Showing posts with label popular mistakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label popular mistakes. Show all posts

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Seven Mistakes All Novice Traders Make and How to Correct Them

MISTAKE ONE

Lack of Knowledge and No Plan

It amazes us that some people expect to trade the stock market successfully without any effort. Yet if they want to take up golf, for example, they will happily take some lessons or at least read a book before heading out onto the course.

The stock market is not the place for the ill informed. But learning what you need is straightforward - you just need someone to show you the way.

The opposite extreme of this is those traders who spend their life looking for the Holy Grail of trading! Been there, done that!

The truth is, there is no Holy Grail. But the good news is that you don't need it. 

 

MISTAKE TWO

Unrealistic Expectations

Many novice traders expect to make a billion dollars by next Thursday. Or they start to write out their resignation letter before they have even placed their first trade!

Now, don't get us wrong. The stock market can be a great way to replace your current income and for creating wealth but it does require time. Not a lot, but some.

So don't tell your boss where to put his job, just yet!

Other beginners think that trading can be 100% accurate all the time. Of course this is unrealistic. But the best thing is that with some methods you only need to get 50-60% of your trades "right" to be successful and highly profitable.

 

MISTAKE THREE

Listening to Others image

When traders first start out they often feel like they know nothing and that everyone else has the answers. So they listen to all the news reports and so called "experts" and get totally confused.

And they take "tips" from their buddy, who got it from some cab driver…

 

MISTAKE FOUR

Getting in the Way

By this we mean letting your ego or your emotions get in the way of doing what you know you need to do.

When you first start to trade it is very difficult to control your emotions. Fear and greed can be overwhelming. Lack of discipline; lack of patience and over confidence are just some of the other problems that we all face.

It is critical you understand how to control this side of trading. There is also one other key that almost no one seems to talk about. But more on this another time!

 

MISTAKE FIVE

Poor Money Management

It never ceases to amaze us how many traders don't understand the critical nature of money management and the related area of risk management.

This is a critical aspect of trading. If you don't get this right you not only won't be successful, you won't survive!

Fortunately, it is not complex to address and the simple steps we can show you will ensure that you don't "blow up" and that you get to keep your profits.

 

MISTAKE SIX

Only Trading Market in One Direction

Most new traders only learn how to trade a rising market. And very few traders know really good strategies for trading in a falling market.

If you don't learn to trade "both" sides of the market, you are drastically limiting the number of trades you can take. And this limits the amount of money you can make.

 

MISTAKE SEVEN

Overtrading

Most traders new to trading feel they have to be in the market all the time to make any real money. And they see trading opportunities when they're not even there (we've been there too).

Trade Well and the $$ Will Flow!

Thanks to stockmarketgenie.com

Friday, January 25, 2008

Ten Ways to Lose Money on Wall Street

I just finished reading Tape Reading & Market Tactics by Humphrey B. Neil and at the end of the chapter he has the following rules he has come up with based on his experience.

 

  1. Put your trust in boardroom gossip
  2. Believe everything you hear, especially tips
  3. If you don't know, guess
  4. Follow the public
  5. Be impatient
  6. Greedily hang on for the top 1/8th
  7. Trade on thin margins
  8. Hold to your own opinion, right or wrong
  9. Never stay out of the market
  10. Accept small profits and large losses

 

If you follow any of these rules, I'd try and come up with ways to get over them, fast.

 

Here's a quote I read that really stood out for me. It's so true and sums up the difference between trading and gambling so beautifully.

 

"Speculation in stocks, to be successful, must include judgement, common sense, and market perception; whereas stock gambling is nothing more than guessing upon the tick of the quotation"

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

QID- Rookie Mistake

Basically I went chasing after a rally. Market was falling and kept breaking support after support and I eventually went short at the bottom. I'm pissed about this trade because I did something that I'm trying to get myself not too. I'm working on the fact that I don't need to be trading every single day chasing opportunity. Every time I do that, I lose money, over and over and I can't get it into my head that trading like that is wrong.

 

Again, what I need to focus on is being carefree, but not reckless. What I'm doing now is being carefree and reckless. Man, that's easier said than done.

 

I got out before my stop was hit because it stopped acting the way I wanted it too. Looked like the decline was over and realized I made an idiotic trade.

 

qid trade chart 2