If you need hope, take it off. Hope and stocks don’t mix. The market is always right and doesn’t care about how much you hope the play will work. You could always jump back in if the trade starts to work after you exit. Better to burn commissions and preserve the majority of your capital with tight risk, than to be in danger of blowing up your account.
Avoid averaging down unless it was already part of your plan when you bought or s/s your original shares. It’s one thing to take a feeler position knowing you’ll likely buy/short more shares at a lower/higher price, but if you thought the stock was heading in one direction, why would you feed that albatross as the trade worked against you? A trader’s capital is his livelihood, and like Jesse Livermore said, a trader without his money is a store owner without his inventory. We can’t profit or grow accounts without our money, guard it intelligently by always cutting your losses—the quicker the better, especially if you’re unsure. In most cases, it’s in your best interest to average up and add to your position as it works for you, but never get greedy and give away your profits. Always lock in gains. Better to leave food on the table, than to not eat at all. You want the meat of the move, not necessarily the bottom through the top.
Gauge your risk by taking stocks in set ups, as opposed to buying whimsically or worse yet, in a downtrend. Sometimes being the lone wolf s/s into parabolics or buying during panic can put the trader in a better position than his peers, but more often than not, especially for the inexperienced speculator, the mission is too grave and usually leads to confusion, frustration and reckless abandonment. Wait patiently for stocks to set up or break out of long periods of consolidation. There are thousands of opportunities daily to make money, don’t force a trade out of boredom, wait for the set up to be presented and attack. Until then, scan and study. The hardest part about this job is realizing it’s all about risk management.
Trade the ticker, not the company - Nathan Michaud
From OTCs to the big boards, focus on trading the tickers first and foremost. Secondly, be willing to admit you’re wrong and adapt. The market doesn’t necessarily care that stock XYZ is developing some great technology, has positive revenues and EPS growth, or has a great dividend and tons of cash on its books. If the market wants to sell off it will and regardless of how strong you deemed your stock to be, it’s vulnerable to a haircut. Don’t fall in love with the ticker thinking it’s a direct correlation of the company. Stocks will go much lower than you ever anticipated. The stock market is always correct. The traders are the one’s wrong. Take the line of least resistance and learn to mint coin on both sides. In times of famine, knowing how to s/s and being willing to locate and pay for shares to borrow could be the only way you put food on your table. If you’re going to marry anything, let it be cutting your losses quickly and locking in profits.
Don’t rely on alerts, talking heads or gurus. At the end of the day, this is an inward journey and unless someone is there pressing the buttons for you, you need to put in the time necessary to figure this stuff out if you truly want to trade well consistently. Having the thoughts of veteran traders and knowing their entry price and risk levels could be very helpful, but one must learn why the plays are working instead of growing dependent. Be willing to put in time scanning stocks, studying set ups and monitoring price action and volume. Learn why the alerts are working and why the guru recommended XYZ. Never follow blind unless you’re willing to eventually be run over by a freight train. Use your guides and teachers to help you become a better trader, and trust your intuition and analysis. Maintain a positive mindset knowing that with time you will be consistently profitable. But only if you’re willing to dedicate the effort it takes to become a lawyer or doctor. You may not get a degree from learning how to trade well consistently, but you will make the same amount of money as those scholars without ever experiencing the daily bull they deal with.
Analyze yourself and your actions at the end of each day. Record your trades in a notebook and at least annotate why you took XYZ, what happened and why you exited. Or on the contrary, why you didn’t take ZYX. Screenshot your charts and take the time to draw on them throughout the course of your trading day. Draw support and resistance lines. Look for trendlines that could be broken or possible flags and wedges. Treat your screen the same way a star athlete would study his game film and opponent. Be willing to dissect yourself without applying pressure or emotion. By critiquing your performance with a level head, you’ll maintain the positive outlook you need to trade well consistently.
Never overtrade or trade out of boredom. You will give away money more often than not. Take a break, get away from the screen and walk around outside. Sunlight and exercise are very important for humans, don’t neglect them because of the stock market. You could always make more money, but you can’t preserve your body after it’s withered. Try standing up to trade as well.
Earnings are entirely a gamble and if you hold common through an earnings report, you’re hopeful or on drugs. Either way, when XYZ reacts adversely to its report and you’re down money, you’ll have no clue why and you’ll feel like a complete moron. Instead, if you must get a piece of the earnings action, react to the report and take a position after-hours.
Pigs get slaughtered. You’re foolish and greedy if you let a nice gain become a loss. As a stock works for you, raise your stop. The objective of trading stocks is to get paid, but if you never want to realize a gain, then what are you wasting your time for? Nobody cares about how much profit you have in unrealized gains. When the stock breaks trend, or the volume is light near the highs and you think it may go under distribution, take some of your position off the table. And if it continues to sell off—especially on high volume—liquidate your position and either consider switching sides or watching XYZ on the sidelines until the stock is trending in your preferred direction. If you s/s a stock and it starts to grind on you, don’t add add add or else you’ll eventually be squeezed and forced to cover at the HoD. Instead, if there’s been lower highs, set your risk off them to short pops.
Study the set ups and patterns that make people money daily. Don’t fight bear flags or any of the other stuff. You want to always take the line of least resistance. You don’t need to be subjugated to the choppiness of the market unless you’re willing to be a scalper. And there’s nothing wrong with taking those quick small gains. Gains add up quicker than you could imagine. Being a successful scalper will help you eat in times of famine. When studying charts, always look to the left as far back as you find fit. That left side usually tells you the story for what could possibly be on the horizon on the right side.
Always have a plan and be willing to adapt. You won’t last long if you trade without a plan. You may find yourself getting lucky by buying and holding a few minutes or days when the market is healthy, but when volatility is in the air, your luck will be tested and eventually exposed as a fraud. You want to make your own luck by placing yourself in the best position to succeed. Take set ups with set risk and respect your stop. If you manage risk appropriately, you should only need one winning trade to make up for the two or three times you were stopped out. Trade when the opportunity is there, not because you want to make money. Being concerned with dollar amounts and the gains of others is the path to fire and brimstone. You want to be profitable, you want to beat commissions, you want to grow your account, and you want to do each of those things by trading well consistently. That should be your biggest concern. Eventually, with patience and dedication, you’ll be profitable. Just study, study, study.
Pay it forward. Don’t be egotistical or selfish. Give back to those in need. Whether it’s the matron in the bathroom handing you a paper towel, or the bus boy taking away your dinner plate, if you can give back to people, please do so. Donate to charities, plant trees, take the time out of your day to teach others, do something positive for the sake of your planet and its inhabitants. We could all become billionaires, but none of that money will mean **** if the planet is corroding and wars are breaking out globally. We need to live with each other in mind and focus on being our highest selves. Do the best you can to leave a positive footprint.