StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · Lessons Learned<< 1 2 >>Post Follow-up
tomm1111
202 posts
msg #67246
Ignore tomm1111
modified
9/13/2008 3:24:16 AM

I have learned a few things over the past few months that I attribute to what it takes to survive in trading (at least for me). I don't have the longevity of some of the member of this forum nor am I a brain surgeon but my plan is to have a successful trading future. From the community and my experiences, I would like to share what I've learned so far. Be it as it may.


Tom’s Trading Lesson’s/Rules for Newb’s
1. You know nothing. Your college degree means nothing. Pants first then shoe’s common sense rules apply.
2. Ignorance is not bliss. Actually quite painful.
3. You will fail if you expect to get rich quickly.
4. The primary objective is survival. Trade again another day.
5. Discipline. If you get emotional about trades, STOP doing what you are doing. STOP!!!
6. There is no urgency. Urgency will make your trading short lived. Opportunities exist every single trading day.
7. Your objective should be to not lose any money on a trade. Be happy when you break even, especially after you see a 35% increase after you exited. Why? Because you didn’t lose any money. You will get better at exits over time.
8. There is no holy grail, only screens that can improve the odds.
9. Tactics and money management = long term success. When to enter, exit, stop placement, risk management, and % of capital traded are the keys to success. I cannot over emphasize this.
10. Get to the point of losing enough and on the brink of throwing in the towel as fast as you can. Stop trading. Then spend the next six months educating yourself, ego aside.
11. You are going to learn when you fail. When you are successful you will learn nothing. Understand this.
12. The rear view mirror reveals all.
13. The market is highly emotional. Don’t expect it to make sense.
14. Why is the price of stock XYZ what it is? Good question.
15. How could stock XYZ be up 75 cents in quarterly earnings but be low by 1 cent compared to the estimate and people jump ship? Good question. (Don’t hold positions through quarterly earnings unless you like to gamble.)
16. Trading is highly competitive and it is about people and group mentality.
17. Once again, survive. Be happy with a 1% weekly gain.
18. You have to find an edge. Your edge. They are not one size fits all.

Tom’s Perspective
1. Then there is the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches. ~W.I.E. Gates
2. The theory of probabilities is at bottom nothing but common sense reduced to calculus; it enables us to appreciate with exactness that which accurate minds feel with a sort of instinct for which of times they are unable to account. ~Laplace, Théorie analytique des probabilités, 1820

(Newbies, read the forum bottom to top as it is full of information.)

chetron
2,817 posts
msg #67250
Ignore chetron
9/13/2008 6:39:37 AM


VERY GOOD TOMM, BUT WHAT ARE YOUR EXACT ENTRY AND EXIT NOW?



LOL ;)




tomm1111
202 posts
msg #67253
Ignore tomm1111
9/13/2008 11:23:08 AM

Thanks Chetron.

I was afraid someone would ask. Let's just say my entry and exit is still classified as improving!

TheRumpledOne
6,407 posts
msg #67255
Ignore TheRumpledOne
9/13/2008 12:23:15 PM

11. You are going to learn when you fail. When you are successful you will learn nothing. Understand this.

==============================================================================

I DISAGREE.

SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES.

YOU CAN LEARN FROM SUCCESS.

You don'tallways have to learn things the HARD way (FAILURE).

If you repeat what was successful and it continues to be successful, then you'll be successful.

The key is to PAY ATTENTION to make sure what you are doing is still working.

That's why I ran statistics on the stocks that I trade. I want to see when something has changed.

That's why I stopped trading SPF. The stats changed. SPF fell off the RUN FOREST, RUN list. So I started trading ABK and RDN.

Now, SPF is acting like it used to. So it's back on my RadarScreen.



TheRumpledOne
6,407 posts
msg #67256
Ignore TheRumpledOne
modified
9/13/2008 12:25:59 PM

2. Ignorance is not bliss. Actually quite painful.

======================================

Actually, IGNORANCE can keep you from being BIASED.

This is very important for day trading.

The ONLY thing I want to know is WHEN the news,such as earnings, is coming out so I don't get "caught".

The worse thing, for me, is to learn about a company. Then I start thinking, forming opinions and that causes me to IGNORE WHAT THE CHART IS TELLING ME. PRICE IS ALL KNOWING! So if I pay attention to the price, that's all I need to know.

To be OPEN and HONEST, I can't even tell you the names of some of the stocks I trade... NO JOKE! All I care about is the stocks' statistics.



tomm1111
202 posts
msg #67258
Ignore tomm1111
modified
9/13/2008 1:09:33 PM

TRO, You are a gentleman and a scholar! Do you hear that very often? LOL

Very good points you made. (Light bulb in my head is starting to flicker!!)

See, I’m learning all the time! It’s a continuous process.


stocktrader
294 posts
msg #67269
Ignore stocktrader
9/14/2008 12:00:50 AM

Since Price is all-knowing, here's some recent discussion:

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=136364

EdmondDantes
20 posts
msg #67314
Ignore EdmondDantes
9/15/2008 10:01:02 PM

Agree :

18. You have to find an edge. Your edge. They are not one size fits all.

My edge is follow no technical indicators .
Do not buy the trends buy weakness only .
Hold a position for no more than 24Hrs .
Only use mental stops .
Always leave money on the table .



tomm1111
202 posts
msg #67317
Ignore tomm1111
modified
9/15/2008 11:40:44 PM

EdmondDantes,

You have my curiosity...what do you classify as weakness? Do you look at fundamentals or overall market strength/weakness to obtain your trigger?

EdmondDantes
20 posts
msg #67322
Ignore EdmondDantes
9/16/2008 9:25:24 AM



Hi Tomm,
I look for stocks that closely mimic there exchange . This stock should be a shadow of the market in every turn . What is current now this second . Weakness for myself is when the exchange drops I buy the stocks that shadow the market . I think I know why most traders don't profit ? Buying weakness or buying into weakness is not what most books teach but its seems to work every time . This is why I have great respect for TRO and his travel filter its the very the very best approach for profits buying the drops . I would only add that I prefer to buy stocks that mimic exactly what the exchange does. I have found it useful to keep buying the same stock over and over as long as its shows its exchange . That is another TRO idea that works great .

Below is my distorted view of the markets
The current market for myself is an algebra market . When I buy into a stock the market is on a negative decline slope with periodic lower/higher negatives . A negative sloping market can be beat by buying the extreme lows and selling the higher lows and never keeping any position more than 24hrs . If you buy a higher negative never forget the profits are rolling fast down a hill . This is the exact mathmatics the are used in lottery systems for the scratch of tickets .

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