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Trading Educators Blog

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Mar
21

What's Next

Have you been making plans for the coming year? Have you been trying to make sense of where you've been so far? It's useful to ask and answer a few key questions: Where have I been? Where am I going? Where am I going to go next? The answers to these questions aren't always obvious. But consider the plight of Rey Aktiv and Pro Aktiv, brothers, both novice traders with very different personalities a...

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  1585 Hits
Oct
11

Fighting Well

The outcome of a trade is never a sure thing. There's always an element of chance. When going long, for example, all indications may suggest a strong and solid trend, but it's possible that an unanticipated, adverse event could ruin it all. You can never know for sure what will happen. But that's okay. You don't need to have everything fall into place every time you make a trade. It's not the outc...

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  1485 Hits
Feb
27

Focus on the Obvious

Humans have a tendency to forget the obvious. We often think that life is more complex than the issues right in front of us, and that obvious solutions offer little solace when trying to find solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. The markets are complex at times, but the psychology of the market is not. And the psychology of winning isn't all that complicated either. It is vital to accen...

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  1951 Hits
Dec
19

Discipline and Temptation

Looking at your screen can be much like looking at a slot machine, and stopping yourself from dropping a dollar in the slot and pulling the handle. You must restrain yourself from making an impulsive trade, but there's a very human tendency to seek out excitement and receive a quick reward. You must fight temptation and maintain self-control, however. Electronic trading platforms have made trades ...

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  1833 Hits
May
24

Maintaining Discipline

Winning traders are disciplined. Discipline means controlling impulses and fighting the urge to abandon your trading plan prematurely. Maintaining discipline is often easier said than done, especially when the market is moving in your favor. It's hard to avoid closing a trade out early in order to lock in profits. Some winning traders face more losers than winners, and when you hit upon a winner, ...

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  1896 Hits
Apr
09

Pulling the Trigger

"Sometimes I absolutely dread sitting down to trade. I have had so many bad experiences that I'm not sure I can pull the trigger. Anything I can do about it?"    What happens to us as we trade colors the way we see things in the market and influences the way we approach them. We take a big hit in a particular market and we decide never to trade there again. Or, when we have a great ...

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  1890 Hits
Mar
15

Pride Goes Before a Fall

Next to lack of discipline, I find that pride has resulted in the destruction of many traders. Pride is a powerful emotion. Pride is what we feel when we've made a great trade or done something that makes us look good in the eyes of others. Trading is a tough business. Few traders succeed at it, so when you are doing well, you feel proud. But watch out! There come a time when pride can overpower y...

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  2437 Hits
Feb
01

What should I do after closing out a trade?

You must be disciplined in following the plan of your trade religiously. Once you have closed your position, you should record everything about the trade. Write down where you wanted to enter the trade, what you expected out of the trade, and what you actually did get out of the trade. Make sure to include notes that will help you learn from the trade, reasoning what actually took place once you e...

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  2155 Hits
Oct
04

Patience as a Central Pillar of Your Strategy

Think of patience as a primary part of your trading strategy. Don't assign it a secondary or lesser role, elevate it on the list of what you consider important. And don't be put off by it when it doesn't seem to be working — it's working. Don't start feeling self-righteous about not trading, as if now it owes you (because you have been so disciplined and patient). This is a trap. Don't start to fe...

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  2405 Hits
Jul
28

Admit when you are wrong

Recently I heard another tale of woe involving the failure to admit being wrong. This man followed a familiar path. As a day trader in the E-mini S&P 500, he first contacted me to tell me that he was unhappy with the data he was receiving. He wanted to know if I could recommend a good trading program for him. I mentioned a couple of them to him and he decided on one. Another interval of time w...

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  3061 Hits
Jun
24

Developing a Trading Style

Developing a Trading Style

Master Traders develop a style that is a reflection of their education and character. Most individual trading styles are either positional or combinational and, rarely, a synthesis of both. However, there are other styles.  Positional traders take x amount of positions within a specific price area where the market is thought to be favorable to their trading strategy. This may occur on short t...

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  2712 Hits
May
30

What kinds of emotions go with winning and losing?

What kinds of emotions go with winning and losing?

Once a trade is entered, there are two possible outcomes: Win or lose. Between the two is the breakeven point, and because it is in-between, it’s psychologically significant. Losing is involved with fear and hope. Winning is involved with greed. When on the losing side of a trade, the breakeven point is a place that inspires hope. Being human we have a natural tendency to avoid risk and loss...

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  4913 Hits
May
25

Money Management Explained in a Few Simple Words

Money Management Explained in a Few Simple Words

Money management involves a number of things and it is not to be confused with trade management. Money management is static. It deals with things like deciding the size of your margin account; deciding how much of your account you will put at risk on any one trade; deciding where to place your stop; and deciding on fixed objectives. The main purpose of money management is to save you from a disast...

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  3413 Hits
May
17

How do you go about making trading decisions?

How do you go about making trading decisions?

Careful analysis of all possible alternatives and all possible consequences of your trading decisions is the first step in good decision-making. Make every attempt to avoid impulsive trading decisions, invariably these lead to taking unnecessary risks. Strive to have a clearly defined trading plan, but keep it as simple as possible. Chart the equity of your trading method so that you can quickly k...

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  3122 Hits
Mar
21

How to Approach Trading - Part 7

How to Approach Trading - Part 7

Conclusion It is critical to develop a well thought out and organized trading plan. It is then important to have the discipline needed to follow it. Diversify your trading into several unrelated markets, or focus on one market and time frame where you have seen you can make money. Trading, by its nature is not investing. Trading requires consistent monitoring on at least a daily basis because of t...

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  2715 Hits
Mar
08

Can Trading Be Trained?

Can Trading Be Trained?

Please listen to the following podcast when you have a few minutes: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2017-03-03/the-incredible-true-story-of-the-real-life-trading-places I found the podcast interesting because of a few facts I want to discuss in today’s blog post. First of all, I am also a believer that trading can be trained but not necessarily everyone can trade. Trading requires a cer...

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  2790 Hits
Feb
21

How to Approach Trading - Part 3

How to Approach Trading - Part 3

How to Get Started:  I've seen many different trading plans. Whether they're two paragraphs or ten pages long, they put forth a way of looking at the market and they attempt to create some framework for approaching the markets. A good plan will include a well-tested strategy, a trading method, or a setup. Having a positive expectation should allow you to have the confidence to start t...

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  2742 Hits
Nov
10

Develop a Trading Plan

The main message I want traders to understand is how important the disciplined execution of a well thought out trading plan is in today's markets. Nobody knows for sure what a given market will do next. Having a plan of attack will allow you to successfully cope with the uncertainty that is an inherent part of trading. I think it makes good common sense to have a well thought out plan of attack fo...

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  3546 Hits
Sep
28

Five Basic Steps To Becoming A Successful Trader

1. Focus on trading vehicles, strategies, and time horizons that suit your personality 2. Identify non-random price behavior 3. Absolutely convince yourself that what you have found is statistically valid 4. Set up trading rules 5. Follow the rules 6. Don’t be afraid to abandon a rule that is no longer working.   In a nutshell, it all comes down to: Do your own thing (independence); And do th...

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  2778 Hits
Jun
09

The Best Trader in the World

If you had to describe the best trader in the world, who would that person be? What qualities would he have? Take a moment to envision him. This is important, because this is the person you want to be, so you need to have an exact picture of him and what his qualities are. The answer is that he is someone whose trading is somehow “complete”. Someone who is controlling his trading at al...

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  3103 Hits

Derivative transactions, including futures, are complex and carry a high degree of risk. They are intended for sophisticated investors and are not suitable for everyone. There are numerous other factors related to the markets in general or to the implementation of any specific trading program which cannot be fully accounted for in the preparation of hypothetical performance results, and all of which can adversely affect actual trading results. For more information, see the Risk Disclosure Statement for Futures and Options.