Overcoming fear
For many traders and investors, particularly those new to the world of trading, fear is the most difficult emotion to overcome and control. Fear can manifest itself in any number of ways including, but not limited to, fear of being wrong, fear of not being right, fear of facing another losing trade, fear of losing […]
Keeping promises with yourself
For the untrained mind, there is no harder promise to keep than the promise we make with ourselves. It is easy to rationalise with ourselves as to why a promise we made is no longer valid and/or that we should forget about it altogether because it doesn’t really matter as it was only something we […]
Active Investor e-Newsletter
Gary’s Comments World equity markets hang in the balance following their respective bounces after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Short term trends in the tables below are all mostly down. It is important to note that equity indices had run strongly up until the middle of February and were due for a breather – either […]
Overcoming doubt
Trading and investing using a methodology or system that outperforms the market over the long term is a wonderful feeling and one that contributes greatly to the elimination of fear. Knowing that you have an edge over the market and that probability is on your side allows you to focus on the trading process rather […]
Discipline in trading – Physical discipline
This week we look at a trading discipline that is a bit more ‘out there’ than the mental and technical discipline we have discussed in the previous two posts, that of physical discipline. The trading environment can be a stressful and tense place for some traders and investors – perhaps more for the short term […]
Discipline in trading – Technical discipline
This week we take a look at the second core component of trading discipline – the area I call technical discipline. Trading and investing approaches vary but at the very least you need a process for choosing what stocks to buy and when to sell. Because you have accepted that “no-one knows with 100% certainty […]
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 […]