Trading Educators Blog

If you are like most people, you want to make a fortune, and you want to make it now. It is a reasonable wish. Who wouldn't want to make enough money to make all their dreams come true? But such a future-oriented focus is often the undoing of many traders. Making money in the markets takes time. You have to wait for ideal market conditions and you have to build up the requisite trading skills to t...

Finding stocks to buy or sell is a tall order. Let me tell you one way I've done it for years. For those new to my writings, a trend is defined by a breakout of the #2 point of a 1-2-3 formation. A trend is established upon the breakout of the extreme of the defined trend. In other words, the breakout of a Ross Hook establishes the trend. A Ross Hook is created as a result of the first correction ...

Do you ever sit there looking at your screen hour after hour, a little tired and bored? You feel like you need some action, but nothing much is happening. You think to yourself, "I might as well get long, it's likely to go up before the Close." So you place your order, even though you have no specific plan or reason for the trade. It's just something to do, because you're bored or just because you...

Whenever we miss a big move and then try to find some pattern, indicator, rationale, or modification to make to what we are doing so that the next time we will not miss such a move, it is a part of the hunt for something magic; a continuation of our quest for the holy grail of trading. What a terrible mistake to allow yourself to make. Winning in the markets consists of making some small profits a...

Here are some steps to take before the market opens. View major formations, view potential congestion areas, get the big picture from charts of a greater time frame than then one you use in trading. Write down the location of all potential order placements — yours and where you think others have placed orders. You need to go through exercises like this, every day that you trade. This is discipline...

A reader sent in the following question: Any idea of who was the seller of the first mechanical trading system? I heard that it included a whole bunch of phony information. I have more than a few candidates for that honor. But rather than name names, because I'm not 100% positive which rascal came first, I will just call him Bob Burnem. Burnem was the vendor of "URUN Estupido" (fictitious nam...

The following discussion is in response to a question that came in about trading in the meats. It may not be of interest to everyone, but maybe you will learn something you never thought of before. For example, I was never very interested in selling naked puts in the stock market. One day I met a man who was making a lot of money trading that way. I listened intently and today, selling naked puts ...

As a human being there is a component working in you called your soul that is comprised of the following elements: Your intellect, your emotions, your memory, your imagination, and your will. These elements work together to determine who you are and how you will behave in the market -- actually, in anything and everything you undertake to do. These elements work together and definitely overlap at ...

In a previous issue of Chart Scan, I wrote: "As a human being there is a component working in you that is comprised of the following elements: Your intellect, your emotions, your memory, your imagination, and your will. These elements work together to determine who you are and how you will behave in the market -- actually, in anything and everything you undertake to do." This week we are going to ...

Question from a trader: Joe! I'm not a very creative person, so I tend to use indicators to help me in my testing. I've heard that you are vehemently against indicators. Is that true? Not true! I am not vehemently against anything that works for you in the markets. I am not vehemently against the use of indicators. I have presented many of them in my books. What I am against is the wrong use of in...

Goals, do you have any? Can you spell them out? Do you review them every day? Here's a very easy goal-setting method to follow. Do it, and you will see a huge improvement in your bottom line. Write down the amount of money you are going to make trading next year. "I am making $___ by December 31, 20_." Present tense required, not future tense! Look at that amount every day and affix it on your wal...

Wisdom is said to be the right application of knowledge. Wisdom is a state of consciousness, born from the understanding and awareness of past experiences, and relates to future occurrences. Wisdom allows analysis of present conditions in order to pre-visualize what should occur in the future. Intuition, creativity, and a sense of self-directed destiny are part of wisdom. Knowledge is concerned wi...

As we grow older, many of us tend to lose the amazing traits we possessed as kids. Without those key traits, life becomes all the more difficult. Remember being fearless to try new things as a child? Everything was new to us, so we never stopped to worry what others may think. We all learned so much on our own as children, simply by being open to new experiences. Or how about our willingness to te...

How can you tell if the breakout from consolidation is real or not? Trading rectangular block, i.e. ledges, or sideways chart patterns is a solid market trading approach so long as the breakout is not a false breakout. A legitimate breakout should not retrace to 50% of the block pattern range, as the most profitable trades never retrace below the breakout price. If the low of the daily breakout ba...

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Is your greatest fear in the market that of missing a move? Do you find you are saying to yourself, "I just can't stand the thought of missing 'the big one'?" The best way to handle that kind of fear is walk away from the situation. Get up, and walk away from the computer and any news you may be watching. Remove yourself from whatever it is that triggered the fear. Do anything that will take you o...

The following questions seem to be apropos for the time we are living in. It was sent to me some time ago: Do you think we are going into inflationary markets? And if so how soon? Can you tell us how to trade inflationary markets? Inflationary markets provide ample opportunities to make a lot of bull and bear market profits very fast, with simple technical approaches. Detecting Inflation: Watch th...

The following is from an email I received from a person who is getting it right. I break into the middle: "...Here is where I see that self-control and discipline are paramount; I mean after seeing a perfect pattern form and me not taking the trade due to discretion -- BUT in fact, giving away a juicy profit - it is really KILLING my emotions. If I take the failure of a trade personally after my d...

Are you a creative trader? Are you able to come up with innovative way to make money in the markets? How does one do that? How can a trader become creative? What causes a trader to be creative is a mystery, even to professionals who study such things. Scientists have discovered a few common characteristics that all creative persons possess - a lot of it seems to be the ability to "think outsi...

"I read about a Monday Morning Bull Market Entry Technique. Do you know anything about something like that?" I've run across a few in my many years of trading. Of course, the first step is to be certain that you are in a bull market. Once you know for sure, buy Monday's opening - risk half the range of the previous trading day; price objective is 80% of the three-week average weekly range. If...