WHO ASPIRES TO BECOME A DAY TRADER, OBSERVE THOSE WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL. Any information you can procure on the
trading philosophies, mechanics and techniques is well worth your while.
DAY-TRADING IS A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT. I fervently believe it takes several years to become a true professional, said Cook.
Value and invest in Yourself

03 June 2015
02:14 PM
Imagine that a Genie offers you any car in the world. The catch is that it is the only car you will ever own. What would you do?
You would read the manual ten times, change the oil twice as often as required, and you would take fastidious care so that that car remained the car of your
dreams forever.
Think about what this tells you about your body.
You get only one mind and one bodythe same ones you will have at 20, 40, 60, etc.
Take care of them and maximize their potential. It will be too late to take care of your body and mind (and car) later on. You can maintain them, but it is hard
or impossible to undo big mistakes or negligence later on. You do not want to end up with a wreck on your hands.Your main asset in life is yourself.
Treat yourself as a valuable asset. I often explain to students that I would be willing to pay today for a percentage of the future earnings of good students.
If you value yourself, and invest in yourself, you will be worth a great deal through out your lifetime, both to yourself and to your community.
Know Your Trading Style

03 June 2015
02:32 PM
So what type of personality style are you? And how does this suit becoming a trader? Most of us are a mix of several different styles both good and
bad. See if you recognize any of the following.
Enthusiastic
Some tackle trading with enthusiasm, following the promise of easy money. Sooner or later they fail and, blaming either their broker or training course
provider, they give up in disgust
Withdrawn
Some blame themselves: I suck at everything so why do I bother trying?
Persistent
Some when they fail, remind themselves that no-one ever won by quitting. They persevere, but repeat the same mistakes over and over again and are
left wondering why they dont achieve better results.
Searching for the Holy Grail
Some pursue the perfect trading system. Always switching from one system to the next. Always latching on to the latest fad. Or following the guru of the
month in the vain hope that they have the answers.
Hesitant
The yips, a golfing term, are not only experienced by professional golfers who freeze over a putt. There are darts professionals who struggle to release
their dart and traders who cannot pull the trigger. They wait for the perfect set up, allowing pressure to mount until it impairs their performance
ensuring that they do fail.
Blinkered
Some keep scant records of their trades and can only tell how well they are (or arent) doing from the depleted state of their bank account. They prefer not
to reflect on their failures as it makes them feel anxious or depressed.
Paper Trader
Some religiously follow the market, keeping copious records and constantly trialing new systems without ever buying a stock.
Reckless
The opposite approach the market with supreme confidence, committing their entire capital when just starting out. That is about as sensible as entering a
professional boxing tournament after just a few lessons at your local gym. The market will ruthlessly expose your inexperience.
Successful Trading Styles
Cautious
Successful traders are initially cautious about entering the market. They paper trade for a while, before committing a small amount of capital. When
confident they have learned the ropes, they gradually increase their exposure while closely monitoring their performance.
Detailed
They keep meticulous records of each trade: the reasons that they entered and exited, the capital committed, and the profits or losses made. They can tell
you exactly what trades they were in during the crash of 1987 or when the Dow broke 10,000 also why they were in them, and when they exited.
Focused
Whenever they fail, they take time to reflect on where they have gone wrong. They review their records and identify areas of weakness in their trading
approach. They seek advice and study available literature, only returning to the market when satisfied that they have corrected the flaw. If they again fail,
they repeat the process, gradually eliminating their mistakes until they eventually succeed.
Conclusion
Every action has a payoff. Many traders subconsciously expect to fail and the objective of the first eight styles is to avoid the pain associated with that
failure. Some avoid failure by quitting early. Some persevere but dont really make a serious effort so they always have an excuse at hand. Some are
so deflated when they incur a loss that they abandon a perfectly good system in the vain hope of finding one where they never have to incur losses. Some
experience such anxiety that they cannot bring themselves to enter a trade. Some are in denial, never confronting their actual performance.
experience such anxiety that they cannot bring themselves to enter a trade. Some are in denial, never confronting their actual performance.
Successful traders, however, accept failure as an important part of the learning process. The last three styles are vital to becoming a better
trader. Only by learning from our mistakes can we hope to perfect our trading style and become the best trader that we can possibly be.
30 Rules for the Master Swing Trader

05 June 2015
06:12 PM
Here is one of my favorite reads from the master swing trader Alan Farley. These are the essentials of the journey called trading. Every successful trader learns
some or most of these rules, either by reading or by experience.
I go through these rules often and keep count of how many rules am I following
Among the 30 rules, my must follows are: Rule 2, 3, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27 & 30
By Alan Farley
Swing trading can be a great way to profit from market upswings and downswings, but as Ive always said, its not easy. Mastering swing trading techniques takes
considerable time and effort. To help get you started, here are 30 rules to think about as you begin and ultimately master the swing trading game.
Rule 1: If you have to look, it isnt there.
Forget your college degree and trust your instincts. The best trades jump out of nowhere and create a sense of urgency. Take a deep breath, and then act quickly
before the opportunity disappears.
Rule 2: Trends depend on their time frame.
Make sure your trade fits the clock. Price movement aligns to specific time cycles.
Success depends on trading the right ones.
Rule 3: Price has memory.
What happened the last time a stock traded at a certain level? Chances are it will happen again. Watch the tape closely when price returns to a past battleground.
The prior action can predict the future.
Rule 4: Profit and discomfort stand side by side.
Find the setup that scares you the most because thats the one you need to trade. Dont expect it to feel good until you take your profit. If it did, everyone else would
be trading it. Ancient wisdom from the East: What at first brings pleasure in the end gives only pain, but what at first causes pain ends up in great pleasure.
Rule 5: Stand apart from the crowd at all times.
Trade ahead, behind or contrary to the crowd. Be the first in and out of the profit door.
Your job is to take their money before they take yours. Be ready to pounce on ill-advised decisions, poor judgment and bad timing. Your success depends on the
misfortune of others.
Rule 6: Buy the first pullback from a new high. Sell the first pullback from a new low.
Trends often test the last support/resistance before taking off. Trade with the crowd that missed the boat the first time around.
Rule 7: Buy at support. Sell at resistance.
Trend has only two choices upon reaching a barrier: continue forward or reverse. Get it right and start counting your money.
Rule 8: Short rallies, not selloffs.
Short-sellers cover profitable trades into market declines, so thats the worst time to enter new positions. Wait until these sellers get squeezed and shaken out, then
jump on board while no one is watching.
Rule 9: Manage time as efficiently as price.
Time is money in the markets. Know your holding period for every trade and watch the clock to become a market survivor.
Rule 10: Avoid the open.
They see you coming, sucker.
Rule 11: Trades that work in hot markets destroy accounts in cool ones.
Stocks trend only 15% to 20% of the time. Trading ranges cause grief to momentum positions the rest of the time.
Rule 12: The best trades show major convergence.
Watch for the bulls eye. Look for a single point in price and time that points repeatedly to a trade entry. The market is trying to tell you something.
Rule 13: Dont confuse execution with opportunity.
Save Donkey Kong for the weekend. Pretty colors and fast fingers dont make successful careers. Understanding price behavior and market mechanics does. Learn
what a good trade looks like before falling in love with fancy software.
Rule 14: Control risk before seeking reward.
Wear your market chastity belt at all times. Attention to profit is a sign of immaturity, while attention to loss is a sign of experience. The markets have no intention of
offering money to those who do not earn it.
Rule 15: Big losses rarely come without warning.
You have no one to blame but yourself. The chart told you to leave, the news told you to leave and your mother told you to leave. Learn to visualize trouble and head
for safety with only a few bars of information.
Rule 16: Bulls live above the 200-day moving average while bears live below it.
Are you flying with the birds or swimming with the fishes? The 200-day moving average divides the investing world in two. Bulls and greed live above the 200day, while bears and fear live below. Sellers eat up rallies below this line while buyers come to the rescue above it.
Rule 17: Enter in mild times, exit in wild times.
The big move hides just beyond the extremes of the trading range. Dont count on the agitated crowd for your entry signals. Its usually too late to act by the time
they enter the market.
Rule 18: Perfect patterns carry the greatest risk for failure.
Demand warts and bruises on your trade setups. The prettiest patterns set up the most painful losses. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Rule 19: Trends rarely turn on a dime.
Reversals build slowly. Investors are as stubborn as mules and take a lot of pain before they admit defeat.
Rule 20: See the exit door before the trade.
Assume the market will reverse the minute you get filled. Youre in big trouble when its a long way to the exit door. Never toss a coin in the fountain and hope your
dreams will come true.
Rule 21: Dont count your chickens.
Profits arent booked until the trade is closed out. The market gives and the market takes away with great fury.
Rule 22: Dont believe in a company or its fundamentals.
Trading is not investment. Remember the numbers and forget the press releases. Leave the American dream to Peter Lynch.
Rule 23: Dont have a paycheck mentality.
You dont deserve anything for all of your hard work. The market only pays off when youre right, and your timing is really, really good.
Rule 24: Dont try to get even.
Trading is never a game of catch-up. Every position must stand on its merits. Take your loss with composure, and take the next trade with absolute discipline.
Rule 25: Dont trade over your head.
If your last name isnt Buffett or Cramer, dont trade like them. Concentrate on playing the game well, and dont worry about making money.
Rule 26: Dont seek the Holy Grail.
There is no secret trading formula, other than solid risk management. So stop looking for it.
Rule 27: Dont forget your discipline.
Rule 27: Dont forget your discipline.

Learning the basics is easy. Most traders fail due to a lack of discipline, not a lack of knowledge.
Rule 28: Dont ignore your intuition.
Respect the little voice that tells you what to do, and what to avoid. Thats the voice of the winner trying to get your undivided attention.
Rule 29: Dont project your personal life.
Trading gives you the perfect opportunity to discover just how messed up your life really is. Get your own house in order before playing the markets.
Rule 30: Dont think its entertainment.
Successful trading will be boring most of the time, just like the real job you have right now.
A COMMENT FROM A TRAINER, HOPE U ENJOY

05 June 2015
08:38 PM
Every seminar and book will tell you that controlling your emotions and having discipline in youre trading are essential to your success. But no
one tells you how to achieve emotional control and personal discipline while trading the market. Every trader sees the market differently
because our past, our current lives, and our perceptions are unique. Understanding those things about yourself and harnessing their affect on
your trading will help you keep trading realities free of emotional debris. Here are some steps that will make a difference. You must take a
technical approach to your emotions and discipline training just as you take a technical approach to analyzing a stock chart. But before we get
into the logistics of how to control emotions, you must understand some basics of why some market participants have solid control of their
emotions while others do not.
All price action in stocks is critically dependent on emotional reactions from varying market participants. Without emotions, price sits flat.
There are many degrees of emotional surges, waves of euphoria and greed, and waves of panic and despair that drive prices up or down. And
always within those waves are the killer rip-tides that come from those who have learned to control emotions, and wipe out those who do not
have control.
Ultimately, success in the market is a combination of anticipating the next move and the moves of all the other market participants who may
enter that stock, and determining when you should participate. Unfortunately, most traders trade the market not as if they were playing chess
with the complexity of the bluff of poker, but as if they were in Las Vegas, gambling on a roulette wheel.
In the world of stock trading there are Master Traders who have control over their emotions and then there are the Gambler traders who buy and
sell based purely on emotion whether they realize it or not. A Master Trader combines the skill of a chess player who anticipates an opponents
moves and plans his own well in advance and also uses the poker players bluff in never revealing his hand before he chooses to reveal it. A
gambler is simply reacting to his emotions without logic or forethought in what he does.
Market participants who trade the market with the skill of a Master Chess Playeranticipating price action days, weeks, and months in advance;
incorporating the never reveal your hand aspect of pokerhave the extreme advantage over gambler traders. They have control over their
emotions and hence control over how they trade. The gambler trader is just throwing money at the market and hoping something will go their
way.
It is also important to realize that you do not come to the market as a blank page. You come with the personal history of your life, what
happened to you and more importantly, how you reacted to what happened. You have preconceived opinions and preset emotional trigger
responses to each situation you will encounter in the market based on past experiences relating to money. You come to the market fully loaded
with trigger points just waiting for the right conditions to fire. And they do.
Now you understand that even before you initiate a trade in the market; emotions are already underwaynegatively impacting how you study the
charts, learn a new strategy, or take a weekend seminar. Emotions are ruling your decisions, interpretations, and how you use what you have
learned. The entire mechanism of emotions has begun to impact your trading before you ever enter an order. You are trading emotionally right
now, at this moment. As you read this article, you are basing opinions about what you read on emotional reactions to what you have read before,
how those articles helped or didnt help your trading, and what you are expecting or hoping to find now.
Of course, there are varying degrees of Master Traders and Gambler traders. Most of the time, the larger the capital base a trader has available
to trade, the more emotional control and discipline a trader has developed. The giant institutional investor manager who trades billions of dollars
has ultimate control and discipline. The odd lot trader who has only a couple of thousand dollars to trade has the least emotional control.
Statistics show that the smaller the capital base, the less knowledge a person has and the greater risk they take.
That said, there are small retail traders just like you, out there trading, who remain calm, cool, and collected no matter what is going on with
their trade at any given moment in time. A floor trader for a big market maker firm can be down in their account by a million dollars but still
can stay calm and choose the right decision to turn trades around to his advantage. How you do achieve this kind of control?
Steps to Controlling Emotions and Gaining Trading Discipline:
1. Know what you are going to do before you do it.
A Master Chess Player is at least 6 moves ahead of his opponent at every step in the game of Chess. A Master Trader identifies the market
participants in that stock at that moment, determines when the next level of market participants will buy, decides a specific price for entry, and
has one or more exit strategies planned for that stock trade before he ever places an order. In other words: he knows what he is going to do
before he initiates the trade and has all of his various strategies worked out for all the different scenarios that can happen to that trade. He is
prepared for all situations and ready to trade.
2. Develop your own unique Trading Style.

Too often traders simply follow the crowd. Instead you should develop your own unique trading style. A trading style is not a strategy. It is a set
of parameters or rules that you adhere to strictly, ignoring rare anomalies that occur in your trading from time to time that go against your rules.
Your trading style should also ignore gimmicks, fads, and hot new strategies that are constantly being promoted to crowd traders. If you
establish a set of parameters for your trading, write those rules down, and follow them while ignoring the crowd mentality of most small retail
traders, you will begin to establish strong emotional control in your trading decisions. The trick is writing the parameters down and then
sticking to those rules. Emotions want traders to ignore rules.
3. Ignore the Money.
Dont trade for the money. Trade because you cant imagine doing anything else. Trade because it is the most enjoyable and rewarding
Dont trade for the money. Trade because you cant imagine doing anything else. Trade because it is the most enjoyable and rewarding
profession you can do. You can have a passion for studying charts without letting passion rule your decisions. Highly successful people, in any
career, do not do their job because of the money, they do it because they love what they are doing and cant imagine doing anything else. The
money is secondary to doing the job that gives them purpose and self-esteem. Money is not the ultimate motivator, purpose and self-esteem are.
4. Dont count your profits before the trade is completed.
Most traders worry about their profits and check them every day. They get elated when a stock they are holding moves up a few points and get
frantic when a stock they are in moves down. They constantly check their held positions and calculate their gains or losses during the trading
day. This is one of the biggest mistakes traders make and it creates an emotional state of mind that lacks control. Checking your profits or losses
constantly is obsessive, gambling mode trading. And it is not based on facts.
Most traders assume that if they are in profit in a held stock they have made that money. Conversely, if they are losing money, then they take
the stance that this is just a momentary loss and not a real loss. This is how most traders think, but it is the opposite of what they should be
thinking.
To gain control over emotions and to gain discipline in your trading you must view your stocks this way: When a stock moves against you, you
immediately have a loss, even before you are taken out of that stock. If the stock moves a few points in your favor then you have the potential
for profits. But until you exit that stock you do not have profits. Only when you sell that stock do you actually have profits. A loss is immediate,
even before you sell. Approaching your held stocks in this manner is critical to maintaining the proper viewpoint when holding stocks.
If you view every stock this way, your emotional control is geared for correct responses and decisions for the condition of your trade. If you say
to yourself that a losing trade is going to turn around, you immediately increase your emotional level so that instead of thinking logically, you
are hoping and praying for a miracle that the stock will turn around. This will cause you to miss subtle chart patterns that are telling you to
dump the stock and move on.
If you are in a profitable trade and you say to yourself look at all the money Ive made! you are in an emotional euphoric state of mind.
Euphoria makes traders feel invincible, and you will ignore weakening patterns. The result of this euphoric state of mind is that you will either
hold a stock too long, or you will take greater risks in your next few trades that will result in losses due to poor analysis dominated by emotions
and a false sense of invincibility.
Solution to euphoria: First recognize it. Traders are never brilliant. It is only an ideal trade during great market conditions for that trade. To
quell the euphoria, do not trade after you have made a huge profit. Take a few days to settle down. This is not gambling where you can say to
yourself Im on a roll! You are most definitely NOT on a roll. Trading takes logical analysis, not super-heated emotions of feeling brilliant. If
you stop trading and let your emotions calm down, you will see huge improvements in your consistency of profitability. This is the reality of
trading the stock market.
5. Know your risk tolerance.
Two chronic complaints from traders is that Market Makers are out to get them and that stop losses dont work. Both are fallacies steeped in
conditions that create deep emotional trading patterns. First lets get rid of The Market Makers are out to get the little guys Syndrome. The
truth is the Market Makers primary role is to keep the markets orderly by buying or selling their own inventory of stock IF there are no buyers
or sellers for an order. That is something that occurs only in large lot activity or illiquid stocks.
If you are trading under 5000 (five thousand) share lots, then you are trading what is considered a small lot in todays market where billions of
shares trade hands each day. The reality is that small orders under 10,000 share lots are routed to computer processing systems. These computer
programs fill small lot orders automatically when received from the brokerage houses. Market Makers never see these small orders. NASDAQ
has its SuperMontage automated order processing system and NYSE has Archipelago. The Market Makers dont even know you exist. If your
stop loss gets taken out and then the stock moves up (or down) this is not because a Market Maker saw your stop loss and decided to take you
out of your tiny share lot trade, it occurred because too many small traders all used the same percentage stop loss and thereby accidentally
created an imbalance of order flow that triggered a series of automatic selling that caused you to be taken out.
The second myth: Stop losses dont work. The problem is that you are trading way beyond your risk tolerance. Risk tolerance is different for
each trader. Most traders dont even know what their risk tolerance is nor do they consider this when entering a trade.
The common scenario: A trader places a stop loss that is obviously too tight for the stocks normal price action patterns because he is afraid to
lose money. He thinks that if he keeps a very tight stop, then he is only risking a small amount of money. Often these stop losses are based on a
specific dollar amount that has nothing to do the with the chart price action.
The trade is too high risk for his risk tolerance but instead of discarding the trade in search of a trade within his risk tolerance, he trades
emotionally by convincing himself the trade will make him a lot of money and that if he just keeps a tighter stop then it is okay. The reality is
that by keeping a tighter stop than the stock price action pattern indicates is correct, he is actually increasing his risk for that trade as the normal
price action will wipe out that stop loss quickly. And that traders normal emotional response is that stop losses dont work.
Rule for stop losses: Do not use common and popular percentage stop losses. Use proper stop losses based on solid support levels for that stock.
Properly placed stop losses do work. They protect you from the occasional trade that goes against you. And they tell you if the risk of the trade
is too higha common condition of an overextended stock ripe for profit taking by large lot traders. Improperly placed stop losses increase your
risk and are an indication that you are trading outside of your risk tolerance. You are therefore trading emotionally.
How to control emotions: Determine your risk tolerance and only trade stocks that are within that range. Usually the lower your capital base the
lower your risk tolerance will be. As your capital increases, your risk tolerance should also increase as well. Never trade beyond your risk
lower your risk tolerance will be. As your capital increases, your risk tolerance should also increase as well. Never trade beyond your risk
tolerance because you will trade with a heightened state of emotion and your decisions will be based upon greed or fear rather than logic.
5. Know your Financial Self-Worth.
Financial Self-Worth is probably the least known and least understood aspect of trading emotionally. Most traders dont even realize or accept
how much it impacts their trading. The most common symptom of this problem is the trader who suddenly makes some good trades and profits
and is feeling great about his trading but the next few trades are disasters that leave him feeling bewildered and frustrated. If this has happened
to you on more than one occasion, one of the reasons may be due to the influence of your financial self-worth.
Your financial self-worth is a culmination of many years of your professional adult work experience, your childhood experiences, your general
feelings about money, and your educational experiences which create your perception of your worth to the society you live in. These
perceptions are a major emotional constraint in your trading. It is not created by your trading, but has been with you for many years prior to
even thinking about becoming a trader. It influences your life far more than you probably realize. It can keep you from earning more money.
And it can thwart and hinder your trading profitability. It keeps you from making a higher income and it sabotages your trading whenever you
exceed your financial self-worth. It is the primary reason some traders make a lot of money while others have mediocre results.
Fortunately, financial self-worth is easy to determine and easy to adjust upward. Taking the Financial Self-Worth Test will give you a basis that
tells you critical information about yourself. Once you have assessed this aspect of your trading, it will lower emotions and give you more
control. You can increase your financial self-worth and in doing so will increase your profitability, while eliminating that seesaw effect of gains
followed by losses. You will have the tools to stop sabotaging your own trading profits.
7. Treat it like a Business.

If you want to make trading a full time career, you must treat it as any professional would in any career. View trading as a business rather than
just a hobby and your entire emotional level will change. Set up an office that is quiet, well organized, and far away from distractions. Keeping
your trading computer in the family room is just asking for poor trading results. Maintain accurate records of every transaction you make.
Document all of your trading efforts in a Trading Journal. All professionals keep journals or logs to track their performance over time. All
serious traders should also have journals or logs that detail what they have done. That way you can easily go back and study what happened
before and compare to current patterns.
Professionals never stop learning. They know that being a professional requires constant training and education to continue to hone skills and
expertise and to keep up with the ever changing world we live in. Nothing is stagnant, life is constantly changing and so is the stock market.
Be a Specialist. The highest paid and most successful professionals in any field are Specialists. For example, doctors who specialize make far
more money than a general practitioner. Traders who specialize also make far greater returns than those who dabble and experiment with every
new gimmick and strategy. Choose an area of stock trading and become exceptional in that area.
8. Paper Trade on an ongoing basis.
Test Theories before implementing them. Too often traders learn a new strategy or think of a new theory about trading and then rush in to the
market without testing that theory or strategy. The end result is loss, often huge losses. A doctor wouldnt test a theory on a live patient.
Theories are tested in the lab for many years before they are used successfully on patients. The ideal way to test your theories or ideas is to
simulate trade the current market for a period of time. Many traders attempt to back-test theories but the problem is that the market is constantly
changing. The market we have had in the past 4 years is quite different than the market of the late 1990s so back-testing your theory on the
market of the 1990s will give you different results than what you will have for this current market.
Reminder: It takes at least 100 trades to fully test a theory. Many traders test a theory on a few trades and then go live in the market only to have
disappointing results.
9. Get rid of Traderitis.
Most retail traders trade too often. They react to the market instead of anticipating the market. Brokers, clearing houses, the news media, stock
and options seminars, the exchanges, etc all benefit from retail traders activity. The more trades you do, the more profits your broker, clearing
house, news media, and others make. They want you to trade as often as possible and they dont care if you make money or lose money so long
as you trade, trade, trade. Traderitis is compulsive trading. It is grounded in the false belief that trading more often will result in more profits. It
is a falsehood promoted by those who make money from your trading.
In the stock market less is more. If you made money 9 out of 10 trades and those trades were highly profitable with the one having a small loss,
versus 100 trades where 55 trades were losses, and 45 were profitable, which group would make you more take home profits? Remember:
quality, not quantity. Every time you trade, there are costs involved. If you have many losing trades it is more than just the loss of that trade, it is
the cost of the order, the time you spent on it, and the overhead you incur when trading as a business.
Too many traders have Traderitis and are obsessed with trading and those who benefit from this kind of trader continually feed and nourish the
fallacy that you must trade every day. You dont. In fact if you only trade a few ideal patterns with low risk and strong profit potential you will
be way ahead of your peers who trade hundreds of times every month. This is a proven statistical fact that nobody wants you to know.
9. Be Self-Reliant and take responsibility for your trades.
When a trader lacks self-confidence, they run around trying to find someone else to make their decisions for them. They buy dozens of
newsletters that recommend stocks, watch news on TV that recommend stocks, and listen to numerous gurus touting great picks. This is the
realm of insecure traders and their performance and success in the stock market is dismal.
To be highly successful at anything, you must take responsibility for your own actions. You must learn to depend upon yourself and your ability
to make sound decisions. IF you are a novice trader, just starting to trade with limited experience, choose one mentor to guide you while you
develop your self-confidence and skills for trading. Dont listen to every guru and TV commentator as this will only confuse you. Find someone
who can help you develop your own unique trading style and wants to teach you to becoming self-reliant.
If you are experienced but have gotten into the bad habit of getting angry after a bad trade, and blame the market, your broker, your trading
buddy, your spouse, or whatever for that bad trade, then you need to work on taking charge of your trading. This is the symptom of someone
who lacks self-confidence in their own trading decisions. If you are not confident you can choose good stocks, then you should not be trading
live in the market. This usually means you didnt paper trade or simulate trade long enough when you were first learning to trade.
Solution: Go back to the simulator and stop trading live in the market. It doesnt matter whether it takes a few weeks or a few years. Until you
are confident that you and you alone, are fully capable of consistently choosing good trades, you will never be successful as a stock trader or
options player. If you arent successful paper trading or simulator trading then you will not be successful trading live in the market.
Professional traders make their own choices and their own decisions. They select one or two websites they use for stock and fundamental
analysis, they have one primary charting program, and one to two internet brokers they use. They are comfortable and confident with every
trade they enter and they remain calm and secure with their decisions even when the occasional trade goes against them. One bad trade doesnt
ruin their self-confidence. And they always use stop losses to minimize the risk of a large loss. They know that nothing is 100% in or out of the
market and that being prepared for all contingencies is the best way to maintain consistent success. They rely upon their own technical skills to
select stocks and ignore the crowds that are chasing stocks from recommended lists.
In Summary:
Most small retail traders are not held in high opinion by the professional traders of the market. The reason is simple. Most retail traders lack
emotional control and discipline. They ignore sound trading rules and rush into the market to get rich, thinking it is easy if they only find that
perfect strategy. But those few retail traders who do succeed and become successful are held in high regard by the community of traders. If you
want to join this group, follow these simple rules:
Practice, experience, and skill will create self-confidence. You cant over-practice trading. Behave professionally and treat your trading as a
business. Develop your own unique trading style and dont follow the crowd. Be self-reliant and develop self-confidence before trading live in
the market. Know your financial self-worth and risk tolerance and strive to continually improve both of these areas. Realize that trading is a
process and that you will always be in a professional learning mode. Have a passion for what you do but dont allow passion to rule your trading
decisions.
If you do all of these things, you will trade with controlled emotions and will have consistent success as a stock or options trader.
-----------
Have read that learning Control is important. But, it feels the authors are using the word "control" because they lack a better word. How can one
control what he really is? He is what he is.
He will reflect his innerself in his daily activities, like talking, driving, writing, dressing, etc. These acts are a reflection of his innerself. And so
is trading. How can a trader switch himself off for those 6 hours and be someone else.... such duality may be possible temporarily but not over a
career. Plus, markets are efficient that way in bringing out what you really believe about the markets and what you really are. You cannot hide
from it.
I think a better word than control, is CULTURE. A trader needs to culture himself to become successful. He has to see the right things, behave
in a right way, react to the right triggers... and all comes with experience. In short, to earn money from the markets, a trader has to first culture
himself.
This is a long process. It takes years, cannot be done is months. Therefore, whenever I come across someone who says he is a successful trader
and has been on the ropes for less than 10 years, I doubt a little.
-----------Control cannot be a defined as a "strategic thought process". Control is control... which essentially means, we want to do something, but we
apply restraint.
My stand is, a successful, a consistently earning traders, does not have to apply restraint or control. He lets himself flow, without restraint. Over
the years, he has cultured himself to know where his "well-being" lies. He does not have to control himself to not take the wrong trade! It is just
a wrong trade, and he will simply skip it.
What takes time is the Culturing. Needs lots of practice, till it is second nature. Just like any athlete. Do it everyday. And that month will
come...
In the same breath, if one knows that he is not there yet... he is still burning money... every week... then it makes sense to throw a minimum
amount of cash in the bonfire. Other than that apply no control... learn the market, understand the basics and practice it... everyday...
------------
Some more on utility of Chess in Trading

05 June 2015
08:51 PM
some more on utility of chess

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
What do chess and trading have in common? In both, you cannot predict the outcome of each and every move. Thus, while you may know all the rules of the game,
and have your next move perfectly planned, you do not know how your opponent will move against you.
Forex traders who are good at chess can improve their trading skills by applying their chess-playing skills. And professional, serious traders often look for nontrading methods that will help them increase profits and create an edge. While chess may seem like merely a game with no relevance to trading, chess can improve
your trading skills and bring you more consistent profits.
Reason #1: Chess Helps You Adapt to the Unknown
Chess, along with other strategy games that focus on decision making, can help traders learn to deal with uncertainty. You learn to understand and cope with the
fact that despite having a 50 percent chance of being right, that 50 percent can creep up and hurt a perfect play setup.
In Forex trading, that 50 percent can be anything from economic change to unforeseen political news. Chess players know they cannot control their opponents
move, all they can do is react accordingly. This is very similar to Forex traders who cannot control the market; they can only make decisions based on what is
happening in it.
Thus each decision is loaded with a great deal of uncertainty, and each move can go either way. A trader can have a string of great trades, but they can also see a
series of losses. A trader, like a chess player, needs to be able to handle these losses without losing focus on the game.
Chess skills emphasize strategic intelligence. Good chess players search for their own weaknesses in their decision making and chess moves; hence, it makes them a
good chess player. As a good trader, you have to constantly be looking for instances where your theory or trading ideas may be wrong.
Reason #2: Chess Teaches You That its All About End
Playing chess can also help with focus. It takes a great amount of focus to win chess games because it is not just the move you make but the entire process of the
decision made that needs to be considered. Forex trading is greatly similar in this respect. Its not just about trading currency, but learning to consider each valuable
step in making the trade.
With each trade a series of decisions has to be made. In order to ensure that these decisions are made effectively, so you increase your chances of success, you need
to focus on the entire trading process. Traders who are skilled in strategy games like chess develop strong focusing skills. They learn to stay in the game and look at
it as a whole and not just individual chess pieces. They focus on how their opponent is playing as well as themselves. In Forex, your opponent is the market, and
staying focused on the market allows you to better navigate and make decisions within it.
#3: Chess Improves Decision Making
A good chess player is analytical, and understands that with each step the field changes, and he needs to continuously reassess his positions, so he can play
opportunistically.
Each step presents him with new knowledge that he uses to determine his next move. Successful Forex traders are no different from this. They are critical,
analytical, and open-minded about each decision they must make in the market. Whats more, they are able to think ahead.
Forex, like chess, requires that you are steps ahead of your opponent. Now, with the market being an uncertain entity this is easier said than done, but a good Forex
trader makes his moves with a predisposition for future developments. He watches the market carefully not just to determine where it is, but where it goes.
This is like a chess player predicting his opponents future moves. While it is impossible to be accurate all the time, making decisions with the future in mind helps
traders plan for trades when the market is not in their favor.
A trader who enjoys and plays chess, can bring these skills to the Forex field. Chess can improve a trader's decision making skills, focusing level, and emotional
managing skills.
- hope u enjoy
How does a Trading Idiot Act?

05 June 2015
08:54 PM
Does not follow systems

Claims to see system trades when that do not exist
Dwells on past trades and does execute current opportunities
Disappears on Skype for 5 minutes to 30 minutes , sometimes hours
Misses loads of system trades and creates chaos in trading operation
Idiot gives stupid arguments and wastes valuable trading time

Is a nuisance during trading hours
Puts on revenge trades
Puts on non system trades
Puts on counter trend trades
Does not like working for others
Has deep rooted beliefs ,ego and personality that works against employer.
Does not provide dedicated time , input and service to employer
Thinks he is smarter than the system and employer and wants to change everything and always keeps looking for other better set ups
Puts on low probability trades and does not do adequate vetting of trading opportunities
The trading idiot believes in a 100% profitable system , with no losses.
The idiot has found a no loss profitable system.
The idiot has no common decency or etiquette
The idiot makes mistakes and disrupts the whole trading operation
The idiot repeats the same mistake over and over again
The idiot will keep chasing trades , despite being told not to chase.
The idiot wasted everybody's time and energies.

The idiot promised a lot , but delivered nothing.
The idiot talks about profits but delivers losses
The idiot does not take the next trade ,because last trade was a losing trade.
The idiot solves private issues during trading time
The idiot's mind wanders off all day , missing system trades and inputting Non system trades
The idiot sees no system trades , but trades actually exist.
The. Idiot left us with experiences of a trading idiot
Somebody teaches the idiot the right things , but the idiot does not want to listen.
The idiot trades on his whims and fancies and hallucinations

This idiot now wants to trade on his hallucinations
The idiot has no discipline
The idiot fears putting on trades , just cause he fears losses

The idiot freezes at time of entry and is immobilized by beliefs and emotions
The idiot fears momentum trades or swing trades , and sometimes both types of trades and misses trades
The trading idiot hesitates to put on trades , due to fears and emotions , and misses trades
The trading idiot second guesses the system and misses trades
The trading idiot thinks the system is crap
The trading idiot has an ego that makes him a failure
The trading idiot wants to contradict his system
This trading idiot is full of **** , his mind is full of crap.fire him.
The idiot of trading will contaminate execution with their own beliefs, egos , judgement ,opinions , comments , views ,fear , greed ,
hesitation with entries and other psychological issues and personal issues
The idiot misses trades
The idiot is trying to protect pips and as a result misses trades
The idiot is late putting on trades , has late entries.
The idiot can predict the market
The idiot is in a confused state of mind
A Strong You = Strong Trader

05 June 2015
09:13 PM
Lets talk a little today about YOU, the person NOT, YOU, the Trader.
and I make this distinction because I want to make it crystal clear that a strong YOU, as a person with strong conviction about your direction and inner ability to
succeed
will Naturally result in YOU the successful trader.
YOU, the successful Trader does NOT come BEFORE You, the person. It comes AFTER You, the person.
So, it behooves us to keep ourselves strong of mind and strong of body because this will lend positive energy to our strong conviction to succeed as a trader.
NOw.. the strong of mind part means that you need to truly believe that you are capable person and can do anything you set your mind to.
You can go in any direction that you want with your strong inner ability and you are CHOOSING to be a wise and disciplined an d successful trader.
You then map a plan to achieve this goal which involves constructing a valid trading plan and then training your subconsciou s mind to be disciplined in making the
proactive decisions to run that trading plan TO THE LETTER.
It all begins with your deep seeded belief that you are CAPABLE and DESERVING of success and your are going to exercise you r fate in trading arena.
Then theres the strong of body part
I know for me, I need to keep reminding myself to take care of my health. I tend to me a mental guy thinking my way throug h everything.
If I dont remind myself to exercise, take my vitamins and take some time off of my business and my trading and just chill Id just keep working and churning my
brain.
Re-cooperating Resting Recharging your brain and your body is an essential part of your success as a trader.
You need to rejuvenate! or youll get lazy, weary and even worse.. BURN OUT.
Trading is a mentally strenuous business.
You need to consistently affirm that you are deserving and capable of trading success.. thats the mental part
and you need to take time off, exercise consistently, take the right supplements and pay FULL attention to your PHYSICAL heal th as well.
The easiest way to make sure that youre taking care of your mental AND physical well -being as a trader is to PUT CERTAIN ACTIONS INT YOUR SCHEDULE.
I like to exercise in the morning I get it out of the way and Im good for the day.
I have friends that arent morning people.. they like to hit the gym AFTER the trading day.. whatevers best for you
and it doesnt have to be a heavy workout all the time.

I nice walk around the block smelling the roses along the way and appreciating nature will relax your mind AND give you appr eciation of LIFE
and help keep trading in perspective
as PART of your LIFE and NOT YOUR WHOLE LIFE where your good days and bad days are a function of whether you won or lost t hat day in your trading.
YOU, the person comes FIRST.. .THATS your priority.
Successful trading will follow if you stay strong of mind and body and apply your god -given talent to the art of making money through trading.
And that money you make will help you lead a happier life it IS a full circle but that circle begins and ends with YOU the Person.
So Please take care of yourself! and the money will follow.
OK.. thats it for this addition of 4-Minute Drill for Traders.

so, until next week
STAY DISCIPLINED!
40 steps in the traders journey from new trader to rich trader

05 June 2015
09:15 PM
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We accumulate information, we learn- buying books, asking questions, maybe going to seminars and researching what really works in trading.
We begin to trade with our new found knowledge.
We make profits only to give it back very quickly and then realize we may need more knowledge or information.
We accumulate more information.
We switch the stocks we are currently following and trading.
We go back into the market and trade with our improved system. this time it will work.
We lose even more money and begin to lose confidence that we can even be traders. The reality of losing money sets in.
We start to listen to other traders and what works for them.
We go back into the market and continue to lose more money.
We completely switch our style and method.
We search for more information.
We go back into the market and start to see a little progress.
We get over-confident in a single trade and put on a big position believing it is a sure thing and the market quickly takes our money.
We start to understand that trading successfully is going to take more time and more knowledge than we ever anticipated. MOST PEOPLE
WILL GIVE UP AT THIS POINT, AS THEY REALIZE REAL WORK IS INVOLVED AND THAT THIS IS NOT EASY MONEY.
We get serious and start concentrating on learning a real methodology.
We trade our methodology with some success, but realize that something is missing.
We begin to understand the need for having rules to apply our methodology.
We take a sabbatical from trading to develop and research our trading rules.
We start trading again, this time with rules and find some success, but over all we still hesitate when we execute.
We add, subtract and modify rules as we see a need to be more proficient with our rules.
We feel we are very close to crossing that threshold of successful trading.
We start to take responsibility for our trading results as we understand that our success is based on our ability to execute our methodology.
We continue to trade and become more proficient with our methodology and our rules.
As we trade we still have a tendency to violate our rules and our results are still erratic.
We know we are close.
We go back and research our rules.
We build the confidence in our rules and go back into the market and trade.
Our trading results are getting better, but we are still hesitating in executing our rules.
We now see the importance of following our rules as we see the results of our trades when we dont follow the rules.
We begin to see that our lack of success is within us (a lack of discipline in following the rules because of some kind of fear) and we begin to
work on knowing ourselves better.
We continue to trade and the market teaches us more and more about ourselves.
We master our methodology and our trading rules.
We begin to consistently make money.
We get a little over-confident and the market humbles us.
We continue to learn our lessons.
We learn smaller positions lower the volume of our emotions so we trade smaller and this surprisingly makes us better with our discipline.
We learn that risk management is one of the biggest keys to winning as a trader, we start to understand that big losses will make us
unprofitable so we finally trade a smaller and consistent position size.
We stop thinking and allow our rules to trade for us (trading becomes boring, but successful) and our trading account continues to grow as we
increase our position size only as our account grows.
We are making more money than we ever dreamed possible.
We go on with our lives and accomplish many of the goals we had always dreamed of. Money is our new tool to do what we have always
wanted.
Prime Your Brain for a Permanent Performance Gain (in a Few Minutes)
05 June 2015
09:28 PM
Inside your skull is a massive supercomputer. You own it free and clear. With its 100 billion neurons, and with a typical neu ron linking to 1000 to 10,000 other
neurons, your highly networked brain is incredibly powerful and capable.
Pick up a simple object nearby like a pen or a spoon, and look at it. Turn it upside down. Spin it around. Notice that your b rain is able to recognize the object no
matter how you position it. You can change the lighting by putting the object in shadow. You can obscure part of it from view . You can bend or break it. And your
brain still recognizes that object simply and easily. Even a child can do this.
But whats happening under the hood? Your visual cortex, consisting of about 538 million neurons, is doing an enormous amount of parallel processing on the signals
its receiving from your eyes. Your visual cortex detects edges, evaluates color, tracks motion, interprets reflection, and m ore all in real time.
Your brain even does some extra processing to compensate for the blind spot on the back of your retina. Your eyes dont actua lly see any data for that blind spot
because there are no rods or cones there its the place where your optic nerve connects to the back of your eyeball but your visual cortex uses the
surrounding information to intelligently predict what should be in that blind spot, and it fills in the missing data with its best guess. If a line crosses
through your blind spot, youll still perceive it as a continuous line, even though the initial data coming from your retina has that line broken into two
pieces.
All of this processing happens subconsciously. You dont feel it happening, and you arent consciously aware of all this comp utational effort. Yet that part of your
brain is very active, lit up with chemical and electrical activity, consuming oxygen and sugar and other internal resources t o perform such complex computations at
such high speed.
Even when you focus your attention upon it, you cant consciously access what your visual cortex is doing. These computations are way too fast and way too complex
for your conscious mind to keep up.
Your visual cortex is only about 1/200th of your brain. Your auditory cortex is about 1/1000th. If you cant even consciously fathom what these relatively small brain
regions are doing computationally, what hope do you have of maintaining awareness of what the rest of your brain is doing on an ongoing basis?
The truth is that this is a hopeless challenge. Your conscious mind doesnt have anywhere close to the capacity that would be required to intelligently monitor and
maintain all the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that are constantly firing inside of you. Most of the time youre not even a ware of whats happening inside your mind.
You may perceive the experience of thinking as a fairly linear process. Your conscious mind seems to flow through basically o ne thought at a time, just as you may
read one word at a time. But that isnt whats actually happening behind the scenes.
The reality is that different patches of neurons are processing different thoughts in parallel at all times. Your thinking is never linear and straightforward. Even when
you read words in a linear order, your brain is actually perceiving and processing all of the words within your field of view at all times.
When you listen to human speech, your brain is automatically predicting which words are likely to be heard next. Its actuall y pre-loading multiple patterns
simultaneously. Then when the next word is verified, your brain fires off different neuron patches to suppress the incorrect predictions and to validate the correct
branch. Your brain doesnt actually wait for words to be spoken. It processes syntax and meaning well ahead of what its hear ing. And since it cant predict every
word with perfect accuracy, it predicts along multiple branches at the same time.
Even if I leave a few words out of this ____, your ___ can still read the sentence just fine. It picks up the meaning. If I s aid this sentence aloud and paused briefly at
the blanks, you may have even experienced the phantom audio effect of hearing the words that werent actually spoken.
What were the fill in the blank words? Were they sentence and brain? Statementand mind? Line and eyes. It doesnt matter. Your brain simultaneously explored
multiple possibilities and filled in the expected meaning.
The Priming Effect
Soon well get into the practical application aspects, but first lets do a simple exercise. Let me share a few random words with you that seemingly have nothing to do
with this article:
car
gasoline
petroleum
mileage
distance
efficiency
Now let me ask you to fill in the blank letters to complete the following word:
F__L
Chances are good that your brain picked a word related to the list above, even though there are many possible solutions.
Now stretch your mind by going through the alphabet, and consider other choices you could have selected. There are lots of po ssibilities, but the priming effect likely
got your brain fixated on one that matched the previous words.
Now get this: The priming effect even works when you arent consciously aware of the words or ideas youre being primed with. For instance, if Id hidden those
words elsewhere on this page where your eyes would have seen them, but you wouldnt have consciously noticed them, the effect would be essentially the same. Or
in a video presentation, if those words were flashed on the screen too quickly for your conscious mind to notice, but slow en ough for your visual cortex to perceive
and process, that would have also primed your choice in the wordplay test.
This priming effect works on a much grander scale than word games, and its influence is usually subtle and unconscious. I gua rantee that its operating in your life
right now.
Suppose you read the daily news from a typical news source (i.e. overwhelmingly pessimistic). So your mind gets primed with words like these (which were taken
from actual Yahoo News headlines):
denounce
fight
die
soak
death
somber
slain
fears
concerns
dismissed
defiant
avoids
risk
pandemic
handouts
So you read the news in the morning and prime your brain with words like the above. Whats the priming effect? What other tho ughts, feelings, or ideas are being
pre-loaded because theyre related to the above? Danger. Im scared. I need to play it safe and protect what I have. I cant afford to take risks. Stress response.
pre-loaded because theyre related to the above? Danger. Im scared. I need to play it safe and protect what I have. I cant afford to take risks. Stress response.
Then you check social media, and your friends are sharing the usual trivialities. Priming effect: Not important. Wasting time. Boring. Pointless. Petty drama. Feeling
inadequate. Jealousy.
You check email next. Its mostly spam. Your inbox is filled with old junk you havent processed. Priming effect: Disorganized. Feeling behind. Clutter. Stress.
Overwhelm. Need to clean this up. Distraction.
You make some coffee. Its the cheap stuff, and you drink it from a cruddy old ceramic mug thats chipped. Priming effect: Cant have what I want. Broken. Low
quality. Ugly. Cheap.
You start using your computer. Its an older model, sluggish and also a bit ugly. Priming effect: Settling for less. Frustration. Wishing for better and not getting it.
Slowness. Amateur. Unappreciated.
You use pirated software on your computer. Priming effect: Criminal. Wrong. Cheap. Dishonest. Dishonorable. Hiding. Sneaky.
And now you go to work trying to improve your life. Is that going to work out well? Probably not.
Your brain is always bouncing around between linked associations. It does this in parallel, subconsciously, all the time. The re are countless new neuroscience books
sharing more and more details about how the brain does this. The simple truth is that the vast majority of your thoughts, fee lings, and behaviors occur without your
conscious awareness or conscious involvement.
The lesson here is that seemingly subtle influences matter. If your senses perceive it, your brain is processing it. And this processing is seldom isolated. One little
change in input can create significant ripples throughout your neural net. And this in turn can have a significant influence on the results you get to experience.
Conscious Priming
Now for the exciting part: The priming effect presents us with some enormous opportunities for personal growth. By exerting s ome control over our priming
influences which may involve just a few small changes that can be made within a minute or two we can create a permanent and lasting
improvement in different facets of our lives.
By giving your brain slightly different input on a subconscious level, you can enjoy some truly significant benefits on the r esults side. This is easy. It works. And there
are many ways you can apply this for free.
Heres how I deliberately prime myself each day.
I wake up and cuddle a bit before getting up. Priming effect: Affection. I am loved. Happy. Feeling lucky.
If I make some oatmeal, I use the best oats Ive found (Bobs Red Mill organic oats), mixed with fresh blueberries or organic raisins. Priming effect: Having the best.
Better than average.
If I make some coffee, I use the best quality, such as 100% Kona coffee from Hawaii. It costs twice as much as the gourmet st uff, but nothing else compares. Priming
effect: Quality. I deserve the best. Reward.
I enter my home office. Its neat and tidy. My desk is a GeekDesk, which I really like. My computer is the best MacBook Pro available (with every possible upgrade:
max processor speed, max ram, max storage). My cell phone is the best model of the newest iPhone. The newest iPad Air is ther e too. Everything has a Retina
display. Priming effect: Quality. Best. Success. Feeling supported. Loving technology. Professional. Abundance. Speed. Efficiency. Gracefulness. Delight. Cool.
All the software on my computer is bought and paid for. Almost everything is the latest version (always the latest for freque ntly used software).Priming
effect:Current. Up to date. Honest. Deserving. Supported. Honorable. Abundant. Efficient.
On the marker board on my office wall, I have some words written in one of the corners. I pay little attention to those words during the day, but I know that just
having them within my field of view while I work will have a priming effect on my brain throughout the day. For the past seve ral weeks, I had the word Flow written
there. My workflow has been stunningly good during that time. Today I have the following words in the top right corner of my marker board:
Flow
Focus
Success
Complete
Writing a new blog post is one of eight tasks on todays agenda. If youre reading this article, that task was obviously comp leted.
Throughout the day as I work on my computer, my visual cortex will always be processing those words. I wont be aware of that processing most of the time, but
such words can help to govern which other related patches of neurons my brain fires throughout the day. I want it to keep act ivating thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors that are associated with those primed words. This will happen automatically and takes no extra effort on my part. B ut if it helps my productivity just a
little, why not do it?
This approach has worked well for me, so I encourage you to give it a try. If you dont have a marker board, just grab some p aper or a sticky note. Jot down a few
words pictures work too and inject them into your visual environment.
And in case it isnt abundantly obvious, be sure to remove any negative priming from your field of view. If there are words o r pictures that depict violence, failure,
scarcity, or anything you dont want to prime your brain with every day, get those items out of your field of view. Make sure your visual cortex is processing
predominantly positive signals. What if youre not sure? If youre not sure, replace it. Put something there that you feel su re about in a good way instead.
If you dont have a workspace where you can control enough of the priming effect, then have your boss read this article, and invite him/her to help you improve the
working conditions for better productivity. No intelligent leader will want to prime their employees with destructive or unpr oductive thoughts. If youre working for
someone that unintelligent, go work someplace else. If you feel trapped, then put the word quit on a sticky note in your fi eld of view, and see how long you can
resist leaving.
Think Improvement, Not Perfection.
You can of course go overboard fussing over priming by nitpicking every detail of your environment. My suggestion is to pace yourself. Tackle the most frequent,
ever-present influences first.
Where do you spend most of your time? Make that environment a bastion of positive priming. Put up words and pictures that pri me your mind with the associations
you desire. Clear out any clutter from your field of view. If you cant clean up the clutter right away, then be sure to put it behind you and out of sight as much as
possible, so your visual cortex isnt processing and reprocessing it as input all day long.
When Im at my desk, I like to be primed with thoughts associated with motivation, productivity, focus, stimulation, creativity, flow, service, value, etc. So I cultivate
an environment that feels aligned with such thoughts. Consequently, I find it very easy to feel motivated and to get into a g ood workflow when Im at my desk. I can
float through a 12+ hour workday with ease and delight. Working in my home office is relaxing and pleasurable.
When Im at home but not working, Id rather prime myself with different thoughts: coziness, luxury, wealth, abundance, happi ness, enjoyment, satisfaction, growth,
friendship, cuddling, beauty, relationships, etc. Some rooms of my home do a good job of priming in that direction, especiall y the cozy spot on the couch by the
fireplace or the spacious kitchen with granite counters. Im also pondering ways to improve other parts of the house to impro ve the priming effect. Even small
tweaks can help. For instance, I recently bought some artistic letters from Cost Plus that spell out the word TRAVEL, so when ever I walk through a certain room, my
brain picks up the priming effect, which encourages me to travel more. Its possible this subtly influenced me to take some s pontaneous trips recently.
Dont worry about perfection. Just keep leaning into the direction of improvement. Make some small adjustments today. Grab a sticky note, write a word like focus
or motivated on it, and put it on the wall in the corner of your field of view. Then go about your day as usual.
I dont stick anything on my computer monitor since I feel that would prime thoughts associated with clutter, but writing som ething on my marker board doesnt
trigger any potential downside that I can discern. Your associations to sticky notes may be different though. Feel free to ex periment.
Dont waste the value of priming on neutral items when you can substitute something with a more positive association. Dont buy a random piece of art thats
meaningless to you. Prime yourself with pieces that you believe will trigger positive associations. You dont need a lot of q uantity.
I like to keep my workspace field of view fairly simple. If there isnt much of significance in front of me other than a fair ly spartan workspace, I expect this may
enhance the priming effect of what is actually there. It also focuses the effect since the few objects help to align in a fai rly consistent direction (professional,
enhance the priming effect of what is actually there. It also focuses the effect since the few objects help to align in a fai rly consistent direction (professional,
organized, neat, relaxed), as opposed to a viewport thats overwhelming with a hodgepodge of items that may trigger mixed associations.
Priming for Quality on a Budget
Here are some more suggestions for priming your mind for quality, abundance, and success if your budget is currently pretty t ight:
Get some quality pens Im not into expensive pens because to me an overly expensive pen would prime thoughts like gullibility and stupidity, but I
like pens that write well and feel like quality tools. My current favorite is theUni-Ball Vision Elite. I buy them in a 12-pack. Make sure your pens and other
basic tools consist of items you truly like. Throw away any pens in your workspace that you dont love, and replace them. Its better to have just 2-3 awesome
pens in your pen container that you like using, as opposed to 20-some that include all sorts of free but crappy ones you picked up randomly and that dont even
write well. I actually pre-pack good pens in my travel bag, so I never have to settle for using low-quality hotel or conference center pens. Grabbing a pen is a
common and frequent activity for many people, and its easy and inexpensive to ensure that whenever you do this, youre automatically priming your brain to
activate thoughts like pro, quality, success, etc. If you want to prime different thoughts when you grab a pen, such as creativity, then get yourself some pens
that align nicely with your priming interests.
Get a quality timer If you like to work in timed spurts, a quality timer can prime thoughts like efficiency, speed, and professionalism. I recently replaced
my old timer with a CDN TM30. I like that it has numbered buttons, so I can just punch in the time if Im using the countdown feature. With my old timer, I had
to set the countdown incrementally by holding down a button until the display showed the desired time, which was inefficient. My old timer could only handle
99 minutes, while the new one can time for 10 hours (up or down). Since I use this device a lot, spending a little extra to get a more functional and nicer looking
one is worthwhile, not just for the usage benefits but also for the priming effects.
Try scented candles I often burn scented candles while I work. My favorites are sandalwood and vanilla. I enjoy working by candlelight, which gives
my home office a relaxed and mellow vibe, and the scent also primes me with thoughts of relaxation and luxury. Its hard to feel too stressed while
smelling vanilla all day. Even when the scent is faint, I know that my subconscious mind is still picking up on it. Just be careful which scents you
use, or you might end up craving cookies or ice cream. For more simple office improvements, see 10 Ways to Relaxify Your Workspace.
Buy a good watch One of my friends tried to get me to invest in a $5000 Omega watch. He has one and seems to like it. To him its a symbol of
luxury and success. To me, quite honestly, a watch like that is a symbol of stupidity, inefficiency, and low IQ. Ask someone with an analog watch
what time it is, and notice how slow and imprecise their answer is; sometimes they even read it incorrectly. Its faster to tell the time with a digital
watch, and you cant beat the accuracy. My current watch is the Casio MTG900DA. Ive had this one for years, so Im sure there are newer models
available, but I dont feel its worth upgrading yet. After going through other watches that would break easily, I got this one for $99, and its nearly
indestructible (priming: durability, stability, strength). Its atomic, so its always accurate to the second (priming: accuracy, timeliness, punctuality). Its solar
powered (priming: efficiency). And it has other nice features youd expect from a digital watch, like being able to change time zones easily when I travel
(priming: intelligence, adaptability). While I cant bring myself to feel a modicum of respect for the $5000+ analog watches (my brain automatically downgrades
someones IQ when I see them wearing one), I do like a quality watch but it has to satisfy my definition of quality. I may switch to an iWatch when
those become available if I like what Apple has developed and if I expect the priming effect will be an improvement over what Im currently wearing.
Invest in a quality mug If you like to sip coffee or tea or other beverages while you work, get yourself a quality mug (or two or three). No scratches.
No chips. Something that primes you with desirable thoughts. On my last trip to Sedona, I bought a couple of handmade mugs. At $25 each, they
were the priciest mugs Ive ever owned, but I was happy to spend extra on them. Theyre strong, beautiful, hand-crafted, and signed by the artist
(priming: beauty, strength, durability, artistry, craftsmanship, creativity, luxury).
Buy a quality toothbrush If you brush your teeth every night, invest in a quality toothbrush. I buy a big pack of them from Costco, so I always have
plenty (for myself and for guests), and the quality is very good. Whats the priming effect of an old, shabby toothbrush that you use every day? It
could be priming thoughts like worn out, dilapidated, old, etc. Wouldnt it be better to prime thoughts like clean and new?
Buy the best food If you cant afford to buy the best quality food across the board, pick one item (or class of items) where youll always buy the
best there is. Maybe you always buy organic apples. Or always get the highest quality tea. Start sending your brain the message that you deserve
and receive the best. I also like the priming effect of eating only vegan foods and especially the removal of the priming effect of seeing other
species dead flesh on a daily basis. Id rather not prime myself with daily associations to factory farming, cruelty, torture, cages, corpses, disease, death,
violence, etc., especially in my own home. Better to prime thoughts like clean, organic, compassion, health, peace, sustainability, etc. Your associations may be
different than mine. Use foods to prime yourself in whichever ways you consider most intelligent and sensible. If eating a food often triggers negative
associations, I recommend dropping that food from your diet.
Stock up Dont just buy the minimum quantity of items you know youre going to use anyway, such as toothpaste or deodorant. Buy several of
them at a time. Then when you see your supplies, youll be priming thoughts likeabundance, prepared, well-supplied, supported, etc. At many
stores, like Whole Foods, you can also get a case discount for buying off-the-shelf items in bulk. I like opening my bathroom cabinet and seeing
several extra tubes of toothpaste that I dont even need yet. Whatever else may be going on in my life at the time, I know Ive got the toothpaste
thing handled.
Im sure you can come up with many more simple changes you could make to your environment, regardless of your budget.
I know that many of these changes may seem trivial. Are they actually worth doing? Modern neuroscience has a clear answer for that. The answer is yes. If you want
to read a dozen books or conduct your own brain research on this subject to validate that, be my guest. Or you can take a few minutes to try some of these ideas,
and see what happens. These are such simple and easy changes to make that testing them is very low risk. I think youll be pl eased even surprised with the
results.
If youd like to upgrade something bigger but cant afford to tackle everything, I suggest putting all your eggs in one baske t, so to speak. So if you cant afford to
upgrade all of your tech, then just upgrade one piece of it, but upgrade to the absolutely best model for you. For instance, get the best phone for you, but keep using
your old computer.
In my experience it works better to have one small item shining as a symbol of the priming you desire against a backdrop of j unk vs. the effect of having an entire
field of slightly upgraded mediocrity to prime you. Even if all you do is buy some nicer pens and leave everything else the s ame, that alone can get things flowing in a
more abundant direction.
Dressing for Success

Some people also recommend wearing really nice clothes to prime thoughts likesuccess, wealth, and professionalism. Ill share some thoughts on this based on my
experience.
I notice a difference in the priming effect of what Im wearing when Im interacting with others, such as when Im giving a p resentation or chatting with friends or just
running errands. I think my clothes are actually priming them to respond to me in a certain way, and that in turn can influen ce my own thinking. Generally speaking,
the nicer I dress, the better the results.
However, I havent noticed much difference in the priming effect of my clothing when Im working alone. I suspect its becaus e most of the time Im working solo, I
cant really see my clothes. My visual cortex isnt processing much input there, except when I look down or see myself in a m irror.
When working alone I actually want to prime myself with comfort more than with looking sharp. I like to feel relaxed and comf ortable in my body, so I prime for that,
even if its more kinesthetic than visual.
Im writing this article while wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and Vans sneakers. Could you tell? Does that make my writing any less professional? I doubt it. In fact, I suspect
that wearing a suit might prime me to feel more formal, less authentic, and stiffer, which could be detrimental to my communi cation style. Id rather prime for a
casual, relaxed, and friendly style of writing.
Again, I recommend experimenting. Try different styles of dress to see what works for you. Im able to be very productive whi le dressing incredibly casually.
Overdressing at home would likely prime me with thoughts like feeling inefficientand a bit ridiculous, even though I might enjoy dressing up for other occasions. Your
results may be different. Only way to know for sure is to test.
results may be different. Only way to know for sure is to test.

What About Daily Affirmations?
Daily affirmations are another way to use priming, but I find them largely ineffective. They can help a little, and I know th at some people swear by them, but the
main problem is that their influence is very temporary. Affirmations also tend to be very slow to work. You may have to do th em for several weeks or even months
before you notice much difference.
Other forms of priming work much faster, often with significant results on the same day you begin to apply them. Daily affirm ations also lose their influence as soon
as you stop doing them, whereas other priming methods can be more permanent and passive.
So I dont recommend doing daily affirmations because there are stronger and more effective ways to influence yourself, espec ially given what modern neuroscience
is telling us about how the brain works.
Realize that everything that comes through your senses is an affirmation. Your brain is processing input all day long, and th at other input is no less important than
your own self-talk. If you do verbal affirmations for several minutes in the morning, thats a drop in the bucket compared to all the other influences hitting you
throughout the day. Its like an ant trying to move a tractor. Yes, that ant still exerts a measurable force on the tractor, but the tractor remains unimpressed and
unmoved by the ants best efforts.
Telling yourself I am attracting financial abundance is of limited utility if, as soon as youre done with your affirmation s, you then go on to re-prime your brain with
thoughts of scarcity, lack, and laziness by using your disgusting toothbrush that should have been replaced months ago, check ing a cluttered email inbox on a
frustratingly slow computer running pirated software, and drinking cheap coffee from an ugly hand -me-down mug your parents gave you.
So instead of time-bound affirmations, I recommend that you make more permanent, persistent, and passive changes. Instead of reading your affirm ations aloud
each day, post some keywords or pictures within your visual field where youll see them frequently, ideally someplace where y our visual cortex will be processing
them continuously for many hours each day. Just be careful not to create too much visual clutter in such a way that could pri me you for thoughts
like clutter andconfusion.
I think the best affirmations are passive and automatic. Instead of installing the daily habit of reciting verbal affirmation s, take a minute or two to install a passive,
automatic, and continuous affirmation. I think you may find as I do that simply having a word like flow or motivated in y our field of view all day while you work
has a much greater effect than reading dozens of affirmations for 30 days in a row. Try it for yourself.
Using the Best Tools
Your brain is incredibly powerful and highly programmable. Your brain is constantly being programmed by your environment. You may not be able to
overpower your brain by conscious effort in this moment, but you can change its ongoing influences, starting today. Start fee ding your mind new input
that aligns with your desires. Trigger it to keep activating the associations you desire to activate most frequently. And rem ove those influences that you
no longer wish to activate. If this means that you have to kick an overly negative person out of your life because theyre fr equently priming you for
negative thinking, then do that.
Dont fret about what you cant do yet. Think improvement, not perfection. You can always do something. So do that one thing now. Then make another
improvement. And another. And all the while, youll be benefitting from the stacking improvements youve made previously. Thi s will build momentum in a very
positive direction.
Ive noticed that the more Ive invested in these conscious priming efforts, the more it has created a steamroller effect in the direction of my desires. When you
reach the point that your own priming efforts become a habit unto themselves, it gets so much easier to stay aligned with wha t you want.
Im getting used to the habit of using the best tools that money can buy, and Im really noticing a difference in my work ethic. But I cant account for this
improvement with the change in the quality of the tools alone. Honestly, those tools are just a little better than what I was previously using. The difference in
productivity seems to be largely coming from the ripple effect that stems from knowing that Im using the best quality tools available. Whenever I use these tools,
Im priming my brain with other associations that cause me to feel more motivated, to take more action, to work with better f ocus, and therefore to enjoy more
results. Im also no longer regularly priming the associations that were linked with the old tools, like feeling outdated, be hind the times, less professional, a bit
envious, etc.
For most of last year, I was using a 4-year old computer, thinking it was still plenty good and that I didnt really need a new one. Now I use a top -of-the-line model,
and the feeling I have while using it is very different. Sure its faster, lighter, and has a nicer screen. But the experienc e of using it goes beyond that. In the back of my
mind, I know that Im using the best there is. I feel current and caught up. I feel more on top of my game. I feel more motiv ated to work. I enjoy working more. After
making these upgrades, I did more than enough extra work to earn back the purchases many times over. Now Im wondering how mu ch further I can push this
mindset. What else can I change to improve this priming effect even more?
How do you feel about using the best tools available? Do you give yourself that experience? Or do you deny yourself that expe rience? What associations do your
choices trigger when you use your tools? Do you love them? Do you feel lucky to wield them? Or do you associate your tools wi th thoughts like frustration, envy,
unworthiness, or unfairness?
Which tools do you expect would prime you with the most positive associations when you use them? What if you dont think you can afford them? Is there a way you
could still use them? Note that you dont have to buy them. You could rent or borrow them if you wanted. Maybe even apply the timeshare concept to some of your
tools, sharing the cost with other people who could also use them. That may not work so well for a phone, but it could work f or a tablet if you dont use it that often.
Especially if youve never done it before, give yourself the opportunity to experience at least some small slice of time usin g the very best tools in your field. See how
that feels to you. Dont be too surprised if you have the thought, Nice! I could really get used to this!
After all, the best tools are only a matter of money. Theyre out there in the world, available right now, probably in mass q uantities. If you have the money, theyre
just a few mouse clicks away. And money itself is something you can earn with your creativity. So if you think that the best tools are a distant fantasy for you,
perhaps its wise to prime your brain with associations to abundance, creativity, hard work, enjoyment of your work, worthiness, professionalism, and especiallyflow.
Professionals have the privilege of using the best tools. Are you a pro? The title is arbitrary. Anyone can claim it, no spec ial degree required. Being a pro is merely an
attitude. If you want that title, and whatever associated benefits you think are attached to it, then claim it. Put the word Pro somewhere in your work
environment.
Prime Your Day
Finally, let me close this article by deliberately priming you with some positive thoughts for your day:
happy
positive
productive
motivated
intelligent
creative
loved
relaxed
success
accomplishment
completion
stimulation
abundance
automatic
automatic
flow
Feel free to add to this list, or create your own, as a way of priming yourself for a day that aligns with your desires.
Your brain is a brilliant supercomputer. Your sensory input is the programming. Your conscious mind is the programmer. You cant control everything in your life (or
inside your brain), but you can definitely change some of the dominant sensory input that ripples through your subconscious e very day.
You can have what you desire. Take advantage of the priming effect to get your neurons activating the patterns and associations that align with your desire s. Make
one of the changes recommended above right now, such as writing the word flow or motivated (or both) somewhere youll see it every day within your field of
view. Youll be glad you did!
Will You Make It as a Trader? You Need These 3 Things

05 June 2015
09:41 PM
Whether they are a professional or trading their own account the markets leave many traders broken in its wake. Below are the majors of trading
while most focus on the minors, these are what make all the difference regardless of the traders method to getting to these critical components.
#1 Trading is not about winning percentage, being right all the time, or predicting the future. What it is about is having bigger winners than
losers. If you are profitable after each long string of trades then you are a winning trader in that time frame. You can make money through
winning percentage as long as you keep losers small and you can make money through huge wins even with lots of losses. The key is not how
many times you are right but the size of your winners versus your losers. That is the magic elixir of profitability.
#2 Trading is first and foremost about surviving, the vast majority of traders not only dont make money but they lose most of their trading
capital. The only way to have a long profitable trading career is to manage risk and survive a string of losses. If your trading losses are more
than 1% to 2% of total trading capital per losing trade you are in danger of blowing up your account with a string of losing trades or one big
loss. To make the journey from new trader to successful trader you have to survive losing streaks and completely unexpected market action.
Trading and betting big will eventually take you out of the game, it is only a question of when.
#3 Trading is one of the roughest things a person can do mentally and emotionally. Even if you win in the markets you have to keep up a large
amount of personal human capital in perseverance, passion, dedication, focus, and faith in self and system. If you are missing one of these six
psychological elements the odds will be against you. You have to cultivate your goals and drive into a vision of success that you are willing to
pursue until you get it and pay the price as you go to have the prize you seek
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's views on money and his advice to

youngsters
05 June 2015
09:43 PM
The story of how a middle-class IT officer's son came to be featured on the Forbes' list of billionaires is as amazing as the man himself.
At EVOKE 2012, an idea-sharing event organised by the US Consulate in Mumbai earlier this month, Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala explained why h e believes
that India is a rich country, what money means to him and why he's not burdened with guilt about the country's poverty. Read on.
If you ask me what money means, I'd say it's used as a means of exchange, among other things.
But J Paul Getty, one of the world's richest men, said: If you can count it, you don't have enough of it.
Money is the harsh reality of life. Some love for it, some die for it, some use it well, some waste it, most fight for it, bu t most others desire it.
After having earned so much, I have realised one thing -- that money cannot be an end to itself.
Money has got five crore good things, just one really bad thing: you can't take it with you.
Take me as an example. At the age of 50, for a man who smokes 25 cigarettes a day and drinks six pegs of whiskey, doesn't exe rcise and eats like a pig, there is limited
life.
For the last 25 years, I have fought day and night to earn this money, but what is it doing for me?
Or rather, what am I going to do for it?
What is this money going to mean for my children beyond a certain level?
We all know that money surpasses generations, countries, cultures and religion.
There is this famous saying in Hindi: 'Zar zameen aur jaydaat, har jhagde ka jad hai' ('Money is the root cause of all evil') .
But I think that every rose comes with a thorn.
Money is a cause of dispute, evil and causes a lot of problems but in the end, it is something one should desire.
Money means wealth, and wealth means power.
A lot of times, when I think about money, I realise that I have far less wealth than people think I have, but far more than w hat I actually need.
Wealth also has a purpose in life.
If you were to ask me, I have come to one conclusion that I stand by -- that as long as I use the right means, I have the legitimate right and the ambition to desire the
greatest wealth of the world.
Money also causes a lot of envy and misdeeds which I would like you to avoid.
I belonged to a middle class family. When I was young, I had very rich friends. But my father taught me: Always aspire, never envy.
So, if you meet someone who is rich or powerful, always aspire (to be like them), but never envy. Because envy causes anger a nd disputes.
What else can I say about money?
I can say that it attracts a lot of young women, it also attracts women of all ages, but they are not necessarily of the desi rable kind. I am telling this to you from my
experience.
I would also like to tell you about my experiences with my father and what he had to tell me about money.
All his life, he was only concerned about one thing: what I should be doing with my wealth. He was a middle class guy and I l ived with him for as long as he was alive.
He never lived in my house, I lived in his. My father was never concerned about how much wealth I had, his only concern was h ow much charity I did.
When I became rich and he came to know of it for the first time, he called me up and said, "Naya paisa hai, aur naye naye pai se ki garmi bhi bahut hoti hai" ("It's new
money, and new money is accompanied by a lot of heat"). He told me that increasing one's expenses was very easy, but reducing them was very difficult.
My father taught me the importance of dena (giving) and daan (donating). He said that if anyone knocked on my door and asked for money, I must give him Rs 100 or
Rs 1 lakh, depending on what I felt like, but never let him/her leave empty-handed. Always donate, he said.
When my father came to know that I was among the Forbes list of billionaires, he said, "I am very happy to know that you are on the list. But aren't you shameful? You
have billions of dollars of money, but you can't give away a few dollars in charity? Go and die in a pail of water," he told me.
A lot of people ask me: How does it feel to be rich in a poor country?
Let me correct you, I don't think India is a poor country. We are very rich in culture, food, resources, thought and also in our film industry. So, I don't feel guilty at all.
Renowned British beaureaucrat Winston Churchill once said: Equality of mankind is a myth, equality of opportunity is a possib ility.
So, as a rich man, I would like to ensure that all Indians have equal opportunities.
Looking back, I feel I would not have been so rich if India had not been a prosperous country. When I started my career in th e stock market in 1985, the index was 112
(points). Today the index is 20,000, which itself is reflective of the growth and prosperity of our country. If this prosperi ty had not come to our country, I would never
have been as rich as I am today.
I also feel very happy and lucky that I worked in the post liberalisation era. Today, I feel India is entering its second pat h of liberalisation. It is this liberalisation that
has allowed people to generate wealth. You get to see so many young billionaires in India today.
And people from other parts of the world are unhappy at the fact that India has more entrepreneurs and billionaires than Chin a. It only reflects that India promotes
private enterprises and encourages capitalism better than China.
I also strongly feel that the only way we can get rid of poverty is by creating growth. At the same time, let us not worry ab out how the cake is being divided. Let us
I also strongly feel that the only way we can get rid of poverty is by creating growth. At the same time, let us not worry ab out how the cake is being divided. Let us
instead worry how large the cake is going to be. The moment the cake gets large, it gets divided better.
German socialist (Karl) Marx was a true visionary, especially when he said: You will achieve capitalism, through the means of communism.
Do you know which countries today have the highest per capita income, the highest rate of taxes and the highest rate of socia l welfare? It is the Scandinavian countries.
Also, 70 per cent of babies in these countries are born out of wedlock. This only means that these countries have achieved th e highest level of socialism and social
welfare through the means of capitalism.
I would like to appeal and add that us Indians should work to make a much larger cake than we currently have.
Will I ever stop working if I have ten times the wealth I currently have? The answer is, I won't!
Let me tell you I am still a middle-class man. I value every paisa I spend.
When you pursue a woman, the hunt is always better than the kill. It's the same about money. The enjoyment in earning it is f ar better than having it.
What has money done for me?
It has allowed me to travel in a Mercedes instead of a Maruti car, I live in a 5,000 sq foot flat instead of a 1,000 sq feet flat. In place of smoking a FourSquare cigarette,
I now smoke India Kings, I drink Blue Label whiskey instead of Diplomat. Besides that, money hasn't made much difference to m y life.
The giver of wealth is God. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is what he is today because he has the grace of God and the blessings of elde rs. Never forget that in your life.
All the adjectives in life --- beauty, power, hunger, wealth, happiness etc -- are all temporary and are each given to us by Him. So when he gives us so much wealth, he
also entrusts some duty on us. That this money be used for social purposes. I don't think giving is giving, I think that givi ng is duty.
Today I donate 25 per cent of my income to charity. In 2020, either a billion dollars or 25 per cent of my wealth, whichever is lesser, I am going to donate as charity.
Money has a purpose and a responsibility. Making the first million is always difficult, the second is not so difficult, the t hird is even easier.
What you do to money is not very important, but what money does to you is very very important. Let it not change you as a hum an being. Let it not change your
attitude towards your friends, family and the people who you've grown up with.
The things money can buy are certainly important, but the things money can't buy are the most important in the world -- integrity, love and happiness.
What else can I say about money? Strive for it, fight for it and use fair means. Love, but don't love for it.
Everybody comments on what s/he doesn't have. Today, I have far better things in life than money, but not health. God has giv en me everything -- wealth, success, a
good wife and good friends. I wish He gives me good health.
I would like to conclude by saying: Never forget that money is the means to the world, but not the end of it.
Billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's advice to youngsters:
In his advice to young Indians, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, also popularly known as India's Warren Buffet said: Have balls of steel, dream big with your heads held high
and feet firm on the ground. Failures are inevitable, but learn to take defeat with a smile.
__________________
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company - Mark Twain.
Why is it so important to be able to trade without fear?

05 June 2015
09:44 PM
The reason is that the emotion of fear clouds your judgement and makes it hard if not impossible to stick to your trading plan.
For example, the trader plans to enter a trade when it pulls back to a certain pre-defined level, he waits patiently for the pull-back and when price pulls back it does so
with a large candle and high momentum. At that moment his fearful brain kicks in and starts rationalizing that this particular trade wont work and it is best to wait until
the next one. The entry is missed and price then either shoots off in the correct direction which leaves the trader kicking themselves for missing the entry or it would have
been a loss which leaves the trader heaving a sigh of relief and cementing their fear in place by providing proof that they were right not to take the trade.
The trader needs a way to think about trading that enables them to stick to their plan and when designing their plan I suggest they take into account the emotions that will
come up at various points in the trading process and design their trading in a way that makes it easier.
In the previous example the trader would add a rule to their entry that when price pulls back to an entry level a strong support resistance zone needs to form on a lower
time frame to provide a safe place to put the stop loss. Now the trader has taken their fear into account and has made it easier to enter the trade by providing confirmation
that price is in the process of turning. Of course whatever rules are added to the system they need to make sense in terms of profitability.
When traders go through a string of losses that is the most testing time for a trader and can easily result in the trader missing trades or system hopping as a way of
relieving their emotional pain. At this point it can help if a trader knows the longest string of losses they are likely to expect and adds half again, for example if the back
testing and past experience of the system shows a maximum losing streak of four trades and the trader is emotionally prepared for a losing streak of six trades then this
can allow the trader to keep taking the trades and trade through the losing streak. This is why it is so vital for a trader to keep detailed records; they need to know the
difference between a losing system that isnt working and a winning system that is just going through an inevitable losing streak.
Another way to reduce fear of losses is to assign equal value to trades, for example lets say a system has a winning percentage of 30% and a 1-5 ROI with a risk of 2% of
the account using ten trades as a sample size, then each trade, winner or loser is assigned a value of 1.6 %.
If a trader knows that each of their trades is worth 1.6% whether winner or loser then they can have as a target to increase the average value of their trades to 2%. This
way of looking at trades as data sets helps a trader to avoid seeing their losing and winning trades in a vacuum.
A further way to add value to trades is what I call R, that is whether the information from that trade has allowed a trader to improve their overall trading performance
and by default their future winning percentage. If a trade allow a trader to improve performance then a trade has a value of 1.6R and a trade that doesnt has a value of
only 1.6. Trades that have an R value attached are more valuable winner or loser than trades that have no R value because they determine whether a trader is able to
increase their trade percentage over the long term.
This way of assigning value to trades enables a trader to see their trading with a sense of curiosity rather than fear; they can ask themselves if this next trade will add to
the store of knowledge that will enable them to increase their future trade percentage, instead of will this next trade be a winner or loser?
There are many other ways to enable a trader to remove fear from the trading process; however these are practical methods that can be immediately implemented into a
traders current trading process to help them make a paradigm shift, where they can see each trade as part of a larger whole which keeps losses in perspective and helps
reduce fear.
Successful Trading - Successful Traders

06 June 2015
08:06 AM
Successful trading starts with a proper mentality, not a list of ambiguous guidelines. To begin, we must understand why most people are
unsuccessful at the trading game. The short answer is that unsuccessful players are too emotionally involved. They personalize every decision
and have egos which are easily offended by unprofitable trades. Many such market participants simply cannot cope with the loss of even small
amounts of money.
These emotions, when roused, dominate the thought processes of the weak trader, causing mental distress. The trader beats himself up from the
inside out, and all the energy consumed with regret and disdain reduces his capacity to make rational decisions on future trades.
Those that personalize the results of their decisions often practice the following poor behavioural patterns:
They sit on losing positions with hopes of breaking even.

They consciously or unconsciously enter trades in an effort to make up for previous losses rather than on the merits of the new trade.
Despite a compelling setup, they do not open a new trade at a worse price than that which their last trade on the same asset was exited.
And perhaps most perversely, they fail to execute well (or at all) on trading opportunities in which they have the highest levels of confidence.
After all, they have the most to lose, egoistically speaking, in these situations!
Successful traders, on the other hand, tend to be those who are most capable of handling the stress associated with a losing trade. They do not
personalize the results of their decisions, and are therefore able to trade in a manner that protects their capital rather than their egos. Successful
traders realize that there is no such thing as right and wrong in trading because the outcome is always uncertain. To the professional, there is
only trading well or not trading well, and trading well means avoiding patterns of behavior that offer low probabilities of success.
To the dismay of individual traders the probability of success for each trade or trading system is not quantifiable. Granted, there are
computerized trading systems that make fortunes via the algorithmic use of statistical analysis, but even for these systems, the success rate of
each algorithm is dynamic and therefore never precisely known at any given point in time. Therefore, to trade well, one must develop a
methodology of subjective judgment, and this methodology can only come from experience. Understanding the technical and fundamental forms
of objective analysis are essential, but will not work well without a honed instinct. Subjective traders have a keen intuition, developed from
years of experience, the desire to read voraciously, and the ability to utilize subconscious reasoning.
Trading subjectively without personalizing results is perhaps the great quandary with which all traders struggle. After all, we all want to enjoy
being right. We want to feel smart when a trade works out as hoped. But in reality, we must train ourselves to enjoy being successful while
maintaining enough discipline to avoid judging ourselves by the profitability of each trade. The disciplined professional will not be unhappy
with an unprofitable trade which he feels was well-executed, nor will he commend himself for the profitable, but poorly executed trade.
A well-executed trade is one implemented within the framework of one's own set of rules. Every set of trading rules must incorporate two
essential components. First, they must contain strategies that reflect the nature of the trader. Markets are characteristically complex, reflecting
the psyches of millions of players, and each trader must discover which approach to trading best suits him. In other words, which subset of
market psychology can one profitably attack?
Second, all rule sets must contain an element of risk control. Risk is controlled both in objective terms, by not overexposing oneself to the
potential for unbearably large losses, and in subjective terms, by trading within the purview of one's mental strengths so as to best choose entry
and exit points. By devising rules based on one's own strengths, a trader is able to approach the game with confidence rather than doubt. Doubt
leads to duress, and it is under this circumstance that rules are abandoned, trades are executed from weakness rather than strength, and big losses
are recorded.
What is Your Stock Trading Education Plan?

06 June 2015
08:13 AM
Stock trading is not a guessing game, it is a profession and a business. You need to keep improving to be good at your profes sion. Businesses that invest in themselves
and their employees tend to grow and prosper. So the question is as follow:
"How will you invest in yourself?"
Here are my routines activities to improve my skills.knowledge in stock trading. Think about those and follow them if you lik e it.
Daily
I would make sure I am up to date with market news. Occasionally I will read my RSS subscription on my phone using gReader an d Pocket.
To monitor my watchlist, I use occasionally using the two android apps I have discussed previously.
monitoring watchlist
Not really a day trader myself, I will only download a free EOD for markets I am trading in.
Upload the EOD into my software, Amibroker, and run my system to see if i have a good signal to buy/sell.
Buy and Sell signal in my Amibroker
Weekly
Read many trading articles and maybe a trading book. I used to borrow a book from a library but now I either read free ebooks online or I bought them. Read about
my recommended books.
Monitor my postion in Excel Spreadsheet. You should create your own if you do not yet have it.
Re-read and revise (if needed) my trading system
Monthly
Check all my positions and close by budget books to find out my net worth and the size in my investment baskets (commodity, s tocks, mutual fund, property, etc)
Re-visit the performance of my stocks and my systems. See what is your R -Multiples and Expectancy.
Read more books
If you have not write down your education plan for your stock trading, you can take a pencil and a piece of paper now, and st art writing..
A Trading Psychology Lesson from a 9 Year Old

06 June 2015
10:05 AM
I was driving in my car the other night with my twin daughters when the conversation somehow turned to what they wanted to do when they
grow up.
Naturally, being only nine years old, they had many ideas. There were those that I was very happy with - an astronomer, a veterinarian, a
professional soccer player, or a guitarist in a rock band. And there were some suggestions that I just didn't like at all. Not that it's my decision!
I'll naturally support them in whichever path they chose for their life; however let's just say a nine year old should not know what a Forensic
Scientist does.
I asked if either were interested in trading, to which Caitlin replied, "But isn't trading just guessing?"
That was unexpected! I was a little taken aback and frankly quite annoyed that she thought that all I did was 'guessing'. I replied by explaining
that there was a lot more to trading than just guessing which way the market went. But the conversation quickly moved on to other areas, as
appears normal when speaking with nine year olds.
That night I put a little more thought to our discussion, not so much out of concern about my daughter's perception of my career, but rather my
emotional reaction to her statement. Why should I allow myself to feel a little insulted by claims that all I do is 'guess' market direction?
What do I actually do in the markets?
I assume risk in the markets, with an expectation of profits. But surely it's not just guessing, or gambling, or taking a punt. I take positions on my
terms only. It's a calculated business decision. Through skillful analysis of past and current price action and an assessment of likely future price
action I am able to identify opportunities to profit from market trends. And I combine this with action designed to reduce or eliminate any risk
while seeking to maximize that profit. This is no different to any other business.
I've been lucky enough to be involved in a number of other 'cool' careers, but nothing has satisfied that need within my soul for a meaningful
existence like being a trader does.
And I certainly believe that the career of a trader does provide significant benefits for society (a subject for another future article perhaps).
But when you really get down to the nuts and bolts, is what I do any different from guessing?
The definition of guessing according to the American Heritage Dictionary is: (* EDIT: In response to feedback...ok... I accept this dictionary is
not the most authoritative source, but it was the first one at hand and will be sufficient for the purposes of this discussion)
a. To predict (a result or an event) without sufficient information.

b. To assume, presume, or assert (a fact) without sufficient information.
The common point here is 'without sufficient information', a phrase which certainly applies to the world of market analysis.
A novice trader expects that certainty can be found through better analysis or better indicators or indicator parameters. And so they get stuck for
several years on this search for the Holy Grail solution. It's only when all attempts at this have failed and they're willing to accept it as a
misguided attempt to hide from their fear of uncertainty, and are willing to embrace that uncertainty, can they take the next step on the path
towards professional trading.
The fact is that market analysis cannot predict the future. All future events cannot be known. And even if they could be known, then we still
don't know how these events will be perceived by the market participants and will therefore influence price.
A trader operates in an uncertain world. And all trading decisions are made without sufficient information, based on an assessment of the
probabilities and a minimization of risk to protect your capital when you get it wrong.
Essentially, my daughter was correct - I 'guess' market direction.

Essentially, my daughter was correct - I 'guess' market direction.
The difference is that some traders guess market direction without any real plan or guidelines for formulating that decision, with an inadequate
appreciation of both risk and opportunity and with an undisciplined, unprofessional and emotionally influenced execution of their trade. And
their losses feed the account of those who guess market direction based on a documented, tested and proven plan which is designed to contain
risk when they're wrong and maximize opportunity when they're right, combined with consistency in execution of their plan.
I guess market direction, but I do so within a framework provided by my business plan and an understanding of the probabilistic nature of the
markets.
I had assumed I was at a stage where I was comfortable with who I was and what I did. It appears now that this assumption was false and I have
more work to do on myself. It makes sense - personal growth shouldn't be expected to ever end.
Why was my ego bruised at claims that I'm just a 'guesser'? There are many possible reasons that I need to address in more detail:
At a deep level I really want my daughters to be proud of me. Perhaps for a moment I suspected they weren't?
Maybe my own self-importance was inflating at too rapid a rate (finally reaching an overhead resistance for a great shorting opportunity)
Maybe at some level I still have concerns that being a trader is a Way of life that adds limited value to society?
Maybe I still have some doubts about my long-term survivability in this industry, and so feel that by 'guessing' I am gambling my family's
future?
Who knows? I've got more work to do in understanding this.
Your beliefs about what trading is and why you do it are fundamental to the success of your trading business. You cannot expect to operate in a
consistently profitable manner if you have conflicting beliefs about the value of yourself, of your chosen career or of your ability to succeed at it.
So when your ego takes a little hit from someone's comments about trading, take the time out to examine your own beliefs. It doesn't matter what
the comment is:
Suggestions that it's impossible to profit from the market.
Claims that you'll never be able to make it.
Cutting comments about how those losses could really have been better used elsewhere.
If it produces an emotional response in you, take some time out to ask why? What does your emotional response mean in terms of your beliefs
about yourself and your chosen career as a trader?
That self-examination may reveal the breakthrough you were seeking, to take you to the next stage of your career or personal development.
Thank God, I'm a Trader, not an Analyst

06 June 2015
10:30 AM
There is a huge difference between being a trader and being a market analyst.
Analysts are paid by being right. On this basis alone I am not smart enough to be an analyst. Traders are paid by managing risk. These two
skill sets are a world apart. In my experience, people who try to be traders by being analysts usually lose their grip at both ends of the rope.
An analyst will be judged negatively by poor market calls. When wrong, a trader closes the trade and moves onto the next opportunity.
Hopefully, little harm done! Being wrong is a fundamental assumption for a trader.
Analysts study industries, companies and economic conditions. Traders, at least most traders, study price and could care less what company
the price represents.
Analysts even technical analysts become heavily vested in the rightness of their opinions. Analysts gain reputational equity based on their
correct calls. Traders become economically vested by what they do with their losing trades. Traders gain capital equity based on their handling
of losing calls.
When an analyst changes an opinion on a stock or the general market, it is called a revised forecast due to changing fundamentals. When a
trader changes an opinion on a trade, it is called flexibility for capital preservation and survival.
I am a classical chartist. I view charts as a trading tool, not a method to forecast prices. I dont believe charts can forecast prices. I have a
disdain for chart book economists. I do believe that charts can provide unique high potential/low risk trading opportunitie s. To me, that is
the only real value of charts. The idea of forming some grand economic scenario based on a chart is absolutely ludicrous.
The reality is that most chart formations fail to deliver the goods, especially chart patterns of shorter durations. This is why so many novice
traders give up on charting, claiming that charts dont work.
Chart patterns fail and morph into new and larger chart patterns, which morph again and again and again. I term this process chart
redefinition. All massive chart patterns of six to 12 months in duration are made up of dozens of short-term daily patterns and hundreds of
intra-day patterns that mostly failed.
Eventually a chart pattern will mature and provide a grand speculative opportunity. It is this type of opportunity that I seek. But along the way
I am wrong on 65% of my trades. During some shorter-term periods of time that figure can be as high as 80%.
This is why I look for particular chart set-ups that offer a reward to risk relationship of 10 to 1, or 20 to 1, or even as high as a stage in a recent
trade I made in Apple Computer, 70 to 1. I am not sure what the price of AAPL will do in the days and weeks ahead, but if refuse to take a
trade with this type of reward to risk relationship I need to be put out to pasture.
One of the mental hurdles a novice trader must get past is the connection between being right on a market and making money in a trading
operation. The two are disconnected. It is hard to explain this concept to a non-combatant, but all front-line soldiers reading this blog posting
know exactly what I am talking about.
Trading is not for you if you have some pride of ownership in forecasting prices. If this is you, find a diet not consisting of buy and sell orders.
Heck, perhaps you can find a job as an analyst.
Relating 80/20 Rule to Trading

06 June 2015
10:43 AM
Pareto's Law can be summarized as follow: 80% of the outputs result fro 20% of the inputs. To put it in different ways, Tim Ferris gives more
examples in his book:
80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes.
80% of the results come from 20% of the effort and time.
80% of the company profits come from 20% of the products and customers.
80% of all stock market gains are realized by 20% of the investors and 20% of an individual portfolio.
One important thing to note is that the ratio is often skewed even more severely such as 90/10, 95/5, 99/1 are also common, bu the minimum
ratio to seek is 80/20.
How this Law is related to trading?
Trading in general consists of the 3M - Mind, Money, Method. Mind is basically how you manage your emotions and understand the
psychology of trading. Money is the position sizing system so that you can manage the risk and survive in the trading business. Method is the
strategy to buy and sell stocks.
For most traders out there, there is one thing that matters the most: the trading system. Trading system research and developing new strategies
for trading are their main focus, but mostly this is about looking for that holy grail of trading systems. Their argument is that while I do like to
apply money management and discipline/psychology, about 80% of what I do is test new trading systems and look for new methods. That leaves
20% for money management and trading psychology & discipline.
The truth is, to make profits in trading, one does not need to have the most accurate system in the world. What is needed is really a good system
executed with discipline and using proper money management methods. I strongly believe that trading psychology + money management are the
20% which is responsible for 80% of trading success.
So, to relate the 80/20 rule, I would like to summarize this way..
Instead of researching and keep updating/changing your Method (I am not saying it is not important), spend more time in understanding the
trading psychology and position sizing.
As 80% of your profits are coming from your top 20% trades, focus on the market movement and make sure you do not miss the boat when the
market is uptrending.
A Few Hard Realities for Traders

06 June 2015
11:33 AM
Here are a few lessons that I've seen traders learn the hard way. My hope is that putting them out there can prevent a few train wrecks:
* If you don't save a good portion of your earnings in successful years of trading, you won't last during the less successful years;
* If you don't have a solid nest egg of savings to support you while you're learning trading, you won't survive your learning curve;
* Everyone has a passion for trading; if you don't have a passion for learning to trade, take a pass on financial markets and find the field of
endeavour that offers intrinsic reward;
* If you're living for your trading, you won't make it trading for a living. Other things need to sustain you in the lean times, particularly the
things that are more important than markets;
* The ratio of time spent working on your trading to time spent actually trading is predictive of long-term career success;
* In any performance field, the percentage of participants who can sustain a living from their craft is under 5%; always have a Plan B;
* No one can make you successful as a trader if you lack the requisite talents and skills; a mentor can, at best, help you make the most of the
talents and skills you possess;
* Even if you are very successful as a trader, your annual income will be a fraction of your leveraged portfolio size;
* Your risk and reward will always be proportional: count on drawdowns of at least half of what you hope to make in markets;
* Psychology alone cannot make you a successful trader, but it can make you an unsuccessful one;
* Quiet markets reveal the best traders;
* Over time, your risk-adjusted returns are more valuable than your absolute returns;
* Trading is a business and, as such, must always adapt to changing market conditions;
* If you can't make money consistently when paper trading, you won't be successful when your capital is on the line;
* If someone promises you trading success, keep a close eye on your wallet.
Top 41 Reasons Why Traders and Investors Fail

06 June 2015
11:35 AM
Seasoned traders and investors will all agree that there are some things you just shouldnt do when investing in the markets.
So here is a list of 41 killer reasons reasons why traders and investors fail. What does it mean for you? Well you can enjoy more success in the
market simply by doing the opposite of everything on this list and you will also know what to look out for and avoid in the future.
Ready? Then here they are!

1: They come to the market for a quick buck. The only problem is, a quick dollar made can disappear just as quickly. Between course spruikers
and over-zealous brokers, this one brings many to the market, and sends just as many away broke and empty handed.
2: They Dont Have A Plan. A trading plan is the fundamental place you should start when trading or investing and yet many people dont
have the time, dont realize the importance of them, or just couldnt be bothered.
3: They dont use Stop Losses. All of the old traders and investors I know who have traded through crashes and recessions swe ar by one main
thing a place where they absolutely will get out of the market, also known as a stop loss. Make sure you know yours.
4: They havent got tested rules for entry and exit. Would you fire a nuclear missile randomly into the air? Of course not! S omeone could get
hurt! Its the same with trading find rules that work, rules that you have tested. Dont just buy or sell randomly or you will get hurt.
5: They listen to the advice of their friends and family. I love my family. But there is no way I will ever take a stock tip from them it will only
lead to pain and loss. If you buy on their tip, then how do you know when to sell? You will have to follow them around just w aiting for the
signal.
6: They dont watch the trend. Some of my best friends are extremely successful fundamental investors. But even the most succ essful
fundamentalists lost money in 2008 (and some of the best fund managers got absolutely hammered), because they didnt keep an eye on the
trend. The stock market will lead the overall economy by approximately six months, so watch for a trend to emerge regardless of company
balance sheets.
7: They pay too much in brokerage. Brokerage can have a devastating effect on a small account. If you are using a full servic e broker at around
$60 one way, making 50 trades a year will cost you $6,000. This is a big drag on your account, especially when you are trying to use
compounding to grow it faster. Larger accounts are not so bad, but it still pays to be aware of this pit fall.
8: They listen to their stock broker. Yes, there are some excellent stock brokers out there. But at the end of the day they g et paid as a direct result
of you making trades. They want you to trade more. And they get loads of conflicting research reports throughout the day. Not to mention they
have to bend to the wishes of the brokerage firm if they are unloading a stock for a large client. For all these reasons, lis ten to your broker only
at your peril.
9: They risk too much on one stock or trade. A classic mistake, this involves either not knowing they are risking too much, o r being so overzealous they bet the farm. It can result in some spectacular gains, but over the long term the result is largely the same bust!
10: They dont watch the larger / overall trend. It is amazing how many short term traders I see trading against the directio n of the longer term
trend. Not only are the profits small using this method, but the wins are low too. Always watch the larger overall trend.
11: They get attached to a particular stock. Your parents hold the stock. Your boss holds the stock. Your friends are all in the stock. The only
thing is it is sinking faster than the titanic. Dont get attached!
12: They listen to the news. Everybody loves gossip, and traders and investors are no exception. The only trouble is when it comes to the news:
they are reporters, not investors! They dont actually know what the blazers is going on! So they make something up, like he dge funds are short
selling or investors are running to safe-haven assets. If you want gossip, listen to the news. If you want trading wins, get a solid system.
13: They havent figured out their win probability. This is something every trader should know, and every investor should be interested in. If
you cant back-test your strategy using historical prices or data, check your last year of trading results. How many wins, and how many lose rs
did you have? This is your win:loss ratio. Keep it close.
14: They havent figured out their expectancy. Expectancy is a step up from probability. The formula is (win percentage * ave rage profit) (loss
percentage * average loss). For instance if I won 70% of the time and made 3 times the amount I lost, it would be (0.7 * 3) (0.3 * 1) = 1.8. In
other words over the long term I could expect to make 1.8 dollars for every dollar I risked.
15: They want to become millionaires overnight. Becoming a millionaire takes time time for your compounding to grow your account, and
time for your expectancy to show a consistent result. The truth is that people who want to be millionaires straight away usua lly go bust sooner.
16: They think that investing does not mean hard work. Ah the carefree life of a trader lying on the beach making casual calls to your broker.
What a life! And what a load of marketing rubbish. The truth is, becoming a trader or investor is hard work. You need to rese arch and manage
your positions, while not losing your head.
17: They havent got a good support group or network. Sometimes trading or investing can really do a number on your psycholog y. You truly
need someone who will support you in your endeavors, even if they dont understand it. Your family, your spouse, your friends , colleagues.
need someone who will support you in your endeavors, even if they dont understand it. Your family, your spouse, your friends , colleagues.
Check them all to see if they are a positive influence or a drain on your emotional resources.
18: They dont actually invest. Lets face it, some people just like to come up with ideas. They like to dream. They come up with a whiz bang
theory, and test it till the cows come home. But when the time comes to put in into practice, they falter. Why? They like the research side better
than the harsh truth of actual investing.
19: They havent got their psychology in check. Ok, there are way too many books devoted to psychology in trading. Way too ma ny. But the
truth is it does play a part in trading you have to have the courage to stick to your plan, go against the grain sometimes, and jump back in after
a loss. Get your psychology in check.
20: They blame others when things go wrong. Ah blame. Its so easy to do! After all, if its their fault you dont have to ch ange, and your ego
goes unruffled. But the thing is when you blame others, you lose the lesson. And when you are trading or investing, you defin itely cannot afford
to lose a single lesson.
21: They give up too quickly (and dont let their expectancy work). Many methods will work over the longer term, given a posi tive expectancy.
But some traders or investors get discouraged and give up, right when the market conditions are about to change in their favo r.
22: They dont have written goals. If you dont know where youre going, any road will get you there. So simple, yet so tru e. Write down your
goals and your subconscious will find ways to make them a reality. After all, it processes things at 10,000 times the speed o f the conscious brain.
23: They keep changing their methods. Another down fall of the novice trader they look for the magic guru method, and when it doesnt work
after a few trades they look for the next guru method. And the next, and the next. But a jack of all trades is a master of no ne (no pun intended).
24: They use too much leverage. Leverage can be great, when used wisely. It can help you increase the amount of trades you ha ve on, and take
short positions, and its even tax deductible in many countries. But leverage is a double edged sword. Use too much of it and it can take you and
your account down.
25: They over-diversify. Most financial planners will advocate diversification. But the truth is if you are over diversified you become at risk of
under performing the overall market. The best investors and traders focus on a handful of great stocks or companies. In fact, it has been proven
that between 6 and 12 stocks is optimum, and anything over that, your diversification is wasted.
26: They arent prepared for a string of losses. Mathematicians will tell you that even if your win percentage is 70%, probab ility states that you
could still have a run of 10 losses in a row. And if you are investing for a long time, you will experience this in your life time. Be ready when it
comes, and stick to your trading plan.
27: They think a stock will always go up over the long term. Many stock brokers or financial planners will have a large chart of the ASX or Dow
Jones over 100 years. And it heads upwards. But what they dont tell you is the market went sideways for 20 full years betwee n 1960 and 1980,
or that many stocks simply go bust and disappear. Babcock and Brown and Sons of Gwalia come to mind, but there are many more that have
fallen deeply and just linger there, refusing to die.
28: They over-analyze. More commonly known as analysis paralysis, this can happen when you do so much research and get so many
conflicting views that you find you cant actually make a trade. Keep it simple all the best traders do.
29: They cant admit when theyre wrong. We are all wrong at times but the best traders or investors dont have trouble admitting it. They can
change their mind on a dime, and are quite happy to sell a stock they were touting days or weeks ago. Forget your ego, and st art being ok with
being wrong. (Please note this reason may also be wrong, and Im OK with that).
30: They have a plan, but they dont follow it. So they have done the research, theyve tested their theories, but when they actually put money in
the market they break all of their rules!
31: Subconsciously, they dont actually want to win. Maybe their parents look down on the stock market. Maybe they got burned before and are
afraid it might happen again. Whatever the reason, sometimes our subconscious can sabotage us. If so, some meditation or deep reflection can
help.
32: They turn their money over to experts. The fact is, even most professional traders are not even right 50% of the time. And a large majority
of managed funds dont even perform as well as their index, let alone out perform it. No one will care as much about your mon ey as you. Get
educated.
33: They put too much emphasis on predicting the future. Traders who predict the future find all sorts of reasons to back it up but when it
doesnt turn out like they planned, sometimes it can be hard to stay objective in making decisions. Take forecasts with a grain of salt.
34: They get impatient and move onto something else. Patience is essential, whether you are short term trading or long term i nvesting.
Sometimes you just have to wait it out. I know traders who sat out the whole of 2008 but at least they did not lose money! Dont get impatient
with the market.
35: They dont know how to make money in a down market. Whether you are shorting stocks, writing options, or just making mone y from your
cash account as the stock market falls it doesnt mater you will be ahead of 90% of investors who simply sit there and lose money as the
market falls.
36: They mistake a rising market for investment skill. Ah bull markets. How many gurus come out of the woodwork as a market is rising?
And what happens to most of them when a bear market comes? Thats right, never heard of again. Whatever the conditions, keep learning in the
markets. Or as Han Solo from Star Wars puts it: Dont get cocky, kid.
markets. Or as Han Solo from Star Wars puts it: Dont get cocky, kid.
37: They dont enjoy doing research. The vast majority of trading or investing is doing research whatever your method you have to do the
rounds and find stocks that fit your criteria. Some people just dont enjoy doing this maybe they are more of a people person, maybe they just
dont have time. Either way, it still needs to be done.
38: They dont have the discipline to stick to their strategy. For example a long term investor who gets shaken out of the ma rket by a short term
price fluctuation. If you have a strategy, stick to it. If it really doesnt suit you, change it.
39: They think the market will stay this way forever. If there is anything thats true about the markets, it is they are ever changing. What works
today may not work tomorrow, and todays bull market will become tomorrows bear. The market will never stay this way foreve r.
40: They cant buy again if the stock turns around. When a trader sells a stock, it can be hard to buy it back again if they discover they were
wrong. But the better investors throw away their ego and stick to their rules. If the rules say buy again, they buy.
41: They hound people for tips instead of learning the ropes. How people love tips! Some people will do anything for a hot t ip in the market.
But its usually at the expense of actually learning the ropes themselves. And if you buy using someone elses tip, when do y ou sell?
Key Elements of a Successful Trader

06 June 2015
11:36 AM
Their entry parameters have a historical edge that gives them a real probability of profitability.
They are profitable because their winning trades are bigger than their losing trades over long periods of time. This is either due to a high
winning percentage or really big wins when they are right.
The successful traders know how to exit with a profit while it is still there.
Successful traders are not stubborn they flow with the market price action.
Successful traders winning trades can be as big as the trend will allow but their losses are strictly limited to a very small percent of their trading
capital.
Traders that trade the math and not their emotions are the ones that make money in the markets.
The traders that limit their total risk exposure at any time do better over the long term. Big draw downs are very difficult to come back from.
The successful traders have mastered a specific trading style and method that fits their personality and risk tolerance levels.
It is difficult to be a great trader if you do not enjoy the trading game, the best traders love what they do.
Successful traders have done their homework and put in the thousands of hours it takes to know what to do.
Profitable traders focus on the price action not gurus or talking heads on television.
Successful traders have quantified entries and exits, everything is planned.
5 Things Productive Entrepreneurs Do Each Day

07 June 2015
09:33 AM
Here five things that productive entrepreneurs do every day:

1. Establish a routine. If an entrepreneur doesnt set and stick to a daily schedule, how can he or she accomplish anything? Its a challenge for
the average person to juggle his or her personal and professional lives. Without a routine, an entrepreneur wont be complete any work.
No one can really provide a routine for you. Set up one yourself based on whats going on in your personal life and your work habits. If you
have a family and happen to be an early riser, then you probably want to start early in the morning before anyone in your household rises. If
youre more productive at night, then set up a routine based on being a night owl.
Establishing a routine can also help you prioritize your tasks. Thats what Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and Square, did for months while
building both companies. He actually worked eight hours a day at each company, meaning that he put in 16-hour workdays. How? He followed
a daily routine that looked like this, according to the Buffer app blog:
"Monday: Managing and running the company
Tuesday: Product
Wednesday: Marketing and communications, growth
Thursday: Developers and partnerships
Friday: Company culture and recruiting"
By setting up themed days, Dorsey could focus on one task at time so that he could actually complete a task, according to Buffer's blog, which
also noted that entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, of The 4-Hour Workweek fame, favors keeping a more open schedule. The basic idea is that by
having a plan, even if only for a day or week in advance, youre not wasting valuable time.
2. Exercise and meditate. The importance of exercise has been well established so I won't bore you with the details and figures. But some really
successful people make exercising a priority. The CEOs of Apple, Xerox, Pepsi, Christies and Starwood Hotels all start their days by getting
their hearts pumping, according to Business Insider.
But what if youre not the type of person who likes to rise early or has the time to work out the first thing in the morning? Work in a routine at
some other time of day.
Even if you dont lift weights at home or in the office or go for a morning run, at least do yoga or meditate.
Any sort of activity to relieve stress and clear your mind will provide a much needed release. And it will be a great way to give you time by
yourself and help you prepare for tackling the next project.
3. Check in on your progress. As an entrepreneur, youre extremely busy. In fact, you may be so focused on the task at hand that you may have
neglected a couple of really important things. That's why at some point during the day you should check in on a range tasks.
For a couple of minutes check how far youve been progressing toward the goals that youve established for yourself and the company. When
you do so, youre breaking down these goals into attainable tasks that can be accomplished daily. Taking the time to evaluate your progress
will help you decide how to further prioritize your time.
It also wouldnt hurt to figure out your cash flow. You probably should this every day because without money, your business is as good as
done. To do this effectively, create and run your business using a 30-day cash-flow projection. This will help you identify what money is
coming in and what youre spending daily. Furthermore, keep track of invoices for clients and start a collections process if need be. Whether
you call your bank, check online or chat with a bookkeeper, its better to be safe than sorry with your finances.
Finally, spend time every day to follow up with clients or peers via phone calls or emails. Donald Trump is known for making important phone
calls first thing in the morning. These days it's not wasting time to check email. You never know what important message you might miss if
you dont take the time to go through your in-box.
4. Spend quality time with family and recharge. Successful people try to manage to prioritize spending some time with family, according to a
new Harvard Business School study. If they could set aside time, you, that uberbusy entrepreneur, can squeeze in time for your spouse (and
children). When you spend time with the most important people in your life, it not only clears your head. It also helps you remember what
youre fighting for.
And if you think that startups dont understand the significance of being an involved parent, check out what Fundable did: It made sure that its
employees didn't sacrifice time with their family for their careers.
But what if youre single and dont have children? Thats still not a reason to miss out on living your life. All people need some time to
recharge their batteries. That means enjoying whatever it is that you enjoy doing. Whether you enjoy going to the movies alone, having drinks
with friends or going for a bike ride, take time to smell the roses. Who knows? Maybe youll get inspired along the way. And if even Jack
Dorsey took off on weekends to hike and reflect, you, too, can take off some time once or twice a week.
5. Plan tomorrow -- tonight. Did you grow up with a parent who made sure you were ready for school the night before? Whether that involved
getting your clothes out or preparing your lunch, these rituals shaped you. So prepare for the next day before hitting the hay.
I learned this trick from Scott Stouffer. He co-founded a SEO Engine, a company that I consult for that helps companies use data to figure out
what's working online. Stouffer insists on keeping a schedule every day. The night before a big meeting, he sends out an email telling everyone
what's working online. Stouffer insists on keeping a schedule every day. The night before a big meeting, he sends out an email telling everyone
what's needed.
When you arrange before going to bed at least a couple of tasks or goals for the next day, youre more likely to wake up and start on the project
at hand. This can also help you create priorities in your schedule for the following day instead of letting thoughts of unfinished work
accumulate. Plus, this evening time is a good time to get some work done because everyone is probably asleep or about to drift off. President
Obama, for example, seems to have perfected the art of getting ready for tomorrow the night before.
And one final word about sleep: Be sure to set a bed time. Theres obviously nothing better if you need to be fresh for the following day.
Virtually successful entrepreneur goes to bed at the same time every night.
Be sure that you dont get distracted when trying to fall asleep: Leave the phone or computer in another room. Youll be glad the next morning
when you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Your Psychological Plan

07 June 2015
11:21 AM
1. Aim to make decisions independent of the crowd learn to read the markets psyche. Identify when you may be caught in the same
euphoria or despair as other less educated market participants.
2. List the pros & cons of every trade (before entering the position) avoid confirmation biases by taking the opposite view of the trade. STOP
and ask yourself, why would someone be on the other side of this trade? What reasons are motivating them to buy or sell? Learn to put
yourself in the shoes of other market participants.
3. Understand all money is created equal, both real & paper profits dont give up paper profits. This money is YOURS. Set a clearly defined
profit-protection stop for each trade you have open. Make sure you EXIT when your stop is triggered!
4. Learn to be patient top traders and investors know when to sit out of the market. Dont push a trade just to be in the market. Sit it out if the
market conditions do not suit your trading strategy.
5. Learn to recognise loss avoidance and face saving actions e.g. Cognitive dissonance, Loss aversion, Sunk cost, etc.
6. Understand markets can over-react on the up & downsides markets always run further than most people expect. Assume the trend is intact
until there is DEFINATE evidence to the contrary.
7. Understand trading involves risk trading involves risk, your aim is to limit your risk and simultaneously increase your odds of achieving
larger gains.
8. Avoid blame and regret analyse and learn from your losses, but do not dwell on them learn and move on.
9. Watch overconfidence Men more often than women suffer from overconfidence. When you start to think this is easy, alarm bells should
be sounding..
10. Dont look for excuses to remain in a losing trade what more can be said! The worst way to stop trading is because you have NO CAPITAL
left.
11. Understand mistakes are part of the process but failing to correct a mistake is a capital killer.
12. Understand the probability of trading every trading strategy, regardless of the accuracy rate, will experience a series of losses. Know what
your odds are, for from your trading strategy, of experiencing a series of losses. Appreciate that if you trade long enough, this will happen.
Think in terms of the NEXT 100 or 1000 TRADES this is probably the single most important piece of advice. Dont get hung up on a couple
of losing trades. Think long term.
10 Wrong thoughts New Traders have

07 June 2015
11:23 AM
1. Trading is easy money, how hard can it be to just buy low and sell high? The learning curve is steep and the work involved is intense
mentally, emotionally, and intellectually.
2. I have a few thousand dollars, I will turn it into a million dollars quickly. The bigger the attempted return the higher th e probability of
going to zero by taking on huge risks trying to hit the big win. Compounding capital over the long term is what it takes to b e successful
taking big risks eventually takes your account down to where it breaks you financially, emotionally, or mentally.
3. I will just trade with all my savings and pay checks and take it out when needed to pay bills. Trading capital has to be se parate from living
expenses and only taken from at times that will not effect your need to pay bills or play catch up with returns.
4. I am so smart I can figure trading out all by myself. New traders must find educational resources that shorten their learni ng time frame and
saves them thousands of hours by not having to learn everything the hard way themselves.
5. I believe I am so much smarter than most other traders and do not need to learn the basics, I will rely on my trading skills to overcome the
need for risk management and my emotions. No you arent and no you wont.
6. I am a one many show I do not need anyone else for my trading. Trading is a very isolating endeavor and it is very healthy to have trading
buddies and mentors to help you feel connected and supported to others on your journey. They can provide support and guidance when they
are the right people.
7. I expect to be profitable from the very beginning. Like any other professional endeavor you have to pay our tuition for edu ction and pay
your dues. The odds that you will be profitable right from the start is minimal to zero, not blowing up your account as a new trader is an
accomplishment to be proud of.
8. I expect to make huge profits my first year trading. Grow up, there is no easy money laying around on the street for us to just go pick up.
9. I can trade huge position sizes and never blow out my account or suffer a huge draw down. The math disagrees agrees with yo u, big trades
eventually lead to big losses and big enough trades eventually lead to ruin.
10. I want to trade for a living, it will be great. Trading for a living is very stressful if not planned very carefully with h uge savings and safety
nets. For most people it would take multiple six figure trading accounts or even up to a million dollars to even consider suc h a thing with
their current lifestyle expenses. Very few traders live off trading alone almost all have other sources of income and trade f or capital
appreciation not their monthly bills.
Constructive Inner Dialogue For Traders

07 June 2015
11:26 AM
An inner dialogue typically reinforces the way you think. So the goal is to consciously expose yourself to thoughts that ultimately will
positively impact your trading. Through the use of repetition you can considerably strengthen a positive attitude and sound trading
behavior. The beauty of it is the simplicity of the method. Its entirely up to you which trading mantras you want to adhere to. Here are a
few that I strongly believe in and that characterize my thinking as a trader:
Kill your greed
Isolate yourself from the opinions of others
Never chase stocks
Always strive for emotional detachment
Focus on proper execution
There is never a shortage of opportunities
Never make excuses
Stay in control
Dont compare yourself to others
Always use stop losses
Standing aside is a position
Money comes in bunches
Never add to a losing position
Stay calm and focused
Dont believe the hype
Cultivate independent thinking
Be ready for worst case scenarios
Nosce te ipsum - Know thyself
"A trader should have no opinion. The stronger your opinion, the harder it is to get out of a losing position." Paul Rotter
"Have the courage to say no.
Have the courage to face the truth.
Have the courage to do the right thing because it is right."
- W. Clement Stone
Six Questions to Prepare for the Trading Day

07 June 2015
11:38 AM
Here are a few things I look at prior to the opening of regular trading hours:
1) Are we in an intermediate-term uptrend, downtrend, or range? I look at the number of stocks making new 20-day highs vs. lows; the
number of stocks in my basket that are trending upward, not trending, and trending downward; the readings for Demand vs. Supp ly; and the
percentage of stocks that closed above their 20-day moving averages. If new highs outnumber new lows; if a majority of stocks are in
uptrends; if more than 50% of stocks have closed above their 20 -day moving average, I grade the market as being in an uptrend and vice
versa. When the indicators are flat and/or mixed, I consider it a non -trending intermediate-term environment.
2) Was yesterday stronger, weaker, or in a range with respect to the day previous? Here I'll look at the high and low prices for the day
across various sectors, as well as for the major indexes. I also look at the day over day changes in the above -mentioned indicators. If
yesterday's readings for new highs/lows, Demand/Supply, etc. were stronger than the day before, I'll consider us in a short -term uptrend and
vice versa. When the day over day price changes among sectors and indicator readings are mixed, I view the market as in a sho rt-term range.
3) Are there special circumstances likely to affect today's trade? If we're in a holiday period or if we're awaiting a Fed announcement,
volume and volatility are likely to be muted. If we're expecting a major economic report, that can move the market. I like to rehearse various
what-if scenarios when those special circumstances arise, so that I'm prepared for trades that may arise.I'll prepare to be less a ctive in a
market that is slow due to a holiday period.
4) Where are the relevant trading ranges? If the market is in a multi-day range, I will be especially cognizant of those levels, as these will
either provide a good breakout trade or a good fade back toward the opposite range extreme. About 85% of all days take out th e prior day's
high or low, so I want to know where those levels are. Often the first trade of the morning will be a test of the overnight h igh or low; that
becomes an important area to reference.
5) What are the relevant price target levels? The pivot price is an approximation of yesterday's average trading price. About 70% of all
days will retouch yesterday's pivot, so that's a price level worth keeping in mind, especially on failed moves outside the ov ernight or prior
day's range. For reasons mentioned above, the previous day's high and low are important reference points. The R1/R2/R3 and S1 /S2/S3
levels represent upside and downside targets respectively that will be hit 70%/50%/33% of the time based on research going ba ck to 2000;
those are important targets in trending markets. In intermediate -term range markets, we can go for a few days without hitting those targets;
indeed, the failure to hit R1 or S1 is generally a good sign that the market has been in range mode.
6) Where did we close on the previous day? Where do we open today? If we close near the top of the range for the day, that suggests
intraday strength. If we open today above yesterday's pivot, that suggests overnight firmness, especially if today's open is above yesterday's
close. When we see such firmness, we think about testing upside price targets, such as the previous day's high and R1/R2/R3. When we see
weakness--closing near the bottom of the range for the day and opening below the prior day's pivot level --we think about testing downside
price targets, such as the prior day's low and S1/S2/S3. A mixed open (near yesterday's pivot, mixed advances/declines in ear ly trade)
suggests a possible range environment and we want to think about fading moves away from the prior day's pivot, today's open, and today's
volume-weighted average price.
Many traders focus on short-term setups without understanding the general condition of the market and the price targets that we're likely to
hit. The important issue is not just when and where to trade; it's also where the market is likely to be headed. Once you hav e basic strategy
right, it's great to refine your tactics. Too many traders, however, don't prepare adequately for the trading day and hope --in vain--that tactics
will replace strategy.
Developing a Confident Trading Mindset

07 June 2015
11:40 AM
Traders need confidence to succeed.You are even your own opponent in trading, so basically, everyone is your opponent in the market, and it
literally is you against the world.
The only way you will battle through all this adversity and defeat all the opponents inherent to trading, is by having unwavering confidence in
yourself and your trading abilities.
You NEED the right type of confidence
The market is a minefield, and a lack of confidence can put a serious dent in your trading performance. Having low confidence often causes
traders to develop problems pulling the trigger, anxiety, stress and serious mental pressure when faced with entering, managing and exiting
trades. You will never make money as a trader if youre trying to trade from an unconfident mindset that causes constant problems like these, so
if you know you have any of the symptoms just mentioned, its time to take a step back and get your act together, or stop pla ying the game all
together.
Its important to note the HUGE difference between false-confidence and real confidence in trading. False-confidence is easy to obtain; you hit
a few lucky winners and you feel like youre a market wizard. But beware, this confidence is fleeting and will definitely do you more harm than
good because it was derived from luck, instead of skill and proper trading habits.
Real confidence comes from proper trading habits. The longer you trade properly, with discipline and patience, the more these things will
benefit and payoff for you, and you will begin to see their power. Over time, consistently trading with discipline and patien ce (following your
trading plan, not over-trading or risking more than you know you should) will get reinforced in your mind and will become positive trading
habits. Arming yourself with the power of positive trading habits and knowing that you are not just relying on luck, are insa nely powerful
trading weapons that will build real, indestructible trading confidence within you.
Here are some tips to help you increase your trading confidence
Tip #1: Use winners to build confidence, but dont get over-confident
What better way to build your confidence than a winning trade, or better yet, a string of winning trades? Be cautious though, winning trades can
and will go to your head if you let them, causing over-confidence which can quickly lead to over-trading.
However, it is important to reflect on your winning trades after they are finished. You can make some quick and simple notes in your trading
journal to record the various attributes of the setup you traded and why you believe it was a good one. However, keep in mind that even a good
setup that meets your trading plan criteria can fail, so dont get into the dangerous of habit of thinking that every trade t hat meets your plans
criteria will work. That said, it IS important to understand what a winning trade setup looks like and to use it to remind yo urself that you CAN
find and execute winning trades, doing this will help you build confidence in your trading ability and skill.
It doesnt matter if youre trading a small or big account, trading a live account and having winners will build your confide nce. Aim to get good
trading on a small account first, even if you have a lot of money to trade live with. You dont want to just dive into the ma rket with a 50k or
100k account if you are new or have no live account trading experience under your belt. You should aim to start with small amounts and focus
on learning to trade properly first. Then, as you develop solid trading skills, habits and eventually real confidence, you ma y feel comfortable
putting more money into your trading account down the road.
Tip #2: Use losers to learn a lesson and strengthen your trade execution
Losing trades can be the best teacher youll ever have. However, just as with winning trades, its important to note that t here will be a normal
statistical variance of losing trades within any trading edge. So, you should not fall into the mental trap of thinking that EVERY losing trade you
have was a major failure or that it means something is wrong with your trading method or trading ability. Sometimes, perfec tly good trade
setups will fail, as that is just part of the game we call trading, so you just have to accept these trades and move onassum ing that you stuck to
your trading strategy and the trade wasnt taken out of greed, revenge or fear (over-trading).
The losing trades that you NEED to learn from and that you can learn a lot from, are those stupid losing trades that you un fortunately did take
out of greed, revenge or fearand I know you know what Im talking about here. After the trade is finished, you can record in your trading
journal what you did wrong and why the trade was a failure; use these types of losing trades as a lesson and dissect what went wrong, you can
then use this information to strengthen commitment to sticking to your trading strategy and plan.
The aim here, is to hopefully not make the same stupid trading mistake twice, after all, your hard-earned money IS on the line every time you
enter a trade. As you learn from stupid trades it should help build your confidence because you will begin to see the power of remaining
disciplined and consistent in trading, and you will start to see that you CAN trade successfully if you just stop making stupid trades.
Tip #3: Act as if, even in the face of losing trades
Confidence, sometimes has to be an act, fake it till you make it as they say. Especially in trading, you have to be able to fake it till you make
it, because in the beginning youre going to be fighting some VERY strong emotional impulses and demons that can and will cause you to
blow out your trading account if you let them.
You have to be able to just walk away from your computer after a trade, win, lose or draw. A professional trader does not sit there and give back
all the profits they just made on a winner, and they dont sit there and try to take revenge on the market and make back the money they just
all the profits they just made on a winner, and they dont sit there and try to take revenge on the market and make back the money they just
lost on a loser. Instead, they accept the outcome of the trade and then they go about their life. They only trade IF there is a reason that meets
their predefined trade criteria. So, if YOU cannot do this on a small account, you wont be able to do it on a big one either. You need to be
confident and act like youre a super trader; believe in your trading skill and trading edge, you really do need to trade as if youre a baller /
hedge fund manager, if you ever want to make a living as a trader someday.
Conclusion
In my courses, I aim to help my students develop confidence and belief in the price action strategies they are being taught, after all, theres no
point trading a strategy unless you believe in it 100% and are prepared to back it. Instead of constantly asking yourself is this going to work,
should I take this trade or should I hold off?you need to just follow your trading plan and stick to your strategy. As a re sult, you instantly
remove those questions and revert to the trading plan, and then the question of whether or not what youre looking at is indeed a logical trade
setup worth taking, will easily be answered by determining if the setup meets the simple criteria outlined in your trading pl an.
The next time you go to place a trade, I want you to hear my voice in your head asking you Does the trade make sense and fit the plan? If it
does, then back yourself, believe in your edge. If it doesnt fit the plan, then go to the gym, play a round of golf, take the family out, but dont
enter a trade if theres no reason to! Theres no better way to develop your trading confidence than proving to yourself that you can stick to a
trading strategy and trading plan consistently, and then see the benefits of your consistency begin to pay off.
Trading Experiences
07 June 2015
12:06 PM
Every day you trade, you gain valuable experience regarding how you approach the markets. You see various setups and learn how they can or cant lead to
a profitable trade. Dont undervalue these learning experiences.
Every day, you are achieving learning goals. Your daily efforts may not directly lead to profits, but indirectly, they do add to your wealth of experiences. You
may only win a battle here and there, but when you add up the battles you do win, over the long haul, you end up mastering the markets, and winning the
war in the end.
If you merely focus on how much money you make as a trader, and use a conventional payment schedule, youll work your butt off but fail to get the
conventionally defined paycheck you expect, and feel ripped off. But if you define your paycheck in unconventional terms as the amount of experience you
gained, youll feel rewarded for making a series of trades, profitable or not, and feel youve accomplished something.
And regardless of how much money you actually make, you will have indeed accomplished something: You will have further honed your trading skills.
In the grand scheme of things, winning minor battles and learning from your defeats will help you win the war. Youll master the markets and become a
winning, profitable seasoned trader.
---------------------------------------------------Its easy to get caught up in daily defeats, isnt it? Your forex trading strategy isnt working. Youre losing money hand over fist even though you know your
system works over the long-term and youre following all the rules. If you arent careful, you could let it discourage you, allowing negative thoughts like
giving up, feeling like a failure, or thinking youll never make it as a trader creep into your psyche.
Unfortunately, it does happen to us all, so when you are discouraged by everyday setbacks, its crucial to keep your eye on the big picture: you could be
losing a battle here and there, but you may end up winning the war.
Many traders make the mistake of letting their feelings of worth be determined by everyday trading results. You think, If I make profits today, and every day
this week, Im doing well. But if I end up losing most days, then Im doing horrible!
This kind of thinking is based on how people view compensation for a conventional 9-to-5 job. You put in your 40 hours, do a good job, and you get paid
handsomely. You feel good for working diligently and productively for the week.
But when you trade forex, you will not always receive sufficient compensation for your effortsthats just how the game works. When you dont reach the
profit goals you set, you can feel as if you didnt get paid enough for your efforts.
Its going to be tough, but as a trader, you must avoid thinking in these conventional terms. An extremely productive week of trade journaling or backtesting
may produce ZERO profits. When you are trying to achieve a certain level of income in a given timeframe, you are setting performance goals that you may
not be able to achieve.
A better kind of goal to set is a learning goal.
You may not be able to achieve a particular performance goal during a given week; that is, you may not always be able to achieve a particular dollar amount,
but you can achieve a particular learning goal.
Every day you trade, you gain valuable experience regarding how you approach the markets. You see various setups and learn how they can or cant lead to
a profitable trade. Dont undervalue these learning experiences.
Every day, you are achieving learning goals. Your daily efforts may not directly lead to forex profits, but indirectly, they do add to your wealth of experiences.
You may only win a battle here and there, but when you add up the battles you do win, over the long haul, you end up mastering the markets, and winning
the war in the end.
If you merely focus on how much money you make as a trader, and use a conventional payment schedule, youll work your butt off but fail to get the
conventionally defined paycheck you expect, and feel ripped off. But if you define your paycheck in unconventional terms as the amount of experience you
gained, youll feel rewarded for making a series of trades, profitable or not, and feel youve accomplished something.
And regardless of how much money you actually make, you will have indeed accomplished something: You will have further honed your trading skills.
winning, profitable seasoned forex trader.
Read more: http://www.babypips.com/blogs/pipsychology/forex-battles-20150605.html#ixzz3cM7TfEZL
Did You Enjoy Trading?

07 June 2015
12:09 PM
Its a common misconception that expertise in a particular field, be it forex trading or sports, is simply an inborn trait th at is possessed by an
elite few. This line of thinking assumes that either youre an expert or youre not, and that theres no way for you to gain expertise if youre
just not born with it.
While its true that some individuals are naturally gifted with traits or proficiency in certain fields (ex: height for baske tball players or good
eye-hand coordination for race car drivers), expertise is actually a development process that unfolds over time.
This is what Benjamin Bloom, Ph.D. of the University of Chicago discovered after conducting a study on the development of 120 world-class
talents in various fields such as concert pianists, mathematicians, Olympic swimmers, and sculptors. His study also included interviews with
these individuals parents and coaches, as he aimed to understand how superior performance is achieved.
Bloom concluded that there are three phases of development:
Early phase This initial phase revolves around play and exploration, in which the individual pursues the activity for its enjoyment value .
Coaches or teachers are chosen simply for their ability to structure learning while family members and peers typically provid e support and
encouragement.
Middle phase In this stage, the individual concentrates on specific aspects of the field in more serious pursuit of excellence, as practic e is
directed at developing more specific techniques. For instance, a gymnast can decide on a particular event to focus on, such a s the balance
beam or uneven bars. At this phase, the pride and reward of performing are the primary motivators.
Late phase It is in this stage that mastery is pursued. The goal of the individual shifts from competence to actual expertise. During th is stage,
it becomes essential to work with a recognized mentor who specializes in coaching elite performers. Intensive training is req uired and takes
up majority of the individuals day, which is why some young athletes are home -schooled to make time for more practice. In short,
performance in the field has become a way of life and part of the individuals identity.
Its no surprise that new traders typically aspire for the latter stages of trading. However, Bloom cautions that undergoing the earlier steps is
necessary before traders can achieve mastery.
Without curiosity and enjoyment for the craft, traders would hardly be motivated to pursue deliberate practice and skill deve lopment.
Similarly, skipping the middle phase of skill development would make traders ill -prepared for the rigors of mastery.
Remember that elite performance cannot begin with abruptly shooting for mastery. Its a process of discovery, having fun with the basics, and
seeing if the field is something that really interests you.
In the context of forex trading, learning the nitty-gritty of order flow, stop loss placement, market correlations and the like is a backward
approach to achieving mastery. Why the heck would you start at the last steps in a development process? Would you teach your kids about
grammar and punctuation before you even teach them how to write?
There is no better way to sabotage the pursuit of mastery than by forcing an individual work on the latter development stages from the get-go.
If you want to sustain your motivation to succeed, then you need to enjoy what youre doing, build the necessary skillset, an d then aim for
superior performance. There simply isnt any other way around it.
If you think that undergoing the whole process is daunting, then you should remember that most elite performers still enjoy w hat theyre
doing despite the rigors of their training processes. Elite athletes would voluntarily train under extreme conditions with th e same
determination as musicians who would eagerly practice their craft for hours and hours.
If you want to start developing mastery in trading, immediately trying to acquire discipline and engage in deliberate practic e seem like a
chore. Instead, treat market analysis with a more curious approach and remind yourself why forex trading interests you in the first place. The
genuine desire to learn and do better in your field is the key in sustaining motivation in the pursuit of expertise.
On the PROPER Use of Hope and Fear

07 June 2015
12:10 PM
If youve been involved in the markets for any length of time you will no doubt have heard of the twin pillars of market psychology, Hope
and Fear (or sometimes Greed and Fear).
In fact, if youve ever been involved in an endeavour where you have something on the line a business, a wager, a job, or even a date
you will have experienced Hope and Fear in some form and the devastation it can play on your psychology.
Experiencing Hope
For most traders, Hope looks like this:

Theyve just bought a stock or commodity, and they hope that it goes up. Of course, this is the name of the game, we all hope it goes up if
we are buying! But then the stock starts to fall, and instead of selling out, the trader holds on with the hope that it will rise again. The more
the stock falls, the more they hope and pray that it will rise.
But they dont realise Hope does not equal Action. And only our Actions make money in the stock market.
Experiencing Fear
The other side of the coin is Fear, and for most traders, it looks like this:
Theyve just bought a stock, and it has begun to rise. It might look over-valued to some fundamental investors here. They start to fear
that the longer they hold on, the more likely it is the stock will fall back again. So they Sell, out of fear and the stock proceeds to make a
further 40% gain.
They did not realise that Action born solely from Fear is not a healthy or right action.
The Proper Use Of Hope And Fear When Trading And Investing
As weve seen most people fear their profits, and hope on their losses. This is counter intuitive to the ONLY universal rule in trading:
Cut your losses and let your profits run. When trading or investing we must USE fear and hope, instead of them using us.
To do this, we must FEAR our losses, and HOPE on our gains.
We must FEAR that our small loss will turn into a big loss, and get the hell outta Dodge. Similarly, we must HOPE that our small profit
will turn into a large profit, and let it run its full course.
In this way, we are cutting our losses. In this way, we are letting our profits run.
5 Tips for Improving your Pre Trading Routine

07 June 2015
12:34 PM
To be a successful trader, you have to do more than simply trading when the markets are open. You have to prepare for what yo ure about to get
into so that you can make smart and well-informed decisions when its time to actually trade.
This is something that many athletes can relate to. Much like how a boxer will review dozens of fight tapes and train for mon ths and months
before getting into the ring with his opponent, you too have to take the proper steps in preparing for battle. In other words , youve got to do your
homework before diving into action.
As they say, Preparation is half the battle. And in trading, the battle begins even before you open up your trading softwar e. Below, youll find
five ways to improve your pre-trading routine to help you conquer the markets!
1. Review price action
Its hard to know where the markets are going if you dont know where theyve been. One of the things you have to do before y ou begin trading
is to review the previous days or weeks price action. This will give you a pretty good idea of prevailing market themes, an d itll also help you
determine which technical levels you should keep an eye on.
2. Read, read, and READ
Did you ever take a seemingly perfect trade setup only to get blindsided by an economic report that you forgot was coming out ? If so, then you
definitely know how important it is to read up on the upcoming economic releases as well as the relevant issues affecting pri ce action.
One surefire way to keep track of these releases is to check economic calendars regularly or, better yet, mark those top -tier releases on your own
calendar. Ideally, you should be able to access your calendar in a jiffy so you can either keep one right beside your trading terminal or bookmark
our very own BabyPips.com Economic Calendar.
3. Eyes on the technical levels

Another way to prepare yourself for the trading week would be to take note of the technical levels on your charts and pinpoin t potential areas
where price could retrace or reverse. One of the many reasons why traders often miss out on solid trade setups is that they f ail to anticipate
possible moves, spotting setups only when its too late to act.
To save yourself from a lot of regret, you can note down developing chart patterns and setups early on so you can be ready to take those trades
once the technical and fundamental signals line up. If you need an example, you can check out Cyclopips Weekly Watch wherein he points out
the potential setups on the currency cross pairs.
At the end of the week, you can also come up with a quick review on whether those levels you pointed out were eventually test ed. You can also
write about the trade setups you were watching and whether they panned out or not.
4. Start a ritual
No, Im not talking about sacrificing a goat (as some of our forum members seem to have incorporated into their pre -market routine). Im talking
about non-trading related rituals that you can incorporate into your pre -trading routine.
Many professionals do this to get them ready to work: professional athletes take naps before a game, or priests (theyre pros too!) might say a
Hail Mary before mass, or a teacher may do breathing exercises.
You can develop your own rituals, like eating a bowl of candy, or watching a Game of Thrones episode, or running 10K whatever floats your
boat!
The point is, no matter how quirky the ritual may be, its purpose is to get you comfortable. It should help relieve stress an d help you focus as you
begin trading.
5. Visualize yourself trading

Ive talked about this time and again, and I truly believe that the process of visualization is a great exercise to prepare y ou for the trading week
ahead.
Imagine yourself trading. Think about all the possible scenarios that might happen.
What will you do if the European bond auctions are successful? What will you do if NFP figures come in better than expected? What will you do
if you get hit with a big loss early in the week?
Imagine yourself going through these potential scenarios and see yourself reacting to them. Imagine yourself staying calm and relaxed, no matter
how stressful the situation may become.
This exercise is self-fulfilling, because once you see yourself in a stable state of mind, it will be easier for you to sustain this throughout the
trading week, allowing you to perform to the best of your abilities.
There you have it five tips to keep in mind as your develop your pre -market trading routine. Remember that as a trader, it is your job to always
There you have it five tips to keep in mind as your develop your pre -market trading routine. Remember that as a trader, it is your job to always
be prepared. Great traders do all the dirty work before, during, and after trading hours that is why they are successful. Take these helpful tips to
heart and you will see your trading improve over time.
The Secret to Being a Trader Who Thrives Under Pressure

07 June 2015
12:37 PM
Weve all seen them. The clutch performers. The athletes who seem to thrive when the stakes are highest. While others break u nder the
pressure, they make big play after big play to win games. But whats their secret? And more importantly, how can you use it t o become a better
trader?
Other than the big names like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Tiger Woods - who all seem to have an ability to thrive under pressure that
defies the limits of mere mortals- there is perhaps no bigger clutch player than Robert Horry, who is a retired basketball player. While his NBA
career was only modestly successful if you look at his numbers, he developed a legendary ability to hit the big shots when th ey mattered. He
even earned the name Big Shot Rob because he made so many key shots in important playoff games, helping 3 teams win 7 NBA
championships.
I watched Horry play when I was a kid in the mid 90s, and always marveled at his ability to thrive under pressure. Thats why I was interested
to learn his secret when I became a trader. I wanted to know how he did it so I could elevate my trading game. And then final ly came an
interview where he actually openly talked about it. And you know what he said? Its just a game. Thats all he said. That w as his secret.
While other players made it a matter of life and death and put huge pressure on themselves to perform, Horry remembered the s imple truth that
its just a game. Sure his ability to play this game directly determined how much money he would make, or whether he would re main an NBA
player or not, but at its essence it was just a game. Its not life and death. And there are many more important things to wo rry about. So why
put extra needless pressure? Just go out, catch the ball, and release. Thats what Horry did and he became a legend.
As traders, we often forget to take this perspective. At times we look at a trade as if its life and death. As if everything is riding on it. But its
not. If were doing a correct job in terms of risk management, any given trade is relatively insignificant. It wont make or break you. And at its
essence, trading as a whole is just a game. Its an incredible game that can reward us richly and cause us to grow as human b eings, but its just
a game. And the more you can remember that when youre making it out to be a matter of life and death, the better youll do. Because there
really are more important things to worry about. Like your health, and the health of your family, and your friends, and so ma ny other things.
When you stop to think about the grand scheme of things, you realize that youll be okay even if you lose on the next trade. And youll be okay
even if you go through a drawdown. There are people experiencing much much tougher things in life. This is just a game.
So what it takes is a delicate balance. Like everything in trading, we have to to learn the key ability to balance seemingly opposite and
contradictory things. On the one hand trading has to be your life. And on the other hand you have to remember that its just a game. It has to be
your life from the sense that you have to dedicate yourself to it with great passion and commitment, often sacrificing many t hings to achieve
your goals. But you cant let this dedication become something that enslaves you. You cant let it weigh you down with needle ss pressure as if
theres nothing more important in life. Because there are more important things, and as you remember them when the pressure i s on, itll lift a
weight off your shoulders and youll realize that its all okay. And ironically enough, with this attitude you will thrive. Y oull be in a more
relaxed state of mind, available to respond correctly to the moment without extra pressure. And as you trade better, youll f eel even more
relaxed and confident and a virtuous cycle will ensue.
So remember, its just a game. Dedicate yourself to it and seek excellence, but dont give it a power over you that it doesn t have. That can
make all the difference in your bottom-line. In the next post Ill take a look at another way to thrive under pressure as a trader. So stay tuned for
that next week. Until then let me know if you guys have experienced better trading when you remember not to take it too serio usly and remind
yourself that its just a game.
Work on procedural memory to improve your trading

07 June 2015
12:45 PM
Procedural memory is memory about how to perform procedures.

We have as an adult thousands of procedural memory. We perform these processes without thinking.
Driving a car is about procedural memory. We drive effortlessly without thinking. We are not even conscious of the process unless something
happens.
Yesterday I dropped my neighbor to the airport in his car. Because I had never driven that kind of car before I was conscious of the process and
paying close attention.
Shaving, brushing your teeth, washing dishes, cooking, and many other things are stored in brain as procedural memory where we can do them
without thinking.
The day you realize trading success is about developing procedural memory specific to a setup or style of trading , you will be on path to success.
You will do things that will enhance procedural memory.
Trading success is about developing expertise. When you try and develop expertise you train your procedural memory.
-------- full article below
Procedural memory is memory about how to perform procedures.
We have as an adult thousands of procedural memory. We perform these processes without thinking.
Driving a car is about procedural memory. We drive effortlessly without thinking. We are not even conscious of the process unless something
happens.
Yesterday I dropped my neighbor to the airport in his car. Because I had never driven that kind of car before I was conscious of the process and
paying close attention.
Shaving, brushing your teeth, washing dishes, cooking, and many other things are stored in brain as procedural memory where we can do them
without thinking.
The day you realize trading success is about developing procedural memory specific to a setup or style of trading , you will be on path to success.
You will do things that will enhance procedural memory.
Trading success is about developing expertise. When you try and develop expertise you train your procedural memory.
Procedural memories are implicit memories. They allow us to lower cognitive load. They are learned intuitions.
Procedural memory is memory about how to do a process. It is stored in memory as one schema.
A process containing say 32 steps is not stored in memory as 32 discrete step but as one sequence of step. When performing that task the brain
efficiently recalls all those steps simultaneously so you can do the task effortlessly.
Procedural memory helps free up the brain to do other things.

It frees the brain by reducing cognitive load. We have thousands of procedural memories developed over our lifetime. They make our life easy.
As a infant we have very few procedural memories but we quickly build them as we grow and they become part of us.
For example take a simple skill like swimming, it is a procedural memory once you develop it you can perform it without thinking or without
focusing on a step by step sequence. But it takes us some time to develop.
Same is true of trading . If you read about trading or buy trading manual you will not develop procedural memory. You develop trading related
procedural memory by doing actual trading . If you do a process thousands of time you develop procedural memory.
How many hours and tries are required to learn to swim or perform dance or gymnastic. It is same for trading.
If your setup is fast setup requiring fast entry and exit like say day trade , then procedural memory is even more important. You have to perform
the task at speed without thinking too much.
New traders spend too little time developing procedural memory. Before they can develop procedural memory they switch to new ideas and
setup. One day they ride bike for few hours struggle, next day do few hours of swimming and give up because water enters nose and ear, next
day they try something new. In the process they do not have procedural memory for setup.
Procedural memory also allows us to do vast number of day to day tasks. Imagine if you had to learn to drive everyday, or learn to walk
everyday. Life would be impossible without well developed procedural memory.
Same things happens in trading. As a trader you develop hundreds of procedural memories to make your trading effortless. Where to enter, where
to exit, where to abandon a setup without waiting for stops to hit, how to determine risk are all procedural memories developed through practice.
Finding anticipation setup is procedural memory. Once you develop it , you can quickly go through 400 to 500 stocks and identify those 5 to 6
Finding anticipation setup is procedural memory. Once you develop it , you can quickly go through 400 to 500 stocks and identify those 5 to 6
good setups. No amount of instructions and manual can make you learn that skill unless you do it daily for say 90 to 100 days.
Most successful traders who survive the market for many years have developed a procedural memories specific to a style of trading or a setup.
They can instinctively trade those setups without thinking about individual processes or steps involved in that setup. They are not conscious of
the steps.
A novice watching them trade many times do not understand their decisions. Many times they get out of a trade just before it hits a pothole or
avoid certain trade that novice will take. Lot of it is instinct developed as a result of procedural memory development. It is like a driver
instinctively hitting breaks at sign of something on the road.
For discretionary trading it is all about procedural memory development on a specific setup.
If your efforts at training procedural memory to trade a setup or style are successful then you will become efficient in trading that style.
Once you learn a setup it become relatively easy to develop procedural memory on related style or setup.
But it is difficult to develop procedural memory on another instrument or style. That is why you will see many successful traders focus on very
narrow niche in the market.
Some focus on growth investing , some focus on value, some on options, some on futures, some on currencies.
Within that they focus on very niche setup. Some trade say growth stock as swing trades, some trade them as position trades. These two setups
require distinct procedural memories.
Most successful traders learn by trial and error that sticking to their setup is best because when they do it the procedural memory automatically
kicks in.
As against that novice traders are ambitious, they want to trade as many setups as possible. They don't want to miss out on any style or
instrument like option or futures. So they try and simultaneously develop procedural memory. That obviously leads to failure.
If we know that the key to discretionary trading success is procedural memory then why is it difficult to develop procedural memory?
To develop procedural memory you need highly structured environment.
When you learn to drive, it is done under structured environment. You learn it in stepwise manner under close supervision. There is someone
sitting next to you closely supervising every step and also ensures you don't get killed.
Every month you will see some young kid getting killed in car accident, and the reason is largely to do with lack of well developed procedural
memory and bravado.
As against that much of learning to trade on your own is unstructured and unsupervised process unless you join a trading firm or a Wall Street
trading house or bank.
You are your own instructor and you need to create your own structure and you need to give yourself correct feedback and you need to ensure
you do not get killed by blowing up your account. And more importantly you need to persist for months in learning stage still it becomes
effortless exercise.
Everyday I get around 10 to 15 emails from people asking for trial and I most of the time even do not answer those emails now days. Those
people have no idea about how trading works.
If you want to develop trading procedural memory and make thousands or millions the first step is to put all your effort in developing procedural
memory. It is not about trial, it is about the 500 th attempt and the thousandth and three thousandth attempt that makes you effortless. That is
what develop procedural memory. You can not do it in 15 day trial.
If you read the classic Wall Street books like How I made 2 million dollars in stock market by Darvas or Reminiscence of a Stock operator, you
will see that much of the struggle depicted in those book is about trying to find a setup and a process and sticking to it.
Once Darvas found his setup and developed a process it was easy. In Livermore case he went from setup to setup and from day trading to
position trading before making big money.
It is the same thing that happens on Stockbee site hundreds of novice join every year. Some give up in few months , those persist for months , six
month, a year at some stage develop procedural memory and then they develop their own setups .
Some still stick around , because they find the environment enriching and motivating. They like learning from others and continue to improve.
Some become very good at particular style or timeframe like day trading . They start their own site. Some are scared of sharing their setup and
secretive, they spend time talking in riddles. Some do not want to help others. But that is what makes the world interesting . Not everyone is
motivated by helping others.
The Stockbee site fosters such ecosystem and survives the process as new traders bring in new ideas and new energy . And some old traders here
take on mentorship role to guide newcomers.
As a novice trader if you understand the role of procedural memory in trading you would approach the task differently. You will set process
As a novice trader if you understand the role of procedural memory in trading you would approach the task differently. You will set process
goals as against monetary goals.
You will focus on well developed setup idea with step by step instructions.
You will try and find someone to supervise your process and ensure you do not get killed during the earning process.
In most procedural memory development situation a apprentice model has shown to be most effective for learning.
When you attempt to develop procedural memory on your own, unless you are extremely motivated and driven (or the correct word according to
psychologists is you have very high self efficacy beliefs) the task is difficult. That is why you will see few extremely motivated individuals make
it in this field.
This is the reason most ordinary and less motivated traders fail before they can achieve profitability.
They blame markets or other things for it but in many cases the fault lies with failure to train procedural memory.
In order to develop procedural memory for any given time frame or style or set up first you need to start with well defined setup with clear step
by step process led out with clear explanation for each step.
For example if you were to decide to trade a swing trade setup, you need clear well defined highly structured process that you can follow and
master till you can do it on your own without supervision. That is why I and many other traders here repeatedly share processes, setup and repeat
things till people get it.
That is why this site puts so much focus on becoming process oriented. The daily posts like Night Time is right time, Good Morning Wall Street,
Anticipation as your tool box and so on are designed to drive the importance of procedural memory.
Develop process flow and develop procedural memory. Once you do that you are on your own.
Winning Traders
07 June 2015
12:47 PM
Winning traders take responsibility for all their trades win or lose.
Whining traders play the victim of algos, the Fed, and blame the markets for their losses.
Winners have a trading plan
Whiners have emotions, ego, and blame.
Winners find a way to be profitable. Whiners find an excuse why they are not.
Winning traders brighten social media by joining it.
Whiners brighten social media by leaving it.
Winning traders study at least five times as much as they trade.
Whiners trade with little or no study of the markets.
Winners love to trade. Whiners just care about whether their last trade was a winner or loser. Winners think in probabilities and
possibilities. Whiners put way too much importance on just any one trade.
Winners are focused on how they can make money in the markets. Whiners want to prove they are right.
Winning traders create lessons and learn from every trade. Whiners create negative meanings and build emotional drama from every
losing trade and build false egos and arrogance from every winning trade.
3 Ways to Identify Your Trading Strengths

07 June 2015
01:09 PM
It is often said that, when it comes to trading, you should play your strengths. Most trading psychology articles, however, focus on minimizing weaknesses rather
than identifying and improving ones strengths.
This is probably because theres a common notion that when you tackle your weaknesses you automatically enhance your trading performance, but that isnt always
the case. This time around, lets focus on a different approach by building your strengths first so that you can work around your shortcomings.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, what exactly are strengths and why is it important to identify them? Simply put, a strength is something that youre good at.
But unless you apply that particular strength in achieving a productive outcome, you might not be able to recognize it or you might even see it as a weakness.
So how can you identify your trading strengths? Here are a few steps that might help:
1. Review your trading journals
I often emphasize the importance of keeping a detailed trading journal. So put them to good use! Review your trading logs and pinpoint those instances where you
think you performed well.
Identify your top ten most profitable trades and take note of the following: Which pairs did you trade? Did you stick to your trading plan? Did you base them solely
on technicals, fundamentals, or were they a combination of both? How long did you hold on to your trades? Aside from asking yourself these questions, identify
other common factors that helped you win those trades.
2. List down your strengths as a trader

I know that it can be a daunting task, but renowned trading psychologist Brett Steenbarger came up with the idea how we can go about it.
Citing the VIA Survey which was created by the VIA Institute on Character to help people asses their strengths, I need you to identify your top five:
creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, wisdom, bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality, love, kindness, social intelligence, citizenship, fairness,
leadership, forgiveness, modesty, prudence, self-control, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, optimism, humor, spirituality
Done? Now what I want you to do is think of SPECIFIC ways how you could utilize them in your daily trading. For example, I ranked the love of learning as my
biggest strength. I think I can utilize this more by studying different systems and by reading more books on forex trading.
3. Ask for other peoples opinions
Although self-reflection is helpful, we may overlook a few traits that other people can easily identify in us. So take the time to ask for outside opinion. Ask your
colleagues, trading manager or coach, and friends what traits you have which they think make you a good trader.
Compile their input and compare them to your own list. You might be surprised to see how other people perceive you.
Just like identifying your weaknesses, it is equally important to know what youre good at, regardless of whether youre on a losing streak or looking to raise your
game.
10 Steps to Developing a Winning Traders Mindset

07 June 2015
02:29 PM
Some good excerpts
Winning is not a sometime thing, its an all time thing. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
A quote from OShea, the most important change in my trading career occurred when I learned to divorce my ego from the trade . Trading is a psychological
game. Most people think that theyre playing against the market, but the market doesnt care. Youre really playing against y ourself.
If you know that your system makes money over the long run, it is easier to take the signals and trade according to the syst em during periods of losses. If you are
relying on your own judgment during trading, you may find that you are fearful just when you should be bold and courageous ju st when you should be cautious.
Trader Ed Seykota says,

I feel my success comes from my love of the markets. I am not a casual trader. It is my life. I have a passion for trading. It is not merely a hobby or even a career
choice for me. There is no question that this is what I am supposed to do with my life.
Envision your ideal self
Before you fall asleep each night, take moment to envision your ideal self. Close your eyes for a moment
What does your ideal self look like?
What are you wearing?
How do you carry yourself down the street?
Approach others?
Make decisions?
What things surround you?
What people surround you?
When repeated and practiced with deep though these visualization exercises go a long way towards turning ourselves into the p erson and trader we want to be.
Heres an Action Plan for you to consider:
Commit (commit to doing what you love)

Be flexible (do not become attached to your trades)
Focus on execution (trade the right strategy for the idea)
Calculate your expectancy (the #s need to make sense)
Hold yourself accountable for your mistakes (this is the path to improvement)
Do what works for YOU (dont be concerned with what others are doing, go against the grain)
Establish a routine (its always best to over prepare)
Determine your unfair advantage (we all have one, whats yours?)
Remain humble
Visualize what you want, then make it happen!
Three Thoughts
07 June 2015
02:30 PM
Three Thoughts by Nifty Nirvana
Trading is just like any other profession like Medicine, Law, Accounting, Teaching, Engineering and Sports. It is all about skill development.
But unlike trading, these professions have an advantage. We can always conceal our failure and mediocrity there. We can always put the blame
on others and situations .We rarely suffers due to our mediocrity and inefficiency. Our client or our employer always suffers. Just think about
this for a moment. How many people you know, excel in their chosen professions?
There is no such escape routes in trading. We just cant conceal or hide our mediocrity and inefficiency. Our account will shout it louder. There
is no other way but to shoulder the whole responsibility for what has happened. Have you ever thought why most of the traders fail miserably in
markets? Let me share some random thoughts.
Every other profession has a well defined knowledge base and curriculum. This knowledge is taught systematically for several months or for
many years. There are evaluation methods like tests and examinations to ensure that the students have absorbed the knowledge well.
Unfortunately, we traders have no such knowledge base. We have to build it on our own and most of the times we end up with wrong methods
In other professions, after learning the basics, people undergo rigorous training under expert supervision. Doctors undergo clinical practice.
Lawyers begin practice as juniors to an expert lawyer. Accountants do article ship and teachers go for education training.
Trading is the only profession in this world where you read a book on weekend and start betting big money on Monday.
Finally think about how much money we need to spend on education to land up in a good profession. We may need to spend several lakhs to
become a specialist doctor. How much we need to spend for an engineering degree and a reputed MBA?. Here in trading, people are not willing
to spend on education and pay tuition fee to the market. Everybody wants to mint money from day one.
No wonder, people find it difficult to survive as a trader. There are no short cuts. Select a method with an edge and get yourself trained. Be
ready to pay some tuition fee to the market.
Theres Only 2 Kinds of Traders Making Money

07 June 2015
02:34 PM
There are hundreds of trading styles out there. There are dozens of markets to trade. There are multiple time-frames to trade on. But there are
only 2 kinds of traders that are making any money. And the only question you need to be asking yourself is: am I one of them?
If you are one of these types of traders, you know it. And your trading statements show it. If youre not, that doesnt mean you should panic.
You just need to transform yourself. And thats very possible to do once you see the need for it and commit yourself to the correct path.
So what are the two types of profitable traders? Well, to understand that, you have to realize there are two basic ways to make money as a
short-term trader (were not talking investors here). One way is through a purely mechanical system or algorithm that has a consistent edge.
The other way is through judgment or discretion to consistently gain an edge. Thats not any special insight. In fact, its pretty common
knowledge. But what isnt common knowledge is how to actually do either one of those things.
The First Kind
Starting with the mechanical or algorithmic side, I see so many traders, especially on the forex side, buying systems. Systems that are backtested for years and can supposedly bring great consistent profits. Let me tell you from now, if youre one of those traders thats always
searching for a great system, its never going to happen for you. Why not? That brings us to our first type of profitable trader. You see, the
consistently profitable mechanical trader is someone who is extremely versed in programming, math, and statistics. First and foremost, he
knows how to back-test correctly, and how to avoid the multitude of statistical biases and errors that can arise. Even traders who arent
looking for a magic system often make the mistake of thinking that their back-testing has any merit. More often than not, its mired in
numerous statistical errors that leave it not only incorrect, but worse yet dangerous to their trading account. Trust me when I tell you the math
and statistics of correct back-testing and system building are extremely complicated. Unless youre a math and statistics whiz, you dont stand
a chance.
But theres another quality that the profitable mechanical trader has that separates him from the rest. And thats that he truly understands the
markets in a deep way. This is of vast importance because market conditions (like volatility and directional conviction) are cyclical and they
go through different kinds of patterns over time. So even if you were given a solid algorithmic system by a great mechanical trader, you still
wouldnt be able to make money from it over long periods of time because it would need to be fine-tuned to adapt to changing conditions.
Also, the great mechanical traders will often have several systems and theyll choose which ones to employ at what times based on their deep
understanding of market behavior. Not as easy as it seemed is it?
The Second Kind
This is the type of trader that most are familiar with and can relate to: the discretionary trader that makes ongoing decisions to trade the
market. But what is the profile of the profitable discretionary trader? Its simply this: he thinks and trades contextually.
Like the profitable mechanical trader, the successful discretionary trader has a deep understanding of how the markets work. And he takes that
understanding and analyzes everything through its lens. There is no focus on indicators and patterns like the vast majority of traders. No. This
trader knows that those things mean nothing out of context. They cannot be traded in a vacuum. So this trader focuses on complex contextual
analysis. He uses simple principles and techniques, but puts them within a complex mental map of the markets. Why complex? Well, because
the markets are complex. This trader doesnt listen to all the false gurus and educators out there who dont really trade and who say that you
need to focus purely on simplicity. He realizes that simplicity is found in the principles and techniques (and he does keep those simple), but
putting them into correct market context is anything but simple. It takes study, practice, and dedication over time. But it is possible. And
thats all this trader focuses on.
So while most traders are searching for patterns, and setups, and indicator combinations, the profitable discretionary trader is honing his skillset of reading the market. He is building ever-more complex mental maps of how the markets really work, and always putting things into
context. And this separates him from the rest.
What Kind should we be?
The reality is that it can be learned, but its not easy. It takes time, dedication, and effort.Very few out there in this industry are doing this.
And thats because its not popular.And it takes time and dedication. But if you want it bad enough its more than possible. And if you want to
join the ranks of profitable traders, you have to understand what it means and be willing to do anything and everything that it takes.
If this is you, then you too can be one of the 2 kinds of traders. And youll realize that the rewards of going this unpopular route can be truly
remarkable.
Do you really love Money ? Check here ... amazing checklist

07 June 2015
02:35 PM
1.Do you know how much money are you carrying, without counting?
2.Since how many years are you earning Money, and how much have you earned so far in your life?
3.If people owe you money, can you name the top five stuck money cases with precise name and amounts?
4.How much is your saving per month?
5.If you deal in the stock markets can you tell the exact price of most of the stocks that you owe today?
6.Have you measured your Money Growth in real terms?
7.How many times you have lost Money, just because you were powerless enough to say No?
8.Do you buy things and then regret that you bought it or bought it at a higher price?
9.How many multiple income streams that you have?
10.Do you know how much Money in specific terms you have lost so far?11.How much is your savings in terms of Money earned so
far?
12.What steps have you taken so far to transform the Money area of your life?
Some of the above questions will give you pointers of how you have been dealing with Money so far in your life. This will als o indicate
how much potential you may have to transform the present situation to a better one.
Patience and Probabilities

07 June 2015
02:44 PM
Patience and Probability these are two words which are used most in trading world and often
ignored by most of traders while trading. The reason behind this is, as simple these words are,
it is difficult to follow them during trading. But these two factors are the key root pillars of
successful trading and if any trader is not skilled in this, then he/she cannot be a profitable
trader in long run.
Traders should wait patiently until they find a trade through their method and then wait
patiently for either their stop loss or target. But the exact opposite situation happens with
most of novice traders. They enter in a trade with greed and fear of missing out of a rally and
ignore their method (if they have any) and enter into the market at wrong time and position.
Here again, they rush to exit their position with partial profits or losses( most of time with
losses) and quickly exit the trade.
The lack of patience spoils your probability of winning trades most of time or almost every
time. The key root of trading is, we should find a trade only through our method and then
find out the probability of success, if it is in our favor then we should proceed with the trade,
if not then we should again wait until we find the good one.The concept of patience and
probability is important for traders.
Creating your Learning Culture

07 June 2015
02:44 PM
If I had to identify one characteristic that separated successful traders from their less successful counterparts, I would say that the successful
ones maintained what I call a learning culture.
A learning culture is one in which there is an explicit philosophy and set of procedures to reflect upon recent experience, extract lessons from
that experience, and use those lessons to guide future experience.
While such a culture can be maintained individually, it becomes exponentially more powerful when it is shared. Imagine a small group of
people, each of whom is extracting lessons from experience and sharing them with all the others. The net effect is to condense time: a person
has gained a week's worth of experience in a day, simply by assimilating the lessons of others.
This condensation of time is essential to a field such as trading, in which the learning curve may outlast one's bank account. Most of us have
heard of the "ten year rule", which states that expertise in any performance field requires a minimum of ten years of learning and deliberate
practice. Clearly, most of us cannot afford ten years of our lives to learn to master financial markets; few trading firms could or would support
such an extended process.
Within a learning culture, however, a trader can gain ten years of experience in a fraction of that time. The key is learning from others and
making use of proper tools for exploiting that learning.
Imagine, for example, that I am trading with a group of four other people. At the end of every trading session, each of us shares, via video and
with annotation, his or her best trade of the day. Those videos and explanations are reviewed intensively, providing high-yield access to
multiple trading patterns. Over time, those patterns are reinforced--and each of the traders is seeing many times the patterns of the average
trader.
Sadly, few trading firms make concerted efforts to embody such learning cultures. Whatever mutual learning occurs is the result of informal
conversations and occasional collaborations. Because the traders don't hang together, too many hang separately.
Just one learning colleague can double one's rate of growth; conducting learning in groups can turn a 10-year rule into a several year one. It is
no accident that the same training facilities--whether in boxing, chess, college sports, or the arts--produce leading performers year after year.
Nor is it an accident that the world's leading laboratories produce consistent world-class discoveries; that the world's leading educational
institutions generate the best scholarship.
Culture counts. When you're surrounded by high performers, it brings out the best in you.
Trading Success,one and only thing

07 June 2015
02:54 PM
Youve been told that you need to focus on simplicity. And that you have to find a few trusted setups to execute with discipline each time they
show up. And that all you need is good psychology and youll be profitable. But who tells you all of this? Is it professional traders who are
making a living from their trading, or is it people who are trying to sell you trading education? Do you think it might be in their best interest to
tell you that its simple and straight-forward, even when it isnt?
Trading is not about clear-cut, straightforward simplicity. Trading is about being okay with ambiguity. Its about tolerating confusion. Its
about sitting with discomfort and being at peace with it. Its about not having an exact script of when to trade or not to trade, and being okay
with that. Its about exceptions to the rules. Its about contradiction. Its about uncertainty.
And yet traders left and right want to make it simple. They want to reduce it to a few simple setups to trade mechanically with discipline. But
the market is not simple. The market is all about uncertainty, and complexity, and ambiguity. Simple setups traded mechanically could never
capture that, and they can never give you a true lasting edge. So choose a different way.
Choose to learn the art of reading the markets. Learn to synthesize different elements like price action, structure, market internals, and
intermarket themes, and pull them together into a contextual view. Only then can you choose to employ simple setups to trade with. Because
only then will you know which setups to use under which conditions. And this is everything.
And dont be fooled. Learning this is a very complex process that will take time. It turns out that psychology, while hugely important, is NOT
everything. First, you need an edge. And having a consistent edge requires that you dedicate yourself to learning to read the markets and how
to execute correctly in context. But its very possible. Many have done it before you, and this means that you too can learn it if you dedicate
yourself. They had nothing that you dont have. All they did, was to be relentless.
They didnt spend their trading days waiting for mindless setups and indicators to line up. No. They spent their days reading the market from
minute to minute, hour to hour, figuring out the odds of it doing this or that, adapting dynamically, thinking of trading ideas as the action
unfolds.
Now, youll ask me if its not easier psychologically to just have simple clear setups to wait for. Absolutely. It is. But who said easy would
make you money? The market rewards what is hard to do. Its hard to have ambiguity surrounding your market reads. Its hard being
uncertain. Its hard dealing with competing and sometimes conflicting signs. And yet, this is what its all about. You have to avoid needing
things to be clear cut. Instead of running from uncertainty, train your mind to be able to better deal with it.
And keep a trading journal. But dont fill it only with thoughts about your emotions. Let it be filled instead with your notes about market
action. Youll find my notes still in the drawer beside my bed. Over 1000 pages of them. Day after day. Week after week. Making mistakes,
wrong interpretations, being clueless about how the market was acting, not knowing how I should trade, not knowing if my views made sense
or not. But I continued taking notes and learning. And then, something magical happened. Market feel was born. Now I had the prerequisite to
trade those setups theyll tell you about.
So dedicate yourself. Dedicate yourself like youve never dedicated yourself before. Trading is a mental sport. You have to approach it like
that. Dont listen to the salesmen. Start building your skills. Start practicing. Make mistakes. Take losses. Be clueless. Dont be afraid of it. Its
okay; thats the only way youll progress. And trust me, progress you will.
Having 'Edge'
07 June 2015
02:57 PM
The edge certainly lies in the deep understanding of the system and one's own self.
We all know the investment techniques of Peter Lynch and Warren Buffet,but certainly not
their edges.And we cannot replicate their success.
To have an edge we need to see the highest highs and lowest lows of the system as well as
one's own self.To live and breathe with one's own system,without much tweaking it.
To face all kinds of markets, bullish ,bearish , sideways and to know how it performs in all
kinds of markets.To face the biggest wins and the biggest loss with the same system.Over a
period become wiser to understand that along with any system , it is "A Strong Trading
Mind" that makes the money.
That as per me is an edge.
That comes from hard-work and observation,which the expert cannot inject into you.You
have to tread along the same path to get where he has reached.That is something which no
one can teach.An expert just shows you the way,but you have to travel your own path.
---
Often "having system with an edge" is confused with having a system which can generate
profits.. profits and big profits. One must understand that there is no such system in the
world. Even Morgan Stanley goes through the draw down of 30-35% most of the time in a
year.
As far as having a trading system goes there are many... like crossover system.. breakout
system.. b/o failure system.. gann methods.. tukka trading.. dabba trading etc etc. In my
opinion all of these work. If you haven't tried.. try it out.. all will work. But problem is that all
of these system do not work all the time. No system in the world works all the time. Any
method which has a positive expectancy can be called a good trad-able system. There are
many many strategies shared in TJ..don't most and I mean like 99% of them work ? Try it
out.. they will.
Now the question is why is it that most of the people in trading fail.. what can give the edge. I
believe that it is the RR, MM and the psychology that gives the trader an edge. Along with
that there is one more thing.. the person must he satisfied with the methods he/she has. No
matter if I get my hands on the worlds best trading system, not necessarily I will turn out to
be a winner. It totally depends on how I trade it....whether I like it or not.. whether I can
manage RR, MM, Psychology or not.
Same way.. Extremist has definitely shared a good system which can be traded with nice
profit. Doesn't it mean all who follow will come out profitable in long run ? Not necessarily.
But because Extremist has developed the system he has better understanding of how to utilize
therefore he has the edge he needs. Others will either devote time to learn or give up and start
the hunt for the next system.
---Defining the words 'edge', 'system or method' can help.
Edge:
involves atleast two competing people and a special power. If one person has a special power
to beat the other person repeatedly we can call it as 'winner having an edge over loser'.
to beat the other person repeatedly we can call it as 'winner having an edge over loser'.
The biggest special power is: persons strong mind ofcourse.
Super duper technical and math wizardry is also a great edge.
Thats why some of the well known hedge funds hires only math Ph.Ds.
If the special powers can be easily copied and acquired it's no more 'special'.
Some edges are resistant to mass copying even if they are exposed.
eg. Belief systems of successful trader can be studied but to make them part of ones flesh and
bones... is not an easy task. For many people its impossible task.
On the other hand exposing the code base of winning strategies of quant firm to Internet...
will quickly destroy the edge and it will stop working or atleast more parasites will be
leaching the strategies until profitability becomes dry!
Insider information is one such edge easy to copy.
---
The 7 Golden Principles of Stock Selection

07 June 2015
02:59 PM
A seasoned investor has to invest time and effort into evaluating the real value of a stock. Making a wise and informed choic e has a lot to do with a holistic research
and trend analysis of the particular company that is being considered as a possible investment. These 7 principles of stock s election help you in making wise choices
in the stock trading world.
When investing in stocks, it is essential to consider certain parameters before taking the plunge. Making a wise and informed choice has a lot to do with a holistic
research and trend analysis of the particular company that is being considered as a possible investment. Lets call these par ameters the 7 principles of stock picking.
And these are-
1) Price and Performance : This parameter helps analyzing the current technical levels of the company by looking at the current and past price movement and the
stocks performance in weekly and monthly charts.
It includes the major high and low points the stock made in the past, such as:
52 Week high/Low or life time high/low

Average daily volumes for the last 20 days.
Average daily movement (ADM).
The percentage of shares pledged by the promoters.
2) Product/Service : This criteria includes the study of the companys profile and its main line of business. It helps the investor to understand the business model of
the company and the products and services it has to offer. It gives an idea of the companys business activity to the investo r. And it is always good to know what you
are working with. You shouldnt invest in a company whose work you dont understand.
3) Profitability : This factor studies the performance of the company over the years and quarter on quarter (QoQ) by looking at its sales, net p rofit, earnings, and any
other exceptional items thus allowing the investor to understand the past and current performance of the company and reasons behind increase/decrease in its
revenues.
4) People : This part of the strategy allows the investors to study:
the current management
share holding pattern of the company
Percentage of FII /DII investments in the stock over Year on Year(YoY) and Quarter on Quarter(QoQ).
The increase and decrease in FIIs or DIIs is a very important factor as it gives a clear indication of the demand of the st ock in the market. Studying investors
holdings of more than 1 % stake in the company (apart from promoter holdings) gives an idea if any High Net worth Individual (HNI) or some big fund house has a
stake in the stock. This adds credibility on the returns of the stock.
5) Peers : The word Peers is self explanatory as a competitive analysis of other companies within the sector adds more clarity to the pi cture. Studying the market
capitalization, sales, profit margins, earnings, market share and the returns of its peers has gives a snapshot of the variou s players in the market and helps the investor
understand the sector he/she is investing in.
6) Philanthropy : Most of the leaders of successful organizations give weight to the ideology that to attain long term success, it is necessary to have some genuine
social responsibility. Studying a companys philanthropic activities can also give an insight into the overall financial heal th of the organization.
7) Prospects : This is the last and most important part of the strategy as it indicates the future potential of the company. Studying the fu ture aspects of the company
and its sustainability in the market is crucial to stock selection. These include directors / management reports, annual repo rts, future orders, current overall
performance, any current or future news updates, bulk &block deals, strengths and growth of the firm.
Therefore, with the help of this strategy one can understand the companys past, current and future workings in a snapshot an d allow the investors to take better and
informed decisions.
Spending and Saving

07 June 2015
03:05 PM
Excerpts
"Most Americans live with a microwave mentality,"."They were never taught, or haven't learned, how to delay gratification. This immaturity spells trouble when it
comes to saving money and making plans down the road."
"The average American doesn't know what healthy spending looks like. They see how people living around them are spending, and emulate that. But if we're all in the
dark, that's a dangerous cycle."
A core problem is that, "Americans don't understand the difference between saving and investing. To save means to place money you can't afford to lose in a vehicle
that is safe and has guaranteed growth. But to invest means to place money in a vehicle that has a certain amount of risk. You hope to make a gain, but it's not
guaranteed. You might even lose money. Thus, you should only invest money you can afford to lose - or money you can let languish in the market for twenty years, if
necessary, until it recovers."
"The trick to building a path to retirement success is two-fold: First, invest in yourself and a path that can boost your earning power. Second, control your standard of
living as income rises."
"Investing in yourself doesn't mean paying for a top private college and racking up immense debt. It could instead mean going to a community college or technical
school. Or it could be getting advanced training, certifications, or designations in your current career track -- or kicking off a new one. It could also be getting help
launching a side business to earn more money.
"Similarly, controlling your standard of living doesn't mean trying to save your way to retirement by skipping every Starbucks latte. Instead, the real key is to focus on
those expenses that matter most: where you live and what you drive. Don't push yourself to the brink; a modest car and a modest home (or apartment, even!) takes a
lot of pressure off the rest of your lifestyle and leaves far more room to save and invest."
"My favorite rule of thumb comes from Elizabeth Warren's classic book of twenty years ago, All Your Worth. In it she suggests a simple 50/30/20 model for spending
money on needs/wants/savings." If more boomers used a guidepost like this,"I think they'd see how far off they are from target and then slowly start to change. But
when you don't know what the target is, how do you know you are off the mark?"
A simple change of perspective could improve people's lives markedly. "Even though many of us are struggling financially, we should continue to focus on how great
things truly are.If you stop to think about it, John D. Rockefeller (the richest American in history) with all his wealth, power, and means still didn't have most of the
creature comforts working class Americans take for granted today."
I'll give the last word on how Americans might improve their long-term financial outlook. "Rule 1: Decide to invest. Rule 2: Make it automatic. Rule 3: Never forget
Rules 1 and 2."
Understand the difference between saving and investing. Spend wisely and invest automatically. And don't get so immersed in y our life today that you
ignore your life tomorrow.
Day Trading: Patience is the Key

07 June 2015
03:18 PM
One of the best cardinal rules and day trading advice is to be patient. Patience is key, during
the day, there may be many opportunities. It is best to wait for the right opportunity pursuant
to your specific rules and trading plan. Sometimes you won't make any trade at all, that's why
it's not always easy being patient. Most of the time you will find yourself in profitable trades
as long as your patient and vigilante.
It is best to be actively involved in your trading plan and passively involved in the actual
markets when starting out. If your typical trade manifests itself three times out of the week
then consider yourself profitable because all it takes is one really good trade a week, unless
you are scalp trading.
When you are patient, the trade you are looking for will invariably reveal itself to you. As
this happens make sure to stay focused on your trading rules and stick to the plan. Another
key ingredient to successful trading is visualizing what you will do during premeditated
scenarios. Visualization and patience is a major one two punch to building a strong trading
character.
Do you need to wake up, Trader?

07 June 2015
03:39 PM
Sometimes it takes a tragedy to wake us up. We pause for a second and become aware of our mortality. What if were not around tomorrow? Have we really
fulfilled our potential? Have we made the most of the time we have?
Are you living up to your potential? Are you growing and evolving as human being? Are you making your dreams a reality?
The beautiful thing about trading is that its not only a way to make a lot of money, its a way to master yourself and grow as a person. It takes dedication and
effort, and yet what better use of our time can we make than that of realizing our full potential?
But a word of advice from personal experience. Dont make it about empty striving. Make it about gratitude. Be thankful for w hat you have and with that attitude
approach your dreams and ambitions. Then youll be realizing the potential thats already there instead of chasing external things that you think will make you
happy. And that applies equally to life, as well as trading.
An Efficient Brain is most important for a successful trader

07 June 2015
03:43 PM
Here is a 21-day mental detox program to get your brain performing at its peak : 1. Add exercise to your routine.
Four new studies presented at the Alzheimers Association International Conference in Vancouver confirm that exercise helps t o prevent low
mental function thats caused by stress and aging. Schedule at least three workouts cardio or weight lifting every week for three weeks. The
productivity and energy that exercise brings far outweighs the loss of a half hour from your day.
2. Plot out your day in advance.
For the next 21 days, organize each day before the day begins. Commit to waking up 30 minutes earlier than youre used to in order to identify
your top three to-dos. Choose three daily tasks that have the greatest influence on your performance and success. The most important tasks eac h
day are also typically the tasks we fear, dread, and avoid most taxing our mental function with stress hormones and negative emotions.
3. Do your top three to-dos first.
Most people do this backwards they focus first on the unimportant tasks and save the most crucial activities for last. Saving the important items
for last means that youll need the greatest courage and energy at the end of the day when youre most tired from spending co untless hours
completing lower-priority tasks. By getting the most important items out of the way first, you create mental energy and momentum for the rest of
the day.
4. Finish what you start.
Unfinished projects leave us feeling self-critical and hassled. As you tackle a project, commit to focusing on it exclusively until its done. If its a
large project, break it down into manageable parts that can each be completed in one sitting. Dont multitask or tolerate int erruptions. Developing
the self-discipline of a finisher will help you feel more satisfied and mentally relaxed at the end of your workday.
5. Seek small, continuous improvement.
A sign that you need to mentally detox is feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, or burnt out. This comes from fixating on the end re sult, rather than
looking for any improvement along the way. For 21 days, remind yourself to discover any improvement in the current situation, small or large.
When you get into the habit of seeing improvement, you become more optimistic and less discouraged.
6. Recharge your mental battery.
In addition to exercise, the overloaded brain needs rest in order to function optimally. The brain really is like a battery it only requires one full
nights sleep in order to recharge. Its okay to work hard and be mentally tired even to do this several days in a row as long as you get one
good nights sleep every few days. Mental rest during the day is also important. Take out your calendar and schedule one day of rest for each
seven-day cycle for the next three weeks. You will find yourself more productive and less mentally exhausted for the other six days .
What Day trading and making millions of Dollars taught me about

life?
07 June 2015
03:49 PM
Day trading is the best job in the world on the days you make money. You make a trade, then maybe 20 minutes later you are ou t of the trade
with a profit, and for the rest of the day you think about how much money you made.
Its the worst job in the world on a bad day. I would make a trade, it would go against me, and then I wanted my heart to sto p so my blood
would stop thumping so loudly.
Heres what I learned. All of these lessons I will certainly use today, many years after I stopped day trading.
A) You cant predict the future. Everyone thinks they can. But they cant.
This applies not just to trading but everything. You could be married for 10 years and the next thing you know you are divorc ed and you would
not have predicted that.
You could be healthy all your life and drink your vegetables and exercise and reduce stress, and a year later you could be de ad from cancer.
Youd have much less stress if you let go of trying to predict the future.
You can always seek to increase the odds in your favor. if I dont jump off bridges, for instance, its more likely Ill be a live a year from now.
But certainly a path to unhappiness is thinking the future can be predicted and controlled.
B) Hope is not a strategy.
If you get to the point where you hope you dont get ruined, then you did something wrong beforehand.
For instance, if you plan a wedding outside and you dont have a backup plan in case it rains, then you probably mis -planned your wedding,
unless you are getting married in a desert.
Hoping is not a bad thing. I hope that every day my life goes perfectly.
But if hoping is the only thing Im relying on, then it means I didnt really look at all the possible outcomes of something that was important to
me.
C) Uncertainty is your best friend.
A hundred percent of opportunities in life are created because people are uncertain about almost everything in their lives.
We are constantly trying to close the enormous gap between the things we are certain about and the things we are uncertain ab out, and almost
every invention, product, Internet service, book, whatever has been created to help us close that gap.
Sometimes this is hard. If your husband betrays and leaves you, you often feel like crawling on the floor and burning all the self-help books.
They all lied.
Its hard to feel in the now or to positive think when life feels like its over. Ive tried. For me its too hard.
But at the very least you can sayhelp me. You can say it to your close friends. You can say it something inside of yoursel f.
Help me is the most powerful, and most forgotten, prayer.
D) Taking risks versus reducing risk.
Some people take too many risks and they go bankrupt. This happened to me. And sometimes people are too cautious and dont ta ke enough
risks.
When I first started day trading, I was so afraid of risk that if I had a small profit, Id end the trade. But then I would t ake big losses and that
would wipe out all my profits.
The key is that you can take larger and larger risks if you work on better and better ways to deal with those risks.
For instance, I might be able to risk marrying someone if I know she is not a hard-core drug addict who regularly betrays the people she is close
to.
I can risk driving without a license if I always stay below the speed limit (I know this is a stupid risk, but still). Once you have a method of
reducing risks, its easier to make trades or decisions about anything.
E) Diversification.
Often I get emails, I really want ONE job but they dont seem to want me and now Im miserable. How can I get that job?
Wellyou cant.
And youre going to be unhappy. You cant wish yourself a job.
When I was raising money to day trade, I probably contacted over 1,000 people. When I was starting an Internet business I sta rted over a dozen
Internet businesses and watched all of them fail but one. When I was trying to sell my Internet business I contacted over a d ozen companies
(although Google broke my heart damn you Google!).
When I wanted to get married, I went on lots of dates. Claudias approach was even smarter she wouldnt waste time with dinners. She would
only go to tea with guys. Within the first 20 seconds you know if you are attracted. So keep it to a tea.
F) Say no.
In day trading, if something is not working out, even if your heart wants it to work out, you have to say No and cut your l osses.
If a business relationship is not working out, dont put more energy and time into it.
There is a cognitive bias called committment bias. We think because weve already put time and energy (or money) into somet hing that we
have to stick with it. But this is just a mental bias. Say no to it.
You have to decide every moment if this is the situation you want to be in.
Just because you were in the situation a moment ago, or yesterday, or for 10 years, doesnt mean the situation is right for y ou anymore.
G) Health.
Day trading pulls everything out of you. It sucks the soul out of your body, blends it up, and then explodes. It doesnt turn into a nice smoothie.
It explodes.
So you have to take care of yourself. If you dont sleep enough, if you dont eat well, exercise, be around positive people, be grateful for what
you have, blah blah blah, you will lose all of your money and go bankrupt.
And obviously, this applies to everything else in life. Every day, what small thing can you do to become a slightly better yo u?
The reason we get so attracted to safe cubicle jobs is that the pain is more subtle and sneaks up on us. Its not the blend er-drama of day
trading so the need for health on a daily basis doesnt seem as important. But it is.
H) Laughter.
The only way to survive is to laugh. Theres that saying: Man makes plans but God laughs. Well, you might as well be on the same side as
God.
I) This is crazy means youre crazy.

Ive seen it a million times. Guy makes a trade. The market goes against him. He says this is crazy and puts more money int o the trade. And
then he loses all his money and goes crazy. Ive had to talk people off the ledge or tell them to put the gun down.
The market is never crazy. The world is never crazy. And I will go so far as to say that your girlfriend who just lied to you about where she
spent the night is not crazy.
I only care about you. And youre effin crazy if you thought the world was going to line up any other way than the way it li ned up.
I know when I feel like, ugh, this situation is insane that the first place I need to look is at me.
J) It doesnt matter if a trade (or a day, or a life) is good or bad.
Good and bad days happen. But life is about a billion little moments that add up to all the things around you. If you let one of those moments
have too much control then you are bound to be mostly miserable.
I was mostly miserable during the period I was day trading. I let that aspect of my life take control. So I stopped focusing on being a good
husband, a good father, a good friend, a good anything.
All of my other constituencies went to hell.
I would have nightmares. I would lose sleep. I would wake up many mornings and go to the church across the street so I could be by myself
and pray. What would I pray? Jesus, please make the markets go in my direction today.
K) Its never about the money.
Every day I get emails like, Can you show me how to day trade?
NO!
I know a thousand day traders and only two that wont go bankrupt. So what makes anyone think they will have an edge? How man y people
listen to me?
Zero.
How come?
Because people are sick of their lives, their relationships, their jobs, and all the lies that have been told to them ever si nce they learned how to
walk.
Day trading is the dream. You can make enough money to not care. To do it from anywhere. To be happy.
It wont work. But people dont want to believe it. Most people think they have that one special something that will make it work for them.
And its true they do have that one special something. But you cant get there by day trading first. You can skip right to the being happy part.
You can skip right to being free.
Apply Stillness to your Trading Style

07 June 2015
03:51 PM
The more you practice stillness, the more your "busy" mind will calm down, and the more
you will be able to watch the "ripples" of your own thoughts.
If you do not begin the practice of stillness, you will continue to be caught up in the
turbulence of your own mind, and you will continue to live deeply in the illusion that you are
subject to the effects of your life experiences, rather than knowing you are at the cause of
them.
Experience is not simply an outer event, but an inner one also. Many times, in fact, the inner
is much more important than the outer.
If you are feeling upset, you will most likely miss what is happening "now", as the inner
experience eclipses the present moment.
Only when you can watch your thoughts arising in each moment, can you have any power to
change them.
Then you will move into conscious living. And self-mastery.
Deal with Trading Frustration

07 June 2015
03:59 PM
Frustration may be an occupational hazard for forex traders, as losses and even huge drawdowns can happen every now and then. This can
result to self-doubt and a lack of confidence in ones trading plan, which can then lead to overtrading or poor decision-making in an effort to
make up for ones mistakes.
Reflect on your trading experience for a moment and think of an instance wherein you felt frustrated with your performance. Were you able to
think clearly with your next trades? Did you take your losses personally and start questioning if trading is really for you?
Traders are competitive by nature and it is precisely this characteristic that makes us vulnerable to being extremely frustrated with losing
trades. The good news though is that it is possible to deal with this negative emotion and prevent it from affecting your trading decisions. Here
are three reminders for you:
1. Dont blame yourself!
Trying to bounce back from a loss or climb out of a losing streak is easier said than done. For some, its easier to target the frustration at
themselves and engage in negative self-talk. If you often find yourself in this situation, you gotta take it easy, dude!
There is no point in blaming yourself for not being able to predict what couldve easily been a black swan event. Nobody not even the
brightest economists or the hardcore number crunchers knows for certain what the markets next move will be. Accept the loss, pat yourself
on the back for managing your risk, take note of the lessons learned and move on.
2. Do your homework.
Now if you think your losing trades can often attributed to the lack of preparation, then you have to remind yourself to do your homework. As
the saying goes, prevention is better than cure, which means that you are less likely to encounter frustration when you put in enough time and
effort in conducting fundamental and technical analysis.
Aside from that, you shouldnt forget to plan your trades and determine your action steps for various potential market scenarios. Dont set
yourself up for frustration by throwing caution into the wind and coming up with hasty trade setups.
3. Dont give up on your trading strategy yet.
Other traders target their frustration at their trading strategies. Whats the point of analyzing the markets and sticking to a trade plan when the
market moves randomly anyway, right?
WRONG!
The market environment may be constantly shifting and thats the nature of the beast, but remember that consistent profitability can be
attained by staying disciplined and following your tried-and-tested trading plan. If you are convinced that your current strategy is no longer
appropriate, try conducting backtests or refining your approach instead of giving in to frustration and dismissing it altogether.
Keep in mind that trading is a marathon and not a sprint. There will be times when youll find it hard to keep up with the market and thats
okay. Just remember to pace yourself, get your timing right, and focus on proper execution.
Traders, Run Your Own Race

07 June 2015
04:01 PM
As a trader, I always discovered that whenever I started comparing my trading performance with other traders, my performance would
usually worsen. This distraction cost me lots of money in terms of losses.
Dont compare yourself to others. Its tempting in the modern, competitive world to constantly ask, How am I doing?
Its easier said than done, but you should NOT allow how well you do compared to others affect how you feel about your inner worth and
feelings of success in life.
Comparisons are useless. Run your own race.
Like the sport of golf, you alone are the one who needs to hone your trading skills. You are the one who must find a method that matches
your skill level and personality. Comparisons to other traders just make you feel frustrated.
Dont constantly think you are trying to beat others to an imaginary finish line. People who achieve great things work independently and on
their own terms.
They dont care how others are doing. They follow their own timeline, follow their own passion, and look INWARD for where to go next.
Notice how I said inward, and not outward. They look inward for where to go next.
How you perform has nothing to do with how others perform. All comparisons will do is torture you. You will feel jealously or envy.
When you see that you are doing relatively poorly compared to a fellow trader, you are likely to think distracting thoughts such as, Why
cant I do as well? or I must not be as good of a trader as I had thought.
To maintain motivation, focus on improving your past performance record, rather than looking at how other traders are doing.
You usually dont know what factors created their performance records, so comparisons can only mislead and hinder you. They could just
be on a lucky streak or have a market wizard standing right behind them on every trade providing advice.
Put your blinders on. Dont look at anyone elses record but your own.
Everyone has a different learning curve.

Run your own race.
Developing Mental Toughness

07 June 2015
04:02 PM
"Mental toughness" is keeping strong in the face of adversity. It's the ability to keep your focus and determination despite the difficulties you
encounter.
One of the biggest ways you can build resilience to the things that come your way is to manage your expectations. If you have poorly
managed expectations, you'll run into more surprises, which can make you feel out of control. Lack of control can lower your morale and
weaken your mental fortitude. Flexibility and the ability to adapt to situations are key components to laying the groundwork for strong mental
resolve.
You should not only roll with the punches, but think about how you can take a swing. You cannot control everything that comes your way,
but you are in absolute control of how you react to it. Take a look at situations from the outside and try to see a different perspective. It's hard
to see the true causes of events when your vision is clouded with immediate emotional responses. Wait five minutes to respond to something
when you have the time. Or pretend like you're giving advice to yourself when searching for a solution. We tend to immediatel y overreact to
something, even if we don't completely understand it yet. Comprehend and understand the pieces first, then put things togethe r and react.
Doing this over time will help you adjust your expectations to a realistic level.
One way to build emotional resilience is by owning what's happening to you instead of running away to seek comfort. The Navy SEALs have
a saying: "Get comfortable being uncomfortable." You can't get stronger if you stay in your comfort zone at all times. Learni ng to be
comfortable with uncomfortable situations will force you to learn from the situation instead of escape from it.
Use critical thinking, reasoning and problem-solving techniques on your own so you will trust your instincts more. Resist the urge to blame
others. Also resist the urge to expect too much from them. We often give too much credence to "experts" (they need help, too) when each of
us knows our own motivations better than anyone else. You are creative and resourceful enough to find ways that work best for how you are
wired, so try to go at it alone...
Whether you're tackling a problem, handling a difficult life event, or looking for a way to push yourself harder during your next workout, you
need to stay motivated. So where do you find motivation? The simple answer is that you have to ask yourself, "why?"
Why do I need to solve this problem?
Why do I need to get through this?
Why do I need to get stronger, faster, healthier?
Asking yourself these types of questions helps identify the true reason you need or want to accomplish something. Answers lik e "because I
have to" don't help you. When something difficult comes your way in life, you don't always have a choice on whether you want to get through
it or not, but there is always a better reason than "I have to." Have a specific goal in mind, and look at the possible react ions to your actions.
Think of something or someone that depends on you, and imagine you're a soldier with a sense of duty to yourself and others. Your reasons to
act might be something like:
Because I want to be better at what I do.
Because this person needs me.
Because I want to live longer / look a certain way / feel a certain way.
..accepting failure, being okay with not getting what you want right now, is one of the best, best success strategies, but it takes mental
toughness
Being capable of delaying your own gratificationor saying no to easy, instant gratificationis really what being mentally tough is all about.
Great things are never easy to do, and if you can make yourself work hard and wait patiently, you will understand what it mea ns to have
mental toughness. You need to let go of mistakes quickly if things don't go your way, and understand the time and patience it takes to
accomplish things. Mental toughness is as much about telling yourself no, as it is about telling yourself that you can persev ere.
Remember, mental toughness is about building the strength and resilience to do the things you need to do and the things you w ant to do. Don't
make it harder on yourself by trying to keep strong for something that doesn't benefit you or your goal. Some things you just have to
completely let go.
Developing mental toughness is a process and it's not something you can conjure overnight. It takes a lot of patience and a c onscious
effort to become more resilient. Some things are bigger than all of us, but mental toughness can be your armor that glances the smaller
blows away. If you have reasonable expectations, control over your emotions, strong motivation, and the patience to see thing s all the way
through, you won't ever sweat the small stuff and you'll be better equipped to handle the big things in your life.
Use critical thinking, reasoning and problem-solving techniques on your own so you will trust your instincts more. Resist the urge to blame
others. Also resist the urge to expect too much from them. We often give too much credence to "experts" (they need help, too) when each of
us knows our own motivations better than anyone else. You are creative and resourceful enough to find ways that work best for how you are
wired, so try to go at it alone...
Trading and Taking Breaks

07 June 2015
04:06 PM
"Markets are stressful. No matter how cool and calm we try to be, the nature of the work does cause stress."
It is here that taking breaks becomes immensely important. Some breaks are chosen by us, like going on a vacation. While others are by compulsion, like
being down with viral fever
(I was down with Viral before 2 weeks, while Sir was down with the same last week!)
Both types of breaks can, if we choose to, reward us with something noted here, as per my insights:
1. Help us de-stress
2. Help us take time out and think, and re-focus on the primary goal
3. Help us break the constant materialistic pulling force which just increases every passing minute.
I observed one more thing:
On taking breaks, i get re-connected to what exists, what matters.
While we are in the markets, in our routine, we can't think clearly regarding realigning ourselves with our set system or strategy. At times, we can't even
make out if we need realignment in the first place. A break, even for some hours or a couple of days, completely from our routine, physically as well as
mentally, should serve a healty purpose there. After all, we trade to make money even with a few correct confident trades, and not to punch unnecessary
wrong trades.
Stop Obsessing About that Perfect Trade

07 June 2015
04:14 PM
When youre risking your own money, do you feel the need to find that secret information that nobody yet knows or find the pe rfect forex trade
setup?
Some traders are so obsessed with trying to find the perfect trade that they end up not trading enough to get experience an d develop the trader
mindset, which in turn decreases the odds of long term profitability.
Trading is not the line of work you want to be in if youre a perfectionist. You can plan a trade systematically only to end up losing money
because an unforeseen event invalidates the trade setup that you thought was sooo perfect, slapping you in the face and askin g if youd like
more in the processthats the markets!
While you dont want to become a careless and impulsive currency trader, you dont want to be an extreme perfectionist either . Remember
theres no such thing as a perfect setup or a guaranteed profit.forex perfection versus progress
Instead of being perfect, try being average. For all the A students out there, I know this almost sounds blasphemous since Im basically
suggesting you strive for a C grade, but hear me out.
Rather than looking for the perfect setup, just find a setup with a good probability of success. Yes, you might make less p rofit per trade (or
even lose that trade), but youll actually take the risk and give yourself a chance to develop your skills, learn, and make a profit. You may find
that you prefer a less-than-perfect trade since youre more relaxed, which tends to be more supportive of high performance than being
stressed (which a perfectionist mindset tends to bring).
Trading is all about probabilities. You must make many trades to get the law of averages to work in your favor. As long as th e setups are
legitimate and youre using sound money management and risk control to max out profits and cut losses, youll make enough tra des to come out
ahead. Youll be able to get the losing trades off your back and focus on winning trades.
If youre an uptight perfectionist, youll always be on edge and will hardly be able to execute any trades. This will be your downfall because
you wont be able to pull the trigger on forex trades that were less than perfect but had a good chance of profitability.
Dare to be average and see what happens. A student who makes straight As may be smarter but the C student sitting behind him may be
richer.
Find the Confidence to Trade

07 June 2015
04:16 PM
Question
I'm new and I've been digesting information, data, techniques, strategies, all that jazz in video, book, and blog post format for about two months now. This is how I
learn... I open the flood gates and allow everything I can get my eyes on to flow through me. Meanwhile I've been demo trading here and there.
When I started I traded whenever I could get some free time. But now, as I learn more, I'm finding it harder and harder to pick a trade and execute it. I'm paralysed. I
see a setup, I see the patterns on the chart, but I just can't get in. I can't do it.
It gets worse when I see conflicting setups, when I'm in conflict with myself. That just blows my mind.
What doesn't help is the fact that the last three trades I took where trades I was sure of, trades that I saw the setup for, trades I waited for to reach my targets before
getting into, and they all failed. I got stopped out and felt miserable. How could they fail so badly now that I know so much more than I knew a month ago?
But last month I was up on my demo account. Now I'm down and it's hurting me.
Those three trades were two weeks ago. I haven't taken a single trade since then. My problem is: how do I know whether I was just unlucky or if I'm doing it wrong?
How do I know anything? Without the confidence of knowing what I'm doing is fine, I can't proceed. And if I don't proceed, how can I gain the confidence I need?
I'm stuck and I need your help.
Best Answer
True confidence needs to come from within- not an external source.
Plain and simple.
Do you have any hobbies or anything in particular that you're REALLY good at?
...so, let's say you're really good @ fishing. Think about the very first time you ever went fishing...You weren't going to become a master angler overnight, in a few
weeks, or even in a few months. There was always something new to learn.
Trading is know different. Internal confidence will come from experience. Experience comes from screen-time.
Add these to your Trading Journal

07 June 2015
04:21 PM
Traders keep track of these variables and statistics to help them track their performance and identify areas for improvement.
Now, Id like to focus on some of the other statistics that tend to be overlooked but can provide critical insight on ones trading.
1. Holding time
Do you tend to hold trades for more than a day? Or do you only hold your trades open for hours at a time? Knowing how long on average
you hold your trades will tell you what trading techniques and styles youre most comfortable with, and it will help you determine whether
youre a short-term trader or a long-term trader.
Scalpers tend to jump in and out of traders very quickly, while position traders may hold on to trades for months or even years! Knowing
which type of trader you are will help you make the proper adjustments to optimize your personal trading strategy.
2. Holding time of winners vs. holding time of losers
Now lets go one level deeper and compare holding time of winners versus holding time of losers. Doing so will tell us whether or not were
cutting trades too early or holding trades for too long. As much as possible, wed like to avoid holding on to losers and low-yielding trades as
they tie up precious capital!
3. Winners and Losers broken down by session
Another time-based metric that you can take note off is WHEN you actually trade.
Breaking down your trades into which session you are trading could help you determine the best session for you to trade. You might reside in
Asia but realize that all your winning trades come during the London session. It might be advisable to clock in a few extra hours to squeeze
those pips!
4. Winners/Losers broken down by market conditions
This metric will help determine whether you are recognizing the shifting market conditions and taking advantage of it. You will see whether
youve been able to take advantage of the recent trend by hoping in on retracements or if youve been stubborn, getting burned trying to pick
tops and bottoms.
It could also reveal your optimal trading conditions. If the metric shows that youve been having more winners in ranging conditions, it may
indicate that you prefer to play consolidation behavior with support-and-resistance levels. Or if youve been making money by playing
breakouts, it could mean that you prefer to trade the news or take momentum setups.
5. Winners/ Losers broken down by position size
Unlike the sports clich, when it starts getting serious in forex trading, SIZE DOES MATTER. Keeping track of how big your positions are
could provide valuable insight as to how you react when positions sizes change. It could reveal whether or not you are taking advantage of
strong trends by increasing your size, or doing a poor job of recognizing choppy markets and not scaling down.
There are just some of the many performance metrics that traders tend to overlook. In the end though, it is up to YOU to decide which ones
will be the most useful to you. Just keep in mind that the more detailed your trading journal is, the better the chances are of you determining
what is the key difference between winning and losing.
Most importantly, you have to always remember to update your journal CONSISTENTLY and HONESTLY. Keeping a trade journal is a
tedious task but it must be done because it is the only path towards improvement. Remember, the difference between an ordinary trader and
an extraordinary one is that little EXTRA effort, done day-in and day-out!
How Much Money Do You Really Need

07 June 2015
04:23 PM
Determining the amount of money you need to start down the path of trading for a living is a complex process and one for which there are no
shortcuts. The biggest and most lethal mistake that traders make when they decide to go full-time is being undercapitalized. It will be your
patient zero of mistakes, from which all others will be spawned.
.but thats not how this works. Fear not though, for just as there is a way to determine your correct position sizing by rev erse engineering the
process, we can do the same with this conundrum.
Quality of Life
First, lets begin at the end, so ask yourself, how much money do I need to make in order to support my desired quality of l ife? You will see
that I have phrased this question in a very specific way. It asks you to think. To think about what your desired quality of life is. This is key
because depending on the stage and circumstances of your life, you may have some flexibility in this area that will help you to reach an
acceptable answer to this question.
Are you early in your earning years, unmarried, with no children, mortgage, or student loans to service? Are you supporting a family and a debt
structure, close enough to see the retirement train, still off in the distance, but definitely coming down the tracks? Or are you somewhere in
between those two examples? Wherever you are, you need to decide what you need to make in order to have piece of mind, financial stability,
and ideally the ability to grow your net worth.
Once you have that number in place, then you have to determine what amount of capital is needed in order to generate that num ber based upon
a reasonable return on a percentage basis. If you have prepared for your move into full-time trading as I outlined in my previous post in this
series, then you should already have a rough idea of what that percentage return will be on average.
The Pure Play

Lets start with the most conservative and straightforward approach that assumes no leverage, meaning you open a margin account in order to
have buying power returned immediately when a position is sold, but you dont use that leverage.
So for example, if you have been averaging 20% return for the last five years, and you need to make $50,000 a year in order t o support your
desired quality of life, then the magic number for you is $250,000 of working capital. But wait, theres more.
Throw an extra 20% onto that number to give you some cushion.that makes it $300,000. But theres still more.
You need to have a minimum of one years expenses saved in order to start your new venture without the daily pressure of knowing that every
one of your trades is being done to make the rent. Now you are up to $350,000. This is fun isnt it?
Sure, its a lot of money to some, but this scenario will give you the most piece of mind and ideally a longer runway in which to achieve
consistent profitability. This number will obviously change based upon what your actual average return has been and the amount of money you
need for maintain your desired lifestyle. Make 40% on a regular basis the number goes down, but if you need $100,000 to stay in pretzels and
beer, then it goes up.
But What About Margin?
Many of you are saying to yourself, Brian, what about the magical powers of margin? Why do I need so much money when I can get 2x
buying power for swings and 4x for day trading? Good question. Lets take a closer look at this *****-goddess of trading.
There is no doubt that the proper use of margin can enable you to reduce the amount of capital you need to sustain your desir ed lifestyle, but.
In most cases you are about to go from the security and piece of mind of knowing that every two weeks you will be getting a p aycheck to an
environment where you may have a whole month where you dont make any money. Maybe even a whole quarter. Even wackier than th at,
when was the last time you got your company paycheck and it said you actually owed them money?
The mental transition that goes along with starting to trade full-time can be perilous. You think you know how you will handle it, but you
really dont until you get there. Do you really want to start this, well lets just be frank, risky venture, having to leverage up your account
equity? Margin can make you money fast, but if can lose you money even faster if it is not used correctly as part of a risk based methodology.
The ideal situation would be to go into full-time trading fully capitalized, and then once you have completely transitioned and become
comfortable with your new career, only then begin increasing your use of leverage while freeing up and segregating your excess capital from
your trading activities.
The Wing and a Prayer
But lets just assume, in theory of course, that you think you are the next coming of Marty Buzz Schwartz, and are going to crush it right out
of the gate. You want to know the bare minimum that you would need to proceed, right?
There are traders that I personally know who support their desired lifestyle with only $5,000 in trading capital. Yes, you read that right. Five
thousand measly dollars, but that is because they trade with a prop shop that gives them 10:1 leverage on their money.
And they day trade only, with the goal of chopping out between $800 and $1200 from the market on a daily basis. With the mark ets open an
average of 250 day per year they are shooting for $200,000-$300,000 annually.
But these are highly focused traders with a style they have perfected and are comfortable with. They are like machines who dont chase red
herrings or the latest stock being profiled on CNBC. Is that how you are currently trading?
If so, then by all means feel free to jump in short-stacked. I would still highly recommend that you have a least one full years worth of money
set aside, separate from your trading capital, and that you find a reputable shop who will give you the needed leverage. Best of luck to you.
The Average Joe
In all honesty, this is the category that most are going to fall into; not having the ability or desire to do the full Pure Play but having at least
enough common sense not to try to attempt the Wing and a Prayer option. You are going to come in with a decent chunk of change, but you
will probably have to use overnight or day trading margin on a semi-regular basis. If that is you, then as much as I hate to do this to you, I am
going to have to answer this blog posts title question by revisiting previous questions. Questions you need to ask yourself and honestly
answer.
How much do I need/wish to make per year to live my desired quality of life?
How much reserves, separate from my trading funds, and do I need for piece of mind?
Am I comfortable/disciplined enough to use margin right out of the gate?
What trading style am I most comfortable/successful with and what capital requirements does it necessitate?
And most importantly..
What amount of money do I feel I need to start with to HONESTLY GIVE ME A FIGHTING CHANCE AT SUCCESS?
You will notice that I have overused the term honestly here in this section because everything thing else I am talking abou t doesnt matter if
you are not honest with yourself in determining not only you lifestyle and financial needs, but your trading ability and ment al toughness.
Dont get me wrong, Im not saying that you must have no doubts, and believe 110% in your conviction that everything will wo rk out.
Nothing in life is a sure thing, and I dont want the normal question marks that are a part of every major life decision, from changing careers, to
getting married, to having kids, to deter you, I just want to make sure you take this decision with your eyes wide open.
Are you a seasoned investor?

07 June 2015
04:24 PM
Take these six common blunders that even experienced investors tend to make.
Rookie Mistake #1: Investing Without Purpose
Passionate investors are often glued to the financial news so they can glean more insight on what exactly to invest in. Maybe Company X has a
game-changing product in development or Industry Y is showing strong market growthand they want to get involved as soon as possible.
But it's important to take a step back before taking the plunge. "A lot of people do good research on their own and identify solid funds," says
Chad Carlson, a CFP with Balasa Dinverno Foltz. "But what's the goal of their portfolio and how do those funds fit in? Does this make sense?"
In other words, consider asking yourself: Am I seeking growth? Do I want stability? Do I want dividends? What, eventually, do I want to tap this
money forretirement or some other savings goal?
Answering these questions will help you decide whether that "great" investment makes sense to add to your total mix. Remember: Your whole
portfolio should reflect your risk tolerance, goals and timeline. So if any changes you make skew your portfolio too heavily in one direction, be
prepared to reconsider whether to make the investment or be willing to rebalance accordingly.
Rookie Mistake #2: Not Being Fully Aware of Risk
Many investors say they have a low tolerance for risk, and that may be true in one part of their money life. But, in other ways, they may be
inadvertently exposing themselves to more risk than they realize.
Take retirement accounts.Many people tend to be too conservative with their 401(k) allocations, mostly because they'll pick from the options
that are laid out for them, rather than basing their decision-making on how far away retirement is for them.
"Most clients are given a list of choices, and rather than even attempt to choose, they either default to one of the target funds or the fixed income
[option],". Even with a target date fund, which rebalances a portfolio for you based on a set retirement date, you still need to pay attention to the
investment mix because some funds with a soon-ish target date may be more heavily weighted in bonds than you may prefer.
Meanwhile, in another part of their portfolio, that same "conservative" 401(k) investor might, say, hold a large number of shares in a single stock
simply because they believe in the company or have some other attachment to it.
"So although they might be willing to accept drastic price fluctuations there, they are unwilling to tolerate the same volatility elsewhere," says
David Shotwell, a CFP with Rutter Baer. "At the same time, they are ignoring the risks that go with investing in a concentrated position that
lacks diversification."
Bottom line? Your risk should reflect the investing goal you're trying to achieve, the timeline by which you want to achieve it and your tolerance
for fluctuations. It's O.K. to have different levels of risk for different goals like retirement or investing for a home down payment. But within that
goal's portfolio, consider balancing your need for growth with your desire to not lose sleep at night over volatility in the markets.
Rookie Mistake #3: Making Emotional Decisions
Seasoned investors may think they're no longer affected by the ups and downs of the market, but in reality, few of us are totally immune. "What
I see is that even if [investors] are experienced, their emotions can still get involved" in the decision-making process, says Brian Frederick, a
CFP with Stillwater Financial Partners.
That's partially because of recency biasa tendency to believe that investments will continue to perform the way they have in the recent past.
"Sometimes it's easy to get caught up and assume that what's been happening for the last three months is going to happen indefinitely," Frederick
says, adding that this can make someone want to sell investments when the market dips.
So just remember that no one can time the marketnot even the professionalsand since you're likely investing for the long haul, it's better to
stay invested than to pull out in a panic.
In fact, research shows the U.S. stock market has never lost money over a 20-year period. By contrast, if you'd put money into the stock market
in 2008, and then pulled out by year's end because of the market crash, you'd have lost 37%and missed out on the record rallies of 2013.
So if you have decades before you need to tap your investments, try to stay the course and stick to the overall plan you've set for yourself.
"When things are going down, even though it makes you feel better to sell," Frederick says, "it's not the right thing to do in the long run."
Rookie Mistake #4: Acting on a "Hot Tip"
It often happens at parties: Your uncle's cousin's husband hit it big after investing in that next-big-thing IPO. Or a friend of a friend insists you
must start hoarding gold.
It's tempting to want to jump on an opportunity, but if your friends and family really had all the answers, they'd be on the cover of Fortune
magazine. So keep in mind that your "investing expert" friends "will tell you about every good investment they've made, [but] they will never
tell you about their bad investments," Toal says. "This creates a false emotional aspect in your brain that they know what they're doing."
In other words, take that investing advice with a grain of salt. "I always tell clients, 'Your plan isn't going to succeed based on whether you do or
don't buy this investment," Toal says. "More often than not, the hot tips do not work out. It's just not worth the risk."
Rookie Mistake #5: Forgetting About Fees
No matter what your experience level, there's one thing both beginner and seasoned investors can agree on: Fees can leave you dumbfounded.
One survey found that nine out of 10 Americans severely underestimate how much they pay in 401(k) fees, and with about 28 different ones to
watch foradministrative fees, management fees, sales charges, to name a fewwho can keep track?
And remember that every time you buy or sell an investment, you may be paying a price that eats into your returns: One study found that
investors in mutual funds actually pay more in trading costs than they do in expense ratios (a fund's operating fees).
Exchange-traded funds, in particular, make it easy for investors to trade effortlessly and frequently because they can be traded throughout the
day like a stock. Unfortunately, the ability to make such reactive moves also makes it easy to rack up transaction fees in the process, warns
Carlson.
It may take a little detective work, but put in the effort to uncover what types of fees you are responsible for within your portfolio. You can do
this by checking out your fund's prospectus and reading through the fine print. And if you're unsure about the costs you're paying, ask your
brokerage firm for a full fee schedule.
Rookie Mistake #6: Ignoring Tax Implications
You may not be an accountant, but it might be worth consulting one when you're dealing with taxes and investments.
Investing can be intimidating, and the extra tax rules can turn it into an even bigger, confusing.
In some instances, your investment accounts may offer some tax benefits. For instance, what you contribute to a 401(k) or IRA can lower your
taxable income today, although you'll be taxed on the withdrawals in retirement. Or if you anticipate you'll be in a higher tax bracket when
you're older, a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) might be better because you'll pay taxes on contributions now, but your earnings can be withdrawn taxfree in retirement.
If you're thinking about saving for retirement, you probably know that an individual
However, with investments you hold in brokerage accounts, you've got capital gains taxes to think about. So although you may have made a
decent return selling that stock, was it worth the capital gains tax you had to pay? Or did it, for the most part, nullify the benefits of selling? Plus,
the capital gains taxes you pay will depend, in part, on whether you've held the stock for less than a year or longer than a year, so note that the
timing of your sale makes a difference.
It's not an easy maze to navigate, so make sure you're up-to-date on your short- and long-term capital gains rateswhich vary depending on
your tax bracketand how your current retirement mix may affect both your present and future tax returns.
Trader's No. 1 Biggest Enemy

07 June 2015
04:25 PM
The traders biggest enemy is their own EGO.

Ego: a persons sense of self-esteem or self-importance.
1. The new traders with big egos always but confidence in their trading ability before developing competence in trading. New traders that
trade before educating themselves are even ignorant of their own ignorance.
2. Ego driven traders think they are special and will beat the market even without putting the required work in even though there is no
evidence from their past trading that they are special.
3. Most of the stubbornness of a trader arises from the egos refusal to change, to learn, or to accept they are wrong about something.
4. The ego will make you hold a trade that is going against you in the hope that later you can prove yourself right when it r everses.
5. The biggest cause of trading too big of a position size is that you believe that you just know that a trade will be a winn er so you ignore risk
management in favor of confidence in an unknown outcome.
6. Traders that are arrogant enough focus on being right about predictions more than developing a robust trading methodology.
7. Ego driven traders put being right above even being profitable. Their goal is ego gratification not really profitable trad ing.
Successful traders trade a plan based on logic, reason, probabilities, historical prices, and risk management.
Do you know The BROKEN WINDOW Technique in Managing

Money ?
07 June 2015
04:27 PM
Source:Money Workshop Website
New York City was much infested with crime, small and large. The Mayor of New York wanted the city to be cleansed of the crime and he
requested the Police Chief to do something about it. Many a Police Chief took up this challenge and wanted to solve the problem in different
ways. Some wanted more police officers to patrol, some wanted more arms and ammunition, and some wanted stricter rules and laws. Many
things were tried but there were no visible results. Everyone including the Mayor was really tired and fed up. The Mayor had heard of one
police officer, who used his immense psychological knowledge in handling problems. So as a last resort, he was approached.
The officer studied the problem for some time and then told the Mayor that he had found a workable solution. The Mayor was pleased and
asked, Do you want more guns? Do you want more forces to patrol? Do you want stricter laws? What do you want?
The police officer just smiled and said, Sir, all I need is paint.
The solution was so simple but truly amazing. The police officer had observed that all crimes had a very small beginning, just as the mighty
rivers originated from small streams. He had observed that the starting point of crime was Graffiti Writing. Everywhere in New York there
were graffiti written especially on walls of subways and trains. No one before him had noticed that. He began by just painting all the subways
and trains back, spick and span. Every time the train came and had graffiti on it, the officers painted it back. They kept on doing this without
fail and the crime graph in New York came down dramatically.
It is interesting to note the psychology behind the solution. Small criminals like graffiti writers if not nipped in the bud, grow to commit bigger
crimes. When these small timers noticed that even graffiti was being noticed and rectified, they were scared to commit bigger crimes and the
crime rate came down drastically.
This technique is called as the Broken Window Technique.
If in your neighborhood a window is broken by some miscreants, the most immediate task is to replace the window and then hunt for the
culprit. If this is not done, it is a sign of neglect. Not attending to the replacement will cause many more windows to be broken and maybe a
house will be broken into. Huge ships have sunk with just one hole in it.
When you have a small money problem, it is vital to attend to it immediately. If not attended to it can become bigger and bigger. Some
daydreamers just pray that problems disappear by themselves. No problem just disappears, but yes, problems can become more complex and
grow out of proportion.
Look around now with awareness at your money issues. Do you sense any small issue out of order? It is possible that you are b orrowing more
than necessary. It could be that your spending is just increasing disproportionately because you are trying to keep up with t he lifestyle. Maybe
you have no savings. Or, you have delayed paying salary to your workers because of lack of money flow. These are all signs an d symptoms
like the Broken Window for you to sit up and take notice. Rectify them immediately.
Interesting poem on Dollar

09 June 2015
06:08 PM
Dear Humans,
I am the scariest thing society has ever seen!
I am the greenback, well, the dollar I mean.

I was created out of thin air.
Ive been known to create much despair.
My mother is the Federal Reserve,
The corporatocracy she serves.
She is a private bank, not federal whatsoever.
Copulation between the two is the greatest financial crime ever.
I was born in debt.
Lets not forget
that for every time I am produced,
Its at interest; financial slavery it has induced.
Its a system of self-generating debt.
For the people, its a threat.
The Federal Income the people have to pay,
Actually goes to the interest of the Federal Debt today!
The rest of my family the banking cartels,
Are the criminals who put people in financial cells.
They control the money supply
And surprisingly the people comply.
They have a monopoly on the production of legal tender.
Blindfolds are placed on the citizens, naysayers called offenders.
Banks arent regulated any longer,
Thus they invent their own policy, making them stronger.
Before, I used to be printed

Based on how much gold was minted.
Now, Im backed by nothing, except faith in a declining system; a zero, zilch, nada.
Tough to beat, the machine is protected by the corporate armada.
I am only important in this society,
Because resources are needed, otherwise, physical and emotional anxiety.
Without me,
one could not survive against lifes army.
Soldiers of torment,
Who withhold essential supplies and fragment

the social order;
leaving a few in prosperity and most in impoverished smolder.
But in reality, I am inconsequential.
Resources, abundance, love, sustainability: essential.

I am used in all countries
and yet I cant grow on trees.
I cannot be eaten as a meal.
I provide no shelter, no nutrition, nor can I heal.
I dictate the lives of humanity.
A few have plenty while most wallets are empty.
So long as I exist,
the problems of the world will persist:
Poverty, war, greed, famine, and division.
The people tossed out like cut foreskins; economic circumcision.
I hope people never ask themselves what is truly indispensable.

For if they knew the answer, theyd no longer be insensible.
They will come to realize that resources are needed.
They will come to realize that resources are needed.

And that theyve been cheated.
Taught to focus on intangible things,
Like corporate images, brands, and other nothings;
instead of focusing on natural resources that satisfy human wants and needs.
An intelligent management of the earths resources needs to proceed.
Until the masses wake up, I doubt thatd ever transpire
Because their thoughts are guided by the corporate empire.
They are kept shallow.
Black Friday they will follow.
Taught to consume and consume some more,
Environmental concerns they ignore.
My greatest enemy is a resource based economy.
I wouldnt be needed and it would grant personal autonomy.
For the notion of money would be in the distant past.
Without me, pain, suffering, and misery couldnt last.
Sincerely,
Money
Quotes
09 June 2015
06:09 PM
The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing. Voltaire
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. Booker T. Washington Karma has a way of returning back to you.
A woman should strengthen and soften but not weaken a man. Sigmund Freud
Public self is a conditioned construct of the inner psychological self. Sigmund Freud
Ideas are medium of exchange and a mode of influence even more powerful than money, votes, and guns. -Deborah Stone, "Policy
Paradox"
- Everything youve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. George Addair
- Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence. Plato
- " In life you need either inspiration or desperation. "
- " It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. "
- " Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. "
- " There is no such thing as failure. There are only results. "
- " Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. "
- " Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision. "
- " Pain is a part of life, but suffering is an option. "
- " The past does not equal the future unless you live there. "
- " The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will
use your talent to produce outstanding results. "
- " Remember, the quality of your life is dependent upon the quality of the life of your cells. If the bloodstream is filled with waste
products, the resulting environment does not promote a strong, vibrant, healthy cell life-nor a biochemistry capable of creating a
balanced emotional life for an individual. "
- " Want to learn to eat a lot? Here it is: Eat a little. That way, you will be around long enough to eat a lot. "
- " The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives. "
- " The most powerful force in the human personality is the need to remain consistent with how we define ourselves. "
- " Whatever happens, take responsibility. "
- " The quality of our lives is a direct reflection of the amount of uncertainty we can comfortably live with. "
-----The last quote is one of my most favorite.
That is why, no wonder there are many Super Rich Billionaire Traders/Investors/Hedge Fund Managers exist in this small World.
The One Thing That Will Finally Improve Your Trading Psychology
09 June 2015
06:14 PM
Youve read all the books. You know the theory behind great trading psychology. You have dozens of insights and techniques. A nd yet you struggle. Feeling like the
markets are personally out to get you. Feeling like a victim. Feeling like its too hard.
I have one sentence for you. Its supposed to be hard. Read that again. Because not only is it the simple truth, but internalizing that sentence will also do more for
your trading psychology than most things you could ever try.
Think about what youre saying when you tell yourself that its supposed to be hard. Youre saying that no matter what youre going through right now- losing streak,
bad stretch of results, missed opportunities- its normal. That no matter how bad it feels, its all a part of the path. That no matter what happens youre not a victim.
And what could be more damaging to your trading psychology than feeling like a victim? You blame the market for your losses. You feel bad and demotivated when
you hit a rough stretch. You feel helpless and hopeless. And this feeds all your other bad habits of lack of discipline. Its a root cause. After all, discipline is a state of
mind, and your state of mind is influenced most by how positive and in control you feel.
But youll no longer feel like a victim when you finally internalize the fact that its supposed to be hard. Adversity wont feel so much like some unfortunate event that
blindsided you anymore. Adversity is part of the process. And because you know its supposed to be hard, youre not so frustr ated when adversity inevitably rears its
head. Now youre expecting it. Waiting for it. Ready to use it to push you forward.
Why? Because you now know that handling adversity is what separates the wannabe traders from the pros. Its what great tradin g psychology is really all about. And so
now youll dig deeper when it arises. Its not an unfortunate incident- this is supposed to be hard. And youll revel in the challenge. Its not an unfair playing field - this
is supposed to be hard. And youll stop blaming external circumstances. After all, this is supposed to be hard.
And something ironic will happen. Youll start being grateful that its so hard. Because itll hit you that if it were easy t he rewards would be small. But thats not why
you got into trading. You want the rewards. And so you stop complaining, and you get working. And while all those traders aro und you curse their luck, and the
markets, and the latest stop-out and missed opportunity, you quietly continue working on your craft. Because you know something that they dont
So what are you waiting for? Its supposed to be hard and its not going to get any easier. Tell yourself that, and get worki ng. Tell it to yourself the next time
you take a loss. And tell it to yourself the when you miss a big trade. And tell it to yourself when it feels impossible to s ucceed. Because its not impossible. And
you can make it. And you will make it. Its just supposed to be hard.
Have Breakeven Trades

09 June 2015
06:17 PM
Every single forex trader out there wants to be profitable, the most basic measure of which comes in the form of net profits and losses. And so, it is common to see
traders not pay attention to their breakeven trades. What many dont realize though is that theres more to them than just the zeroes they register in your trading
journals.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, lets first define breakeven trades.
Our Forexpedia defines the breakeven point as the level where gains equal to losses. Therefore, a breakeven trade is one that is neither a winner nor a loser. It closes
at a particular price where profit and loss both equal to zero.
Sure, you rarely get praises from others (as well as yourself) for breakeven trades, but dont take them for granted! The beauty of breakeven trades is that although
you may not increase your account with them, they do enable you to protect your capital.
To help you with the latter, let me discuss the two kinds of breakeven trades and the psychology behind them:
Lets start off with the case of a breakeven trade that would have been a winner. Does the following sound familiar?
The market initially moves in your favor.
The market turns around and you manually exit at breakeven, or the market triggers your stop loss trailed to breakeven.
The market reverses directions again, eventually hitting your profit target.
Sometimes, the above scenario unfolds through wild swings in price action, and in cases of an unpredictable news or market event (possibly invalidating
fundamental analysis), its a smart move to protect ones capital and exit at breakeven.
Of course, there are also cases wherein a trader may end up with a breakeven trade for the wrong reasons, such as the fear of seeing a positive trade turn negative.
Now, lets take a look at the breakeven trade that wouldve turned out to be a loser. It often looks like this:
The market moves against you.
The market turns around and you exit at breakeven.
The market reverses directions again, eventually hitting your initial stop loss.
Weve all experienced holding on to losing trades at some point in time. Sometimes, doing so can work to our advantage. But i ts not always a good idea to let losing
trades run.
Hope can lead a trader to hold on to a losing trade long after he or she shouldve exited. What you have to keep in mind is that its okay to cut losses early.
Sometimes, if the story changes, closing a trade at breakeven is the best that you can do and that doing so can save you from taking on bigger losses than necessary.
All in all, its important to keep track of your breakeven trades because they reveal a lot about how you keep your emotions in check in times of extreme stress.
So, the next time you close your trade at breakeven, take a step back and look at your trading plan. Ask yourself what that zero in your profit and loss column means.
Did you execute your trade according to plan and the market just didnt go your way? Or were you overcome by fear, greed, and/or hope?
Whatever your answer is, think about what you couldve done differently. If you realize that you let your emotions get the best of you, causing you to close your
trade on fear, greed, and/or hope, dont be too hard on yourself. Charge it to experience, make the adjustment to your trading plans, and move forward.
The inspiring story behind Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba.com

09 June 2015
06:25 PM
Jack Ma created history yesterday when Alibaba turned out to be the biggest IPO ever in US by raising over $ 20 billion and giving it a valuation of over $
160 billion
Jack Ma: Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still
confused I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to
drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital
for this etc etc.
There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, If you want to do it, just try it. If things dont work out the way you expected it
to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before. I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway,
even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.
When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for
me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the
experience is a form of success in itself. You have got to keep trying, and if it doesnt work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.
As with this quote by T.E. Lawrence All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all
was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible.
Jack Ma: People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:
1) Being myopic to opportunity
2) Looking down on opportunities
3) Lacking understanding
4) Failing to act quickly enough
You are poor because you have no ambition.
Ambition is living a life of great ideals; a magnificent goal in life that must be realized.
In this world, there are things that are deemed unfathomable, but there is nothing in this world that cannot be done.
The depth of ones ambition determines the potential of one future.
Extreme hard work and practice

18 June 2015
10:49 AM
A strong and confident mind is created by Extreme hard work and practice.
Dravid indian cricketer was spending nearly 6-8 hours practing in nets.
A highly disciplined person as he only plays ground strokes what he practiced.
Tendulkar before Australia come to india practiced with lots of leg spinners and
was hitting warne at will.
Former World Champion Anand spend nearly 10-12 hours practicing a day before any
major tournament.
And the people who passes competitive exams with ranks also work really hard.
All these people same things in common
1) Discipline - They all do what they practice,they do not play shots which they not practiced,he do play openings what he prepared,they do not simply any answer
A,B,C,D(pick say today A) they answer what they know and leave what do not know as may get negative marks(like this as a trader need to do what he practiced)
2)Hard Work-All these people spends lots of time in preparation.
3)They take risk- Tendulkar stepping out and hits(what he practiced he do not fear getting stumped as he has lots of practice).(Traders should take risk with say
proper money management, say 1%,2%,0.5% of total capital per trade as what there risk and confidence level is, ie a trader should tell him self that i will loose this
much amount Maximum per trade ( say 500rs).
before riding the actual plane all pilots train in simulation planes
before doing any operation doctors practice on dead or as assistant of some experienced doctors
Driving even a car , bike need practice and help from some experienced people.
What i need to tell do the basic home work.d
ie find 100 or even more examples of chart with what idea u r going to trade.
exactly need to know in this where to place stoploss, targets,entry.
practice minimum 100 examples with proper paper work ie
with entry price, exit price, profit/loss, stoploss ( please do this hard work and it may take months to do this paper work).
with out this nothing can be earned consitanly.
this will give good level of confidence on your plan and you will not change your mind during trading.
Also in amibroker there is an option tools menu "bar replay"!!!! can be used as a simulator in which you can practice.u can use multi time frame charts with this
using file>new>blank chart option add like 1min , 2min,3min,5min,15min,hourly,daily,weekly etc etc ,and while u play bar replay by linking symbol option below
u can view all time frame charts running simultaneously creating a real feel and try practicing in this.
Do not jump in to English Channel and try to crows it with out even practicing swimming in swimming pool.
Do not use ur actual money unless u trade and make money in metatrader or amibroker platforms or any other software.
Your Belief about Yourself

18 June 2015
10:50 AM
Your beliefs about yourself are what define you as a person. So if you believe that you are
not good enough, unworthy, unlovable., ugly, stupid, useless then that is how you are going
to see and feel about yourself, but ask yourself this question, Where did those beliefs come
from? Usually they come from our environment as children, so our parents and family, our
teachers, the other children in school. We soak up what people say to us and about us, so if
you are told horrible things about yourself you are going to believe them and if you hear them
often enough they form your beliefs. If you doubt this ask yourself this question Why is the
sky blue. We only know the sky is blue because we are taught that the sky is blue, who says
the sky is not green? We have put a label on it and we all believe that the label is correct.
However the label you have placed upon yourself may not be correct. As humans we are
never one thing, we are always changing and evolving, just because you believed one thing
about yourself does not mean that you need to cling to that belief forever. Release the
negative beliefs about yourself because they were never yours in the first place. They were
projections of how other people felt about themselves that they put onto you. You can change
your beliefs by refusing to accept the old label. Decide for yourself who you want to be.
Create your own definition of who you are and start living up to that BELIEF. You owe it to
yourself to be the best that you can be.
7 Habits of Financially Successful People

18 June 2015
10:52 AM
While youre busy building your own wealth, think about these 7 habits of financially successful people. And then consider how you can develop them for yourself.
They have a good relationship with money

"It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses." George Eliot
People who are financially successful are actively involved with their money and they understand what their assets are doing. They have budgets, they track spending,
they ensure they regularly contribute to investments, and they plan ahead to avoid financial pitfalls. If a financially successful person runs into a roadblock, they work
to solve the problem rather than ignoring it or blaming it on something else.
This is difficult to do if you have a bad attitude or relationship with finances. You cant ignore your financial problems and hope theyll go away on their own, or
blame money for problems in other areas of your life. Work to erase your negative or inaccurate money scripts so you too can develop a good relationship with
money. Keep a positive attitude and take personal responsibility for your financial situation (even if youve been dealt a tough hand).
They live frugally

"Too many people spend money they havent earned, to buy things they dont want, to impress people they dont like" Will Rogers
Looking rich and having wealth are two very different things.
Financially successful people dont care about impressing other people with the stuff they own. They live well below their means so that they can invest their money
and increase their wealth.
When money is invested, it can compound and continue to earn more money. Big houses, fancy cars, expensive clothing and jewelry, and the latest and greatest things
and toys only eat away at your assets. They dont provide anything in return for the money you had to exchange to acquire them -- not even lasting happiness.
They understand what their values are

"You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need." Jerry Gillies
Thats not to say financially successful people are cheap. They make sure to live beneath their means and save more than they spend -- but they still spend money. But
its the way they spend it that makes all the difference.
They understand what matters to them. Theyve taken the time to discover their own values, dreams, and goals, and they use their money wisely. Every purchase is
aligned with what they feel is important in life.
Instead of worrying about what anyone else says you should spend money on, take the time to reflect on what you care about and keep your money habits tuned into
these values. Dont be pressured into spending that doesnt further you on the path to your dreams and financial goals.
They look for positives (and learn from failure)

"When things go wrong, don't go with them." Elvis Presley
Did you know negative thinking makes it more difficult to find creative solutions to the problems you may be facing? When you dwell on negative emotions, it causes
you to narrow your focus and makes it difficult for you to see the big picture. Positive thinking, on the other hand, can make you more productive, motivated, and able
to take on challenges because youre not blinded by your own negativity.
Financially successful people tend to think positive, and they surround themselves with other positive people. They dont dwell on what went wrong; instead they use
failure or mistakes as a learning opportunity so they can do better next time.
They create their own opportunities

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Milton Berle
Those who are financially successful dont sit around and wait for good things to fall out of the sky. They dont rely on luck or someone else to help them. They help
themselves.
For you, this may mean making your own opportunities by earning more. You can negotiate for a raise, look for a new job, pick up part-time work, freelance or do
consulting on the side, try a new career, or even start your own business.
This certainly takes hard work. But the end result is worth it. Take the initiative and then take charge of your own success.
They set goals

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." Yogi Berra
To be financially successful, you have to know where youre going. Thats why people set goals and make plans for turning their dreams into realities. They develop
an action plan. If you want to be financially successful, you need to sit down and come up with your personal set of goals. Without something to work for, youll find
it difficult to take action and move in the right direction.
Ensure your goals are realistic and break big ones down into manageable pieces that you can work on in stages. Celebrate small victories and keep track of your
progress.
They ask questions

"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing." - Socrates
Asking questions and constantly growing their knowledge base is one of the most important habits of financially successful people.
If they dont know something, they ask. If someone tells them, this is the one right way to accomplish X, Y, and Z, they go find a second (and third, and fourth)
If they dont know something, they ask. If someone tells them, this is the one right way to accomplish X, Y, and Z, they go find a second (and third, and fourth)
opinion so they can make an informed decision. If they come upon a problem, they research solutions to solve it.
In other words, they constantly seek to become more financially literate. And you should, too.
The world of personal finance is filled with methods, systems, ideas, and strategies for getting things done. We all share a common goal of building wealth and doing
more with our money, but there are so many paths to getting there. Learning what others say, think, and do can help you in your own journey.
Dont let a lack of financial education stop you from trying to develop better money management habits or from building wealth. Even the most financially successful
people among us started somewhere. There are countless resources available to you -- and plenty of people who can help -- but you must ask questions to get started.
Women are Natural Traders

18 June 2015
10:53 AM
Trading is simply Buying and Selling. And my belief is that women do this a lot. In our
world, this is called Shopping. I admit the main activity is the BUYING, intended for keeps
but we do Sell or otherwise get rid of something that has less or no more value. Anyway,
considering women shop a lot, I thought we would be natural traders! We just dont realize it.
In fact, this could be you:

1. You search high and low, visiting several shops, or shopping centres even looking for an
item selling below value for some reason. Anyway, considering the whole scheme of things,
you want the item and is selling at a steal. Youre a Bargain Hunter. In Trading, this is called
Value Trading.
2. You like to buy what is in fashion. Buying Blue? That is soooo last year! You would only
go for what is in the new style. Youre in with the Trend. In Trading, this is called Trend
Following or one who follows Seasonal concept in which weather patterns (a prevailing
trend) dictate what would have a high demand with prices sure to move up (or down).
3. You buy what is not in season because you know it would be back In Trading this is
called Contrarian or to a certain extent Band Trading (like rubberband stretch and go back)
4. You buy when you see a window of opportunity or loophole, or in shopping terms these
opportunities are called Sales in Trading this is called Arbitrage.
So you see, there are many concepts that work in Trading or Shopping that women do and do
well. In Trading, there is money for everyone.
Exercise and Trading

18 June 2015
12:34 PM
Nothing guaranteed in the markets, winning while trading is like building a good body, 20% is workout and 80% diet, sleep
and everything else.
Similarly while trading, strategy is probably just 20 to 30% and everything else you do around it is what sets a winner apart.
Just strategy doesn't make money in the long run, but unfortunately most retail always focus just on the strategy and forget
everything else .
The idea is to be able to make as many odds as in your favor as possible, whatever small that is.
Warren Buffetts 5-Step Process for Prioritizing True Success

18 June 2015
12:54 PM
1. Know what you want List your top 25. One day a few years back Warren went up to his pilot (well call him Steve) and jokingly said The fact that youre still
working for me, tells me Im not doing my job. You should be out going after more of your goals and dreams. Warren then asked Steve to list the top 25 things he
wanted to do in the next few years or even his lifetime. Just jot down anything that comes to mind as being important to you that isnt currently a part of your life.
Readers, thats your queue to start writing.
2. Pick your Top 5. Once Steve completed his list, Warren then asked him to review each item and circle the top five that were most important to him. The ones he
wanted more than anything. Steve was hesitant because to him they were all massively important. After all, thats why he wrote them down.
But Warren insisted that he could only pick five. So Steve spent some time with his list and after some deliberation, made five circles. Are you sure these are the
absolute highest priority for you Warren asked. Steve confidently replied the affirmative.
*Note: Picking your top 5 from your top 25 can be super difficult since theyre all so important. Never fear, for I have a simple process which is covered in the free
Prioritize Success like Warren Buffett Workbook below. Dont let yourself get overwhelmed. Finish reading this, then use the workbook.
3. Make your Top 5 Plan. Warren now asked Steve when he planned to get to work on these top 5 and what his approach would be. They spent the next while
discussing Steves plan (for those of you who missed it, this is where my free Goal Setting and Action Workbook comes in). Steve explained Warren, these are the
most important things in my life right now. Im going to get to work on them right away. Ill start tomorrow. Actually, no Ill start tonight.
Steve went on the explain his plan, who he would enlist to help him and by when all these items would get done. Warren was starting to get excited. With any luck he
would be out of a pilot within weeks
4. Marry your priorities. Once the Top 5 planning session was over, Warren then asked but what about these other 20 things on your list that you didnt circle? What
is your plan for completing those? Steve replied confidently Well the top five are my primary focus but the other twenty come in at a close second. They are still
important so Ill work on those intermittently as I see fit as Im getting through my top 5. They are not as urgent but I still plan to give them dedicated effort.
To Steves surprise, Warren responded sternly, No. Youve got it wrong Steve. Everything you didnt circle just became your avoid at all cost list. No matter what,
these things get no attention from you until youve succeeded with your top 5.
5. Know your Avoid at all Cost List and stick to it. Did #4 surprise anyone? It certainly did me. Warren makes a powerful and somewhat unconventional point
here. Most people would suggest ranking their second most important items just below their first. Makes sense at first, but as it turns out, this is the type of behavior
that creates some of the most detrimental distractions in making big things happen.
You cannot be a Superstar if you focus on everything.
We are in a world where theres more competition for your focus than ever before. We have to guard it with our life because in fact it is. Without focus, without
staying true to our priorities, not only will we not get done the extra things we try to fit in, but we wont get done whats most important to our core. The things that
create fulfillment, excitement and happiness. Without these emotions, nothings really worth it anyway.
Its no surprise that Warren has done as well as he has. His dedication to his top 5 (or in his case his top 1 Running Berkshire Hathaway) is almost inhuman. And he
has more distractions than anyone.
He no doubt has fun and thankfully indulges us in some of these distractions but only to the extent that it does not affect the way he runs his business, his Top Priority.
It is this focus that allows what many refer to as The Superstar Effect.
Creating Clear Priorities Only Gets More Important with Time.
The distractions never end.
In fact, they are likely to get more abundant (and more tempting) as you grow and further venture the world. I used to stick to two clear business priorities: writing on
this site and running our investment fund. Recently thats changed. In the past years Ive been asked to consult for businesses, coach individuals, write for other sites,
speak at universities and events and so on.
This is a natural result of becoming more seasoned in ones field. If it hasnt happened to you, I assure you it will.
So whats your answer?
How many of you have 2 projects youre working on right now? What about 5? How about 7 or 10? 20 or more?
If most of us sat down and did an inventory of where we spend our time, I bet youd notice you have a lot more things going than you thought.
The more you have to choose, the more time you spend deliberating over what youll do at this moment, which is more time spent not doing one of the things most
important to you.
You are confronted with The Paradox of Choice: The more options you have, the less likely you are to choose any of them.
With priorities, you can truly begin.
The topic of priorities is a crucial part of the goal setting process. Its something I felt I could have better touched on in the Goal Setting and Action Workbook. Now I
know why I didnt. I was waiting for this story from Warren I just didnt know it.
Take it seriously. Know what you care most about and avoid everything else like the plague.
What important things are you going to decide not to do right now?
How to Hold on to Winning Trades?

18 June 2015
12:57 PM
In the middle of a winning forex trade, have you ever asked yourself, Should I take profit now or should I let it run? Maybe there were times when taking profit
early proved to be the better decision. But Im sure there were also instances when you smacked yourself at the back of the head for closing your trade too early.
Why do traders tend to cut profits early anyway? Here are three possible reasons:
One could be because they have no clear profit targets in mind. Theres nothing wrong about determining your profit target as your trade plays out. Its just much
easier to stay on a trade with a CLEAR profit target as it is easier to finish a task with a goal in mind.
A traders lack of appetite for risk may also contribute to premature profit-taking. Some forex traders would rather have that sense of certainty and bank in at a profit
of 10,000 USD rather than risk a portion of their unrealized profits for another 5,000 USD.
Lastly, theres also the confidence issue. Holding on to your trade until price reaches your profit target requires not only a great deal of patience but also a
considerable amount of confidence. There will be plenty of uncertainties along the way, which means that staying confident with your trade idea becomes even more
challenging.
It doesnt help that, as you watch your potential profits grow, it gets even more tempting to lock in those wins rather than risk the possibility of losing them by
keeping your trade open. A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush, so they say.
But more than the potential loss of unrealized profits, its the frustration that often accompanies these missed opportunities that hold a trader back. As traders, we
tend to be a tad too hard on ourselves especially when paper profits vanish into thin air. Maybe we cut our profits short to avoid blaming ourselves in the event
that we lose unrealized profits.
But how exactly can you achieve this level of confidence?
Trust yourself.
Yep, its that simple. Too bad its not as easy as it sounds. You must be able to trust your trade idea so much that you follow through until your planned profit target.
I know its not exactly a walk in the park, but the only way to maintain confidence amidst uncertainty is to believe in your time-tested strategies and your trading
experience.
Dr. Steenbarger says that building trust can be accomplished in two ways. First is by instilling a confident mindset, wherein you mentally prepare yourself in
advance just in case price retraces and your paper profits are erased. So when youre in a trade, determine the possible retracement areas and set your trailing stops
accordingly.
There could be times when what initially seemed like retracements turned out to be reversals and you get stopped out. Dont beat yourself up over the lost profits.
Instead, remind yourself that at least there was no damage to your account and that there are plenty of other forex opportunities.
Another way is to build on small change. By this, Dr. Steenbarger means that you should do a little of the right thing at a time and build on those efforts in order to
start making bigger changes.
For instance, you can try locking in some of your profits at some point and leaving the rest open, either to hit your profit target or your stop loss. This way, you are
able to realize profits and at the same time exercise confidence in seeing your forex trade until the very end.
Its not every day that the market goes your way. But when it does, wouldnt you want to make the most out of it?
Family is very Important.Be there for them.

18 June 2015
01:06 PM
CEO quits after daughter lists missed events

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...m_campaign=TOI
El-Erian, whose earnings at PIMCO reportedly reached as much as $100m a year, said the incident showed him instantly that he had allowed his relationship
with his daughter to suffer.
While at the top of world finance, Mohamed El-Erian juggled $2 trillion of investments and wrestled with the knottiest economic problems. But it has now
emerged his greatest dilemma arose from asking his daughter to brush her teeth.
When the Oxbridge-educated economist stepped down last year as the chief executive of the PIMCO investment fund, one of the largest on the planet, rumour
was rife that he had fallen out with its founder Bill Gross. But El-Erian on Wednesday revealed one main reason for leaving his post was a conversation with his
then 10-year-old daughter about brushing her teeth which led to her writing him a note listing the 22 important events in her life he had missed due to work.
The document presented to the financier included missing the child's first day at school, her first football match and a Halloween parade.
El-Erian, whose earnings at PIMCO reportedly reached as much as $100m a year, said the incident showed him instantly that he had allowed his relationship
with his daughter to suffer at the expense of his globetrotting job. In an interview with Worth magazine, he said, "About a year ago, I asked my daughter several
times to do something brush her teeth I think it was with no success. I reminded her that it was not so long ago that she would have immediately
responded.
"She asked me to wait a minute and then went to her room and came back with a piece of paper. It was a list that she had compiled of her important events and
activities that I had missed due to work commitments. Talk about a wake-up call."
He continued, "I felt awful and got defensive: I had a good excuse for each missed event! Travel, important meetings, an urgent phone call, sudden to-dos. But it
dawned on me that I was missing an infinitely more important point.
"As much as I could rationalize it ... my work-life balance had gotten way out of whack, and the imbalance was hurting my relationship with my daughter. I was
not making nearly enough time for her," he added.
The 56-year-old investment guru last year swapped his role at PIMCO's California headquarters for a "portfolio of part-time jobs", including a role as chief
advisor to the fund's German parent, Allianz.
General
18 June 2015
01:11 PM
If a film producer/actor makes more money than the person whose life the film is based on , what is the issue?
They are professionals doing their job.They are not forcing /enticing us to watch the movie.There are hundreds of examples in history where the person who invented
revolutionary things died in penury while others who bought their ideas have built empires on those ideas.
We are not kids.We are grown up adults with common sense to know what is right and what is wrong.
If media/facebook/whatsapp are running their business by marketing , we have a choice to use them or refuse them.
Even Facebook/Whatsapp can be used for both good and bad purposes.It always depend on the end user.
Like in Trading , we have our own trading strategy/system defined based on our risk appetite,money management ,same thing app lies in our life as well.
Like DSM has rightly said, we all know our stop losses.If you are not enjoying a particular film there is no need to waste yo ur time watching the entire film just to
make sure you have not totally wasted your money.We can always step out.Consider that too a lesson learnt in life.Like a trad e in which we lost and learnt an
important lesson
My philosophy is very simple , even the greatest salesman in the world cannot sell you anything unless you ,yourself agree to buy it.
Even if we don't have the to choose where we come from ,we can still choose where to go from there.
Making choices isn't always easy , but you always have a choice.
---No doubt ... We as human beings ... Professionals as Traders ... Will have Distractions of different quantity and quality ...
How do we help? What is the solution?
"Avoid the distraction"
I do not get any NEWS papers at home ... I'm so very glad that I do not have to read (early in the morning) Which politician landed in which scam ... Latest sexual
victims ... Horror crime stories ... You name it ... All reasons for early morning headaches ...
Watching ANY NEWS is not allowed ... For the same very reasons ... Either watch Tom and Jerry or comedy nights ... "Great Str ess Busters"
Media is supposed to be watch dog of every society in general and of rulers in particular ... But when Media itself is biased , sold to different political parties or a rich
guy, who watches them?
All social networking sites, in spirit, are anti social ... WHY? We communicate / share so very much / every thing on these s ites that we do not actually meet to
socialize ... When was the last time you got a hand written (or signed) greeting card for your birth day? 123greetings kind o f sites took all that joy forever ...
Just writing these things, I can feel that I'm getting negative aura ... ENOUGH
The only way to make a Ram Raj or an Ideal home is to convert every home like that ... We can not change the Society at Macro Level, without changing the the
Micro Individuals ...
--TooCool, If I may. (Sunday hai yaar, waiting for PM Modi to start his speech in Madison garden) So my take :
Regarding family having different viewpoint. Your spouse is a housewife, or may be working as well, and her interest or mode of relaxation may not necessarily be
philosophy / intellectual debate / conspiracy theories etc. After work, her focus would be to take care of her family and spe nd the rest of the time doing what gives her
happiness - be it mindless movies, watching TV serials or such. After being 5 days on the terminal (or even in between) when it gets too hectic, I occassionally switch
off the terminal, take a break and would rather prefer to see a mindless movie for 'entertainment' so as to give the logical/ rational part of my mind a break. I do enjoy
these 'time outs' 'Finding Fanny' and 'Dawat-e-Eshq' where the two movies that I saw in the last two weeks. I keep my brains aside and try to enjoy myself. Similarly, I
think your kid after studies, homework, stress of exams etc. too would want to 'chill out' and 'relax' So don't hold it again st him. If you do that, you are taking away the
joy of childhood from your child. In time, he will form a view of the world from his own reading, experiences, curiosity, exp eriments etc.... so just let him. My 2C.
--Loads of interesting discussion.. nice to see

Few things from my perspective :
1. Atomic energy was a great invention which is a great resource today but it also gave Hiroshima nd Nagasaki.
2. Computer invention changed the life of the human being but it also threw a lot of people out of job (created too)
3. Internet, email, social media etc are boon for those staying miles away from their loved one.. but it also burried the aff ection of hand written notes
4. Having direct link to exchange for trading from home created revolution in d trading world but it also killed the zeal to be sucessful while having almost no access
to do analysis, place direct order etc. Today we hv data, access, all the tools but we still struggle to succeed as a trader.
Aite my point is dt as time chnages, we will see new things, new invention, new culture.. while we do have choice to embrace it or not, we cnt just shut our senses nd
wish these things didnt exist. If want my kid not to be on social media or not watch a certain type of movies.. i wud explain tye good nd bad things to him/her nd let his
concious act.
Same thing applies to us too.. there are always good things nd bad things but they are how we percieve. Many things which i s ee as bad may be good for others. One
can feel dt drinking is bad but for others having a beer wid friend is normal. So according to me it all depends on the choic es we make based on how we perceive.
Therr are pros nd cons to everything nd they will always exist... Time is a contant changing thing is d saying.. wid time, th ings change, human being changes nd nature
changes. We all shud embrace the changes while we happily chose what makes us nd others around us happy
__________________
__________________
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company - Mark Twain.
Let us Learn Concentration

18 June 2015
02:16 PM
Too many things clamor for your attention. People are trying to reach you, by phone, email, text, Twitter, or old-fashioned yelling up the stairs. Colleagues interrupt.
You need to update, check in, post, or ping. Ads jump at you from the most unlikely places. Devices buzz, ring, chirp, and vibrate.
There are steps you might consider to quiet the buzz in your brain even if you dont want to take up meditation.
In addition to feeling calmer and more focused, youll probably be more efficient, too. Turns out that people arent very good at thinking about two things at once.
1. If you keep the TV, radio, or music turned on in the background while youre getting dressed, say turn it off. Some people love background noise, but I find
it very draining.
2. I have a sticky note in my bedroom that reads, Quiet mind. Whenever I see it, I drop my shoulders, relax my jaw, and try to smooth out my thoughts. It
actually works.
3. Organize space so its attractive, well organized, and well lit. One of my most important Secrets of Adulthood: Outer order contributes to inner calm.
4. Cut down on the multi-tasking. Dont talk on the phone while youre doing dishes, dont check your email while you listen to a conference call, dont sort the mail
while your child explains the school project thats due next week.
5. Turn your cell phone ringer off. Hearing your cell phone ring or even imagining that youre hearing it ring is a big source of jumpiness.
6. Take a break from doing errands. Keep a list, but dont try to cram them in throughout your day.
7. Use the internet only to look up specific pieces of information; no jumping from link to link, no browsing.
8. Turn off your email for some parts of the day.
9. Stop counting. In her book The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp mentioned an interesting approach: occasionally, for a week, shed stop counting. She avoided
looking at clocks, contracts, bank statements, bathroom scales, or anything to do with numbers, in order to let the other part of her brain take over.
10. Exercise. If I dont exercise regularly, Im too jumpy and restless to sit still and concentrate. I keep popping up and down. Its true that taking regular breaks is
good for focus but within limits!
11. Flee temptation. I find it hard to work in my home office, because my family, the phone, my email, and the internet constantly beguile me away from my work.
So when I have serious writing to do, I go to a library near my apartment which has a study room with a strict rule of silence.
Its important to have space in which to think. Yesterday, I overheard someone complain, My phone was dead, so I was so bored during my cab ride home. I just had
to sit there.
There are few things that I love more than looking out the window of a car, train, or bus. One day, when I was gazing out of a bus window, I was struck by a thought:
What do I want out of life? Well, I thought, I want to be happy. It occurred to me that I never thought about whether I was happy or not, or how I could be
happier, or even what it meant to be happy.
Increase productivity working from home.

18 June 2015
02:20 PM
(applies to most Traders)
http://www.inc.com/eric-v-holtzclaw/...home-work.html
Here are a few tips to work from home office a bit smoother:
1. Keep your routine the same. Get up like you still have to go to the office. Wake up at the same time, get cleaned up and get dressed for the day. Following a
normal routine will keep you focused on the tasks you need to accomplish, and you will be ready for any pop up Skype sessions or video chats.
It's very tempting to sleep in an extra hour or two, but that can throw you off task for the rest of the day and can be counterproductive to using your work from
home day to get more done.
2. Create a separate workspace. If you have an extra bedroom, set that space aside to get your work done. Even if it's just a desk with your laptop on the other
side of the living room or dining room, make it your dedicated workspace. Working on your laptop while you lie in bed or on the couch in front of the TV is a
recipe for distraction.
If you live with others (family, kids, spouse, roommates), make sure that it is known that your workspace is off-limits. The ability to create physical barrier--like a
door or curtain--helps to remind you and others that you are "at work."
3. Do not get distracted by household chores. It can easy to get sucked in: You may be tempted to vacuum the living room, wash the dishes that are languishing
in the kitchen sink, or make up the kids' beds in-between calls or while waiting for someone to respond to an e-mail.
Before you know it, a few hours will have gone by and you will be totally behind on your day. Set aside a time to do chores after you are done with your workday.
Keep a tight schedule and continue to maintain a separation between your work life and your home responsibilities.
4. Make sure others know that you are working. Friends and family may think that since you are not physically in your company's office, you aren't really at
work. Casual calls may increase during the day, you may get invited out more during the weeknights or for lunch, and your spouse and/or family may expect you to
do more household chores since "you're at home all day anyway."
Be clear to friends and family that you are still at work, just in a different space. Resist the temptation to give in when they ask you to run errands you wouldn't
usually do or to take on responsibilities you wouldn't be open to if you were working at the office instead.
5. Use technology to your advantage. Today's technology makes it simpler than ever to stay connected with your co-workers. Video chat with others through
Skype or Google Hangouts, use remote-friendly document editing applications such as Google Docs or Evernote, and take advantage of screen sharing technology
such as WebEx or Join.me.
Many of these applications are free and if they are not, your employer will likely provide the technology to make your time working from home more productive
and support your ability to collaborate.
6. Be present! Most importantly, when you are working from home, make sure to be present and pay close attention to conference calls and webinars. Being an
active participant in these interactions with coworkers and/or clients is essential. If you are not present and active, your team may forget about you and upper
management may think that you are not doing enough while working remotely.
What You Do When Markets Are Not Open

18 June 2015
02:24 PM
http://www.brettsteenbarger.com/trad...e%20Not%20Open
I'm convinced that one's market routines during periods when their trading markets are not open have a lot to do with long-term success. Evenings and
weekends are ideal times for market research. They provide opportunities to step back and see larger trends and themes in markets and develop ideas
for the coming day and week. I consistently find that my preparation during evenings, early mornings, and weekends is correlated with my success the
next day and week.
Think of two traders. One follows markets during trading hours; the other does the same but also studies charts and related markets--as well as his/her
own trades--before the open and after the close. Day after day, think of how much more exposure to market patterns the second trader has compared
with the first.
The really great performers in any field are distinguished by effort and the proper direction of that effort. We see it among Olympic athletes, artists, and
scientists. The more mediocre performers simply don't break a sweat. They put in the normal hours, the normal effort--and they achieve very normal
(average) returns.
My work day starts faithfully by 5 AM; many days earlier. By noon I've worked as many hours as many people put it during a full work day. My weekend
days are exactly the same. By the time a week has ended, I have easily exposed myself to twice as much information, twice as many market patterns, as
the average trader. Compound that over time, and it's not difficult to see how my learning curve can look radically different from someone else's after a
year's time.
When you love what you're doing, it's not really work; it doesn't feel like effort. So what are people confessing when they don't make the extraordinary
efforts?
__________________
Thanks
Amit
The Smartest Long-Term Investment is You

18 June 2015
02:26 PM
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233495
The greatest gift you can give yourself, the wisest business investment you will ever make, is investing in your personal development. I am
such a firm believer and advocate of investing in yourself that we hand every new employee CDs, books, and access to a digital personal
development library. Why? Investing in the development of people is one of the largest competitive advantages you can create. When
people ask me how they can advance in their careers, I tell them to spend as much time working on themselves as they are spending on their
work.
Abraham Lincoln once said, Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe. With just two
hours to do the actual chopping, Lincoln spent twice the time working on the tools of the job as he would on the task itself. In the task called
your life, you are the axe.
When there is a tree in the way, some people grab that axe -- dull or not -- and start whaling away at it. When they realize they arent
making a major dent in the tree, they quit and say it is somehow the fault of the tree. Dont be one of those people. Realize that its all in
how you swing the axe, how hard and in what arc and onto exactly which spot on the tree. Understand that all tactics can be measured,
weighed, and improved. It starts with the axe with you.
Learning doesnt start or stop at school, through reading, or with great teachers. It also doesnt start or stop with learning from your
mistakes or from advice from friends. Continuous learning is a combination of all these things and so much more. When was the last
seminar or adult-education class you attended simply to improve yourself? Think about it and make that change. Only you are challenging
and developing yourself. Be open to learning and sharpening your skills. Investing in yourself means to never stop learning.
Sharpen your axe. Read just one chapter of an information-rich, inspiring book every day. Listen to 15 minutes of a life-transforming audio.
Take a course or seminar every few months. Most of your life -- 99.9 percent-- is made up of things you do on automatic pilot. Its essential
that you take charge of your automatic pilots training and never stop investing in yourself.
Billionaires Who Were Once Dirt Poor

19 June 2015
10:45 AM
Wealth tends to create more wealth, but a rich background is not the only way to the top. Some of the world's wealthiest people started out dirt poor.
All from humble beginnings, these 15 people not only climbed to the top of their industries but also became some of the richest people in the world.
Although the rich do get richer, these rags-to-riches stories remind us that through determination, grit, and a bit of luck anyone can overcome their circumstances and
achieve extraordinary success.
Kenny Troutt, the founder of Excel Communications, paid his way through college by selling life insurance.
Net worth: $1.7 billion (as of Sept. 2013)
Troutt grew up with a bartender dad and paid for his own tuition at Southern Illinois University by selling life insurance. He made most of his money from phone company
Excel Communications, which he founded in 1988 and took public in 1996. Two years later, Troutt merged his company with Teleglobe in a $3.5 billion deal.
He's now retired and invests heavily in racehorses.
Starbucks' Howard Schultz grew up in a housing complex for the poor.
Net worth: $2 billion (as of Sept. 2013)
In an interview with British tabloid Mirror, Schultz says: "Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had
more resources, more money, happier families. And for some reason, I dont know why or how, I wanted to climb over that fence and achieve something beyond what
people were saying was possible. I may have a suit and tie on now but I know where Im from and I know what its like."
Schultz ended up winning a football scholarship to the University of Northern Michigan and went to work for Xerox after graduation. Shortly after, he took over a coffee
shop called Starbucks, which at the time had only 60 shops. Schultz became the company's CEO in 1987 and grew the coffee chain to more than 16,000 outlets worldwide.
Investor Ken Langone's parents worked as a plumber and cafeteria worker.
To help pay for Langone's school at Bucknell University, he worked odd jobs and his parents mortgaged their home.
In 1968, Langone worked with Ross Perot to take Electronic Data Systems (HP) public. Just two years later, he partnered with Bernard Marcus to start Home Depot,
which also went public in 1981.
Born into poverty, Oprah Winfrey became the first African American TV correspondent in Nashville.
Winfrey was born into a poor family in Mississippi, but this didn't stop her from winning a scholarship to Tennessee State University and becoming the first African
American TV correspondent in the state at the age of 19.
In 1983, Winfrey moved to Chicago to work for an AM talk show which would later be called The Oprah Winfrey Show.
At one time, businessman Shahid Khan washed dishes for $1.20 an hour.
He's now one of the richest people in the world, but when Khan came to the U.S. from Pakistan, he worked as a dishwasher while attending the University of Illinois.
Khan now owns Flex-N-Gate, one of the largest private companies in the U.S., the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, and Premier League soccer club Fulham.
Mega-resort owner Kirk Kerkorian dropped out of school in the eighth grade to become a boxer.
To financially help his Armenian-immigrant family, Kerkorian dropped out of school in the eighth grade and later would become a boxer called "Rifle Right Kerkorian."
During World War II, Kerkorian worked for Britain's Royal Air Force. He eventually turned his interest to constructing many of Las Vegas' biggest resorts and hotels.
John Paul DeJoria, the man behind a hair-care empire and Patron Tequila, once lived in a foster home and his car.
Before the age of 10, DeJoria, a first generation American, sold Christmas cards and newspapers to help support his family. He was eventually sent to live in a foster home
and even spent some time in a gang before joining the military.
With a $700 dollar loan, DeJoria created John Paul Mitchell Systems and sold the shampoo door-to-door while living in his car. He later started Patron Tequila, and now
invests in other industries.
Forever 21 founder Do Won Chang worked as a janitor, gas station attendant, and in a coffee shop when he first moved to America.
The husband-wife team Do Won Chang and Jin Sook behind Forever 21 didn't always have it so easy. After moving to America from Korea in 1981, Do Won had to
work three jobs at the same time to make ends meet. They opened their first clothing store in 1984.
Forever 21 is now an international, 480-store empire that rakes in around $3 billion in sales a year.
Ralph Lauren was once a clerk at Brooks Brothers dreaming of men's ties.
Lauren graduated high school in the Bronx, N.Y., but later dropped out of college to join the Army. It was while working as a clerk at Brooks Brothers that Lauren
questioned whether men were ready for wider and brighter designs in ties. The year he decided to make his dream a reality, 1967, Lauren sold $500,000 worth of ties. He
started Polo the next year.
Luxury goods mogul Francois Pinault quit high school in 1974 after being bullied for being poor.
Net worth: $15 billion (as of March 2013)
Pinault is now the face of fashion conglomerate Kering (formerly PPR), but at one time, he had to quit high school because he was teased so harshly for being poor. As a
businessman, Pinault is known for his "predator" tactic, which includes buying smaller firms for a fraction of the cost when the market crashed. He eventually started PPR,
businessman, Pinault is known for his "predator" tactic, which includes buying smaller firms for a fraction of the cost when the market crashed. He eventually started PPR,
which owns high-end fashion houses including Gucci, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Leonardo Del Vecchio grew up in an orphanage and later worked in a factory where he lost part of his finger.
Net worth: $15.3 billion (as of March 2013)
Del Vecchio was one of five children who was eventually sent to an orphanage because his widow mother couldn't care for him. He would later work in a factory making
molds of auto parts and eyeglass frames.
At the age of 23, Del Vecchio opened his own molding shop, which expanded to become the world's largest maker of sunglasses and prescription eyeware with brands like
Ray-Ban and Oakley.
Legendary trader George Soros survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary and arrived in London as an impoverished college student.
In his early teens, Soros posed as the godson of an employee of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture in order to stay safe from the Nazi occupation of Hungary. In 1947,
Soros escaped the country to live with his relatives in London. He put himself through the London School of Economics working as a waiter and railway porter.
After graduating, Soros worked at a souvenir shop before getting a job as a banker in New York City. In 1992, his famous bet against the British pound made him a billion
dollars.
After his father died, business magnate Li Ka-shing had to quit school to help support his family.
Net worth: $31 billion (as of March 2013)
Ka-shing fled mainland China for Hong Kong in 1940s, but his father died when he was 15, leaving Ka-shing responsible for supporting his family. In 1950, he started his
own company, Cheung Kong Industries, which manufactured plastics at first but would later expand into real estate.
Harold Simmons grew up in a shack with no plumbing or electricity.
As one of the richest people in the world, Simmons grew up in a "shack" without plumbing or electricity. He managed to get accepted to the University of Texas where he
earned a bachelor's and masters in economics.
Simmons got his first big break buying a chain of drugstores, which would later sell for $50 million. He went on to become an expert in corporate buyout.
Simmons recently passed away at the age of 82.
Oracle's Larry Ellison dropped out of college after his adoptive mother died and held odd jobs for eight years.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a single mother, Ellison was raised by his aunt and uncle in Chicago. After his aunt died, Ellison dropped out of college and moved to
California to work odd jobs for the next eight years. He founded software development company Oracle in 1977, which is now one of the largest technology companies in
the world.
Rags-to-Riches
18 June 2015
02:29 PM
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/44054304.cms
Billionaires rarely are made in a day. It's a story of grabbing opportunities quickly and following dreams tenaciously. They are made with limited means and immense
hard work. Ask WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum. Or Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad. We profile billionaires who started with nothing but their dreams.
Jack Ma, Founder: Alibaba
Net worth: $20.2 billion.
Ma grew up in poverty. He couldn't get a job at the local KFC.
He failed the national college entrance exams twice before fi nally graduating and starting his career as an English teacher.
In 1999, he founded Alibaba.
Today, the online retailer handles double the merchandise of Amazon.
Jan Koum, CEO and co-founder: WhatsApp
Koum came to the US from Ukraine when he was 16 years old. His family, struggling to make ends meet, lived on food stamps.
WhatsApp's $19-billion deal to Facebook made Koum a multibillionaire.
Ingvar Kamprad, Founder, Ikea
When Kamprad was a 7-year-old boy in rural 1920s Sweden, he sold matches to his neighbours.
At 17, he founded a company called IKEA.
At 21, he started selling furniture and the IKEA empire had begun.
Howard Schultz, Businessman
Schultz won a football scholarship to the University of Northern Michigan and went to work for Xerox after graduation.
Soon, he took over a coffee shop called Starbucks, which at the time had only 60 shops.
Schultz became the company's CEO in 1987 and grew the coffee chain to more than 16,000 outlets worldwide.
Elizabeth Holmes, Founder, Theranos
When Holmes was a 19-yearold sophomore at Stanford University back in 2003, she started Theranos, a blood diagnostics company that makes blood testing cheap.
The Palo Alto startup has 500 employees, a reported $400 million in funding, and a $9 billion evaluation.
Oprah Winfrey, Media proprietor
Net worth: $3 billion.
Winfrey was born into a poor family in Mississippi.
She became the fi rst African American TV correspondent at the age of 19.
In 1983, Winfrey moved to Chicago to work for an AM talk show, which would later be called 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.'
Shahid Khan, Founder: Flex-N-Gate
When Khan came to the US from Pakistan, he washed dishes for $1.20 an hour while attending the University of Illinois.
Khan now owns Flex-N-Gate, one of the largest private companies in the US; the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars; and Premier League soccer club Fulham.
Leonardo Del Vecchio, Founder: Luxottica
Del Vecchio, who founded Luxottica in 1961, was one of fi ve children who was eventually sent to an orphanage.
He worked in a factory making molds of auto parts and eyeglass frames.
At 23, Del Vecchio opened his own molding shop.
He now owns brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley.
George Soros Chairman, Soros Fund Management
In his early teens, Soros posed as the godson of an employee of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture in order to stay safe from the Nazi occupation of Hungary.
He put himself through the LSE working as a waiter and railway porter.
In 1992, his famous bet against the British pound made him a billionaire.
Larry Ellison, Founder: Oracle
Born in New York to a single mother, Ellison was raised by his aunt and uncle in Chicago.
Roman Abramovich, Business tycoon
One of Russia's richest persons, his toys include the world's largest yacht, a Boeing 767, and the Chelsea Football Club.
7 Ways Exercise Creates Happiness

18 June 2015
02:29 PM
Natural chemical high Exercise is a natural and healthy way to enjoy a high. Exercise releases endorphin's (feel good chemicals in the body) and helps release
or burn off of excess adrenaline which contributes to a stressed or edgy feeling. Serotonin contributes to a range of functions including appetite, libido, sleep and
mood. Research has found that regular exercise can alter serotonin levels resulting in improved mood, a sense of well being and reduced levels of depression. The
effect of exercise is immediate and can last for up to 12 hours.
Distraction from worries & stress Have you ever been stuck in a cycle of worry where the more you think about the problem, the worse it seems? Or how about
stuck in a frustrating day that saps your energy or makes you want to blow your top? Removing yourself from your desk, a stressful home situation or even your
own thought patterns and going for a walk, a swim or some other exercise can be an oasis giving you a distraction, relief or perspective.
Protects against anger Exercise, even a single bout of it, has been found to have a robust protective effect against the buildup of anger. A study from the
University of Stuttgart, published in the Journal of Exercise & Physiology suggested that if you are likely to be in an anger producing situation some exercise
beforehand will help. I recommend energetic forms of exercise like jogging, boxing, boot camp, aerobics to really blow off some steam before a stressful situation.
Increases energy Surprisingly expending some extra energy a few times per week actually leads to increased energy overall, due to an increase in cardiovascular
fitness. Having some extra energy up your sleeve will fight fatigue and boost motivation leading to an improved sense of wellbeing.
Social outlet Exercise can be a fun, social outlet. Whether with a personal trainer with whom you have great rapport, a friend or family member you walk or play
tennis with, a sports team, an exercise group or class, youll have fun, enjoy some laughs and a chat and be reminded that people can be a great source of
happiness, support and inspiration.
Builds confidence and self-esteem Feeling fitter and stronger, and knowing that youre doing something to improve your health is a great confidence builder. I
have seen people change from worrying about their appearance or age, to celebrating their new ability, endurance, strength and fitness achievements. Regular
exercisers usually view their bodies as capable, rather than flawed.
Sense of achievement Fitness is an excellent arena to set targets and goals and to follow a path to achieving them. Setting your sights on a fitness event or even
setting your own target is a great way to have a sense of purpose and then celebrate an accomplishment. Its a healthy high like no other! You might like to choose
a walk, ride or fun run to participate in, or set yourself a target of working up to a certain number of push-ups, a number of flights of stairs to walk, or a number of
exercise sessions in a month.
Warren Buffet's advice on Money

19 June 2015
12:18 PM
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/warre...nd-your-money/
One day Buffett went up to his pilot named Steve and jokingly said to him that the fact that youre still working for me tells
me Im not doing my job.
You should be out going after more of your goals and dreams, Buffett reportedly said.
To help him with that, Buffett asked Steve to list the 25 most important things he wanted to do in his life.
Then Buffett asked that he review each goal and choose the five most crucial ones.
After considering a moment, he drew circles around five fantastic goals, confirming with Buffett that yes, indeed, they were
his highest priorities.
And the rest?
What about these other 20 things on your list that you didnt circle? Buffett asked. What is your plan for completing
those?
Steve knew just what to say.
Well, the top five are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in at a close second, the pilot said. They are still important,
so Ill work on those intermittently as I see fit as Im getting through my top five. They are not as urgent, but I still pla n to
give them dedicated effort.
Buffett suddenly turned serious.
Youve got it wrong, Steve, he said. Everything you didnt circle just became your avoid at all cost list. No matter wha t,
these things get no attention from you until youve succeeded with your top five.
Lessons from that story
If I split up my time and energy among all of those things, I wont be great at any of them. To be great, I need to narrow do wn
that field as much as possible, cutting off my time and energy spent on those that dont make the cut.
The same idea applies to money.
It means that the list of important things in your life just gets longer and longer and longer, and that list of important
things are each things that you dump money into without really thinking about whether they fulfill something truly important
in your life.
One of the most valuable things you can do for your finances is take a step back and determine the handful of things that
really matter to you, then cut back hard on everything else so that you have the resources to do those things.
Whatever it is you spend your money on, its either supporting the things you really care about in life or its taking
away from them.
Every time you spend money (or time or energy) on things that arent among the core things you care about, you take away
from those core things.
Right now, your life is composed of two lists. One of them is a list of all of the things you spend money on above the bare
minimum. Are you going to go through that list and make another one, the one that contains what truly matters to you? When
you do, spending decisions become easy you just cut back hard on the stuff that doesnt matter and spend your money
smartly on the things that do matter.
Until you do, youll be dumping a lot of your money into things that you dont really care about, and it is those things that are
holding you back from succeeding at the thing that you do care most about.
Its all up to you.
Its all up to you.
Day Trading and Boxing?

19 June 2015
12:23 PM
http://www.marketcalls.in/trading-le...-otherday.html
Save your trading Capital not unsafe trade.Trades are mere extensions of your capital and like fruits in your tree .Pluck them off when they go
sour or rot.
Controlling your Failure In-spite of your Psychology
We all are programmed to take small profits and large losses .We tend to receive less and give away more. Environment control your sensory
nerves and adrenaline flow which in turn control your mind. In fact with your hands in hot water you can not keep calm and we are forced to
exit with heavy losses. Shocking consequences of hanging on to losses. Apparently hostile market environments where market conditions are
always changing from volatile to stable and from trending to choppy so nothing works in all market environments ,one always easily predict
heavy losses not only due to market but due to our human nature.
But remember You have to make it safe to be wrong a few times in a row and not lose all your trading capital. But This requirement runs
counter to your psychology.So fate for most traders are condemned from beginning. only the mentally, emotionally and psychologically
strong can enter this arena, survive and thrive. Failure rates of traders are higher than ~ 85% .To control your failure you have to predict your
losses. However you can neither predict profit nor losses but we can control our losses in advance before entry.With fixed losses ,you have
fixed downside and unlimited upside. And now you are in successful 15% safely in spite of your Psychology.
Day Trading Hazard Analysis(#Moral +Market Hazards)

1. MARKET & HIDDEN TRENCHES OF WAR.
Stock market is about winning ownership of wealth in a free for all market. Trading is to be taken as sequence of fights for wining ownership
of money and no less than war in terms of resources and emotions. Right of ownership can not be expected without fight.When your territory
is lost ,you can not wish to retrieve from enemy and you have to quit. In war your exit is defined .So also you exits have to be well defined in
Trade and yet you prefer to hang on and get wiped out.
2. LIKE A BOXER IN THE RING
With trading comes emotional blows with constant volatility of market .Fear and pain are predominant and ever present emotional
forces .Like in ring happiness and pleasure could be rare or nonexistent.Your toughness in the face of pain decides your survival.To survive in
boxing ring ,your toughness to tolerate all the blows is the only choice and your joy comes from your blows.An exchange of Pain not an
exchange of happiness happens in the end as both winners and losers do end up with body ache.To be tough is to chose to live unhappy
life.But we hate unhappy life and quit.Therefore like it happens in boxing ring ,we tend to fail in trading because we hang on to our losses and
keep taking blows until we are completely bloodied.Like in boxing ring ,when you can not take blows any longer you throw up in towel ,the
same fate awaits traders who infact demand their money back from market by hanging on.
3.SPECULATION AND PUNISHMENT.
Well it rhymes like Crime and punishment and it is literally so.Why are speculators invariably punished and more so the late comers to party?
Market is always going to be hostile not friendly to speculators no matter whatever business channels brag about to work you up for obvious
reasons.Market is designed to hurt speculators and therefore holy grail does not exist.Market can always find a super antibiotic for super
bug..Dont confuse that failure of your tricks have anything to do with fault of tricks but a possible victim or prey of Long hands.You can
ignore this at your own peril.Speculator bashing is always a favorite pastime in media and in practice..Speculators can only be punished with
cost and pain.Speculators are left with little choice.So expecting to get wounded in fight is being pragmatic instead of being surprised and
horrified ,but do try to escape unhurt .Quick to learn when being double crossed.Speculation and smuggling share same dubious fame. And
are not treated respectfully by free market as most like to believe.It ever remains dark and shady in our psyche. This explains why speculation
invites harsh punishment. Many fail to accept this.
4.RECOURSE TO CRYING &PROTESTS
Giving free money and free labor does hurts and now you have tendency to argue with market to collect your loss .If you have given lot of
free money to market ,you are going more bitter argument with market by forever averaging and forever waiting for imaginary bounce.But
you tend to forget when you chose to stay longer in boxing ring ,you going to get more blows and outcome may remain unchanged.So in
boxing ring ,our strategy should be controlling blows we can receive not braving blows hoping opponent to blink .That can kill you.
5.BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS
In the face of stress your inner self reacts for full freedom to relieve.and can not meet any demands of the moment called responsibility.Its like
purging freely of something.We all have our typical stress relieving mechanisms called our personality traits.In stress we all have our typical
behavioral problem also called our weaknesses. Stop losses or hedging prevents excess damages by market and your potential mistakes in
stressful condition
SAFETY PROCEDURES
1.SELL AT DISCOUNT AND NOT DEAD CHEAP

1.SELL AT DISCOUNT AND NOT DEAD CHEAP

If market goes against your trade and you have no other choice but to sell at a loss ,you must preferably sell at its relative value not any
cheaper.This you do by closing trade at any comfortable DMA of your choice and not arbitrarily.Like in any business ,Trading too has
cumulative costs and benefits not one off thing.Differently, if Index has returned 13% annually ,any trade can expect at most only this much
as bona fide expectation.So your trade should not bear loss beyond this so as not to be arbitrary.When your losses are not fixed and
arbitrary ,outcome is certainly going to be arbitrary and not predictable.
2.STOP LOSSES TO STOP OUR MISBEHAVIOUR OR MONKEY BEHAVIOUR
It is said when you can not control outcome of your trade ,then control your losses.We tend to enjoy freedom of doing things as per our
wishes and wants.Our decision to do certain things are based on certain wants which are emotional or simply reaction of our inner self. Any
violation or restriction to exercise our freedom is not acceptable and hate ,a painful emotion grips us.In other words,We dont respect time as
it restrict our freedom .Therefore in any competition we are allowed only fixed time to complete something in time.This prevents Emotional
tendency to want more time or procrastinate or seek easy options that many times gets better of our external cost and benefits or return in the
face of competition.Stop losses fixes your time of stay in advance.
3.OBJECTIVE ENTRY AND EXITS IN SYSTEM TRADES

Not allowing freedom to oneself to do what one likes is called discipline as we tend to self destroy for we are lazy.Subjectivity and discretion
always goes wrong as we tend to be biased and partial and we are not trust worthy.To ensure impartiality and fairness we have to bring
objectivity and rationality which removes any discretion and subjectivity.Objectivity is common and valid for everyone and independent of
persons.So system trades ensure objective entries and exits.No question of too early or too late arises afterwards.
4.EDGE AND SAFETY
Odds or high probability indicates your safety level called Edge.Your edge is enhanced with more riders you add.However edge and equity
growth have trade offs and you have to chose optimal road map.
FOLLOW SAFE OPERATING PROCEDURE NOT YOUR GUT FEELING.
Best way to predict outcome to fix your losses before entry.You can neither predict losses nor profit.But you want maximum profit and
minimum losses.Once you fix losses ,outcome becomes function of profits.So you can know where are you at the end.Successful day trader
has to face many challenges and demands both external and internal.Knowing and anticipating those potential breakdowns of trade ,one can
have a road map ready.Hazards study as outlined above are potential psychological and market risks and can help one create SOP or safe
operating procedure to drive your trade or perfectly map your trade from beginning to end in day trading.
Don't Count Your Money during Trading

19 June 2015
12:58 PM
Dont count your money when youre sitting at the table

It is important that you look at your trade in terms of risk to reward instead of the amount of pips you are up. This is analogous
to not counting your money when youre sitting at the table; dont count your pips when you are in a trade but instead calculate
your risk to reward scenario. Before entering any trade it is very important to figure out how much reward you can reasonably
make relative to the amount you are risking. As the trade progresses it is important to remember your pre-defined risk / reward
scenario, you really dont want to take anything less than this pre-defined risk / reward amount unless there is a logical reason
to do so
False starts and Shake Outs

19 June 2015
01:01 PM
False Starts
Also known as whipsaws, false starts occur when your setup gives a positive signal, immediately followed by a reversal. You are no sooner stopped out of your
position when the setup gives another buy signal. This is frustrating; and expensive. Many traders lose heart and fail to take the second entry, only to find that the
trend spikes sharply upward, leaving them ready to throw their PC (or themselves) through the window.
Shake-Outs
If you move your stops up to below the low of each subsequent correction, there are going to be times when you are shaken out; no matter how strong the trend. It
is just in the nature of the beast. Even if you are more cautious in ratcheting up your stops, applying some kind of filter, there are still going to be times when you
are stopped out. And they are going to be expensive -- because of the filter.
Even the strongest trends attempt to shake you out. I am reminded of riding a rodeo bull. It will head off at breakneck speed while you hang on for all you are
worth. Just when you feel that you have adjusted to the speed, it will reverse direction. If you are not prepared for this you are going to eat dirt!
Another trick is to turn and turn and turn, until again your body senses the rhythm, then, just as suddenly, it will reverse direction. Or the bull will fake to go one
way and then take off in the opposite direction.
Example
Here is a classic fast-trending stock from the ASX 200. Arc Energy has increased by more than 1000% in the last 4 years. The stock completed a broad double
bottom in 2001, with a breakout at [C], and has never looked back. I have used point and figure charts because they are less subjective than the normal closing
price or weekly candlestick charts.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 651x395.
Can you see how difficult it is to stay with the trend? Either insiders or professionals had recognized the stock's value and tried every trick in the book to shake out
existing positions and claim a bigger stake for themselves. In all there are 16 potential false breaks or shake-outs.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 651x395.
By Colin Twiggs-
Improve Your Trading

19 June 2015
03:11 PM
http://www.marketcalls.in/trading-le...arket+Calls%29
Markets are complicated. Market analysis is complicated. Developing a trading method certainly can be complicated. But trading cannot be
complicated. The act of placing trades and evaluating results must be as streamlined and simplified as possible. Here are a few suggestions for
things you can do today, with investing an enormous amount of time and energy, to improve your trading or investing. Chances are that you are
already doing some of these things, but can you do them better?
1. Make sure you have an edge.
I can keep coming back to this, because it matters. Furthermore, most things most people do does not actually work. Are you certain your
methodology has a statistical edge or some experienced edge in the long run? You will get two types of scenarios from your trades: money you
win and money you lose. Are you certain the money you will win pile will be bigger? If not, develop and test a methodology until you have
confidence in it.
2. Keep good records.
Your broker statement is not enough. You need good records of why you took a trade, what you saw when you took it (or what conditions
triggered an entry), how the P&L developed, what decisions you made once you were in a trade, etc. Dont make this a daunting task; if you
create a system that is onerous you will not follow it, so you have to strike a balance.
3. Work on your process.
Do you have an established process for finding new trades? What markets to look at, when, how, and what will trigger an entry? How about for
evaluating existing trades? When to take partial profits, when to tighten stops, when to exit, when to add, etc.You cant be consistent unless you
have a defined process you follow each and every time.
4. Think about how you evaluate your results.
The conventional wisdom is that we should evaluate our winning trades, but that might not be right. Do you know how to tease out the impact of
luck in your results? Do you know how to evaluate the stability of your edge? These things matter far more than looking at charts of winning
and losing trades you made.Remember Analysis is not everything you need to know your performance
5. Work on yourself.
Though Im often critical of trading psychology (believing that correct trading has a much clearer impact on psychology than vice versa), there
is no doubt that regular exercise, living from a conviction of the universe, working on impulse control, being connected to friends and family,
and practicing conscious gratitude lead to a happier and healthier you. Consider adding some of these to your daily process, and always work to
get better.Simple bothering on markets all the time is useless it doesnt lead to miracle or success on the other hand, it only worsens your social
interaction
The 90 Percent Club By Kevin Davey

19 June 2015
03:14 PM
If you've been around investment circles long enough, you have undoubtedly seen ads for stock, futures, forex or commodity systems, services
or newsletters claiming a 90% or greater winning trade rate. This, of course, makes the approach very enticing. I mean, seriously, how could
you lose money if you win 90% of the time?
'll focus in on the 7 ways someone can claim a 90% winning rate, and what you should watch out for:
1. Mr. Hindsight
This person can point to any chart, and identify his buy and sell points with absolute precision. Usually recognized as an expert in his field of
analysis, he can create stunning buy and sell signals for past data. Problem is, he usually can't do it going forward. ADVICE: Ignore past
"predictions," and only follow Mr. Hindsight in real time. You'll soon see his true ability.
2. Ms. Vague
Her market predictions are akin to reading the works of Nostradamus. She'll say "the market will be up today, unless GDP figures are
disappointing." After the numbers come out, the prediction can be made to fit the outcome - "well, the numbers were only somewhat
disappointing" or "other forces overpowered the market, so even though I was right, the market fell." ADVICE: Turn off financial TV shows,
since this is where Ms. Vague and here cohorts lurk.
3. Mr. Sneaky
This guy will have an ad that states "95% winning closed trades." Sounds great, BUT it usually means that 5% of his trades are currently open
losers, usually big losers, that he has held onto for a long time. ADVICE: Make sure all open trades are disclosed, too. Treat open and closed
trades as the same. Don't fall for the "this losing trade can always come back and be profitable" ploy.
4. Ms. Quick Exiter
In and out like a flash on winning trades, Ms. Quick Exiter will typically have losses 5-10 times her winners. But, she gets a lot of winners,
and she wants to dazzle you with winning percentage. ADVICE: Look at total net profit. You probably will see a losing strategy, even with a
90%+ winning percentage.
5. Mr. Liar
If Mr. Liar can do anything to cheat, he will. In the past, he has stuck all his losing trades in one account, put all his winners in another
account, and of course, only shows you the winning account. But, he has many other tricks up his sleeve, certainly more than I can name here.
ADVICE: Track his trades in real time. Make sure they are specific and detailed enough so they cannot be misinterpreted.
6. Mr. Long Term
"The stock market will rise," says Mr. Long Term. He is absolutely right, if you don't pin him down on time. It may take 100 years, but stocks
will eventually rise. But, the first 99 might wipe you out. Long term forecasters hope you'll forget their predictions if they are incorrect.
ADVICE: Treat any prediction, especially long term ones, with extreme suspicion. The fact is most experts are just guessing.
7. Ms. Really Can Do It
A rare and exceptional talent, this person is the real deal. No gimmicks, no tricks - just super high winning percentage and super high profits.
ADVICE: Ask yourself "why would this person sell me their amazing secrets for $79, when if she is so good, she can trade and make
unlimited amounts of money?" Answer: No one will ever sell you the ultimate key to trading success, and if they did, it would cost a lot more
than you could afford.
So, now you know the seven members of the 90% winning trade club. Avoid these folks, and you'll almost certainly become a better trader.
Overnight Success
19 June 2015
03:15 PM
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240699
Our constant quest to achieve faster results is a trap.
We get so obsessed on the goal that we forget that the system is what matters. We get so obsessed with the outcome that we overlook the
repetitions we need to do to get there. We become so focused on the short-term results that we forget to build the long-term habits that make
the real difference.
However, there are a few strategiesfour of them at leastthat will actually accelerate the results you enjoy without ignoring the importance
of building better habits. I call these strategies Behavior Multipliers because the multiply and enhance your ability to take the right action on
a consistent basis.
Lets talk about these multipliers and how they work.
1. Rapid Feedback.
As Seth Godin says, The best way to change long-term behavior is with short-term feedback. The more immediate the feedback is that you
get, the quicker you can make adjustments to your behavior. (This is why its important to measure backward.)
The most foundational aspect of a new habit is awareness. If youre not aware of your habits, how can you expect to change them? This is why
feedback is so important. Faster feedback leads to faster results.
2. Simplicity.
The best productivity strategy is to eliminate the things that derail your productivity. If you live a life with fewer distractions, it becomes much
easier to take effective action.
The Pareto Principle, often called the 80-20 rule, is a commonly shared idea that 80 percent of the results in a given endeavor come from 20
percent of the work. (i.e. 80 percent of your revenue comes from the best 20 percent of your clients.)
Most of the time, people bring this rule up as a way to point out that you should focus on that top 20 percent. Put all of your energy into the
things that provide the biggest benefit! This is excellent advice, but what we often forget is that even if you know what the top 20 percent is,
you still need to avoid the pitfall of wasting time on the remaining 80 percent of tasks.
In many cases, the danger isnt knowing what the most important task is for the day. The danger is doing the 7th-most important thing before
you do the most important thing.
Dont just identify the 20 percent of strategies that are most effective, eliminate the 80 percent of strategies that are wasteful. When the
distractions are taken away from you, it becomes much easier to stay focused.
3. Environment.
In my opinion, this is the greatest success hack there is. If you live in an environment that nudges you toward the right decision and if you
surround yourself with people who make your new behavior seem normal, then youll find success is almost an afterthought.
The world around us shapes our behavior. Consider the home you live in, for example. There are many cues built into your home, probably
hundreds or thousands, that shape your behavior in small ways.
Is there food sitting on the counter? Youre more likely to pick it up and eat it.
Do your couches and chairs face the television? Youre more likely to sit down and turn it on.
And it works the other way too
Are your running shoes and gym shorts laid out the night before? Youll be more likely to suit up and go for a run tomorrow.
Do you work at an office with healthy and fit people? If so, youll be more likely to see exercise and activity as a normal way of life.
Every environment promotes some behaviors and prevents others. The key is to be in an environment that supports the results you want to
achieve.
The people and places that surround us fill our days with little cues and triggers that can make our habits easier to follow or harder to build.
Are you fighting your environment to make change happen? Or does your environment make your new behavior effortless?
4. Ability.
If your skills in a particular area are better, then making sustained progress will be easier.
For example, if you can already do 100 pushups in a row, then developing a habit of doing 10 pushups per day seems relatively easy. If,
however, your maximum is 10 pushups in a row, then doing 10 pushups per day is far more taxing.
This is also where talent and genetic potential come into the picture. It is far easier to become an overnight success in basketball if you are 7
This is also where talent and genetic potential come into the picture. It is far easier to become an overnight success in basketball if you are 7
feet tall rather than if you are 5 feet tall. Play a game that rewards your skill set and success will come faster.
Overnight Success
I still think overnight success is a myth. Theres no way to avoid one simple fact: you have to put in the work.
That said, these four strategies make rapid success more reasonable:
1. Get short-term feedback.
2. Simplify and eliminate distractions.
3. Surround yourself with an environment that promotes your new behavior.
Play a game that leverages your skill set
What Successful People Ask Themselves Every Day

19 June 2015
03:22 PM
http://www.success.com/article/5-sim...lves-every-day
The most successful people have the ability to objectively evaluate themselves on a regular basistheir skills, their actions and their progress
toward goals.
They dont sleepwalk through the routine. Theyre actively thinking about the things they do. But questioning yourself doesn t mean secondguessing yourself. It means evaluating your status and objectives, and what youll do to reach them with a clear, unbiased mind. Its a practice
that will help make you think and become more successful in work and life.
Here are five simple questions that successful people ask themselves every day:
1. Am I in the right niche?
If you dont have passion for your job, you wont be motivated to overcome the natural barriers and obstacles that life puts in the way of
success.This is why its so important to routinely check in with yourself and your motivation. If you feel like your passion is waning and youre
burning out, a change may be necessary to reignite your energy for business. Finding a niche that sustains you emotionally wi ll give you the clear
mind and passionate drive you need to succeed.
2. Am I learning from my mistakes?
Most patterns of success include plenty of failure. Thats completely normaleven healthy. However, the important thing is that youre learning
and youre rarely making the same mistake twice. When you hit a roadblock, take time to evaluate what went wrong, what needs to change, and
how you can prevent it from happening in the future. Try to take a nugget of wisdom from each failure you encounter on your road to success.
3. Am I consistently pushing my own boundaries?
Success isnt attained by driving the speed limit or sticking to the beaten path. You can rest assured that the people who do well in your industry
are constantly pushing ahead and challenging their own boundaries. Creating new, more audacious goals and attempting to reach them will keep
your passion ignited and keep you striving toward success. Push through professional barriers and always look to achieve the impossible.
4. What is my game plan?
While you are challenging yourself, you should also map out strategies that will allow you to become more efficient and precise. If you are trying
to work faster and better, you need to develop routines and processes that allow you to do so. Sit down and create the physical map that will take
you from where you are to where you want to go. Leave room for detours that could end up being shortcuts as you learn and grow.
5. Do I still believe I can do this?

The most important ingredient of success is the belief in yourself and what youre striving toward. The highest ambitions are nothing without the
conviction that you can actually reach them. Take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if your passion and drive match up with your
aspirations. Skills and know-how are less than half the battle. If you dont believe you can do it, itll be hard to convince anyone else you can.
You have to be your own cheerleader before you can expect anyone else to be.
Secret Habits of Millionaires

19 June 2015
03:23 PM
http://www.businessinsider.com/secre...s-2014-12?IR=T
A millionaire who is truly financially savvy won't be easily recognizable.

1. He always spends less than he earns. In fact his mantra is, over the long run, you're better off if you strive to be anonymously rich rather than
deceptively poor.
2. He knows that patience is a virtue. The odds are you won't become a millionaire overnight. If you're like him, your wealth will be
accumulated gradually by diligently saving your money over multiple decades.
3. When you go to his modest three-bed two-bath house, you're going to be drinking Folgers instead of Starbucks. And if you need a lift, well,
you're going to get a ride in his ten-year-old economy sedan. And if you think that makes him cheap, ask him if he cares. (He doesn't.)
4. He pays off his credit cards in full every month. He's smart enough to understand that if he can't afford to pay cash for something, then he
can't afford it.
5. He realized early on that money does not buy happiness. If you're looking for nirvana, you need to focus on attaining financial freedom.
6. He never forgets that financial freedom is a state of mind that comes from being debt free. Best of all, it can be attained regardless of your
income level.
7. He knows that getting a second job not only increases the size of your bank account quicker but it also keeps you busy and being busy
makes it difficult to spend what you already have.
8. He understands that money is like a toddler; it is incapable of managing itself. After all, you can't expect your money to grow and mature as it
should without some form of credible money management.
9. He's a big believer in paying yourself first. Paying yourself first is an essential tenet of personal finance and a great way to build your savings
and instill financial discipline.
10. Although it's possible to get rich if you spend your life making a living doing something you don't enjoy, he wonders why you do. Life is
too short.
11. He knows that failing to plan is the same as planning to fail. He also knows that the few millionaires that reached that milestone without a
plan got there only because of dumb luck. It's not enough to simply declare that you want to be financially free.
12. When it came time to set his savings goals, he wasn't afraid to think big. Financial success demands that you have a vision that is
significantly larger than you can currently deliver upon.
13. Over time, he found out that hard work can often help make up for a lot of financial mistakes and you will make financial mistakes.
14. He realizes that stuff happens, that's why you're a fool if you don't insure yourself against risk. Remember that the potential for bankruptcy
is always just around the corner and can be triggered from multiple sources: The death of the family's key bread winner, divorce, or disability
that leads to a loss of work.
15. He understands that time is an ally of the young. He was fortunate enough to begin saving in his twenties so he could take maximum
advantage of the power of compounding interest on his nest egg.
16. He knows that you can't spend what you don't see. You should use automatic paycheck deductions to build up your retirement and other
savings accounts. As your salary increases you can painlessly increase the size of those deductions.
17. Even though he has a job that he loves, he doesn't have to work anymore because everything he owns is paid for and has been for years.
18. He's not impressed that you drive an over-priced luxury car and live in a McMansion that's two sizes too big for your family of four.
19. After six months of asking, he finally quit waiting for you to return his pruning shears. He broke down and bought himself a new pair last
month. There's no hard feelings though; he can afford it.
Dont predict the market,trade it

19 June 2015
05:20 PM
Very often students ask me to predict the markets ( eg. what happens tomorrow with NIFTY?). No one can predict markets, No on e! Actually
no one can predict anything in life. Except god men, astrologers, magicians and liars ( And I haven't seen many such rich pe ople.)
Markets, however can be anticipated by using intelligence and most importantly can be traded to make money. Trading is a pro cess which gets
over only when you successfully have the money out of the market and starts when you have the money in your account. Taking calculated
decisions is what investing/trading is all about. Education and training helps the process.
Trading is very different from technical analysis (TA)- also called charting. It is a much higher concept of which technical analysis is a small
part.What, when, how much and what not to do after reading the charts is called trading. Adding, managing and removing money ( positions)
from the market is called trading. It is a dynamic process and changes with the market conditions. Its like playing chess wi th the markets and
is amazingly stimulating on an intellectual level and greatly rewarding - financially and emotionally.
What differentiates charting and trading is the emotional part. Physiology and cultivated emotional response mechanism is wha t either makes
or looses money. Trades/Investments have to be planned; TA is mere observation of the markets and to find out what is happen ing in the
markets now ( as opposed to predicting the markets). Once you know what is happening in the markets NOW with as much possible accuracy
is that you can anticipate them.
Trading is the culmination of the following concepts. Hi risk reward ratio, demand supply, gamblers fallacy, Cognitive biasin g, Inverse
pyramiding, stop losses, Regression to mean, Martingale,.....
Fear is the Key

19 June 2015
05:22 PM
http://boldanddetermined.com/2011/01...-afraid-to-do/
Fear is an excellent motivator, if you let it motivate you. Fear is also an excellent tool to keep you from succeeding, if you let it.
Those that have achieved their dreams have faced their fears and conquered them. Those that are not living their dreams have let fear control
them.
When youre contemplating doing something but youre scared, always ask yourself whats the worst that could happen? Its likely that
nothing bad will happen. If something bad could happen what are the chances? Usually a tiny chance.
If youre scared to do something, thats a good sign that you should do it.
Seen Jaws too many times and now youre scared of Sharks? You need to jump in the ocean.
Whats the worst that could happen?
You encounter a shark. So what. Maybe it bites you and maybe it doesnt. And if it kills you then it kills you. We all die and you did it facing
your fears.
Want to go into business for yourself but youre afraid of failure? You should bite the bullet and do it.

You go broke. So what. Every self-made millionaire was broke before they were rich.
Want to get into shape but youre scared of looking like a fool in the gym? Go into the gym anyway.
People snigger behind your back. So what. See the look on their faces in 6 months when youve completely changed your body.
Want to ask out the pretty girl at the mall but scared shell say no? Ask her anyway.
She could say no. So what. At least you tried while all the other cowards wonder what could have been.
If youre too scared to ever take a chance, you dont deserve any rewards.
Top Professional Trader Smita Sadana Interview

19 June 2015
05:36 PM
Smita has delivered a 43% compounded annual gain over the last 11 years. During the same period, the S&P500 index is virtually unchanged.
Her accomplishments make her one of the greatest individual traders and possibly the best female trader on Wall Street. My interview
with Smita was like living through a passage from Jack Schwagers classic trading book Market Wizards. Smita enlightened me on dealing with
emotions, risk management, and the art of discipline.
Smita is another Wall Street professional who is praised for both her skills and her character. In 2004, she lost her father to a tragic murder over
a petty sum of money. As a testament to her admirable nature, she used this event to reevaluate her life and dedicate new energies to helping
others through financial education. Her firm TraderVantage perpetuates her mission.
Read more: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/intervie...#ixzz3NRuPxkUU
Trading is War
19 June 2015
06:05 PM
http://niftynirvana.blogspot.in/2012_06_01_archive.html
Majority of the traders fail because they do not understand the reality of the market.Most of us are not even playing the right game.Materials
available over the net and the books written by failed traders teach technical analysis patterns and indicator based signals and we assume this
is the reality.
The indicator based TA signals and price patterns are illusions. These are only effects. Cause is something else. Then what is the cause ?
Price .Indicators and patterns are derivatives of price. Then price is the cause and TA patterns the effect.So we need to focus on price.
Do not reach a conclusion so fast. Price is another effect and there is something that makes prices move in markets. What it is ? It is the order
flow. Orders make the market move. If the net order flow is on the buy side market will go up . If net order flow is on the sell side market will
drift down.
Then order flow is the real thing that moves the market. Oh No . Dig a little more deeper. Yeah. got it . It is the people who act in the market
by feeding their orders.When people start bidding higher,price will move up when they start lowering their offers price will start moving
down.
A little more deeper. When people are going to bid or offer aggressively ?. It is when they feel the urgency and desperation to transact. This is
when they become emotional.. So it all comes down to the emotion of the market participants.Fear and greed are the most powerful emotions
that can force people to act.
If you are able to identify the price levels where a large enough group of traders succumb to these emotions and able to act there without
hesitation , you will win in this game. Trading is nothing but engaging the other party. Encashing their fear and greed.
Suppose you are in a shopping mall. People will be moving around in a random manner. Then you hear an announcement that the first ten
purchasers of a particular item will get another free. You can see so many people rushing to that counter .That is greed in action. Then you go
and press the fire alarm button.Everybody except you will rush to the exit. Fear in action.
Now you know it. Fear is much more powerful emotion than greed.
Trading is war, whether you like it or not.We need blood on the trading floor
Professional Trading
19 June 2015
06:19 PM
http://lessons.tradingacademy.com/ar...ampaignId=1944
As a professional trader following your plan you will start to see more consistent profits, and that is when you start to notice your days are just
blending together. In another way, each day just seems to be a non-event. One of my favorite quotes is The ideal action is one that leaves not a
split second between the urge to action and the action itself. There are going to be days where you will experience sheer exuberance from days of
making more money than you ever thought possible. And then you will have days where it will be just short of sheer terror from losing more
money in one day than you ever thought possible. The other type of day is the quiet range days, where you end up forcing trades on a boring day.
And then the cycle starts over again.
The keys to handling this cycle are:
Developing the patience needed to deal with the many boring market days
Developing your discipline to make sure your expectations do not get overblown on the exuberance days
Knowing yourself and being prepared ahead of time to deal with the inevitable bad days
Trading Boring Days
Many new traders come to the Futures markets with very high expectations of making lots of money on a daily basis. This is understandable based
on the reputation of the Futures markets. Futures are known to be like the Wild West with excitement, volatility, instant wealth; the truth is that
there are many days when a traders account equity will not change much at all or just stay in a normal range of normal ups and downs. Traders
who use a particular strategy consistently and adhere to very strict money management rules will find that these types of account equity doldrums
are quite common. New traders are known for coming into the market and using a multitude of strategies and have little, if any, money
management skills.During the quiet times while you are patiently waiting for a setup based on your trading plan there may be market
rallies/declines, major news events or even the talking heads calling for a major trend change, but you, as a disciplined trader, will wait for your
signal. As you wait, watching the markets fluctuate on a daily basis will make you feel like you are missing so many opportunities. It is during
these times of sitting on your hands and waiting for your setup that the frustration runs high and the urge to just place a trade becomes stronger
and stronger.
This is known as a boredom trade and I can tell you, they will almost all turn into losing trades. This is the markets way of pulling in the weak
hands to commit their money and then the strong hands reverse the market quickly causing all the scared sheep to run for the exits. During these
quiet times is when you must adhere to your trading plan and not make a trade just because you have not made any money lately. When you
created your trading plan it was based on a back tested strategy and good money management. Patience and confidence will come from knowing
that if you wait for your setup your percentages greatly increase for having a winning trade. Confidence in your trading plan leads to patience
waiting for your setups.
Trading Days of Massive Profits
People coming into the trading arena are typically accustomed to making money by working long hard hours for not much pay to show for their
hard work. So, when they have a day in the market where the skies open and drop more money into their laps than they ever thought possible
could very easily create some problems for our trader; much like those who win multi-million dollar lotteries and a few years later are bankrupt. If
we are not conditioned to handle windfalls of fortune we are destined to give it all or worse, even more, back. Once you have a large win or two
you become seduced into thinking this is easy money. All of a sudden you are thinking to yourself in terms of annualized returns based on this one
trade. Perhaps you are saying, If I do this 3 times per week and trade 50 weeks per year I will have xx millions of dollars by year end! Can you
see the dangers here? Anybody who trades on a regular basis knows that these windfall trading days dont come along all that often and then, in
between them, we have this thing called equity draw downs. Hopefully our new trader here does not go out and start living a lifestyle of this
million dollar trader. These are the kinds of days that lead to inflated expectations of future earnings in the markets. The euphoria created from
these days can lead to an addiction to this fast easy money. The danger is you may start to ignore your trading plan trying to keep this adrenaline
rush alive. The first thing that starts to happen is you begin to take on much more risk than your plan calls for and it subsequently self-destructs
because your plan was not designed to trade this way. The next thing is you become careless in selecting your trades. When your account is small
you are very particular about your trade selection simply because you dont have much room to be wrong. When you have this extra free easy
money in your account you can very easily become careless.
I would recommend only keeping enough funds in your account to meet margins and have some extra for losses. Otherwise, I would transfer the
excess funds to an interest bearing account that is easily accessible for wire transfers in case you need the funds. One other event that tends to
happen when you have excess funds in your account is that you tend to let your losers run further than you ever would have in the past. This is a
very big red warning flag and is how you can lose more than you made very quickly.
Theoretically, you should not let emotions interfere with your trading. Thereby, you should not let making money get you all that excited nor
should you let losing your money be demoralizing. Just treat each day the same and try to keep your emotions on a plateau. All that said, we are
all only human and will let our emotions into our daily lives. The key here again is being prepared for how you will handle this event and having
great discipline.
Our trading plans should have a section covering how we will handle these profits. If you receive this windfall and are still in the position, you
really should have a strategy to help see you to the end of the trade. How many times have you seen greed kick in and not let somebody exit a
windfall profit trade and the whole trade turns into a loser? It happens more than you care to know. Your discipline will be the key in handling
these windfall trading days. As I was saying, we are all human and we will have emotions, the key is not letting this particular trading day have
any impact on your future trading sessions.
I remember Allan Greenspans speech about over exuberance at a time he was trying to slow down the economy and his analogy about our
economy growing too fast. If the market is going to crash I would rather see it crash at 55 mph than at 120 mph. Just like a bad day in the
market (55 mph) and a catastrophe (120 mph), at least you have a chance of walking away from the 55 mph crash.
The secret to dealing with these bad days is to be prepared for them.Two important elements to consider for being prepared are: proper money
management and having realistic expectations.
I employ a money management/risk technique I call a financial circuit breaker. I have a maximum loss per trading session built into my trading
plan. If I hit this dollar amount during the session I literally leave the office. This eliminates the urge to revenge trade. I have found that if you lose
in the morning session and come back in the afternoon thinking you are going to make it back, you end up losing even more for the day. All
traders should expect there to be losing days during their trading careers. One strategy does not fit every market environment, you may be
distracted by something unrelated to the markets, you may not feel well, or any other host of events can cause you not to be in sync with the
market that day. Stop throwing your money away and walk away from your desk. This allows you to come back another day and trade. You will
be amazed how much better you feel about yourself when you have the discipline to walk away from these types of days. It works, trust me.
Never give up on something that you cant go a day without thinking about.
Day Traders Tricks to Control Your Emotions

21 June 2015
11:46 AM
http://www.tradingsetupsreview.com/5...trol-emotions/
Day traders must control their emotions. The slightest lapse in controlling your emotions will ruin your accumulated hard-earned
profits overnight.
For instance, after having several losses in a trading session, you are afraid of having a losing day. This fear spurs you to overleverage and blow up your trading account with a single trade.
Day trading requires focus. Day trading setups are fleeting. Hence, it is crucial for day traders to know exactly what to do to control
their emotions while trading. They do not have time to ponder on vague statements.
What can you do exactly to control your emotions?
Follow these five day traders tricks if you have problems controlling your emotions.
1. Take a walk after each trade.

Even if its just for a minute.
Given the fast and furious nature of day trading, it is too easy to get trapped in the sea of emotions.
Walking away from your trading screen is a deliberate break in your trading tempo. It is a physical action that you take to control
your trading tempo. This simple act clears your mind and reminds you that you are in control.
The market does not drag you into a trade. Quite the opposite. You can walk away from the market any time you want. You are in
control.
2. Find out the least volatile hour of the trading session.

Read a book during that hour.
Most day trading strategies work best when price action is volatile. Trying to trade when a congested market leads to frustration.
Anger follows. Then, your emotional dam is pretty much broken.
The easiest solution is take a break when the markets are going nowhere.
Plus, you get to read the latest novel from your favourite author.
However, do not read anything to do with trading. Trading books give you trading ideas. You might be tempted to try those ideas
immediately. Trading ideas, before becoming part of a consistent trading plan, are losing propositions.
3. Stop trading after three consecutive wins or losses.

Three consecutive wins make you feel like a super trader. You think that you cannot lose. You are invincible. You over-leverage and
over-trade.
Three consecutive losses make you feel like a loser. You dont want to lose. Your emotions explode. You revenge trade.
When a certain event happens for three times in a row, it is tough not to get affected by it. Lets evade this problem altogether and
stop trading after three consecutive wins or losses.
4. Dont look at your profit and loss while you are trading.
I can hardly think of a figure that causes a greater surge of emotions than your profit and loss figure. To many traders, the profit and
loss figure is an expression of their self-worth. (Nope. You are greater than just your profit and loss.)
If you follow the most important trading rule and have a daily loss limit in place, you are already protected from severe losses.
Hence, you do not need to check your profit and loss figure constantly.
Whenever you feel like peeping at your profit and loss for the session, read your trading rules.
5. Ask yourself: Am I scared?

Fear is an intense and destructive emotion that traders often encounter.
When you are watching your trades unfold, keep asking yourself: Am I scared?
At any point, if you answer Yes. Exit immediately.
Review your trading rules.
Reduce your trading size.
Repeat.
Master Your Emotions for Long-Term Day Trading Success
Control over your emotions does not give you a trading edge. This is because your trading edge depends on your trading method.
However, you need to master your emotions for long-term trading success.
With the five tricks above, your nerves will get a slow boat cruise instead of a roller coaster ride.
Learning to control your emotions requires persistence. Over time, you will start to perceive the benefits of keeping your emotions
under control. These benefits serve as positive reinforcement to your brain to continue good emotional habits and responses.
It takes time. But if you persist, it does get easier.
MARKET WISDOM
21 June 2015
12:03 PM
- Theres no point in going through any anxiety because a trade is missed. Theres always another opportunity around the corner, you just
have to be mentally prepared and have the patience to wait for it. That requires always staying positive and in the moment.
- Next time you feel anxiety creeping into your trading because you didnt catch a trade just think to yourself, Relax, theres always another
trade, and your results should improve.
- Trading is psychological warfare. The difficulty stems from the myriad ways that the trading process challenges your weaknesses, character
flaws and blemishes. Trading requires self-limits and personal accountability. Your best trader, your A-Game is the only acceptable
position to trade from. Otherwise, you are placing yourself under impractical, unacceptable and unsustainable risk. Dont allow yourself to
continue to trade under the influence of negative default patterns. Identify, root-out, neutralize and replace negative default patterns by
becoming deliberate and trading by design. Protect your capital
- "The market does not know if you are long or short and could not care less. You are the only one emotionally involved with your position.
The market is just reacting to supply and demand and if you are cheering it one way, there is always somebody else cheering it just as hard
that it will go the other way" - Marty Schwartz, Pit Bull
- "A great trader is like a great athlete . You have to have natural skills, but you have to train yourself how to use them." - Marty Schwartz,
Pit Bull
- "One characteristic I've found among successful traders is that they function effectively when they're not trading. When markets become
very quiet and range bound, they occupy themselves with a variety of activities, from sharing ideas with peers to conducting research.
Traders who do not tolerate inactivity well inevitably feel the need to trade, often when there is no objective edge present. For them, losing
money is less onerous than experiencing boredom."
- The more you can bring the mindset and rules that you use each day to purchase everyday items at the grocery store, appliance store, and so
on into your market speculating, the better you will do. Do you ever use coupons to save some money? If you do, you already know how to
buy at a low price. Take that same exact mindset and action into your trading and investing world. The mass illusion is that proper trading
and investing is somehow different than how we properly buy things in everyday life. Truth is, there is no difference.
- There is nothing wrong with following the rules of a trading book, just make sure you are the author and that your strategy has you buying
at wholesale prices and selling at retail prices. To do this, start with using all the powerful buying and selling knowledge you already
possess and use on a daily basis outside of the trading world. Bring this key but simple strategy into trading and you will soon be spotting
blue light specials all over the place. Never forget, how you make money buying and selling anything in life is EXACTLY how you
make money buying and selling in the financial markets.
- Some traders are over obsessed with high returns. High returns with high risk, high leverage is killing....I know that as I have done all that ,
had been there. In my early days on 3-4 occasions I have had returns of over 100 % in a day..( YES in a day...my capital used to be small
1.25-1.5 L that time and days profit was 1.5 L ) But the eventual thing happened and I lost 200 % ( double my trading capital ) on one
occasion...that was a turning point in my trading. That time the margins used to be payable next day. I had to sell 1000 SBI shares (which I
had accumalated from my trading profits at Rs 97 ( these were Rs 10 shares) ).These shares today could be worth 25-30 L...but that was the
lesson...I could not sleep for 4 days and from that day I NEVER had a major loss....What I was doing was outright foolishness. Making 50
% in one month and loosing 60 % in the next is a fool's game...any fool can do it if he has total disregard for risk.....I would give much
more credit to a person making 7-8 % per month with low drawdowns and consistancy... a steady upward slope to his trading equity...no
sudden shocks, he is a real winner and has a potential to become good trader.
- Remember those two Money Making Rules: #1Scary work always pays the most. By scary that usually means dealing with rejection,
disappointment and the risk of failure. Its scary alright, but it much, much more profitable. And #2: Training, mentorship and personal
development is always worth the price as they are seeds that reap a perpetual harvest the rest of your life.
- "Heres an assumption and expectation that ensures that our emotional experience will rise and fall withour P/L. We generally expect to
have a good day; by equating a good day with a winning day, we set ourselves up for disappointment when the normal uncertainty of
markets leaves us in the red. A good day is one in which we follow sound trading practices, from skilled execution to prudent risk
management. Some good days will bring profits, others will not. We can trade poorly and stumble into a profit; we can place a trade with a
two-thirds probability of success and lose money as often as an all-star baseball hitter gets a hit. We should expect to have good days, if
those are defined by sound trading practice. If sound practices dont generate profits over time, we may need to tweak those practices. But
going into trading expecting profits each day is a formula for emotional letdown.
- Never set a goal if youre not in full control of its attainment.
- Psychologically we as human beings are habituated to expect mercy and leniency right from our childhood. If we dont do our homework,
teacher will punish us but not injure us....if we dont get good grades in school/college our parents will give punishment but will fergive us
soon...in a job if we do mistakes, our boss does not kill us. All these things have mercies because we are dealing with living beings on the
other side.
- Market is a non living thing. It has no idea of your position, your loss, your hardships. So it has no mercy...it can ruin the
life,families. Not respecting risk is like jumping in front of a running train and expecting the train to be lenient and not harm you
much....
- In trading, you can never really know at each important point what the correct move is until you look backwards. Therefore, you must have a method,
which is systematic with what your goal is.The goal in trading is to get to the point of the least amount of loss in the journey. In a maze you can not have
the exact path but you can totally eliminate the unnecessary steps by using a well devised system. In trading, you can not make the exact moves each
time you trade but you can devise a system, which prevents you from unnecessary steps. The unnecessary steps are usually costly losses in trading.
Flexible and Dynamic Trading

21 June 2015
12:04 PM
http://blog.opentrader.com/how-to-be...-your-trading/
Youve surely heard that to succeed in trading you have to be mentally flexible and be able to quickly change your views when the market
changes. i.e. You have to have dynamic trading. But how do you do that exactly? Its one thing to tell you to be flexible and dynamic, but its
quite another thing to actually be able to do it.
If you do, youll realize that the reason its hard to be flexible is that most traders tend to look at the market in terms of absolutes. My
indicators say that the market is bullish so I expect it to go up. Or This is a bearish pattern so the market should go down. This type of
thinking makes it very hard to be dynamic and fluid in your trading. You expect something, and if it doesnt occur youre taken off guard.
How could this have happened? you think to yourself.
The good trader hold two (or more) opposing ideas in mind, while being okay with that. Instead of desperately seeking certainty, scenarios are
developed. Its all about if/then thinking. If the market does this, then this will likely happen. If it stays above this level, it means this, if it
breaks below it, it means that. Theres no thought that ever says this has to happen. Its always about entertaining opposing ideas and
being comfortable with never having a concrete answer. Thats what makes trading so tough, and so incredibly interesting at the same time.
But whats the benefit of being mentally flexible and dynamic in your thinking? Its two-fold. First, because you dont hold a fixed view about
the market, you are able to read its signs more objectively. You arent threatened by being proven wrong because youre always entertaining
different scenarios. You may feel one scenario has much higher odds than another one of course, but just by having another one in mind you are
telling your mind that it is a possibility. And that leaves you much less susceptible to blocking out key information. You see, we all have built
in filters. When we believe something (for example, the market is going to go down), our minds will automatically filter out information
that is not consistent with this belief.So even if the market starts showing signs of moving in the opposite direction, our filters will
either cause us to not notice this information, or to misinterpret it in support of our belief.Think in if/then statements while constantly
creating scenarios and youll be able to read the market more objectively.
As for the second benefit? The great traders not only cut their losses, but they are able to easily flip their position and in an instant trade in the
opposite direction. You may have heard that before but didnt know how they could do it. Well now you do. Since theyre always entertaining
opposing scenarios, theyre not caught off guard if the market quickly reverses. And their egos arent hurt if their more dominant view is
proven wrong. After all, they knew that the opposing view was a distinct possibility. And having no ego attachment is a key to being able to
quickly trade in the other direction. There is nothing to prove, and youre not trying to be right. Youre simply thinking of scenarios and
seeing which one is likely playing out. And that can make all the difference in whether you end up with a loss, or you quickly make up your
loss and end up with a big winner. Do that a few times a month and that can be the difference between being a winning and losing trader.
Being a Trader Who Thrives Under Pressure

21 June 2015
12:05 PM
http://blog.opentrader.com/the-secre...nder-pressure/
As traders, we often forget to take this perspective. At times we look at a trade as if its life and death. As if everything is riding on it. But its
not. If were doing a correct job in terms of risk management, any given trade is relatively insignificant. It wont make or break you. And at its
essence, trading as a whole is just a game. Its an incredible game that can reward us richly and cause us to grow as human beings, but its just
a game. And the more you can remember that when youre making it out to be a matter of life and death, the better youll do. Because there
really are more important things to worry about. Like your health, and the health of your family, and your friends, and so many other things.
When you stop to think about the grand scheme of things, you realize that youll be okay even if you lose on the next trade. And youll
be okay even if you go through a drawdown. There are people experiencing much much tougher things in life. This is just a game.
So what it takes is a delicate balance. Like everything in trading, we have to to learn the key ability to balance seemingly opposite and
contradictory things. On the one hand trading has to be your life. And on the other hand you have to remember that its just a game. It has to be
your life from the sense that you have to dedicate yourself to it with great passion and commitment, often sacrificing many things to achieve
your goals. But you cant let this dedication become something that enslaves you. You cant let it weigh you down with needless pressure as if
theres nothing more important in life. Because there are more important things, and as you remember them when the pressure is on, itll lift a
weight off your shoulders and youll realize that its all okay. And ironically enough, with this attitude you will thrive. Youll be in a more
relaxed state of mind, available to respond correctly to the moment without extra pressure. And as you trade better, youll feel even more
relaxed and confident and a virtuous cycle will ensue.
So remember, its just a game. Dedicate yourself to it and seek excellence, but dont give it a power over you that it doesnt have. That can
make all the difference in your bottom-line. In the next post Ill take a look at another way to thrive under pressure as a trader.If you guys
have experienced better trading when you remember not to take it too seriously and remind yourself that its just a game.
Difference between Trader, Investor and a Gambler

21 June 2015
12:25 PM
Different people - different opinions. If I ask you wether you are a trader or an investor- you may say, I am long term investor without
even understanding what it means.
An investor is usually a buy and hold types. He lives on hope. He buys a security and hopes that the price will go up. He does his
fundamental analysis (whatever little that he does)and falls in love with his/her investment. Even when the price of security is going down,
he doesnt believe in selling it because he is convinced about his analysis. He doesnt believe in timing the market but a strong believer in
valuation and growth of companies whose securities he owns. If his analysis turns out to be true, he makes money in the long term.
Otherwise, he ends up losing badly.
A trader is usually an opportunistic person who believes in inefficient market theories. He believes that markets are driven by human
emotions like greed/fear and due to demand / Supply. No stock is fairly priced at any point of time. He tries to take advantage of these
mispricing and profit's from the excessive greed and fear.
A trader always uses probability. He never uses words like should or will. He know's that no one can predict the markets and he never
even tries. Like the markets will do this or the markets should do that. It is always, something may happen or may not. He is always
optimistic that a trade might work out but turns into a realist when it doesnt. He changes his opinion as many times as the market changes its
direction. Thats how he always manages his risk and believes in cutting his losses. Traders take directional bets and also use some
leverage to enhance their returns. Traders also use market timing techniques to get an edge in the market. A trader can choose to trade a
single market or multiple markets like stocks, commodities, currencies, etc. Trading multiple markets helps him reduces his risk.
Usually when we hear the word trader we start thinking of short term traders or intra day traders who buy and sell 50 times in a
day.Contrary, Swing trading last for 5-7 days, Position trading last for a month and long term trading often last for 3- 12 months. So difference
between a trader and an investor is not the time frame but rather the difference in their thinking, approach and attitudes.
Next are category of people who calls themselves investors or traders but are actually gamblers. They say that they are in the markets to
make money but actually are in the market for excitement. They treat markets like a casino. They DO NOT have any EDGE in the
markets. They look for new ideas everyday, they buy and sell lots of securities everyday. They DO NOT understand risk! They get on a high
when they are winning and then they start to overtrade. This results in heavy losses and they get into depression when they lose money. In
order to recover their money, they double their bets and lose even more! In the end, they lose their money and confidence.
So, simply put.....
If you are only interested in Buying / Selling and your profits - you are a Trader.
If you are interested in understanding the "Business" of the company AND invest in the business of the company by doing
"Fundamental Analysis", you are a Investor.
However, if you are not interested in either and the hard work the above requires but simply wants to become rich very quickly - you
are simply a Gambler.
10 Simple Rules that Brought Me Financial Nirvana

21 June 2015
12:31 PM
http://www.safalniveshak.com/10-simp...ncial-nirvana/
Rule #1. Save, Save, Save

Save at least 10% of your net take home pay during the first year of your career, 20% in the second year, and so on.
Plan to increase it to 50% in five years. Saving more is always good, but 50% is a number you must certainly target.
The best way to meet this target is to follow this simple equation of Income Saving = Spending. First save, then spend of what remains.
(Debt free before thirty three can be a nice rhyme kids can be taught in primary school) : -)
Rule #2. Restrict EMIs
Never have your EMIs on home loan plus car loan plus any other loan more than 30% of your net take home pay. If you have extinguished
this limit, dont borrow any more money.
The highest I ever went to was 40% after I bought my car in 2007, but brought it down to under 30% after I repaid the car loa n in 2008 from
my savings.
Since 2011, when I repaid my entire home loan, EMIs have been 0% of my income, and that has added to the confidence with whic h I am
living my life.
Rule #3. Create Emergency Fund
Create an emergency fund that is at least 6 months of your household expenditure. Keep this money in your bank account or in a liquid fund.
Dont touch this money to pay for a new cars down payment! This money would help you when misfortune strikes in the form of a job loss or
illness.
I had an emergency fund of 12 months when I decided to quit my job. Luckily, I did not have to withdraw even a single rupee o ut of it. But
just the thought that I had an emergency fund brought me a lot of emotional comfort while making that life -changing decision.
Rule #4. Buy Medical Insurance
Even if your company provides one, buy a personal medical insurance policy that will cover you and your family even when you quit your job
or are out of job.
I know the importance of having a medical insurance, as I benefited from it when my daughter Kavya fell seriously ill when sh e was just two
years of age. Not having a medical insurance would have enhanced my trauma.
Rule #5. Buy Term Insurance
If you have dependents, buy term insurance.
How much? If you are 30-40 years of age, have 2-3 dependents, and have zero liabilities, insure yourself for at least Rs 1 crore.
Also, if you are 30-40, have zero or less loan liabilities, and maintain good health, there is a good probability of you surviving the next 30
years. So dont get overboard with the cover. A maximum of Rs 2 crore should be enough.
Rule #6. Pay off High Cost Loans

Try to avoid high interest loan like credit card or personal loan. But if you are unfortunate enough to owe one, pay off as f ast as you can.
As Charlie Munger says Once you get into debt, its hell to get out. Dont let credit card debt carry over. You cant get ahead paying 18
percent.
I have never borrowed a credit card or personal loan, as I know these are things that could kill me financially.
Remember If you wouldnt buy something in cash, dont buy just because you can use a credit card or borrow a personal loan.
Rule #7. Never Borrow for Liabilities

Avoid paying interest on anything that loses value.
A car especially a big one that you may not need but to show off tops this list. Electronic toys mobiles, tablets, LCDs etc. come next.
You may still buy a car (one car) on loan, but try to repay that loan as fast as possible. Also, see to it that the EMI does not lead you to cross
the 30% EMI-to-salary criteria.
Please remember for whatever the banks will tell you, a loan would never bring you peace of mind. Too much of it, in fact, can be a road to
hell.
Rule #8. Repaying Home Loan

If you have an option of paying off your home loan versus investing that money, know that its both a financial and an emotio nal decision.
If you have an option of paying off your home loan versus investing that money, know that its both a financial and an emotio nal decision.
Avoiding paying off a 6% interest (post-tax) home loan and instead sensibly investing that money to earn 12 -15% return is a good financial
decision. On the other hand, clearing the home loan instead of investing that money is a nice emotional decision.
I went by the latter when I was quitting my job, but you can choose to do the former.
Rule #9. Know the Priorities
Dont invest in the stock market directly or through mutual funds till you have an emergency fund, medical insurance, and term insurance
in your kitty, and also till you repay all high-interest debt.
In fact, dont invest any money in the stock market that you may need in the next 1 -2 years. If your stocks fall in this short period of time, your
financial life may get compromised.
Rule #10. Its Not (Always) about the Money
While these rules will help you take better care of your money and financial life, remember to not get too focused on these t hings that you lose
out spending time on the real joys of life.
As a wise man, or maybe a woman, once said, No matter how hard you hug your money, it never hugs back.
9 Ways to Simplify Day Trading

21 June 2015
12:35 PM
http://www.tradingsetupsreview.com/9...y-day-trading/
Day trading is not easy, but it can certainly be simple. Keeping things simple is a mark of professional traders.
Simplify day trading by following these nine steps.
1. De-clutter your trading desk
Day traders spend long hours at their trading desk. Having a clean and organized work space helps to simplify the trading env ironment.
A clean trading desk will also cut the risk of accidents like spilling coffee on your keyboard. Murphys Law dictates that th e best trade of the
day will take place while you are cleaning your keyboard.
Designate 10 minutes after each trading session to tidy up your desk, so that you will start the next day with a simple tradi ng environment.
2. Clean up your day trading computer
Other than physical clutter, digital clutter is also a problem. However, it is often overlooked because it doesnt really sta nd in our way. Well,
until your computer starts to slow down and on some occasions stop responding to your click on the Buy button.
Prevention beats cure. If you can, dedicate a computer to day trading. Do not download or install any non -trading applications. That will
lower the digital clutter in the first place.
You also should have a digital spring cleaning regularly. Every week, I clean my computer with CCleaner from Piriform, which has a free
version that works well.
3. Remove one trading indicator

When it comes to trading indicators, the more, the merrier is not true. More indicators need more time to interpret and mig ht very well lead
to analysis paralysis.
Remove one trading indicator from your charts today to assess if you really need it. It could be the crutch that you do not n eed.
4. Remove the news feed when you are trading
Many day traders listen to the news feed when they trade. The news feed is essentially a trading indicator. If you do not kno w how to use it,
you are definitely better off without it.
When the news is better than expected, but your technical analysis points down. What do you do? What weight do you put on new s?
These questions complicate your trading thought process, and do not add value unless you have a system to trade news.
5. All in, all out Trade Management
Do you have a complicated scaling in and scaling out trading strategy?
Are you sure it is helping you to earn more? Have you conducted an analysis of your trades to confirm this?
If not, you are just complicating your trade execution unnecessarily.
Try all in, all out.
6. Use only one day trading setup
Choose only one trading setup from this list. And learn to use it well.
It simplifies your trading and helps you to focus. You will find it easier to become as expert.
One sharp knife is better than a dozen blunt ones.
7. Trade only one instrument
Each instrument has different volatility and tick sizes. If you trade multiple markets, you need to size your positions diffe rently each time to
risk the same amount.
Every market has its own price tendencies at different times of the day. So you will also need to learn the quirks of each ma rket.
Sticking to one instrument simplifies both your position sizing and learning process.
8. Stay in the same trading time-frame.

8. Stay in the same trading time-frame.

Like the choice of instrument, your trading time-frame has an impact on the level of trade risk. We need to keep it constant for simple position
sizing.
In addition, keeping the time-frame ceteris paribus allows us to check what works in our day trading strategy.
9. Accept infrequent trades
If you follow the recommendations above, you will end up taking fewer trades. With only one time -frame, one instrument, and one trading
strategy, you will have limited trading opportunities.
You must accept the fact that if you want simplicity as a day trader, you must think like a hunter that stalks its prey quiet ly over a long period
before gunning it down.
Patience is a virtue and it belongs to the day trader with a simple approach.
The simple day trader
These are 9 ways to simplify your day trading. But do not go on an extreme minimalist route.
The basic principle is to look at the value of each addition to your trading process. If it does not help you, remove it. If it does, keep it.
Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.
-Albert Enstein
Intelligence and Trading

21 June 2015
12:39 PM
http://www.marketcalls.in/trading-le...arket+Calls%29
Many people assume that those who regularly make money in stock markets must be very clever. Or that you must be blessed with some
intelligence to make it big in the markets.
This is a very wrong assumption as there is no correlation between intelligence and trading.
If clever or intelligent people were good traders, then all your classmates from school or college who were toppers or other clever people (like
doctors, engineers etc) you meet in life would be excellent traders. That is certainly not the case.
On the other hand, a lot of ordinary people have earned excellent returns by simply buying a stock and not doing anything for years or decades
(Warren Buffet). While people with far shorter timeframes and wanting to do something everyday have lost a lot several time s over.
In both cases, the returns or losses have nothing to do with the intelligence or lack of it. It is more a case of cut your l osses fast and let
profits runs. In case of long term investors, provided you have invested in a good stock (no intelligence required common sense is enough)
and have held on to something for years (not difficult), prices invariably catch up and you will be in profit. For traders, it becomes follow the
trend, respect stop-losses and hold winners. Again no intelligence required.
Another example is of star traders in brokerage houses or in hedge funds. They all go through their ups and downs. When they are at the peaks,
they are the toast of the media and articles are written about how they succeeded. It is when they go through severe drawdown s you realize that
their previous winning streaks were just random events and they were at the right place and the right time and they traded in the direction of the
trend. We tend to call this intelligence but if they were really clever, they should not have been affected by trend reversal s but they too lose
fortunes or fail to capitalise on the reverse trend.
Investing lessons from Rahul Dravid

21 June 2015
12:42 PM
https://scripbox.com/blog/4-lessons-...ution_all_feed
There are many similarities between Dravids approach to cricket, and the approach taken by smart investors who build long term wealth.
#1: It pays to remain patient
For investors, our opponents are largely volatility in the equity markets and time. Both of them put together are like a perfect mix of pace
bowlers and spinners rarely giving loose balls in the beginning of the game. As the game progresses, we need to tire out their arms and let the
heat of the pitch get to them. The only way to beat them is to use Dravids strategy of being patient and stomach the volatility over the longer
term. With patience, Dravid was able to establish himself in the team as a must-have in both formats of the game. Similarly, with patience,
time becomes the friend of the investor and returns start kicking in.
#2: Be consistent
Invest regularly no matter how small the amount. While a few bulk investments,like the 12 centuries of Dravid, will help you raise your
numbers, it is the small, regular monthly investments that help you grow your money over the long term.
#3: When it comes to investments, think logical- not emotional
As investors we also see tough situations during which we would also need to display emotional restraint while keeping in mind the eventual
goal of investing. For example, in between July and August 2013, we saw Indias benchmark equity index fall from just a shade over 6,000
points to nearly 5,400 points in one month.
While the fundamental story and growth outlook for India had not changed, much of the fall was on account of panic selling due to global
factors. In the subsequent months the Nifty bounced back. If investors lacked emotional restraint during turbulent times, they would have
participated in the panic selling and eventually lost out on the potential gains that could have been made.
#4: Future is unpredictable; but thats OK
Like Dravid, you would never know at the start of investing that how much you are going to make after a long spell of 7 years. But with
patience and discipline by your side your investments might turn out into a hugely successful one like Dravids career
Setbacks in Trading
21 June 2015
12:43 PM
http://lessons.tradingacademy.com/ar...d=5496&elqat=1
Remember to view setbacks, losses and failures as learning opportunities those things that hurt, instruct. All great achievers have made
innumerable mistakes and have failed, that is what provided the experience and the education. This is necessary to manifest your trading
vision. Lets look at five ways to deal with setbacks:
1. Dont aim to avoid a handicap, such as starting your trading business without capital or wanting to understand a new market despite time
constraints. If you have a challenge, study it from all angles and seek to identify a creative solution; otherwise a tiny toy wrench can grow into a
huge iron monkey wrench stopping your progress cold.
2. Dont blame others for your problems. Successful trading requires personal accountability and self-limits. Be honest with yourself. Use your
mentors and, as well you can, be your own mentor by pretending that someone has come to you for advice on that very trading issue. How would
you answer them?
3. Continue to strive and strengthen your qualities of self-discipline. You will not make it as a trader if you cant keep your commitments. Setbacks
that are caused by commitment implosion often can cause weaknesses in special areas, turn the weakness into strength. Be your own heaviest
critic but dont beat yourself up in other words, you are not a failure, you had a learning experience.
4. Every setback or loss has a silver lining or seed of opportunity. Find it and use it. It may involve a new strategy, but you are getting there
anyway.
Take the attitude that every issue has a solution. A problem is only a problem if you think you cant, and therefore you wont, solve it. As Henry
Ford once said, Whether you think you can or you think you cant, either way youre right.
John Murphy's Ten Laws of Technical Trading

21 June 2015
12:45 PM
http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.p...hnical_trading
1. Map the Trends
Study long-term charts. Begin a chart analysis with monthly and weekly charts spanning several years. A larger scale map of the market
provides more visibility and a better long-term perspective on a market. Once the long-term has been established, then consult daily and intra day charts. A short-term market view alone can often be deceptive. Even if you only trade the very short term, you will do better if you're
trading in the same direction as the intermediate and longer term trends.
2. Spot the Trend and Go With It
Determine the trend and follow it. Market trends come in many sizes long-term, intermediate-term and short-term. First, determine which one
you're going to trade and use the appropriate chart. Make sure you trade in the direction of that trend. Buy dips if the tren d is up. Sell rallies if
the trend is down. If you're trading the intermediate trend, use daily and weekly charts. If you're day trading, use daily an d intra-day charts. But
in each case, let the longer range chart determine the trend, and then use the shorter term chart for timing.
3. Find the Low and High of It
Find support and resistance levels. The best place to buy a market is near support levels. That support is usually a previous reaction low. The
best place to sell a market is near resistance levels. Resistance is usually a previous peak. After a resistance peak has bee n broken, it will
usually provide support on subsequent pullbacks. In other words, the old high becomes the new low. In the same way, when a support level
has been broken, it will usually produce selling on subsequent rallies the old low can become the new high.
4. Know How Far to Backtrack
Measure percentage retracements. Market corrections up or down usually retrace a significant portion of the previous trend. Y ou can measure
the corrections in an existing trend in simple percentages. A fifty percent retracement of a prior trend is most common. A mi nimum
retracement is usually one-third of the prior trend. The maximum retracement is usually two -thirds. Fibonacci Retracements1) of 38% and 62%
are also worth watching. During a pullback in an uptrend, therefore, initial buy points are in the 33 -38% retracement area.
5. Draw the Line
Draw trend lines. Trend lines are one of the simplest and most effective charting tools. All you need is a straight edge and two points on the
chart. Up trend lines are drawn along two successive lows. Down trend lines are drawn along two successive peaks. Prices will often pull back
to trend lines before resuming their trend. The breaking of trend lines usually signals a change in trend. A valid trend line should be touched at
least three times. The longer a trend line has been in effect, and the more times it has been tested, the more important it b ecomes.
6. Follow that Average

Follow moving averages. Moving averages provide objective buy and sell signals. They tell you if the existing trend is still in motion and they
help confirm trend changes. Moving averages do not tell you in advance, however, that a trend change is imminent. A combinati on chart of two
moving averages is the most popular way of finding trading signals. Some popular futures combinations are 4 - and 9-day moving averages, 9and 18-day, 5- and 20-day. Signals are given when the shorter average line crosses the longer. Price crossings above and below a 40 -day
moving average also provide good trading signals. Since moving average chart lines are trend -following indicators, they work best in a
trending market.
7. Learn the Turns

Track oscillators. Oscillators help identify overbought and oversold markets. While moving averages offer confirmation of a m arket trend
change, oscillators often help warn us in advance that a market has rallied or fallen too far and will soon turn. Two of the most popular are the
Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Stochastics Oscillator. They both work on a scale of 0 to 100. With the RSI, readings o ver 70 are
overbought while readings below 30 are oversold. The overbought and oversold values for Stochastics are 80 and 20. Most trade rs use 14 days
or weeks for stochastics and either 9 or 14 days or weeks for RSI. Oscillator divergences often warn of market turns. These t ools work best in a
trading market range. Weekly signals can be used as filters on daily signals. Daily signals can be used as filters for intra -day charts.
8. Know the Warning Signs
Trade the MACD indicator. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator (developed by Gerald Appel) combines a
moving average crossover system with the overbought/oversold elements of an oscillator. A buy signal occurs when the faster l ine crosses
above the slower and both lines are below zero. A sell signal takes place when the faster line crosses below the slower from above the zero line.
Weekly signals take precedence over daily signals. An MACD histogram plots the difference between the two lines and gives eve n earlier
warnings of trend changes. It's called a histogram because vertical bars are used to show the difference between the two li nes on the chart.
9. Trend or Not a Trend
Use the ADX indicator. The Average Directional Movement Index (ADX) line helps determine whether a market is in a trending or a trading
phase. It measures the degree of trend or direction in the market. A rising ADX line suggests the presence of a strong trend. A falling ADX line
suggests the presence of a trading market and the absence of a trend. A rising ADX line favors moving averages; a falling ADX favors
oscillators. By plotting the direction of the ADX line, the trader is able to determine which trading style and which set of indicators are most
suitable for the current market environment.
suitable for the current market environment.

10. Know the Confirming Signs
Don't ignore volume. Volume is a very important confirming indicator. Volume precedes price. It's important to ensure that he avier volume is
taking place in the direction of the prevailing trend. In an uptrend, heavier volume should be seen on up days. Rising volume confirms that new
money is supporting the prevailing trend. Declining volume is often a warning that the trend is near completion. A solid pric e uptrend should
always be accompanied by rising volume.
"11."
Keep at it. Technical analysis is a skill that improves with experience and study. Always be a student and keep learning.
Read
21 June 2015
12:50 PM
"When an archer is shooting for fun

He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets
He is out of his mind.
His skill has not changed,
But the prize divides him.
He cares
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting
And the need to win
Drains him of power.
~Chuang Tzu"
Best Wishes
Technical Analysis
21 June 2015
12:54 PM
Technical Analysis is good to know. It is like a map to the destination. But knowing the route will not help you drive a vehicle in any way. If one sits behind a car
with a knowledge of the route will surely crash badly if he does not know how to drive. So compare knowing how to drive a car (say start, steer, accelerate, brake) to
entering and managing your trade. These would be your entries, adds, SL, trailing SL, exits etc. Now you know the route, and you know how to drive. Is that good
enough? No - you can kill yourself (or your account) if you don't know the rules. Signals, driving on the right side of the road, slowing down and doublechecking at
intersections, and giving way to reckless drivers tailgating you. Compare these to your rules of money management. If you know how to drive, but want to speed at
max, what can happen if there is an unexpected pot hole, speed brake, oil spill on the road, or a child crossing the street? Your driving (inspite of knowing the route,
and handling the car) has to ensure that you follow the rules, so that one or two bad trades do not total your car, which in this case is your trading account. So money
management is a much, much under appreciated skill. Just think - how many accidents are caused by young drivers, who just have got a new licence, have less
experience, but want to drive fast (because they can?) Most traders are like that - they have a trading account, know a bit about technical analysis and want to make
it big - alike speeding in a new car with account. This has been my experience too.... where I too made a lot of mistakes and blew up my account many times.... but
trading as well as life teaches you to be humble..... and just as one would be careful while driving, one has to do the same with one's trading account. Learn from
books, but learn more from your own personal experience. No teacher, books will prepare you or teach you as much you can from your own personal experience.....
To continue with our analogy of driving, with all above, one may be competent to drive the car, to be a good driver one needs the right mindset. A good driver will
never try to over take another car on the bends, or overtake from a blind-spot (not being able to see the road ahead clearly) These are all matters of psychology Nobody will tell you this when you go to take your driving licence. But as you drive the car, you will learn many things yourself. So my suggestion to you is to :
Read, Reflect and imbibe (make these a part of your trading psychology)
And lastly discipline - Knowing the rules of driving will not ensure that you follow it. So too with your trading account. You may learn everything there is to learn
about trading well. But if you do not have the discipline to follow, your trading P&L will tell the story.
Now having said all the above, let me answer your question. To learn about trading (and not just technical analysis) suggest :
* Read all about Japanese Candlestick Patterns
* Money Management
* Trading psychology & Discipline
* Read about Price Action Trading. (Google blog of Nial Fuller. There are many good articles there)
* Al Brooks - Trading price action bar by bar - Read this book finally. (I have tried to read this book a few times, but it is difficult to fully comprehend)
Most important : Look at the chart of a particular commodity realtime and at end of day. Mark the highs, low, swing points, pinbars, dojis, biggest bull bar for the
day, biggest bear bar for the day, what happened in the 5 bars previous and subsequent to this..... Check for the Moving Average (5 Minute chart, 20EMA) (I don't
use any other indicators) See where the price moved from a highest/lowest price. What happened in the preceding and subsequent 5 price bars? Which bar would
have given you best entry? Ask yourself - Is the chart trending or sideways? How do you define these? How do you define a breakout/breakdown from a sideways
range? Do this for a month, and along with other tools of trading, you will do well.
Types of Trading Animals : Which one is You?

21 June 2015
01:34 PM
The BearThis trading animal believes the market will be going down and plays the short side.
Bears think that a market is going to be very red.
The BullThis trading animal is very optimistic that the market will be green.
Bulls love to buy and believe their screen will be full of green.
The WhaleThis trading animal can move prices when it buys and sells.
The whale has to faze into positions and out of them so it does not make big enough waves to attract piggy backers. A lot of money can be
made trading along side the right whale.
The PigThis trading animal likes to trade big and often.
The problem is that the pig does not know how to exit a winning trade he usually has too big of a target, too big of a positi on size, and too big
of a time frame.
The SharkThis trading animal is just about making money, it gets into trades, makes money and gets out.
It has little interest in big complicated theories or esoteric methods. The shark keeps it simple it makes money then moves o n to the next
opportunity.
The ChickenThis trading animal has trouble trading with much size,
or even taking good entries, the chicken is too worried about losing money. Fear keeps the chicken from trading.
The RabbitThis trading animal trades on a time frame of minutes.
The rabbit is just trying to scalp profits during the day. The rabbit wants no overnight risk just the opportunity to make so me quick profits
during the day.
The SheepThis trading animal usually is part of a flock.

The sheep likes to be on the side of the majority and follow a guru. The sheep hates to think but loves to follow. The sheep is usually the last
one into an uptrend and the last one out of a downtrend. They do not want to develop a trading method of their own they want to piggy back
some one else.
The WolfThe wolf loves to trade on the opposite side of the sheep.
This animal loves to trade at the market turning points. Selling short an overextended market or buying when there is blood on the streets.
The wolf loves to sell out-of-the-money options with terrible odds to gamblers. The wolf is always trying to get on the opposite side of the
suckers, the gamblers, and the sheep.
Best Practices in Trading: Self-Control Routines During Trading

Hours
21 June 2015
01:35 PM
During market hours, it can become easy to so focus on trading that we neglect the person who is doing the trading! Once we lose self-awareness,
we can make decisions that we would never make if we were calm and focused. Self-control is easy when we are not facing stressful situations
and dealing with fight-or-flight responses. During periods of emotional, cognitive, and physiological arousal, however, our state shifts can take us
very far from our initial planning. That is why self-control strategies that can be employed during trading hours are a best practice.
Today's self-control methods are illustrated by reader Gus Joury, a short-term trader of crude oil futures. Here are some of the daily practices that
aid his trading:
"1. I start my day with 15-20 minutes of meditation/mindfulness. I practice breathing meditation and or TM to clear my mind and keep me
focused and aware of my emotions before I start trading. During this time, I use the inner balance app with a heart rate variability monitor to
measure my performance for that session and I record my score.
2. I go over my checklist to make sure I had a good night's sleep, protein breakfast, and workout. I also rate my physical condition, distraction
level, and overall emotional and mental state for trading.
3. Before I start trading, I look at market conditions and rhythms at different time frames to try to evaluate whether the market is tradable,
whether it is trending or choppy, etc. This helps me decide which tools and setups to use and whether it is worth trading or not.
4. I start my first trade with small size (1-2 contracts) to test the waters and see if I am in tune with the market and to get a feel for the overall
market environment.
5. Once I start with a winning trade, I start increasing my size in the following trade by adding to the winners. I like to start small and if the
market goes in my direction, I add to my position using buy/sell stops and then scale out at the first target and second target and then trail my last
position with one tick below/above the previous bar low/high to maximize my profits in the trade after having pocketed earlier profits. This
strategy makes me less anxious to take profits and helps me hold my position longer with a trailing stop. It gives me good risk management and
allows my winners to be much larger than losers.
6. During my trade, if I experience any anxiety or discomfort, I take deep breaths in and out in order to maintain my focus and stick to my plan.
7. After closing my trade, if I feel any anxiety, regret, or discomfort, I take a breathing session break for 5-15 minutes until I clear my mind and
refocus. I also do some EFT tapping (emotional freedom techniques) with breathing to release negative energy. I sometimes take a break by
walking out of the trading office.
8. Once I hit my daily stop loss, I stop trading. I also stop trading if I lose 50-75% of intraday profits."
Notice how Gus combines methods for physical and emotional control, such as the breathing, with methods of money management. He attempts
to stay in winning trades, exit losing trades with smallest size, and regulate the losses he can incur on any given trading day. All of these are
methods of self-control, and all of them help him stay focused on markets rather than focused on P/L.
Money management is an essential part of self management in trading. As I've mentioned in my books, I never want to lose so much money in a
day that I cannot have a profitable week; I never want to lose so much in a week that I cannot come back for the month; and I never want a losing
month to ensure a losing year. A major aid to optimism and positivity is ensuring that you always have enough dry powder to mount a comeback
after a loss.
Evolution of a Trader
21 June 2015
01:36 PM
The Novice Trader:

They tend to follow the herd.
Watch and do what others are doing
Comfort in numbers
They avoid taking risk unless others are sharing the risk as well.
They feel that if others are buying then it is ok for them to buy too.
They act on the advice of so called experts, i.e. the advice of market gurus, CNBC, analysts, and their brokers.
As human, they tend to complicate the trading process and ignore the important simplicity of markets.
They always make the same two mistakes; they buy and sell after a move in price is well underway (late and high risk) and they buy into
resistance and sell into support (low probability).
The Consistently Profitable Trader:

They lead the herd.
They tune out all the subjective noise that can get in the way of making proper trading decisions. They dont care what others are doing and
make decisions based on a very mechanical and unemotional set of criteria based solely on the laws and principles of supply and demand.
They learn to identify the proper entry that most people never see.
They buy after a period of selling and into support. They buy fear.
They sell after a period of buying and into resistance. They sell greed.
Successful traders:
Can identify opportunity before others.
Execute trading plans mechanically.
Successful Trading:
Having the ability to spot ill-informed individuals in any market and any time frame and trade against them.
These ill-informed individuals buy after a rally in price and at price levels that are too high. You know by objectively assessing real supply
and demand.
Having the tools, knowledge, and ability to take the proper action when this ill-informed market player appears.
Play the bandwagon correctly
Knowing how other market participants think and react when they are correct and, more importantly, when they are wrong. Price patterns
are thought patterns.
Mental Musts:
Confidence
Discipline
Patience
How to get these:
Reduce and eliminate subjective analysis.
Learn to fight the urge to do what others are doing and make decisions based on a very mechanical and unemotional set of rules and criteria.
The Proper Entry:

Know Where To Enter, Demand and Supply.
Smart money enters here.
Trade with the trend
The odds are on your side.
Entry Must Be Low Risk.
Most important part of the trade.
Enter Before Others.
This is how we get paid.
Ratan Tata
21 June 2015
01:39 PM
Ratan Tata
http://www.newindianexpress.com/auto...cle2716930.ece
Ratan Tata and his team faced "humiliation" when they went to sell the group's fledgling car business to Ford in 1999, but came back to "do a big favour" just
nine years later by taking over the American giant's marquee brands Jaguar and Land Rover.
"They told us 'you do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all'. They said they will do us a favour by buying our car division," a
Tata Group veteran said while recalling a meeting of Ratan Tata and other top executives with Ford officials in Detroit in 1999.
The Tata Motors team decided to return to New York the same evening and Ratan Tata, then the group chairman, was sombre throughout the 90-minute flight,
said Pravin Kadle, who was part of the team at that time and now heads Tata Capital.
"This was in 1999 and come 2008, the same Ford's JLR was bought by us. Ford chairman Bill Ford thanked Tata, saying 'you are doing us a big favour by buying
JLR'," Kadle said, to a thunderous applause at an awards function on Thursday night.
He was speaking, mostly in Marathi, after receiving the YB Chavan National Award 2014 on behalf of Ratan Tata, who is now Chairman Emeritus of the over
USD 100-billion group.
The poor response to its maiden hatchback Indica had driven Tata Motors to sell the car business, within a year of its debut in 1998, to Ford Motor.
"Some people advised chairman Ratan Tata to sell the passenger car division following the poor response it got post launch. Ford officials came down to our
headquarters Bombay House and evinced interest in our car business.
"We were called to Detroit for discussions and I accompanied the chairman. For nearly three hours, we discussed the sell-off with Ford officials but were meted
out humiliating treatment," said Kadle, who played a major role in the turnaround and growth of Tata Motors.
During his tenure at Tata Motors, Kadle was part of the senior leadership team that managed the cross-border acquisitions like Daewoo of South Korea, Incat
Technologies of the UK and eventually of Jaguar-Land Rover of UK.
Common mistakes made by novice and amateur traders in the

stock markets.
21 June 2015
01:40 PM
How many commonly known trading mistakes have you committed in your trading.....
Traded blindly without any homework or trading plans (poor discipline).

Traded impulsively or at a no-trade zone (poor or no trade plan).
Traded without Stop Loss or with too big Stop Loss (poor Risk Management).
Traded way too many trades in a day resulting net losses - over trading. (poor Risk and Money Management).
Traded against the trend and then booked losses (poor Plan and Risk Management).
Traded with the trend but booked small profit and too early.
Traded with good plan (mm, rm, plan, discipline) but with no confidence in the plan resulting less profit to cover other big losses.
Traded booking small profits and big losses.
Traded at Market Price in less volume scrips resulting big losses.
Traded on speculations, rumour or news and getting trapped in market makers game resulting in big losses.
Traded with fear/greed and without knowing risk/reward ratio.
Traded on others tips resulting huge losses.
Traded after reacting to watching CNBC or US/Europe NEWS and resulted in losses.
Trading not knowing and realising which time frame suits your personality.
Averaging and overleveraging losing position and selling in panic.
Converted intraday or swing trades into short term and long term without reasons.
Revenge trading. Unable to bear losses and then traded more and more to recover the loss.......nearly wiping out your account.
Holding on to a losing position and trying to justify the trade which has gone against you.Using mental stop
Trying to exit a trade on a larger timeframe than the one entered in to.
Hoping and praying that a losing trade will turn a winner praying to god! Reluctance to accept reality and changing your opinion of the market.
Not analysing loosing trades and not trying to LEARN lessons from it..... repeating same mistakes over and over.
Disciplined Profit-Taking
21 June 2015
01:41 PM
http://lessons.tradingacademy.com/ar...ampaignId=1929
The simplicity of trading for short term income or long term wealth generation is really down to the basic dynamics concerned with how to
actually trade in an effective, objective and logical manner. Lets face it there are only three things you can do in the market after all, that
is buy it, sell it or do nothing. It doesnt get much simpler that that, does it? Once you are in a trade you have to decide for yourself what
you are going to do next. This is the more complex part. Obviously you are either going to win on the trade, lose on it or ma ybe break even
from time to time but whatever the outcome, this is the one true unknown element and thus, is what makes the act of trading n ot so easy.
You see, as human beings going about our daily lives, we have become used to having a high degree of certainty running throug hout our
existence as we go about our daily business. Of course Murphys Law suggests that if anything can happen, it will happen but again we are still
fairly comfortable in knowing that many events which transpire in our lives have fairly predictable outcomes. We have gotten used to pretty
much knowing what is going to happen next in most aspects of our lives and have taken a deep -rooted level of comfort in this habitual
awareness. Therefore, I would suggest that when it comes to trading, the majority of people find a huge challenge in not know ing what is going
to happen next.
Of course the markets are rather predictable to a certain extent, firstly because if they werent nobody would make any money out of them and
secondly because they are created by none other than human beings, which we have already recognised as being creatures of hab it and
repetition. Taking these two factors into account is what makes it possible to make consistent gains from todays markets if a solid and
disciplined trade plan is followed to the letter. We must accept the unknown variables that the market is happy to throw our way on a daily
basis and also understand that there will always be things that we never have any control over whatsoever. There are on the o ther hand, things
that we can control and must do so efficiently so as to account for the unknown and keep our emotions in check at all times.
I cant control how far the market will move for me when I am on the right side of a trade. This is one of those big unknowns which
makes trading not so easy. What though, can we do to compensate for this? Well straight away we can control our losses by deciding in
advance exactly how much we are prepared to lose if the trade fails. Secondly, we can also go for achievable profit targets o n the trades we
decide to take. I like to encourage my students to grab the low-hanging fruit on their positions, meaning that they should train themselves to
not be too greedy and going for unachievable targets. This too often results in gaining large chunks of upside potential gain s, only to then
watch them be given back and ending up with nothing or maybe even a small loss at the end of the trade. This is a common mist ake by many
traders and definitely is an issue which tends to contribute to the not easy scenario. To keep things simple and as effecti ve as possible, we
must overcome any potential hurdles on our trades well before we face them. Objective and unemotional profit -taking is one such example of
how to do this.
Value
21 June 2015
01:45 PM
JRD Tata had a friend who used to say that he misplaces and loses his pen very often.
He will use only very cheap pens so that he need not worry about losing them. He was worried about carelessness habit.
JRD suggested to him to buy the costliest pen he could afford and see what happens.
He did that and purchased a 22 carat gold Cross pen. After nearly six months JRD met him and asked him if he continues to misplace his
pen.
His friend said that he is very careful about his costly pen and he is surprised how he has changed!
JRD explained to him that the value of the pen made the difference and there was nothing wrong with him as a person!
This is what happens in our life.
We are careful with things which we value most.
* If we value our health, we will be careful about what and how we eat;
* if we value our friends, we will treat them with respect;
* if we value money, we will be careful while spending;
* if we value our time, we will not waste it.
*if we value relationship we will not break it.
Carefulness is a basic trait all of us have,we know when to be careful!
Carelessness only shows what we don't value......
Have a wonderful n careful life...
Quiet Your Negative Thoughts

21 June 2015
02:54 PM
http://simplereminders.com/20150123231732.html
Does your mind sometimes dwell on all that seems wrong in the world, in your world? Do your negative thoughts build on each other, taking
way too much space away from the positive? If so, you're not alone.
Negative thoughts have some serious power. If you're not careful, they can take hold of your mind and influence way too much of your life. So
be careful, and conscious. You've got some serious power too, especially over your thoughts!
Life isn't always a party, and it doesn't serve you to ignore your pain. Neither does it serve you to dwell in and on the negative aspects of your
life. Be active in your approach to stopping these sometimes endless loops of negative thinking.
It's time to shake up your thoughts with some concrete action. It's time to get out of your head, into the world outside of yourself.
Here are some tips for distracting your mind away from the negative, so some positive thoughts and feelings have an opportunity to slip in.
These ideas can't replace healing whatever is causing all the negative thinking, but they will help to instill more positivity into your life, and
that helps with all healing.
Move your body:
I'm a sucker for a good booty shake and will take any opportunity to dance. Dancing takes me out of my head, and that's the goal here. Do yoga,
take a walk, go to the gym, spin around in circles. Just move your body. Putting the focus of your energy in your body pulls it away from your
mind, from the negative thoughts taking root there. Let some endorphins surge for a while. Work up a sweat if you can. The key is in
movement. Action over thought.
Write it down:
Yes, writing is a mental exercise and will bring you closer to your negative thoughts, but only until you write them down. I recommend using
pen and paper, vomiting all the darkness and pain onto the pages, and then tearing them up or burning them when you're done. Writing can be
extremely cathartic, and it releases the negative in a tangible way.
Help someone out:
There are always people in need. Maybe one friend needs help painting the living room, or another could use a babysitter every once in a while.
Surely there are any number of volunteer opportunities in your area, where you can make a direct and positive difference in the lives of others.
A great way to get out of your head is to get active with people and organizations who can use your help. There are few things as fulfilling as
being of service to someone who needs it. Talk about a reason for positive thoughts!
Turn off the news:

Watching the news can devastate even the most committed Pollyanna, let alone those of us struggling with negative thinking. Take a break.
Turn it off. The last thing you need to be watching or reading about right now is war and murder and all of the other horrors that dominate the
news. If you love news, seek out the good stuff. Search for positive stories, and share them. Read about the beautiful things human beings are
doing, for each other and for the planet. Let good news take up residence where all the bad news has been hanging out.
Smile:
This is the easiest one on the list. Put a conscious effort into smiling more. At home alone or out in the streets, at friends and strangers. Even if
you're not feeling it, show some teeth. You really can smile your way out of negativity, because the energy a smile invites back to you is almost
always positive. The same goes for laughter, so if your incessant smiling turns into a hearty laugh, just roll with it. You're straying even farther
from your negative thoughts.
It's important to remember that a negative thought, like everything else, is just energy. We have the power to shift our energy, and to change our
thoughts. Within this power lives the potential to change our lives. But it takes work. It takes action.
The next time you find yourself dwelling in the negative, try one of the above suggestions to help you shift yourself into the positive. Because
as powerful as negative thinking can be, positive thinking is that much mightier.
Why
21 June 2015
03:04 PM
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard when he lives in the jungle without a razor?
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?
Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
What is the speed of darkness?
Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours?
If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?
Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer?
Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground? Did you ever stop and wonder........
Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn
the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is ?
If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
Stop singing and read on......
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
Law of the Garbage Truck (a story of inspiration)

21 June 2015
03:04 PM
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right
lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!
The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to
the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of
garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll
dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it
to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over
their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
So ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a garbage-free day!
Stop! Dont make that trade

21 June 2015
03:05 PM
http://adamhgrimes.com/blog/stop-dont-make-that-trade/
Shared by DSM , reposting it here.
So youre 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? Its too easy to think I am a trader, therefore I trade, but this is a serious mistakeif you
are a trader your job is not simply to trade.
One of the biggest problems many traders face is forcing trades. Your analytical system wont really help here, because, with a very little
nudging, its almost always possible to justify any trade you want to make. Perhaps this is not true if you trade a strictly rules-based system
(and, in fact, the discipline enforced by such a system is one very good reason to trade a fixed rule set), but if theres even a little discretion you
can probably justify whatever you want to do at any time. A lot of money bleeds out of traders accounts in adverse market conditions. Think
about it: if youre a daytrader, how often have you given away money midday? If youre a swing trader, how often have you entered trades in
rangebound markets? How much money would you have in your account if you hadnt torn it up when you knew you shouldnt be trading?
Well, good news: we can fix this problem, but its going to take some work. The first step is to realize that your job is not to traderather,
your job is to take the best trades. Your job is to take on the right types of risk at the right time, and, sometimes, maybe for a long time,
this means doing nothing.
So, if youre a trader and the market enters a period where it does not favor your trading style, what are you to do? We have to stop trading in
these conditions, and certainly have to stop trading out of boredom, but if you simply stop trading, the psychological stress can be pretty
extreme some little voice in the back of your head starts whispering nonsensical tidbits like you gotta be in it to win it, or just take a chance
on it. You can always get out! Here are some ideas for fighting that urge:
Get away from the market. If youre a daytrader, go outside. Go out to eat. Take a walk. Be a human for a little whileits underrated. Do
research. This is a valuable use of your time, and I have found that my time can often be put into coding ideas or looking at market stats.
Doodle. Draw charts. The act of moving pencil on paper does something powerfully good to the brain.
You can come up with other ideas like this, but the key thing is to break the pattern. Dont sit in front of the market and make boredom trades.
(This applies to swing traders too, even if you only look at the market once a day. Metaphorically, get away from the market and dont let it
suck up all of your energy and passion.) Break the pattern and do something different, something rewarding, with your time.
One more thing: dont get too far from the market; dont lose touch. Difficult market conditions (like were in right now in stocks, currencies,
and most commodities), lead to good trades when markets shift into different regimes. You need some system, perhaps as simple as price alerts
or regular glances at the market, to know when it is time to shift your focus back, time to harvest the new opportunities in the market.
If youre a trader, most of your job is disciplinethe task of managing yourself.
BIAS
21 June 2015
03:06 PM
This article encompasses our trading mind set as well.
Every mind has a bias, because everyones beliefs and worldview are shaped by their own unique experiences within a particular
environment.
So no single person has a perfect view of reality. Instead, we each have our own window into reality. And everyones view is going to be a
little bit different.
Therefore, every person you meet knows something that you dont know. And you know something that they dont know. Thats a powerful
insight to keep in mind.
When you accept your bias, it actually puts you in a better position to learn new things and expand your perspective.
You recognize that everyone has something to teach you, so you should be willing to listen to all perspectives, and try to find a grain of truth.
This doesnt necessarily mean that all truth is subjective, or just a matter of opinion. Its the acceptance that your knowledge is limited you
know some things, and youre ignorant about others.
Intelligent people recognize that they are always coming from a particular perspective or bias, and that they never have all the answers to
everything.
In a healthy mind, every belief is flexible and subject to change, as long as you are open to new information that may contradict those old
beliefs.
Balancing your bias in the real world
Accept your bias. First, you have to at least recognize that you have your own biases, just like everyone else. This isnt necessarily a bad
thing, it just means your worldview is dependent on your particular experiences and environment.
Explain yourself. One way to get at the root of your biases is to practice explaining your beliefs and why you believe them. This is why I
recommend the healthy challenge of explaining your own beliefs.
Seek diverse sources of information. We often reinforce our biases by only consuming news and information that confirms those biases.
You can counteract this by exposing yourself to new sources of information, especially ones that represent views you often disagree with.
Engage in healthy debates. One of the best ways to sharpen your beliefs is to engage in conversations with intelligent people of different
ideologies who are also willing to debate you in a healthy and polite way. That can be hard to find, but when you do its invaluable.
Admit it when youre wrong. The hardest thing for many people is to simply admit it when we are wrong. It shouldnt be, because of
course we are all going to be wrong sometimes. But very few of us can accept this, because we are often too worried about protecting our
egos.
Be willing to say, I dont know. You dont need to have an opinion about every single subject. If youre not familiar with something, or
your completely ignorant about it, just be willing to say, I dont know. Theres a great power in the wisdom of ignorance.
Remember, youre never going to completely get rid of your bias its part of being human. But these are helpful tips and advice to help
balance your bias and keep it in check.
The most important thing is that you keep your mind open to new perspectives, and youre always willing to adjust your beliefs in the face of
new information.
source-http://www.theemotionmachine.com/
----The following is true about trading ,as well as of Life...
Every mind has a bias, because everyones beliefs and worldview are shaped by their own unique experiences within a particular
environment.
So no single person has a perfect view of reality. Instead, we each have our own window into reality. And everyones view is going to be a
little bit different.
Therefore, every person you meet knows something that you dont know. And you know something that they dont know. Thats a powerful

When you accept your bias, it actually puts you in a better position to learn new things and expand your perspective.
You recognize that everyone has something to teach you, so you should be willing to listen to all perspectives, and try to find a grain of truth.
This doesnt necessarily mean that all truth is subjective, or just a matter of opinion. Its the acceptance that your knowledge is limited you
know some things, and youre ignorant about others.
Intelligent people recognize that they are always coming from a particular perspective or bias, and that they never have all the answers to
everything.
In a healthy mind, every belief is flexible and subject to change, as long as you are open to new information that may contradict those old
beliefs.
Balancing your bias in the real world
Accept your bias. First, you have to at least recognize that you have your own biases, just like everyone else. This isnt necessarily a bad
thing, it just means your worldview is dependent on your particular experiences and environment.
Explain yourself. One way to get at the root of your biases is to practice explaining your beliefs and why you believe them. This is why I
recommend the healthy challenge of explaining your own beliefs.
Seek diverse sources of information. We often reinforce our biases by only consuming news and information that confirms those biases.
You can counteract this by exposing yourself to new sources of information, especially ones that represent views you often disagree with.
Engage in healthy debates. One of the best ways to sharpen your beliefs is to engage in conversations with intelligent people of different
ideologies who are also willing to debate you in a healthy and polite way. That can be hard to find, but when you do its invaluable.
Admit it when youre wrong. The hardest thing for many people is to simply admit it when we are wrong. It shouldnt be, because of
course we are all going to be wrong sometimes. But very few of us can accept this, because we are often too worried about protecting our
egos.
Be willing to say, I dont know. You dont need to have an opinion about every single subject. If youre not familiar with something, or
your completely ignorant about it, just be willing to say, I dont know. Theres a great power in the wisdom of ignorance.
Remember, youre never going to completely get rid of your bias its part of being human. But these are helpful tips and advice to help
balance your bias and keep it in check.
The most important thing is that you keep your mind open to new perspectives, and youre always willing to adjust your beliefs in the face of
new information.
----------------------------
Market Truths
21 June 2015
05:36 PM
http://chartshark.com/1227/the-marke...***-about-you/
The market doesnt care if youre a bear or a bull. It doesnt care if you think its oversold or undervalued. It doesnt car e about your fundamental analysis or
your charting skills. The market will do what the market will do, with or without you. You are not in control.
Accept It
One of the worst things you can do is a trader is to start to feel like youve lost control of the market. You should never f eel that way because you never had
control in the first place. You can have all the indicators in the world telling you to buy only to enter the trade and have it immediately go against you. Accept
it, you are not in control.
Ego
Sometimes you let your ego get the best of you. It happens to the best of us. You make a few great trades and you feel like y oure running the market.
Inevitably though, the market will give you a brutal lesson in humility. It is up to you whether or not you get your ego back in check and persevere. Always
remember, you are not in control.
What Can You Control?

The only thing you can control is yourself. You can not control the market, but more importantly, the market can not control you. Only you control when you
enter and exit the market.
Entry
You control your entry. The market can not pull you into a trade. As much as it seems like a stock is screaming at you to mak e a trade, it can not pull the
trigger for you. You enter when your predetermined entry criteria have been met, not when the market tells you to. Now, you a re in control.
Exit
You know the saying plan the trade and trade the plan, and that includes a planned exit on a failed trade. You have spent c ountless hours honing your
trading skills. You know the set-ups you are looking for and you enter trades based on these set-ups. If that set-up fails, you have to punch the eject button.
You take the loss and you move on. Losing is a part of trading; accept it. Once again, you are in control.
The market doesnt care about you. It will exist whether or not you do. On the other hand, as a trader, without the market yo u are nothing. You are
essentially a parasite and the market is your gracious host. A host organism will learn to fight off and destroy harmful para sites, but it will allow useful ones to
coexist.
Learn to accept what you can and cant control and harmonize with your host and you will have a long and happy life of day tr ading.
Discipline
21 June 2015
05:43 PM
Discipline.
Sounds simple, yet it is the greatest failing of people who lose in the stock market.
Successful traders realize that they will not be right all the time. Many successful traders
are profitable on less than half their trades. Given these losing facts, the reason winners
make money is because they cut losses short and let profits run. They have the
discipline to hit the eject button when they are proven wrong.
Fear of taking a loss or fear of missing out on an uptrend cause many market
participants to hang on to losing positions. So often, these traders tell themselves that
they will sell when the stock falls to a certain point but cannot execute.
When you take a position in a stock, you have to establish the point that the market will
prove you wrong. Whether you choose to base that point on support and resistance
levels, or the announcement of news, this point must protect bad outcome of your
trading decision. If triggered, the exit sign is flashing. Head for the door.
Otherwise, it will likely make a potentially small loss grow into a big one. -so it also ties
up capital. And it will take more profits to recover.Second, it will create fear for the
trader who is seeing profit and does not want to feel the pain of a loss again. To avoid
the potential disappointment of another loss, some traders take profits too early simply
to lock in the good feeling that comes with making a win.Unfortunately, to be a
successful trader you have to limit losses and let profits run.
Maintaining discipline when trading is essential for success. If you have it, only
simple rules of trading are necessary for success
Ten Reasons Why So Many Traders Lose So Much Money

21 June 2015
05:43 PM
1. One of the biggest reasons that many traders lose money is that they simply trade with no plan. Their entries, exits, and
position sizes are simply random opinions so they have no edge, and their money is taken by those traders that do have an
edge.
2. A great way to lose money is to continually fight the trend in their time frame. The easiest money in the market is made
trading in the right direction that the majority of cash is flowing. Buying dips in up trends, and shorting strength in down
trends, is a profitable endeavor.
3. Trading with no study of past price action, or historical perspective of chart patterns, is like trading in the dark. Back
testing and chart studies shed light on what a robust trading system really looks like.
4. Bad traders chase moves after it is already too late, while profitable traders take high probability, robust entries with great
risk/reward ratios.
5. A huge difference with profitable traders is they trade consistently small position sizes, rather than the large position sizes
of unprofitable traders. Those that continually bet the farm on enough trades eventually lose their farm, and their trading
account.
6. Egos are very expensive things in the markets. Profitable traders are able to admit they are wrong fast, and remain cautious
in every trade, regardless of their confidence level.
7. Being emotional as a trader is very expensive. Fear makes traders get out of a trade when they should be getting in, and
greed makes them buy into the end of a trend when they should have been taking profits. Much of a successful traders
earnings come from trading off other peoples emotions.
8. Not doing your homework before you trade is a great way to get schooled by those that have.
9. Not understanding the real odds of out-of-the-money options is a great way to transfer wealth from option buyers to option
sellers.
10. Not understanding the risk of ruin is a great way to be ruined. Your position sizing, total market risk exposure, stop
losses, and discipline will determine if you survive long enough to be profitable.
7 Key Tips for Dealing with Difficult Situations

21 June 2015
05:58 PM
As a leader or manager you can be sure that there will be difficult situations to deal with from time to time. These difficult situations might
include:
Dealing with poor individual or team performance

Trying to improve an organisation that is perceived to be failing
A process that it is not working
Staff or other resource shortages
Adverse media coverage
So as a manager or leader what are the key tips for dealing with difficult situations?
Tip 1: Establish facts first
When difficult situations arise, it is all too easy to jump to solution mode too quickly. While there may be a limited amount of times when fast
action is absolutely necessary, your first step to successful resolution it to establish facts. Remember that facts as opposed to hearsay or opinion
are verifiable.
Tip 2: Ask lots of questions
Questions, especially the short powerful variety are a great way of getting to the core issue rather than all the detail that someone is trying to
provide to you. Think of it a bit like peeling an onion, each layer is getting you closer to the core.
Tip 3: Actively listen
There is little point in asking great questions if you are not actively listening to what is being said. Resist the temptation to jump in before you
have properly listened to the different points of view.
Tip 4: Avoid pre-judgement
We all, if we are honest will form some judgements immediately. While these might be right at the end of the day, dont let pre-judgement get
in the way of establishing the real issues.
Tip 5: Act professionally
The challenge for you is to remain professional at all times. A good test of this is to ask yourself how you would like to be treated if you were
not the manager or leader but an aggrieved party.
Tip 6: Aim for win-win
While this is not always possible, you should aim to find solutions that dont result in a feeling from one party that they have lost while another
has won. This might require some careful negotiation around what would constitute a good outcome for all those involved.
Tip 7: Remember there is no one size fits all approach
Each situation is different. While there might be some common ground, remember there is unlikely to a one size fits all approach to difficult
situations. Adapt your approach depending on the situation.
Bottom Line Handling difficult situations is just part and parcel of managing and leading. So where do you need to focus your attention in
terms of developing your competence?
14 Lessons We Can All Learn From The Wolf of Wall Street

21 June 2015
06:06 PM
http://addicted2success.com/success-...ordan-belfort/
Build a Business
1. Execute on Ideas
Stratton Oakmonts initial success was based on two premises:

That Belfort had come up with a way of teaching young, uneducated people how to sound like professional stock brokers over th e phone.
That rich people love to gamble especially when the gamble seems like a legitimate business opportunity.
While there had been other people on Wall Street whod had the same idea, Jordan Belfort was the first person to execute on t his idea.
2. Simplify
The reason Belfort was able to transform young, uneducated people into charismatic stock brokers was because he was able to i mpart his
knowledge by giving simple instructions in a way that even the most stupid employees could easily understand.
And as word of this little secret began to spread throughout Long Islandthat there was this wild office, in Lake Success, where all you had
to do was show up, follow orders, swear your undying loyalty to the owner, and he would make you rich young kids started showing up at
the boardroom unannounced. Jordan Belfort
3. Put Together a Loyal Team
Guys like Kenny Greene and Danny Porush werent the smartest guys around. But, they were long -term friends who were fiercely loyal to
Jordan Belfort.
What does this mean?
That it might be a good idea to work with old friends who knew, and liked you, before you got rich and successful. By doing t his you will
reduce the risk of:
Becoming betrayed or backstabbed by two-faced people.
Becoming betrayed or backstabbed by two-faced people.

Making stupid decisions because youre surrounded by yes-men who dont give you accurate feedback.
4. Diversify Competence
Why were Jordan Belfort and Danny Porush a good team?
Because they were very different:
Belfort had sleeping problems. Porush could fall asleep everywhere even during bumpy plane rides.
Belfort was a highly strategic leader who specialized in delegation. Porush was a good enforcer brutal enough to eat a gold fish to put
employees in their place.
Belfort was analytical and had a long-term orientation. Porush was emotional and short-sighted.
They were both good at different things but together they were a great combination.
Do Business
5. Dress for Success
From day one, employees were instilled with the mantra that they had to act as if starting by dressing well and looking the part. The purpose
of this was to improve their self-esteem and charisma.
Jordan Belfort even hired a guy to create tailor-made suits for the up-and-coming employees of Stratton Oakmont.
6. Gather Intelligence on Rivals and Enemies
Belfort gathered intelligence by:
Bugging the SEC people who were investigating Stratton Oakmont.
Befriending FBI agent Jim Barsini and getting information about the ongoing investigation on Stratton Oakmont.
7. Guard Your Secrets
Jordan Belfort carefully guarded his secrets by:
Drafting legal documents to create plausible deniability for shady deals.

Having the office of Stratton Oakmont and the houses of the top employees swept for bugs regularly.
Never speaking over the phone about past business deals.
Using pay phones and other covert forms of communication to ensure that no one listened in on what was being said.
Note: While your business probably differs from Belforts by being legal, its still a good idea to gather intelligence. For example, you might
meet an employee of a rival firm for drinks to learn about the internal gossip going on over there.
8. Study History and Learn From Past Mistakes
Said by Belfort to a Swiss master forger while discussing banking laws:
Im a student of history, Roland, and Im a firm believer that he who doesnt study the mistakes of the past is doomed to re peat them.
Jordan Belfort
You should follow Belforts example by:
Studying past events in your profession to see what it was that made other people succeed or fail.
Studying the great men who came before you.
Create an Enticing Company Culture

9. Establish a Concrete Reputation
There was never any doubt to the employees, nor the public, that anyone could make a ton of money by working for Stratton Oak mont. To
confirm this, the only thing you had to do was take a look at the young, racially diverse, sometimes acne -ridden, well-dressed young men that
confirm this, the only thing you had to do was take a look at the young, racially diverse, sometimes acne -ridden, well-dressed young men that
spread havoc on Long-Island.
The very idea of Stratton is that it doesnt matter what family you were born into, or what schools you went to, or whether or not you were
voted most likely to succeed in your high-school yearbook. The idea of Stratton is that when you come here and step into the boardroom for
the first time, you start your life anew. The very moment you walk through the door and pledge your loyalty to the firm, you become part of
the family, and you become a Strattonite. Jordan Belfort
10. Create a Set of Core Values that is Easy to Grasp
The core value of Stratton Oakmont was to seize the day. What this really meant to the employees was to:
Make as much money as possible.
Compete with colleges who could spend more money and live a crazier and more luxurious lifestyle.
And what are some common core values of contemporary companies?

Sustainability.
Environmental friendliness.
Integrity.
Which core values do you think are easier to communicate to the employees and make them live by?
11. Lead by Example and Set the Standard
No one over at Stratton Oakmont spent more money on buying luxury items, drugs, prostitutes, or partying than Jordan Belfort. He represented
the epitome of the lifestyle that the employees sought to achieve.
Its important to keep these guys chasing the dream. And its even more important to keep them broke. I gestured over to th e plate glass.
Look at them; as much money as they make, every last one of them is broke! They spend every dime they have, trying to keep u p with my
lifestyle. But they cant, because they dont make enough. Jordan Belfort
12. Create Expectations
At Stratton Oakmont employees were expected to work their asses off and make a lot of money. Anything else was frowned upon.
A rookie stockbroker was expected to make $250,000 his first year. Anything less and he was suspect. By year two you were ma king
$500,000 or you were considered weak and worthless. And by year three youd better be making a million or more or you were a complete
f#%$ing laughingstock. Jordan Belfort
13. Provide Incentives for Hard Work
Not only were the employees of Stratton Oakmont paid far above the going rate for stock brokers but a select few of the hardest working
employees were also eligible to branch out on their own and start brokerage firms under Belforts guidance.
It was what every Strattonite dreamed of and something I touched upon in all my meetings that if you continued to work hard and stay
loyal, one day Id tap you on the shoulder and set you up in business. And then you would get truly rich. Jordan Belfort
14. Keep People Dependent on You
To ensure that employees were not only motivated to work, but literally had to stay at the firm and continue making lots mone y, Belfort
encouraged employees to live beyond their means.
I want you to deal with all your problems by becoming rich! I want you to attack your problems head -on! I want you to go out and start
spending money right now. I want you to leverage yourself. I want you to back yourself into a corner. Give yourself no choice but to succeed.
Let the consequences of failure become so dire and so unthinkable that youll have no choice but to do whatever it takes to s ucceed. Jordan
Belfort
From personal notes on trading by Vadym Graifer

21 June 2015
06:15 PM
There is a great paradox in the trading market. Trading can be simple, which many experienced traders refer to their trading
approach as very simple - such as connecting two dots with a line to know the HH or LL to understand the trend. However there is a
catch to it, as what is simple, does not mean its easy.
Psychology is a part of traders education which is usually put off until later. It is only after a certain amount of struggle and
losses that traders realize the importance of psychology in trading. There are two sides to the psychological aspects. First is
defensive, which is avoiding incorrect mindset and putting oneself in the right state of mind necessary for successful trading. The
second side, is offensive, which comes into play with experience when a trader is moving to a more advanced level when he can act
with certainity in uncertain environment, be able to think in terms of probabilities, be able to accept risk, and reverse many of the
reactions habitual for human beings including suppressing the ego.
In other aspects of our life, we are taught to influence the way things go. We convince the people around us, we argue and defend
our position. In the external world, to be successful, we try to change the things around us, to make things work and to lead. In
trading however, it does not work that way. Any attempt to impose our opinion on the market will lead to destruction. The
key to successful trading is listening to, and following the market. Thinking and acting in this manner, we forfeit our ego,
accepting that if the market does something opposite to what we expect, we are wrong.
When we accept the thesis that the market is always right, we accept the idea that there is no place for emotional
response in trading. We simply need to internalize the thought of necessity to follow the market's lead and execute decisions
accordingly.
We are accustomed to having a certain safety net in many areas of our life, such as health insurance, and warranty for purchases.
This environment is friendly. However in the market, we face an environment with no mechanism for protection when we are wrong
(other then our SL) No one is going to stop you from making an error or compensate you for poor judgement. So being humble
towards the market, fully in control of yourself, taking full responsibility for your action is the psychological profile for an ideal trader.
In order to win, a trader has to learn how to correctly lose. A good trader loses gracefully with an understanding that
losses are a part of trading. He has to take losses before they get large. A stop loss taken correctly is not a loss for him - it is a
way to stop the loss from growing. It is his protection, his safety net.
One of the ingrained human belief is that the more harder we work, the more you will be rewarded. In trading this direct connection
is not true. What many trader however do is try to trade all the time. Sitting, watching the screen all the time feels like waste of
time. This results in a trader taking unnecessary trades and poor setups. Sitting on the sidelines when there are no trades
matching your criteria is one of the most important skills you can learn. A good trader will take only the best trades
and avoid marginal ones, keeping his probability for winning as high as possible.
Our entire education and in our profession we are told to gather as much information possible to be able to predict the outcome of
our action. E.g an engineer designing the bridge has to know the load it would hold, traffic patterns etc. It does not work this way in
trading. There is no way to know what is going to happen after we put the trade. We can only expect a few scenarios and prepare
our response to them. A chess player does not know his opponents move. However, a skilled player will anticipate his opponents
moves and prepare for If-Then scenario. It works exactly this way in trading too. The ability to work in an uncertain
environment is essential trait of a trader.
Hope and fear are two inseparable human instincts. The successful trader has to fight these two deep seated instincts and hold back
his natural impulse - unless it works in his favor. A trader must fear that his losses will get bigger and must hope that his
profits may become a bigger profit as well.
DEVELOP A WEALTHY MINDSET

21 June 2015
06:37 PM
http://sourcesofinsight.com/the-8-steps-to-wealth/
Having a wealthy mindset is the first and most important step, because it is the foundation. What you believe about wealth is your reality. If
you dont believe you can become rich, you cant. If you believe you can, you can. Its that simple, but its not easy.
There are many pieces to having a wealthy mindset. You must make a decision you will become wealthy, have persistence, change your mental
blocks, live outside your comfort zone, visualize the end in mind, and have an attitude of gratitude.
Making a decision is the starting point that propels you into action, but you must be decisive and committed. A recent example is Donald
Trump. When he was asked what would happen if he lost his all money, he responded, Im always going to be rich and thats that. Next
question. As you can see, he has zero doubt. He is decisive and committed to being rich.
Many people start on the road to wanting to become rich, and then they give up.
THAT is exactly what separates the rich from the non-rich. Persistence. Losing faith that you can do it is a common problem with those who
are not rich. They never really believed they could do it, so they sabotage themselves and sell their stock low, quit their dream, stop writing the
book, declare bankruptcy, etc.
One example of visualizing the end goal in mind is the actor Jim Carrey. Before he was famous, he took a check from his checkbook, made it
out to himself for $10 million, and put a date on it a few years into the future. He carried it in his wallet and looked at it every day. A few years
later, he reportedly was offered $10 million for a movie role at almost the exact date he had written on his check!
Im not saying all you have to do is think about it. If youre starting a journey, you must take the first step to get going. You can always revise
your path later if you get off course. Dont expect success to happen in a straight line, or perfectly, or that it will be easy. You will be tested to
see if you are willing to do what it takes to get rich and in so doing, you have to face fears, get out of your comfort zone (which creates major
mental blocks), and improve yourself and your skills. Just get started!
An anatomy of the Stock Market! - Bull & Bear Market Cycles

21 June 2015
06:45 PM
In financial markets, the majority is always wrong. When the investing majority or the crowd is overly bearish, this is the best time to be
buying stocks. When the crowd is overly exuberant, this is the time to be selling stocks. The financial markets work in this ironic way because not
everyone can win in the market.
The Start of a Bull Market

The bottom of the market starts at a time when the stock market is weak and the general population is pessimistic. At this point most investors sell
after having endured a long and torturous bear market. This extreme pessimism found at a bottom is always irrational and undeserved. Now the
market is undervalued and is a bargain. Savvy investors, the smart money, buy bargain stocks knowing that they will be able to sell them
higher in the near future. Smart money buying, called accumulation, causes stocks to rise.
The smart money often consists of operators, and corporate insiders (promoters of companies). These traders have access to information that the
general public does not.
Rising stocks eventually gain the respect of institutional investors, as billions of dollars of capital is introduced into the market place. Mutual fund
investment causes the stock market to advance in a powerful manner. Much of the steady large trends are powered by institutional investors. After
the stock market has gained, stocks are now fairly valued and are no longer considered bargains. The smart money is now sitting on a large profit,
as well. The average investor is still skeptical, however.
As bull market events unfold, retail investors begin to take interest in stocks. Retail investors, or the unsophisticated little guy, make up the vast
majority of investors. This group does not invest for a living. Retail investors often make investment decisions based on what they read in financial
magazines, from their brokers and from tips from friends. As the flood of retail capital is invested, the market soars, causing great euphoria. At this
point in the cycle, many companies become public, or launch an IPO. Companies go public when investor sentiment is most optimistic so as to
gain the highest possible stock price. IPOs generate even more optimism as unsophisticated investors buy into the fallacious thoughts of instant
riches. Now is the time when many small investors become wealthy. In this phase, stocks are doubling and tripling as the media cheers on the
advancing bull market.
At this point, the smart money sells, or distributes, the now overvalued stocks to overconfident retail investors. The smart money knows that
overvalued stocks are no longer worthy investments, and will soon drop in value. Widespread greed always occurs, in some form, at stock market
tops. Sometimes this greed takes form as stock market scams and fraud. These immoral activities can take place because irrational retail investors
will buy a stock simply because it is glamorous. To compound the problems, investors will now start to use margin, or leverage, to further
accelerate gains. All caution is thrown to the wind as investors think the old rules dont apply.
The Start of a Bear Market
After mutual funds and retail investors are fully invested, the market is overbought. This means that there is no more cash to fuel the rally. The
market can only go in one direction: down. All it takes is just a hint of negative news and the market collapses under its own weight. Investors
quickly realize the market is made of smoke and mirrors, as frauds or other scams come to light.
When panic selling starts, a market will always fall quicker than it had risen. Oftentimes, as everyone heads for the exit at the same time, there
isnt anyone willing to buy the stock. This can be especially disastrous for margin users as they grow deeply indebted to their brokers.
Bankruptcy is the usual result for these foolish gamblers. The majority of retail investors dont sell even as the market is plummeting. This crowd
keeps holding on to stocks in hopes that the market will recover. As the market plummets 25%, then 50% the average retail investor foolishly holds
on, in complete denial that the bull market is over. Finally retail investors sell every stock they own plummeting the market even further. This mass
exodus is called capitulation.
The Cycle Starts Again
It is at this point that stocks are undervalued once again. The smart money is accumulating and stocks rise. The majority of retail investors bought
at the top and sold at the very bottom. This is the very essence of the dumb money. They are perpetually late into the game. This cycle
continues over and over. Only the smart money actually buys low and sells high. After trading in this manner, the dumb money will adhere to
adages such as, the stock market is risky. In reality, however, the stock market is only risky if you trade like the mindless majority!
My Trading Rules
22 June 2015
12:20 PM
MY Rules
1. Every moment is unique.
2. Every trade is unique and has nothing to do with previous trades.
3. The market doesnt owe me and i dont owe the market, market was and will always be Neutral.
4. If i am right i gratefully make some money, if i am wrong I peacefully lose some money.
5. I am a very disciplined and profitable trader, i have a wonderful trading plan and a wonderful trading strategy and i believe in it.
6. I love and respect being a trader.
7. This trade or that previous or next one is just a representation of the random distribution between wins and losses and has n othing to do with me.
8. It is a probability game or numbers game .. just be OK with that.
3 Pillars of Trading Rules

22 June 2015
12:31 PM
The 3 Pillars of Trading Rules

The Framework
Trading Decisions
Protective Rules
Trading Style
Indicators vs. Price
Identify Weaknesses
Markets
Trading Tools
Control Emotions
Instruments
Indicator Interpretation Position Sizing
Timeframes
Entry & Exit Rules
Risk Management
Personality
Trade Management
Money Management
Guidelines
Perfect Setup
How to Read Your Emotions as Trader

22 June 2015
12:35 PM
Meditation Can Be the Medication for Your Trading

22 June 2015
12:47 PM
http://www.tradingacademy.com/lesson...-your-trading/
Some Excerpts
Over the years, the usefulness of meditation has been scientifically documented in
hundreds of studies with regard to physiological, mental, emotional and behavioral
benefits. Some of those benefits include:
Sharpening attention
Lowering heart rate
Lowering stress levels
Easing anxiety
Increasing patience
Inducing calm
Reducing susceptibility to fear and greed.
With consistency, this powerful practice supports the entire system of mind/body and
spirit.
So often while trading you are thinking about what happened in the last trade, the last
hour, yesterday or what is coming up in the next few moments or tomorrow. In other
words, youre everywhere but where you should be, that is, focused on what is taking
place right now the what-matters-most of the trade.
Distractions can come in the form of negative emotions like fear, greed, and anxiety, all
of which can distort perception and make illusions seem real. Consistent meditation
hones an appreciation for just being, without timetables, goals or effort. The central
idea is to be mindful and aware of your internal/external environment by surrendering to
the moment and letting things be.
Your trading requires the best you can give while activating and accessing all of your
internal and external resources. Trading is tough and as you meditate, with consistency,
you will develop greater capacity for patience, calm, sharpened focus and being less
distracted by negative emotions. Diligent and consistent meditation will help you to
reduce distorted judgment by building emotional strength and a level of detachment.
Trading is almost exclusively a mental art. During your trading process you are
preparing, analyzing, processing or executing a trade; all of which require mental and
emotional tools. Youve got to have mental and emotional tools in your tool belt,
otherwise its like driving without a steering wheel; you will lose your way and crash and
burn without them. Put the steering into your trading
Persistance
22 June 2015
12:50 PM
http://time.com/money/3903563/millio.../?xid=tcoshare
Self-made millionaires are persistent. They never quit on their dream. They would rather go down with the ship than quit. Twenty-seven percent of the selfmade millionaires in my study failed at least once in business. And then they picked themselves up and went on to try again. They persisted. Persistence
requires doing certain things every day that move you forward in achieving your goals or life dream. Persistence makes you unstoppable. No obstacle,
mistake or momentary failure can stop you from moving forward if you keep at it. These millionaires learned to pivot and change course, growing in the
process. Persistence allowed them to learn what didnt work and continuously experiment until they found what did work. Persistence is the single greatest
contributor to manifesting good luck. Those who persist eventually get lucky. Some unintended consequence emerges, something unexpected and
unanticipated happens to those who persist. Sometimes, those closest to you will urge you on and encourage you. But more often, those closest to you
those directly impacted by the obstacles, mistakes and failures that are part of the success journey will try to stop you from persisting. It takes
superhuman effort to continue to pursue success when there are so many forces fighting you. Thats what makes successful people so special and also so
rare. If you want to be successful in life, you must persist in the face of unrelenting adversity. Successful people are successful because they never quit on
their dream.
There are many other Rich Habits, but I think these are some of the most powerful.
Habits, I learned from my research, dictate your circumstances in life. They unconsciously program us for success, failure or mediocrity in life. They can
determine our social status rich, poor or middle-class. Habits, I also learned, can be changed. The key to habit change is awareness and tracking. You need
to become aware of the habits you currently have and would like to change and then you must track your new habits until they take hold. It takes an average
of 66 days to replace an old habit with a new one. When you eliminate old bad habits and adopt new good habits, your life will begin to change for the better.
It takes time, but its worth the effort.
Dear Amit
22 June 2015
12:51 PM
Dear Amit,
The struggle to decide upon a trading system is one of the toughest battle every one faces inevitably in his trading career.
Being a master of psychology I request you to write up an article to get rid of the psychological struggle one faces in deciding upon the same.
This is bcoz of non availability of a successful trading mentor I guess.
Every one wants to have the best available trading system.
But free systems are not profitable and profitable mechanical trading systems are difficult to program and no body will sell it.
After spending Lot of time/effort/energy/money and costly mistakes/fees paid to markets one comes to a conclusion of a probab le trading system.
Again the system should suit the personality of the person.
Again since this may not be backtestable - has to be done manually as it will be discretionary.
Or even if one manages to get/design a mech trading system he should be able to follow it.
The final decision to come to conclusion accepting the trading system I guess is purely psychological.
Just few questions which comes to my mind
------------------------------------------
At what stage one drops this search ?

What are the psychological reasons behinds this search ?
What stage a trader is able to accept the system he envisage psychologically ?
And when does he realize that the system he envisage is psychologically fits his personality ?
And at what stage he accepts/trusts the system fully and start following it with discipline ?
Should one stop learning new new technical concepts ?
etc etc
----------------------------Though it is addressed to Amit....just my view
1. Mentors are available...but, they may not celebrity like so called Technical Analyst...we have to search..we will get them.
2. All systems will work...first, should fix the system...instead of back testing...visually you have to see the movement atleast 1 or 2 year...then you
will understand, how the system behaves..
3. Problem is...everybody will jump on one system to other very frequently....finally they will go into depression...lose money heavily..
4. Moreover, this is psychological game, chart reading is an art...when everybody will buy...chart will say sell...you have to believe...never ever use
our sixth sense...market is behaving above sixth sense..
------------------------------------Thanks for your kind words.
I am a simple trader like you.I too make losses and mistakes.

I actually started this thread to motivate my self and other fellow traders.
Like Rish has said that if one searches , one can get a good mentor in trading.Such a person should be actively trading/traded earlier.
An analyst cannot be a good mentor as he does not have any risk in predicting.
Regarding system search ,any simple system works effectively only if one uses proper discipline and money management.
The search for the perfect system never ends.This search can only be stopped by you yourself.We all have to understand that any system works
only 50 % of the time(believe me anything better than this is either a myth or fabrication).
Some hints for improving trading decisions,
Firstly you have to understand the strengths and weakness of your own as a trader.
Then you have to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your trading system.
The problem with us traders is that we try to optimize our trading system for all types of markets , ie both trending and sideways.
This never works.You should have different systems for different types of markets.
Even a simple system of two moving average crossover works , the secret is not to trade every crossover.Only trade the crossovers which occur at
important support and resistances.
Another simplest system is use previous day high and low on charts.
On trending days buy once the price crosses the previous day high and sell when it crosses the previous day's low.
On sideways days ,short at the previous day's high and buy at the previous day low.
Million dollar question is how to identify whether day is trending or not.The only answer to this is study the price action.Lot of such articles and images
I have posted in my thread "Learning to catch High probability breakouts".
Check this post by Dan ,trying to motivate another trader who has taken a hit by overtrading.
http://www.traderji.com/options/9862...ml#post1077974
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Maturity
22 June 2015
12:53 PM
Maturity is when you stop trying to change people, and instead focus on changing yourself.
Maturity is when you accept people for who they are.
Maturity is when you understand that everyone is right in their own perspective.
Maturity is when you learn to "let go".
Maturity is when you are able to drop "expectations" from a relationship and give for the sake of giving.
Maturity is when you understand that whatever you do, you do for your own peace.
Maturity is when you stop proving to the world how intelligent you are.
Maturity is when you focus on positives in people.
Maturity is when you do not seek approval from others.
Maturity is when you stop comparing yourself with others.
Maturity is when you are at peace with yourself.
Maturity is when you can differentiate between "need" and "want, and you can you can let go of your wants.
Maturity is when you stop attaching "happiness" to material things
Nice Story
22 June 2015
12:54 PM
Hi, Amit. I just got this from http://mmb.moneycontrol.com. Hope you'd like it. Replace word investor with trader if you will, the
truth in the following paragraphs remains unchanged.
Quote:
The year was 1902. And this young man working in the position of a clerk at the Swiss patent office had one of the most redun dant
jobs. However, it was the best job available to anyone with his kind of unimpressive university record. He served in the Bern office
for seven years, from June, 1902 to July, 1909. Every morning he faced his bundle of patent applications. Back then a patent
application had to be accompanied by a working model or a prototype if you will. And the man had to contend with not just the
prototypes but also an extremely strict boss. One who gave strict instructions, if possible in a single sentence, in order to explain
why the patent application should be granted or denied. Day after day the man in early 20`s had to distill the productivity o f
objects of the greatest variety that man has power to invent. And put them on paper with hardly any help from his superiors.
Any guesses who the man was and what made him one of the greatest genius mankind has seen till date? Well, it was none other
than Albert Einstein. Six years after quitting the Swiss patent office, he gave the world the formula E=mc2, as well as the T heory of
Relativity.
The reason I am narrating this is to explain the kind of difference information, noise and signals can make to your lives. Ei nstein
himself explained later that the patent office prepared him for the big discoveries. He learnt to sift the essential and impo rtant from
the non essential. And he learnt to keep away the clutter.
Unfortunately, as an investor in financial markets today, you are dumped with information clutter. Right from your
broker to newspapers to television anchors want you to capitalize on every little bit of information. Even something as
mundane as a Monetary Policy review has been turned into breaking news -of-sorts. And every 0.25% change in rates
is endorsed as an unprecedented opportunity to make money. In the process, your broker and the financial media
make tons of money, whether or not you as an investor make any.
So the very first lesson, an investor who wishes to make well informed investing decisions, needs to take, is sifting informa tion.
Neither does the Monetary Policy instantly impact your equated monthly installments (EMIs), as propagated. Nor does it impact the
fundamentals of stocks you wish to buy. It is nothing more than a liquidity management tool for the central bank. And it shou ld be
nothing more than a signal of the macroeconomic fundamentals for you.
As a serious long term investor, you would be better off paying heed to the concerns that the central bank is citing in makin g policy
decisions. Other than that there is no reason to base any investing decision on marginal rate change noise. Treating the RBI` s
decision as a signal of times to come as against real information will make you a better investor.
Source: Equity Master
Story
22 June 2015
12:58 PM
A man only begins to be a man ,when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which
regulates his life -James Allen
There was once a skipper who named his ship after his wife. He had the figurehead of it beautifully carved, just like her, an d the
hair of it gilt. But his wife was jealous of the ship. You think more of the figurehead than of me, she said to him. No, he
answered, I think so highly of her because she is like you, yes, because she is you yourself. Is she not gallant, full -bosomed; does
she not dance in the waves, like you at our wedding? In a way she is really even kinder to me than you are. She gallops along
where I tell her to go, and she lets her long hair hang down freely, while you put yours up under a cap. But she turns her ba ck to
me, so that when I want a kiss I come home to Elsinore.
Now once, when this skipper was trading at Trankebar, he chanced to help an old native king flee traitors in his own country. As
they parted, the king gave him two big blue, precious stones, and these he had set into the face of his figurehead, like a pa ir of eyes
to it. When he came home he told his wife of his adventure, and said: Now she has your blue eyes too. You had better give me
the stones for a pair of earrings, said she. No, he said again. I cannot do that, and you would not ask me if you underst ood.
Still the wife could not stop fretting about the blue stones, and one day, when her husband was with the skippers corporatio n, she
had a glazier of the town take them out, and put two bits of blue glass into the figurehead instead,
and the skipper did not find out, but sailed off to Portugal. But after some time the skippers wife found that her eyesight was
growing bad, and she could not see to thread a needle. She went to a wise-woman, who gave her ointments and waters, but they
did not help her and in the end the old woman shook her head, and told her that this was a rare and incurable disease, and th at she
was going blind. Oh, God, the wife then cried, that the ship was back in the harbor of Elsinore. Then I should have the gl ass
taken out, and the jewels put back. For did he not say that they were my eyes? But the ship did not come back. Instead the
skippers wife had a letter from the Consul of Portugal, who informed her that she had been wrecked, and gone to the bottom w ith
all hands. And it was a very strange thing, the Consul wrote, that in broad daylight she had run straight into a tall rock, r ising out of
the sea
To become a seasoned Trader

22 June 2015
01:00 PM
Every day you trade, you gain valuable experience regarding how you approach the markets. You see various setups and learn how they can or
cant lead to a profitable trade. Dont undervalue these learning experiences.
Every day, you are achieving learning goals. Your daily efforts may not directly lead to profits, but indirectly, they do add to your wealth of
experiences. You may only win a battle here and there, but when you add up the battles you do win, over the long haul, you end up mastering
the markets, and winning the war in the end.
If you merely focus on how much money you make as a trader, and use a conventional payment schedule, youll work your butt off but fail to
get the conventionally defined paycheck you expect, and feel ripped off. But if you define your paycheck in unconventional terms as the
amount of experience you gained, youll feel rewarded for making a series of trades, profitable or not, and feel youve accomplished
something.
And regardless of how much money you actually make, you will have indeed accomplished something: You will have further honed your
trading skills.
In the grand scheme of things, winning minor battles and learning from your defeats will help you win the war. Youll master the markets and
become a winning, profitable seasoned trader.
Trading Like A Predator, Not The Prey

22 June 2015
01:02 PM
By Nial Fuller
http://www.learntotradethemarket.com...VqxHwtMW#close
Have you ever felt like you are being preyed upon by some invisible force in the market? The truth is, when we enter the tr ading
cauldron we all start out as prey. When you enter the market, you step into a world of predators who are trying to take mon ey from
you, lets call these predators the professionals.
You might feel like a victim, but it doesnt have to stay this way for you as a trader; with the correct mindset and plan, yo u can turn
yourself from prey into a predator and start grabbing your share of chips on the table.
Predators vs. prey in the market

Professional traders have been taking money off of novice traders since the advent of trading. So, if this is the case, how d o you beat
these pros, how do you stand a chance? But, are they pros? Just because they have money they can still falter; youre only as good
as your last trade. In other words; you can destroy weeks, months or even years of good trading habits with just one greedy o r
overly-emotional trade, and so any predator in the market can quickly slip back to being prey.
Each one of us has the ability to be a predator or prey in the market, and we can go back and forth between them if we let ou rselves
slip. For example, youre wondering how you could compete with billion dollar hedge funds and traders with a lot more experie nce,
time and money in the market? News Flash: Hedge funds go broke all the time; those with money arent always the
masters or best traders. The key point is that youre only as good as your last trade, we have an article on that as
wellone trade can make you or break you. If you falter and let yourself slip from your trading plan and discipline, you
can easily become the prey once again.
Becoming a predator in the market is not necessarily the hard part, the hard part is remaining a predator over a long enough period
of time in the market. A predator, or professional trader, learned long ago that the key to winning at trading was to do the opposite of
what he did when he started out and was losing, and furthermore to continue to try and take money from those traders who are
uninformed, naive and compulsive just as he once was.
Learning from the traps youve been caught in
To become a predator in the market, you must learn from your mistakes, quickly. If you keep making the same mistakes over and
over, you will continue to be preyed upon by more skilled traders.
For example, if your stop losses keep getting hit even though youre being patient and waiting for good price action signals, it might
be the case that youre placing your stop losses too close to your entries. So, the solution is to place a wider stop loss. Y ou may not
want to do this because it means you have to reduce your position size. But, its the correct thing to do and its how you wi ll become
the predator. Whats better, making some money, even if its less than you want, or losing money? I would pick the former.
Another example of learning from your mistakes is poor trade entry timing. Does the market seem to move the other way every t ime
you enter? Are you always feeling like the Johnny come lately of trading? If so, you may need to consider entering earlier or even
the other way. Examine your entries and reasons for taking them. Are you waiting for actual setups to enter on or are you jus t diving
in the market randomly all the time? Are you chasing trades and entering late because you missed them? If so, youll need to learn
from these traps and fix your errors fast, or else youll continue to be the prey in the market.
What kind of strategy are you trading? Are you getting stopped out on breakouts all the time? Maybe you should switch to fals e
breaks / fake-outs? The point is this; if what youre doing is not working and youre consistently losing money, you need to learn from
these mistakes and change them, or else you will continue being preyed on by the predators in the market.
Prey is vulnerable
Prey is vulnerable. So, you need to become less vulnerable in the market in order to stop being the prey. To do this, you nee d a good
strategy, good risk management and a good trading plan, these things will equip you to be the king of your trading domain. Wi thout
them, you let your defenses down and open yourself up to the predators (pro traders) in the market.
Predators are good defenders by nature, because as they say in sports; the best offense is a good defense. Having a plan of action
and protecting your money are critical in surviving and thriving in the market. Think about lions; lions have a plan, even if
its instinctual in nature, they hunt together in prides and they surround their prey as if laying a trap. The best ways you can
defend yourself in trading are through capital preservation and by being prepared through having mastered your
trading strategy, having a trading plan and risk management plan.
You dont want to be vulnerable like prey in the open field waiting to be slaughtered.
Wait for the right opportunity and execute with confidence
If there is one thing people think about when they think predator, its waiting patiently for the easy prey and then
striking with confidence when the conditions come together for an easy kill. In trading, the predators are those traders who
wait patiently for the obvious setups to form at the right place in the market.
Think of these types of trades as one shot, one kill. You wait for them patiently and then when they arise you execute the trade
without hesitation. If you are trading everything you see, youre significantly hurting your chances at making money, and you re
probably going to lose money because youre not trading like a sniper. In other words, you are the prey losing your money to those
predators who are waiting patiently and behaving with discipline.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to a choice. Will you choose to do what it takes to become a predator in the market, or will
you continue to be preyed upon by those predators? Being a predator-trader takes effort, patience and discipline; all things
you continue to be preyed upon by those predators? Being a predator-trader takes effort, patience and discipline; all things
those weak / prey traders in the market do not have.
__________________
Thanks
Amit
Mindfullness
22 June 2015
01:05 PM
Suppose you talk to your smartphone. Dear friend, I suffer. What shall I do? And your
smartphone says, Oh! The first thing you have to do is to breathe in mindfully and go
back to yourself.
There is a Zen story about a person sitting on a horse, gallop ing very quickly. At a
crossroads, a friend of his shouts, Where are you going? The man says, I dont know,
ask the horse! This often is our situation. Here horse is technology . The horse is
supposed to carry us to a good destination, as is technology
We pick up a book to read, hoping to have a sensation. We go to the Internet, looking
for pictures and songs and music to have a certain feeling. When you listen to music or
read a book or newspaper out of routine, you are doing it so you wont encounter
yourself. Many of us are afraid of going home to ourselves, So we look for sensory
impressions to consume. Technology, the Internet, is helping us to do this.
Many young people do this. A teenager confessed to us in a retreat that he spends at
least eight hours each day with electronic games, and he cannot stop. At first he was
playing games to forget, and now hes addicted to it. Many young people are trying to fill
up the loneliness, the emptiness inside, by looking for sensory impressions. That is the
second source of nutrient.
There are many people who check their email several times a day and find nothing new.
Because you are empty inside, you are looking for something new.-Thich Naht Hanh
You have to learn to generate peace and calm , : a feeling of joy, a feeling of happiness.
That is possible with the practice of mindfulness.And not at all difficult ---My 2c .
" Dil Dhadakne Do " Business lessons from the Movie

22 June 2015
01:07 PM
http://missionsharingknowledge.com/b...l-dhadakne-do/
Now whats a Bollywood romcom flick like Dil Dhadakne Do (Let The Heart Beat.. for
those non conversant with Hindi) got to do with business? Plenty if you ask me. I will
however keep this short and snappy, unlike the 2:51 minute saga; to give you five
lessons that I recommend business folk take from this latest Zoya Akhtars production.
Lesson 1: Drive the obsession for quality down the ranks. Kamal Mehra (played by
peerless Anil Kapoor) is a self-made billionaire who raises an empire by the weight of his
sheer dedication and efforts. However as his business grows, he has lesser and lesser
time to keep a check on his operations. He soon finds out that he is loosing out the
battle of cost and quality against the Chinese counterparts.
Lesson 2: Short-term measures do not yield long term benefits. In a desperate
bid to find a suitable investor for his flagging business, Kamal Mehra decides to create an
alliance between his son and the daughter of another shrewd billionaire. How the ploy
fails (and spectacularly so) forms much of the plot of the movie. Needless to say, it turns
out to be one gamble too many for the silver haired businessmen.
Lesson 3: Shatter the glass ceiling! The heir apparent of Kamals business- his son
Kabeer played by Ranveer, has other ideas for his life and is more interested in flying.
His sister Ayesha, played by Priyanka, however is blessed with superior business
acumen. Kamal fails to realise that his business is safer in the hands of his daughter
instead of his son. Those savvy with politics in India may relate quite easily with this
phenomenon.
Lesson 4: Star performers dont always make for a winning team: For a movie
replete with an enviable cast and striking performances that may win awards in
individual categories, you are left with a sense of emptiness while you queue out to exit.
Zoya got the act of her actors right, but couldnt quite get the pulse of her audience.
Lesson 5: Focus on the core message: Where DDD lacks on substance, it makes up
for it through witty one liners that keep you chuckling from ear to ear. Speaking about
his dysfunctional family, Ranveer comes up with one such killer line:
Yahaan pe sab log upar upar ki baat karte hai, main baat to koi karta hi nahin.
<Everyone speaks of superficial stuff here, no one talks about the main thing. >
Is that how you sometimes feel about your brand messages?
The sixth sense: Money cant buy happiness: Sure its fabulous to be able to take a
motley group of friends on a cruise to Turkey to celebrate your anniversary at the cost of
8000 euros per person, but it also magnifies the insecurities and frailties encountered by
the super rich. It portrays a sense of disenchantment at having all the worldly pleasures
at your feet but not being able to connect with your near and dear ones in a true sense.
Advisory: If you havent seen the movie yet, take your own sweet time. When you do
decide to catch it though, take your kindle along-with you. Much like going on a cruise
and drifting off into oblivion, you may just find much needed succour in your unfinished
read.
There are 5 important achievements that every successful system

trader must make
03 July 2015
09:34 PM
There are 5 important achievements that every successful system trader must make.
1) You must know your own weaknesses. Each of us brings strengths and weaknesses to our own trading. Some find it exceedingly difficult not to tinker or
play around with the markets when trading and in the process we don't follow our systems; some find it difficult to pull the trigger; some find it difficult to
endure drawdowns of any size. Unless you know how you react to the markets and the pressures and elations of trading, you cannot compensate for your
weaknesses.
2) You must understand statistics well enough to understand the limitations of trading using only history as our guide. I am constantly surprised by how
many people get this wrong. Even the so-called "experts" in trading.
3) You must learn about trading systems, many of them, many different kinds of systems. In this process, you will learn that there are many answers, many
paths to profits, but none of them are as neat and palatable as we might wish.
4) You must learn about brokers, markets, execution, risk, slippage, and other operational issues that affect trading profits. The best way to learn these
issues is to start trading somewhere using a small account. It needs to be big enough that the losses matter but not so big that you will bankrupt yourself if
you lose the entire account.
5) You must learn about yourself and how you react to all the items 1 to 4 above. This is perhaps the most important knowledge. How to fit your own
personality, weaknesses and strengths, into the trading ecosystem. You might find you are bored with long-term system, or that you can't stand looking at
screens, or that you need a robobroker to execute since you won't follow your systems closely enough. You will only learn this by being honest with yourself
and by reflecting on what works and doesn't.
The best possible way to learn is to sit side by side with someone who knows what they are doing, but this is not possible for most, so you will likely need to
find another way.
As far as a specific course of action, which is what you have asked for, I will offer one way that I think works pretty well. If you persevere and if you reflect
on your own condition honestly, you have a good chance at success if you follow this course.
1) Buy some testing software and learn some of the well-known systems that work. There are many examples of systems that work out there. Play around
with them, change them and see what happens. I'm obviously biased in my opinion of what software you should buy but I leave that decision to you.
2) Read and Study Trading. Initially, I suggest buying the Modus course. It is a very good foundation for people who don't know where to begin.
3) Start trading as soon as you think you are ready. Start small and don't worry about the profits, worry about what you learn about the markets and
yourself. Consider your initial losses as tuition that all traders pay.
4) Honestly assess yourself on a regular basis. What did you learn? what are you having trouble with? What do you need to compensate for?
5) Repeat starting at 1).
One thing that troubles many people is the high cost of software and courses. Consider however, the high cost of trading incorretly as the alternative. If you
can't afford software, save up until you can. If you can't afford money for a course, you likely can't afford to lose as much money as you will if you start
trading without understanding what you are doing.
Last of all, don't be afraid to ask for the advice of others, even to pay for it where appropriate.
Keep one thing in mind, however, sometimes even successful traders are wrong about the reasons for their success. Trader A might think his success is due
to his fancy computers and sophisticated algorithms when in reality his success is due to his having a solid foundation and good operational execution.
Trading well is not easy, but it is something you can learn if you have the perseverance combined with the humility to be realistic about your own strengths
and weaknesses. - Curtis Faith ( Turtle Trader )

A Strong Trading Mind

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Introduction

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----------------------------------------------------------------EASY WAY OF LOSING MONEY IN THE MARKETS

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Daily Habits of Wealthy People

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Daily Affirmations Will Improve Your Trading

17. I believe in my trading strategy completely and whole heartedly

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 21

The Trading Mindset: Frustration Leads to Learning

Frustration Leads to Learning

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 22

Hope is Not an Investing Strategy

But why do you say so?

I hope Suzlons business would turn around.

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 23

What Crocodiles can teach You about Trading?

two very important keys to becoming a successful trader.

Crocodiles are highly adaptable

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 25

Trader Psychology Questionnaire

2.) I let yesterdays trades influence my current decisions.

4.) I spend my profits before I have realized them.

19.) I move my stops and targets in my trades.

________________________ Total Aggregate Score (add all your responses together)

_________________________ Subscale F-SD Total (1,3,5,7,9,11,14,17,20). Add these together.

_________________________ Subscale G-I Total (4,6,8,10,12,15,18). Add these together.

_________________________ Subscale F-SD/G-I (2,13,16,19). Add these together.

_________________________ Subscale F-SD/G-I (2,13,16,19). Add these together.

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 27

The Man On The Steps Of The Bankruptcy Court

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 28

Trend trading help

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 29

Everything you wanted to know about Visualization for Trading

Ever wondered how to make visualization work for trading ?

Here is one of the best articles I came across on the net.

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 30

5 Characteristics of a Strong Mind

What secret ingredients do heroes possess? They have five elements:

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 31

As Jim Collins once said,

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 32

Are You an Average Trader?

Check your symptoms

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 33

3. Feed Your Body Right

5. Sleep in 90-min Cycles

A STRONG TRADING MIND Page 34