Discipline in trading – mental discipline
When it comes to trading, discipline comprises of three core components: Mental, Technical and Physical discipline. The trading fraternity often talks about discipline being a requirement to be a successful trader so over the next 3 weeks I am going to examine discipline in each of these areas and discuss what is involved with each […]
Lessons that go far beyond money
Something that is a given when trading the markets is loss trades. But it’s the lessons learnt from these losses that go far beyond the money lost during unfriendly market periods. How well traders and investors put steps in place to ensure that their long term performance can be enhanced is dependent on the degree […]
Lessons from a Market wizard – Part 2
Following on from last weeks blog post, I have continued to dissect the statements made by Mr Kerr Nelson in the Australian Financial review article, “Wizards of the game”. I hope you enjoy my commentary. “Loss aversion is an irrational approach sadly evident in the stockmarket. Many investors keep hanging on to losing stocks in […]
Lessons from a Market wizard
For those that know me, you know that I am an avid reader of market related books and newspaper articles. Last week I came across an article in the Australian Financial Review called “Wizards of the Game”. The Financial Review interviewed some of Australia’s most respected and high profile fund managers and their individual approach […]
Know your trading term
A lot has been written about an investor ‘knowing the term’ of any position that they take in the market. For example, when a long term ‘buy and hold’ position is taken, the investor must be prepared to ride the ups and downs of the market but must also be prepared to accept a lower […]
Why I’m a mechanical trader
Considering I am a huge advocate for mechanical trading, I thought that this week I would give a definition to all those that are interested and share the ten benefits of mechanical trading. For most, mechanical trading is a relatively new concept requiring explanation in itself. Mechanical Trading- definition: Mechanical trading is defined as using […]
The benefits of using a Trading System
The main benefits of using a Trading System are to: • Remove emotion from the buy/sell/hold decision. • Remove personal ego from the buy/sell/hold equation. • Exclude outside influences and ‘noise’ from the buy/sell/hold decision. • Achieve objectivity & consistency, trust and confidence, in the buy/hold/sell decision process. • Overcome personal expectations of the market. […]
How much capital is required?
It is ironic that generally the less capital novice investors have the more risk they take. They focus on higher risk trading instruments or higher risk trades seeking the large quick returns. Besides the additional volatility risk, they then magnify that risk by allocating too much capital to these high risk trades and in many […]
Rules, Rules and More Rules
If you are a follower of my weekly journal, you would understand that my approach for successful investment in the stock market is rules based and mechanical. The SPA3 methodology forms the basis for my trading decisions, risk management and money management but I have additional list of “Golden Rules” that I use to trade […]
The importance of controlling emotions when trading and investing
Financial markets have ups and downs, sometimes extreme, which cause market participants to experience emotional roller coaster rides in line with the market’s price swings. In recent years, as information that affects financial market prices has become rapidly and readily available, the volatility of the ups and downs has increased, along with the emotional swings […]