John Carter, well known trader and author of Mastering The Trade, provides a solid list of tips for traders who want to maintain a professional state of mind. Although you can get the details in his book (pages 392-396) what follows will give you a good idea of the wisdom in the details:
1. Trading is simple, but it is not easy.
2. When you get into a trade watch for the signs that you might be wrong.
3. Trading should be boring.
4. Amateur traders turn into professional traders once they stop looking for the "next great indicator."
5. You are trading other traders, not stocks or futures contracts.
6. Be very aware of your own emotions.
7. Watch yourself for too much excitement.
8. Don't overtrade.
9. If you come into trading with the idea of making big money you are doomed.
10. Don't focus on the money.
11. Do not impose your will on the market.
12. The best way to minimize risk is to not trade when it is not time to trade.
13. There is no need to trade five days a week.
14. Refuse to damage your capital.
15. Stay relaxed.
17. Keep winners as long as they are moving your way.
18. Don't overweight your trades.
19. There is no logical reason to hesitate in taking a stop.
20. Professional traders take losses because they trust themselves to do what is right.
21. Once you take a loss, forget about it and move on.
22. Find out what loss parameters work best for your setup and adjust them accordingly.
23. Get a feel for market direction by "drilling down" (looking at multiple time frames).
24. Develop confidence by knowing and executing your trade setups the same way every time.
25. Don't be ridiculous and stupid by adding to losers.
26. Try to enter a full size position right away.
27. Ring the register and scale out of your position.
28. Adrenaline is a sign that your ego and your emotions have reached a point where they are clouding your judgment.
29. You want to own the stock before it breaks out and sell when amateurs are getting in after the move.
30. Embracing your opinion leads to financial ruin.
31. Discipline is not learned until you wipe out a trading account.
32. Siphon off your trading profits each month and stick them in a money market account.
33. Professional traders risk a small amount of money on their equity on one trade.
34. Professional traders focus on limiting risk and protecting capital.
35. In the financial markets heroes get crushed.
36. Stick to your trading rules and you will never blow up your trading account.
37. The market can reinforce bad habits.
38. Take personal responsibility for each trade.
39. Amateur traders think about how much money they can make on each trade. Professional traders think about how much money they can lose.
40. At some point all traders realize that no one can tell them exactly what is going to happen next in the market.
Just a few good tips, gratuity not expected. See you later IN THE CROSSHAIRS.
Good tips for the beginners. Another interesting tip can be purchasing the stocks of blue chip companies. The price of blue chip companies usually increase with time. So, it is advisable to buy the shares of those companies. This will help traders to reap profits. They can use that money to pay off debt or for other purposes. It is even better to buy those shares when the prices are low. This will help to increase their profit potentiality.
Posted by: goodnelly | December 17, 2010 at 08:44 PM
It was a awe-inspiring post and it has a significant meaning and thanks for sharing the information.Would love to read your next post too......
Thanks
Regards:
Share Market
Posted by: Share Market | August 15, 2011 at 08:43 PM
Great informational article. I learned quite a bit . I will be using the things I learned from your article.
Thank You
trading tips
Posted by: trading tips | October 14, 2011 at 01:03 AM