Trading Educators Blog

Have you ever seen a pattern emerge, and you instinctively trusted your gut instinct even though your logical mind told you otherwise? Sometimes it works, but other times your intuition may fail you. Scientists are fascinated by how people use intuition. There's something intriguing and mystical about it. Intuition helps us make quick and rapid decisions without full conscious awareness, but somet...

Are you having a bad day? Has media coverage spoiled your trading plan? Perhaps you are just feeling a little off? When you encounter an unexpected setback, you can feel beaten down. You might be tempted to just stay knocked down, stuck, and unable to get back up. "I'll never make enough winning trades to recoup my losses." Ever have these thoughts, when you feel beaten? It's natural, but you can'...

When you put your money on the line, there's a strong need to seek out perfection. Many novice traders believe they can get everything just right. They believe that they can locate infallible information, find the perfect setup, and execute every trade flawlessly. In "Trading in the Zone," Mark Douglas notes that many traders are so consumed with making the perfect trade that they never get around...

If you want to become a winning trader, you must be willing to face losses without letting them get you down. Upon facing a loss, our first inclination is to feel disappointed, but how you react emotionally is merely a matter of how you look at matters. If you go in with unrealistically high hopes, you'll feel devastated when you encounter a setback. If you expect a setback here and there, however...

Trading is a challenging business. Only the most skilled traders can make a living as an active, full time trader. Trading experts suggest that novice traders approach trading the same way that students pursue their vocation in professional school, which requires a resolute dedication to sharpen their skills in order to move to the top of their field. The seasoned, professional trader has rare and...

If there are people in your life who do not support your efforts to become a successful trader, avoid them. Avoid those who express negative energy on a regular basis, and vent their hostilities towards you. Wherever possible, terminate unhealthy emotional relationships that cannot be repaired, and if necessary, do it immediately. Negative energy has a cumulative effect that eventually wears down ...

The problem with many traders is that they have only half a plan, the easy half. They know how much profit they're willing to take, but they don't have the foggiest idea how much they're willing to lose. They're like a deer in the headlights, they just freeze and wait to get run over. Their plan for a position that goes south is, "Please God, let me out of this and I'll never do it again," but tha...

Winning traders approach the markets with an optimal mindset. They trade "in the zone," but it's surprising how stress can impact your ability to enter this ideal state of mind. You can carefully delineate a complete trading plan, for example, in which every aspect is spelled out clearly, from when to enter and when to exit, and you may have a wealth of experience executing such plans, but when yo...

It's the day after a holiday. Are you going to trade today? Some traders believe that stock prices tend to rise the day after a holiday. Perhaps you have anticipated a rise in prices, and are holding a few positions in the hopes that you can sell into the strength brought on by the holiday. Nevertheless, the day before the holiday there's going to be less trading, just by the mere fact that the tr...

Note: I believe the article below was written by Adrienne Tograhie, a good friend and great trading coach. The Manic/Volatile trader has learned to create emotional volatility by developing a great imagination. By looping positive and negative stories with more detail, he is very effective in becoming dramatic. With enhanced feelings, he has justified to himself about being right. This keeps him s...

When confronted with a choice, how do you decide? Are the choices you make in life in general different from the choices you make in trading? It has been my experience that decisions in life that involve a perception of a possible loss, being wrong, or making a mistake, will very often take the same approach as the decisions you make in trading. Stuck Gary was a "want to be" trader for over twenty...

To position yourself for success in investing (and life in general), it's useful to identify the one key area that's holding you back. These factors can range from needing to free up more money to invest each month, to cutting back on frivolous spending, or even a lack of education on how to best manage your investments. You'd be shocked at how many people are unable to pinpoint obvious blemishes ...

In a number of places and at various times, I've mentioned that trading in the past was a lot easier than it is today. When it comes to making money over the long-term, the "instant results" generation is at a huge disadvantage. Most of the focus today (thanks to the business media) is on checking your financial scoreboard frequently. As a result, many modern market watchers are more like gamblers...

I will never stop learning. This is my mantra and I will continue to practice it each and every day. Why? Because you never know where your next big opportunity may lie. Constantly learning will benefit you in many areas of your life. You'll uncover new investment opportunities, such as dividend stocks that are attractive for new money. Or, you can acquire new skills that open the door to bigger p...

Have you ever been a part of a conversation when someone decides to anoint a particular individual with the "rich" label? There's not really anything wrong with it, except for when the next part of the conversation moves on to discrediting how he/she was able to get in their particular position. Yes, sometimes people born into wealth squander their head start and "blow" their family's fortune. How...

Losses apply to all traders, regardless of their chosen markets. The story below could apply to Forex, futures, bonds, or stocks. Ray Activ has just taken a big risk and lost. He has been watching a stock for the past month and it's been going down. But today an earnings report was released. Yesterday, Ray had a strong hunch that actual earnings were going to beat analysts' estimates. In preparati...

If you're like most people, your moods change throughout the day. There are times when you are extremely energetic and optimistic. You feel as if you can do anything. You're in an optimal state of mind for trading. A "state of mind" consists of a set of moods, feelings, thoughts, and memories. In an optimistic state of mind, you feel powerful and ready for action; you feel enthusiastic and energiz...

Trading can be frustrating at times. You put in a heroic effort, but it doesn't always pay off in the way that you had hoped. When you finally do win big, you naturally want to celebrate. You may even get a "swelled head," and feel invincible, as if you are on top of the world. Why not celebrate? You deserve it. It's healthy to occasionally pat yourself on the back for a job well done, but don't g...

Trading is risky. Depending on your personality, you may be extremely intolerant of risk. I know a man who uses "riskaverse" for his email address. Most people avoid risks at all costs. Humans had to make prudent decisions in order to survive and evolve. Even though traders know they must risk money to make money, the natural inclination to avoid risk is powerful. How much risk are you willing to ...

If you're an eternal optimist, you hate bad news. But bad news is relative. What is bad news to some people is mere information, and possibly good news, to others. Some traders hate bad news, and do anything to avoid hearing it. It takes many forms, and at Trading Educators we have heard them all. Some traders keep losses on paper to avoid acknowledging them. Other traders avoid looking at perform...