Stop A Losing Streak

The best way to stop a losing streak is to STOP!….
Stopping lets your emotions calm down and lets you reestablish your momentum with your intellect.

Marty Schwartz

Most Important Qualifications for a Successful Trader

I believe that one of the most important qualifications for a successful trader is “POISE”, which to me is defined as stability, a well balanced person with dignity of manner – as it relates to the stock market.
A poised person is a person who can handle their hopes and their fears in a calm manner.

The other qualification is “PATIENCE” to wait for the opportune time, when as many factors as possible are positioned in the traders favor.
Poise and patience are the close friends of successful traders.

The final qualification is “SILENT”. Keep your own silent counsel – keep your victories and your failures to yourself – learn from them both.

Poise, patience and silence are attributes that must be cultivated.
These virtues do not come automatically to the stock market trader.

Jesse Livermore, How To Trade In Stocks

Three Essential Components Of Trading

Every winner needs three essential components of trading: a sound individual psychology, a logical trading system and a good money management.

These essentials are three legs of a stool – remove one and the stool will fall together with the person who sits on it.

Losers try to build a stool with only one leg, or two at the most. They usually focus exclusively on trading systems.

Your trade must be based on clearly defined rules.
You have to analyze your feelings as you trade, to make sure that your decisions are intellectually sound.
You have to structure your money management so that no string of losses can kick you out of the game.

Dr Alexander Elder, Trading For A Living

Source: Options Trading Beginner

Emotion Is More Important Than Intelligence In Trading

There is nothing new on Wall Street or in stock speculation.
What has happened in the past will happen again, and again, and again.
This is because human nature does not change, and it is human emotion, solidly built into human nature, that always gets in the way of human intelligence.
Of this I am sure.

Jesse Livermore

Why Chart Patterns Repeat Themselves

All through time, people have basically acted and re-acted the same way in the market as a result of: greed, fear, ignorance, and hope.
That is why the numerical formations and patterns recur on a constant basis.

Jesse Livermore, How To Trade In Stocks

Human Emotion In Trading

Human emotion is both the source of opportunity in trading and the greatest challenge.
Master it and you will succeed.
Ignore it at your peril.

Curtis Faith, Way Of Turtle

Take Your Trading As A Serious Intellectual Pursuit

You can succeed in trading only if you handle it as a serious intellectual pursuit.
Emotional trading is lethal.

To help ensure success, practice defensive money management.
A good trader watches his capital as carefully as professional scuba diver watches his air supply.

Dr Alexander Elder, Trading For A Living

Trading Plan & Discipline

Just remember, without discipline, a clear strategy, and a concise plan, the speculator will fall into all the emotional pitfalls of the market and jump from one stock to another, hold a losing position too long, cut out of a winner too soon and for no reason other than fear of losing the profit.

Greed, Fear, Impatience, Ignorance, and Hope will all fight for mental dominance over the speculator. Then, after a few failures and catastrophes the speculator may become demoralized, depressed, despondent, and abandon the market and the chance to make a fortune from what the market has to offer.

Jesse Livermore, How to Trade in Stocks

Source: Solitary Trader

Emotional Discipline: The Key To Trading Success

The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading.

Victor Sperandeo

Source: Trading Quotes

What We Can Learn For Trading From A Fable

A monkey was carrying two handfuls of peas. One little pea dropped out. He tried to pick it up and spilt twenty. He tried to pick up the twenty and spilt them all. Then he lost his temper, scattered the peas in all directions and ran away.

Fables, Leo Tolstoy

Source: The 3500

Psychological Bias To Be Right vs. Making Money

There is a strong psychological bias to be right about we do with our investment. In most people, this bias greatly oversides the desire to make a profit overall in our approach, or it inhibits us from reaching our true profit potential. Most people have overwhelming needs to control the market. As a result, they end up with the market controlling them.

Van K. Tharp

Source: Options Trading Beginner

What's The Real Purpose of Trading?

The real purpose of trading is not to make money. If that's your goal you probably struggle with it a lot. But all of the following tend to work.

If you goal is to be a great trader, then you probably will do well.

If you goal is to use trading as a way to measure your self-development, then you will probably do well.

If you just love trading and that's why you do it, then as long as you are willing to work on yourself you will probably do well.

Those, in my experience, are the key motivations that bring success in trading.

Van K. Tharp

Source: Smart Trader Blog

Emotional Makeup Is More Important

I haven't seen much correlation between good trading and intelligence. Some outstanding traders are quite intelligent, but a few aren't. Many outstanding intelligent people are horrible traders. Average intelligence is enough. Beyond that, emotional makeup is more important.

William Eckhardt

Source: Trading Quotes

Trading Psychology - The Key to Trading Success

The real reason so few succeed in trading is because the traits required for success are almost exclusively psychological.

Gary Smith