Zen And The Art Of Trading
Self awareness is the key to improving all aspects of our life. Most of our demons lurk in the shadows and are invisible to us, otherwise they wouldn’t be demons.
All Posts by Mike
The Real Small Account Secret
In the last few years there have been lots of options courses pimped on the internet aimed at traders with “small accounts”, which in the trading business typically is lingo for accounts with a principal of less under $25k. These types of trading programs offer trades that are marketed as “geared for small accounts”.
Practice A Strict Information Diet
Here’s a crazy statistic: The average person alive today absorbs as much information in a single week as someone only a century ago encountered in an entire year. Think about the implications and you’ll quickly realize why developing your personal information diet is key for turning your brain into one lean mean thinking machine.
Don’t Be A Contrarian Rambo
Making a living as a contrarian Rambo is difficult. Basically you’re constantly trying to go against the grain. Or in trader speak, you’re constantly pushing against the overall trend.
The Clock Is Always Ticking
I’ve got only two action items for the day as I head into my self imposed EOY mini vacation until Jan 4th: #1: Wish everyone a happy new year.
Size Matters
If either your spouse, your girlfriend, or your broker ever tell you that “size doesn’t matter” then rest assured that you are being lied to. And yes it does matter ‘how you use it’ but it comes with some caveats.
Being Right Will Make Being Broke A Certainty
If you’d ask me to pick the #1 reason why a majority of new traders end up being shaken out sooner or later, I would point without hesitation at the compulsive need of wanting to be proven right. No contest. Nothing even comes close. A stubborn insistence on being proven right continues to wreak havoc on trading accounts all over the world year after year.
All Traders Should Be Trading Volatility Products
In the world of trading and financial blogs it’s easy to get overrun with useless and outright false information. Over the years I have had many brushes with the turbulent world of prop trading, so I can tell you some secrets that pros know and retail traders only wish they knew. Until now!
Merry Christmas!
It’s a sunny 60F (15C) here in the upper regions of the Pyrenees with exactly zero possibility of a white Christmas. However that hasn’t kept Mrs. Evil and I from kicking our Christmas celebrations into high gear. Unfortunately Spain is one of the worst countries on the planet right after Indochina or the Sahara desert to observe Christmas. So as someone who grew up in beautiful and snowy Austria one has to go the extra mile to get into the spirit of things.
We All Suffer From Cognitive Bias
One thing all traders have in common is that we are all human. Which means we are all subject to the whims and flows of our emotions in our logical decision making process. If you think you are the one exception, think again. Let me explain.