facebook  youtube  blogger

Trading Educators Blog

#1 Trading Blog Site
Mar
21

Don’t be Frustrated

​How well have you been doing in the markets these days? There have been many opportunities in the past few weeks, but an abundance of market opportunities, don't always guarantee success. Setbacks can be the rule rather than the exception when it comes to trading. Discovering reliable trading strategies is a challenge, and frequently, a promising strategy produces a series of losses, especially u...

Continue reading
  2021 Hits
Mar
21

Diversification

Diversification is one of the crucial factors in the success of some, but not all trading plans, and may in fact make the difference between success and failure of the plan. Putting all your eggs in one basket is not a good idea for some traders. This approach takes the position that rather than trading ten contracts in one market, look to trade smaller amounts in several different markets. The ai...

Continue reading
  2304 Hits
Mar
07

A Flash of Light

It has often been said that trading is not rocket science. I believe that. You don't need to be as brilliant as a rocket scientist to trade the markets profitably. I know I'm not that bright. That said, there are moments when a trader has a brilliant insight and takes home huge profits because of it. (I don't know any rocket scientists, but I'll bet that a rocket scientist isn't brilliant every wa...

Continue reading
  1754 Hits
Mar
07

Striving for Perfection

You will never be a perfect trader. However, as traders we have a strong need to want complete control over the outcome of a trade. We want to believe that if we analyze the markets long enough, we'll have perfect knowledge and we can trade to perfection. But such desire leads to wrong assumptions that can do us more harm than good. Assuming we must have control restricts our actions and reactions...

Continue reading
  1977 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...

Continue reading
  2170 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 ...

Continue reading
  1950 Hits
Oct
05

Chess and Trading. What do you think?

​Although I haven't the faintest idea of how to play chess, it certainly seems like a great idea. I imagine you can improve stock and futures trading by learning how to play chess. It might also help to develop an interest in physics. Every trader should learn to develop his problem-solving and pattern recognition abilities. I've been told that nothing does this better than learning how to play ch...

Continue reading
  1914 Hits
Sep
21

Being Flexible

By being flexible I mean that over time, your trading philosophy will undergo changes. These changes are brought about because of external events (economic considerations, natural disasters, political events, etc.), and because of internal events, usually my own mistakes. My views change as economic, political, and technological changes occur both on and now off our planet. My views change as I se...

Continue reading
  1879 Hits
Sep
21

Easy Trading

Throughout the day you make everyday decisions that mean little to you. You drive your kids to school and along the way, you make a host of decisions about which route to take, where to turn, or when to stop off for gas. Each decision is made with little thought. Later in the day, you may decide to stop off at the supermarket. You decide what to buy for dinner and how much you will spend. Do you o...

Continue reading
  2005 Hits
Sep
13

Are You Worried?

​After reading the financial page on Wednesday night, Jim thought, "How could anyone invest in the markets and get a sound night's sleep?" After you saw the major indexes drop on Wednesday, you might have thought the same thing. But as a seasoned investor or trader, you realize that such corrections are commonplace and you've learned to take them in stride. You don't worry about it and know that i...

Continue reading
  2063 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.