Having been trading stocks and choices in the capital markets expertly for many years, I have seen many ups and downs. I have seen paupers become millionaires overnight … And I have seen millionaires become paupers overnight … One story informed to me by my mentor is still etched in my mind: ” Once, there were 2 Wall Street stock market multi-millionaires. Both were very effective and decided to share their insights with others by selling their stock market projections in newsletters. Each charged US$ 10,000 for their viewpoints. One trader was so curious to know their views that he spent all of his $20,000 cost savings to buy both their viewpoints. His buddies were naturally thrilled about what the two masters had to state about the stock market’s direction. When they asked their buddy, he was fuming mad. Confused, they asked their buddy about his anger. He stated, ‘One stated BULLISH and the other stated BEARISH!'”. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9003314-option-trading-in-your-spare-time is a perfect example.
The point of this illustration is that it was the trader who was wrong. In today’s stock and option market, people can have different viewpoints of future market direction and still earnings. The distinctions lay in the stock picking or choices method and in the mental attitude and discipline one uses in carrying out that method. I share here the fundamental stock and option trading principles I follow. By holding these principles strongly in your mind, they will guide you regularly to success. These principles will assist you reduce your risk and permit you to examine both what you are doing right and what you may be doing wrong. You may have read concepts comparable to these before. I and others use them since they work. And if you remember and review these principles, your mind can use them to guide you in your stock and choices trading.
PRINCIPLE 1. SIMPLENESS IS MASTERY. When you feel that the stock and choices trading technique that you are following is too intricate even for easy understanding, it is probably not the very best. In all elements of effective stock and choices trading, the easiest approaches often emerge triumphant. In the heat of a trade, it is easy for our brains to become mentally overwhelmed.
PRINCIPLE 2. NO ONE IS OBJECTIVE ENOUGH. If you feel that you have outright control over your feelings and can be unbiased in the heat of a stock or choices trade, you are either a dangerous types or you are an inexperienced trader. No trader can be absolutely unbiased, specifically when market action is unusual or wildly irregular. Just like the best storm can still shake the nerves of the most seasoned sailors, the best stock market storm can still unnerve and sink a trader really quickly. One must venture to automate as many critical elements of your method as possible, specifically your profit-taking and stop-loss points.
PRINCIPLE 3. HANG ON TO YOUR GAINS AND CUT YOUR LOSSES. This is the most essential concept. The majority of stock and choices traders do the opposite … They hold on to their losses way too long and see their equity sink and sink and sink, or they get out of their gains too soon just to see the cost increase and up and up. Over time, their gains never cover their losses. This concept takes time to master properly. Contemplate this concept and review your previous stock and choices trades. If you have been undisciplined, you will see its fact.
PRINCIPLE 4. HESITATE TO LOSE MONEY. Are you like most novices who can’t wait to jump right into the stock and choices market with your money intending to trade as soon as possible? On this point, I have found that most unprincipled traders are more scared of missing out on “the next huge trade” than they hesitate of losing money! The key here is STICK TO YOUR STRATEGY! Take stock and choices trades when your method signals to do so and avoid taking trades when the conditions are not fulfilled. Exit trades when your method states to do so and leave them alone when the exit conditions are not in place. The point here is to be scared to get rid of your money since you traded needlessly and without following your stock and choices method.
PRINCIPLE 5. YOUR NEXT TRADE COULD BE A LOSING TRADE. Do you absolutely believe that your next stock or choices trade is going to be such a big winner that you break your own money management rules and put in everything you have? Do you remember what generally occurs after that? It isn’t pretty, is it? No matter how confident you may be when going into a trade, the stock and choices market has a way of doing the unexpected. Always stick to your portfolio management system. Do not intensify your expected wins since you may end up intensifying your really genuine losses.
PRINCIPLE 6. DETERMINE YOUR EMOTIONAL CAPACITY BEFORE INCREASING CAPITAL OUTLAY. You know by now how different paper trading and genuine stock and choices trading is, do not you? In the very same way, after you get utilized to trading genuine money regularly, you find it very different when you increase your capital by 10 fold, do not you? What, then, is the distinction? The distinction remains in the psychological concern that includes the possibility of losing more and more genuine money. This occurs when you cross from paper trading to genuine trading and also when you increase your capital after some successes. After a while, most traders realize their optimal capacity in both dollars and emotion. Are you comfortable trading as much as a couple of thousand or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands? Know your capacity before dedicating the funds.
PRINCIPLE 7. YOU ARE A NOVICE AT EVERY TRADE. Ever felt like an expert after a couple of wins and after that lose a lot on the next stock or choices trade? All professionals respect their next trade and go through all the proper actions of their stock or choices method before entry. Never deviate from your stock or choices method.
PRINCIPLE 8. YOU ARE YOUR FORMULA TO SUCCESS OR FAILURE. Ever followed an effective stock or choices method just to stop working severely? You are the one who figures out whether a method is successful or stops working. Your personality and your discipline make or break the method that you use not vice versa. Like Robert Kiyosaki states, “The investor is the property or the liability, not the financial investment.”. Understanding yourself initially will lead to eventual success.
PRINCIPLE 9. CONSISTENCY. Have you ever changed your mind about how to implement a method? When you make changes day after day, you end up capturing nothing but the wind. Stock market changes have more variables than can be mathematically developed.
By following a proven method, we are ensured that somebody effective has actually stacked the odds in our favour. When you review both winning and losing trades, identify whether the entry, management, and exit fulfilled every requirements in the method and whether you have followed it specifically before changing anything. In conclusion … I hope these easy standards that have led my ship of the harshest of seas and into the very best harvests of my life will guide you too. Good Luck.