Here are few notes on some of the biggest, and most common problems that prevent traders from ever becoming profitable. I’ve had most of these problems myself at some point, and I always have to be on my guard against some of them. Do any of these hit close to home for you? You view losing money in a trade as a painful experience and/or failure and you go into denial when a position starts...
“The hero’s journey” is a powerful story structure that has been used by master storytellers throughout history. I’ve noticed that traders go through a similar journey, starting with “first learning what trading is” is to “becoming a profitable and constantly-adapting trader”. Here are the main events in what I will call The Trader’s Journey...
While learning new trades, many beginning traders turn to trade recommendation services. I believe there is nothing wrong with this, assuming 1) the trade idea being taught is profitable and 2) the student is actually learning how to find, execute and manage the trade so he can do it on his own in the future. But trading can be an extremely emotional challenge for the beginner. So much so, that...
So, you just watched free training from your options broker and you’re so excited that you just found the Golden Goose. Wow, high-probability wins! What could be better? You like the way your broker/trainer keeps saying “three standard deviation move”. It just sounds so smart and he seems so confident about it all. Ugh. So… You just risked too much money in another...
I have two main trading accounts: a retirement account and a non-retirement account. This year my non-retirement account shows profits of 160% from the beginning of the year and the retirement account shows 200% in profits from the beginning of the year. These are from options profits alone and do NOT count any new deposits I have made to these accounts. And, importantly, I have done this by only...
No one knows where the market is going. But we can all see where it’s been. I’m not saying there is necessarily a causal relationship between U.S. stock prices and the following all occurring at the same time: The departure of a two-term U.S. President A shift in the White House from one party to the other Various and unprecedented economic stimulus actions, carried out or...
Starting a series of articles about my path in trading is like trying to create a journal, retroactively, about “my life up until today” or “music” or “how to have meaningful relationships with others”. It is a very broad topic. However, like most broad topics worth exploring, documenting and sharing, it can be done one paragraph at a time. This is an...