As a new or even intermediate trader, the surest way to shoot yourself in the foot in the foot, with a bazooka, is by being a contrarian. Especially when the information that is in front of you is telling you the exact opposite.
Dear Diary, Today is the 467th day of my existence. Last night I was updated to fix some bugs I had in my profit taking exit algo, but aside from that it’s business as usual today.
As a new trader, you can save yourself from shooting yourself in the foot simply by trading stock options instead of stocks or any other financial instrument for that matter. Of course learning how to trade options properly and consistently is the key to achieving long term success.
My wife grew up in Paris and spent a few years modeling back in the late 1990s. One of her gigs took her to Tokyo and she really loved the energy of the place. The other day she said to me: “Once the Japanese figure out how to make French food, we are screwed.”
A lot of people begin their trading career as discretionary traders and in most cases fail at it ignominiously for a variety of reasons. It’s not uncommon to see them wipe out more than one trading account in a short amount of time.
Most people equate taking a loss with admitting defeat. As a trader it is crucial for you to understand the difference. Taking a good loss is equally as important as taking a good winner.
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.
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”.
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.
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.