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Trading Educators Blog

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Jan
24

Welcome the Idea of Breaking Even

No one enters a trade with the idea of breaking even as a goal. Rather, we set out with high hopes, excitement, and expectancy – the promise of big dreams. But then something odd happens with our trade – we break even. Our reaction is a feeling of annoyance, of let-down. Breaking even happens. It is one of the possible outcomes of a trade. We must not see it as an unwelcome event. Distaste for bre...

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  2065 Hits
Jan
24

Chart vs. Technical Analysis

​Is there a difference between chart analysis and technical analysis? In my opinion there is. I am surprised at how many traders lump charting together with technical indicators into a category they call "Technical Analysis." I am often accused of being a technical analyst because I am not a fundamental analyst. In the past, I've often carelessly, and without much thought, allowed myself to accept...

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  1812 Hits
Jan
17

Covalency

​Someone asked, "What in the world is 'covalent bonding of futures pairs?'" Covalent bonding of futures pairs is said to create the best trading system portfolio structure. After the most stable individual futures parameters have been selected, the optimal portfolio should be created. Atoms share electrons to form molecules of a substance. This same covalent bonding process finds the trading syste...

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  1798 Hits
Jan
17

Trading System

You will need a system or plan if you want to succeed in trading. The usual way of attaining such a system is many days of trading, hard-earned personal experience, analyzing trades you've made to learn from your mistakes, a knowledge of probability, observing other traders, trade simulation, book learning, seminars and mentoring, or any number of similar factors. Such a system will give you ...

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  2080 Hits
Dec
21

Hesitating Before a Trade

There are any number of reasons why a trader hesitates before a trade. The main one is lack of planning. Without a plan, there is no degree of confidence a trade will be successful, it's all wishful thinking. Unless they are outright gamblers, traders usually have a strong need to protect their assets and avoid risk. This is especially true for beginning traders. It can take a long time to build u...

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  3246 Hits
Dec
20

Win or Lose: You Are A Winner Every Day

​Have you ever spent the day making trade after trade and gotten nowhere? You may have wondered why you woke up that morning, or even bothered trading that day. Perhaps there have been a few days where you've felt this way this week. It's been a hard week so far. If you aren't doing very well, it is understandable. Uncertainty abounds. On days when you are feeling unproductive, it's important to h...

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  1797 Hits
Dec
15

Note from Braam Avenant

​Some have asked for more information about Point and Figure charts. Here's a message from our friend Braam: P&F as I do it is a whole different method of short term trading than you will find in any book. As I always want to improve myself, I have bought all books on P&F. Most of them were a waste of money. But the best I have ever read is "The Definitive Guide to Point and Figure" by Jer...

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  1980 Hits
Dec
06

Erratic Markets

Recently, I was asked the following question: Do you trade strictly by technical analysis or do you still try to watch the fundamentals as well? For years I have differentiated between chart and technical analysis. Please allow me the courtesy of calling what I use as primarily 'chart' analysis, secondarily at times, technical analysis and when I think it is appropriate I throw in a bit of fundame...

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  2098 Hits
Dec
06

Talking to Myself

I have to admit I do talk to myself at times, maybe even a lot, especially when I'm facing a loss. Let's say I'm down a bunch of points and it came as the result of a surprise move in the market. The temptation is to think, "I have to find a way to get it back." I hate ending the day down a bunch of money. However, if I give in to that thought, I am focusing on the loss and I'm no longer in the ma...

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  2484 Hits
Nov
29

Can exchanges change the rules any time they want to?

​The answer is yes. Such an event happened at the Comex a number of years ago! It was called the "Great Silver Fiasco," which was associated with the Hunt brothers. Silver made 19 consecutive moves to the downside, and destroyed several individual commodity traders, when the Comex Board of Directors changed the exchange rules to allow silver prices to fall and not rise. A "liquidation only" restri...

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  1998 Hits
Nov
29

Pace Yourself

During ongoing activities, such as day trading, you have to learn how to pace yourself. This means alternating between times of intense activity with times of greatly decreased activity, times that require very little of your attention. These "rest periods" should take place when you do not have to quickly react to sudden market moves. This is hard advice to follow for some traders—paranoid, obses...

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  1888 Hits
Nov
14

Practice

If you play tennis once a week against an opponent who plays tennis five times a week, who is likely to win? If you play chess or backgammon twice a year against someone who plays every day, who will mostly likely win? You don't have to start trading real money right away. Whenever someone goes through my mentoring program, there comes a time when I encourage the student to start paper trading bef...

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  1930 Hits
Nov
14

Sinful Trader

From time to time we get this very important question: Is trading a sin? Often this question comes from people in ministry who want to become traders in order to fund various church activities. The answer is: No, trading is not a sin, but trading without knowing what you are doing can lead to a lot of problems. Trading in and of itself is not considered to be gambling. The futures markets exist as...

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  2192 Hits
Nov
08

Counting the Cost

​Almost anyone who wants to succeed needs to ask themselves certain questions before beginning to trade. Essentially, it is a matter of counting the cost BEFORE, not after you decide you want to pursue trading as a serious part of your life. What time period trader are you? How long do you feel comfortable holding a trade and how such financial risk can you comfortably assume on a one contract bas...

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  2106 Hits
Nov
08

Write Down Your Thoughts

​Have you ever made a dumb mistake? Perhaps you knew you should have used a protective stop before leaving for two days to take your children on a road trip. You may have thought, "I'll stop off at an Internet café and monitor the trade." But it didn't happen. You got wrapped up taking care of your children or worrying about traffic, and you didn't get around to looking at the market. It fell hard...

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  2333 Hits
Oct
25

FEAR

 There are three foes you must overcome in order to become an adequate trader. The first foe is fear. If a trader runs away out of fear and avoids trading, nothing will happen except that he will never learn. Fear causes your logic to become fuzzy and unclear. Lack of clarity becomes the second foe you have to overcome. Clearness of mind about the trading process removes fears. If you yield t...

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  2081 Hits
Oct
25

Break Time

​Reality is subjective. There are different states of reality in the same way that there are different states of mind, or different states of emotion. After a series of setbacks, for example, the world can look bleak. Yet after a series of big wins, in contrast, you can feel euphoric, even omnipotent. So which is the true reality? This is a hard question to answer. Perhaps it is best to consider t...

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  2020 Hits
Oct
19

Many 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. When...

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  1770 Hits
Oct
19

Making Progress

​Learning to master the markets can sometimes seem like climbing a tall mountain: You know it can be done, but you don't know how to do it, or whether you could do it if you had to. The task may seem insurmountable, and as you think about it, daunting. Fully mastering the markets takes time; time is needed to gain the vast experience required to trade in a variety of market conditions, and the adv...

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  1738 Hits
Oct
12

The Long Run Is Longer Then You Think

Many traders are smart enough to know that they will win in the long run by taking only the best trades, but become impatient due to the lack of anything happening. They forget that the long run can be "long". Taking only the best trades can be frustrating. They come along rarely, and even when they do there is no guarantee of winning with them. Long gaps occur in between. We can become angry and ...

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  2096 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.