Stocks & Mutual Fund Information |
|
Psychology ? How to Reduce Negative Thoughts Relating to Trading?
The thinking process of the brain relating to the psychology of trading involves: -- Beliefs
The positive or negative energy brings power to a person's actions, which ultimately determines whether a person is a winner or a loser. You can change for the better or for the worst. The old saying goes: For as a man thinks in his heart so he is. -- Trading is the most difficult money making skill to master, because the market represents the aspects of people and life. It is necessary to scratch the surface and explain what psychology means and how it relates to trading. Without doing so, you will not understand why this element is important to your trading plan. The psychology aspects of people are separated into two categories: 1. Believers (the first category) who support the belief that something in the realms of other dimensions in the universe exist and It is (the first category) that usually uses both sides of the brain to think and has access to a third component of the brain (faith) that is dead when the person is born. (The second category) only uses a small portion of the brain's power. While (the second category) may or may not use both side of the brain to function, the third part of the brain (faith) is completely dead and non-active. See, the psychology of the brain is separated into three separate parts: 1. Faith If the thought, (focusing on the power of positive thinking), division of the brain controls the emotions, the individual maintains and develops discipline. If the emotions run the thinking part of the brain, the human being lives in a pure state of extreme confusion and disorder. This is why the answer to success is understanding how the correct forms of discipline work - without it you will lose your shirt in the market. Discipline in the following three areas of trading will ultimately determine your trading success. * Training --- The successful trader never rests on past successes, or believes that his trading ability has peaked. He is always learning and practicing his decision-making skills, honing them until they become second nature. Then he can react faster than a speeding bullet, but with the benefit of superior human judgment. * Trading Rules --- The successful trader develops set of trading rules - a plan - that he follows faithfully. This guides his decision-making at all times. If a trader's plan dictates that it is time to exit a stock, the trader will exit that trade and not wait a minute longer. * Self-Control --- Successful traders display an extraordinary amount of self-control. Keeping emotions constantly in check, the disciplined trader is immune to the highs and lows that attend large market swings - whether panic, in a downturn, or of euphoria. I will show you how to learn the secrets of discipline. Can You Learn Discipline? The big question here is whether you can develop the discipline you do not have naturally. I believe the answer is "yes, you can," but you must have the necessary commitment to do so. Ultimately, undisciplined behavior is going to be punished by the market. Private traders who persevere and master self discipline, have external stimuli that will help the process. However, the market does not help as much as it might, because of the principle of random reinforcement. It is the market's tendency to reward bad behavior from time to time. This crucial fact is one of the reasons why it takes so long to learn how to trade. You need to realize this: there is no point in having a system if you are not going to follow it. Follow and develop a routine of self-discipline and you will be successful in your trading ventures. -=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Analyzing Growth Stocks: An Important Focus For Any Investor Analyzing growth stocks is an important focus for any investor. This is especially important, since stocks are an irreplaceable part of any good investment plan, and since unbiased stock research is hard to find. Still, we need to look at the big picture once in a while. Since so much has changed lately, this may be a good time to "take stock". Many have reevaluated their investment strategies. The problem is that many of these reevaluations are moving people away from their goals. As the market has dropped, rather than moving toward buying at the cheaper prices, we've seen people move away from stocks, a strategy which has little long-term benefit. The Club Yesterday I received my monthly issue of MONEY magazine. This issue has the special feature called "The Ultimate Investment Club" that highlights their picks for the top mutual fund managers. Let's see how their members made money for their shareholders. Price to Earnings Ratio - P/E After finding the price of a particular stock, usually the next number everyone looks at is the P/E ratio. Hedge Funds You read and hear a lot about hedge funds. Unfortunately, most of what you hear is negative because it comes from the major media that has an interest in reporting negatives about them because the major media is supported by so-called standard mutual funds and brokerage companies that spend big bucks for advertising. Hedge funds are NOT allowed to advertise. Maximizing a Stock Market Investment Maximizing a stock market investment Understanding a Stocks PEG Ratio A PEG ratio cannot be used alone but is a very powerful tool when integrated with the basics (price, volume and chart reading). You must enjoy crunching numbers and have a calculator handy to estimate your own PEG ratio. Access to quality statistical information from the web such as past earnings and future earning estimates is essential to calculate this fundamental indicator. A variety of websites produce a PEG ratio but I have not found one site that has a reliable PEG ratio that I can use for my own research, so I calculate it myself, ensuring accuracy with the final number. The Information Age It is wonderful to be alive in the information age. We know in a matter of seconds the change in the value of gold in Switzerland, the death of a world leader or the birth of a peasant in Israel. Trading Tips No 8: Picking the Best Stock Market Price Carefully thinking through your goal as a trader is of prime importance, when picking the best stock market price. It is very difficult if not impossible to meet a goal that is ill defined. Is your goal to trade frequently, irrespective of market conditions irregardless of what the stock market price is? Or is it to trade for the excitement of it all. A more sober assessment would probably yield a goal of making money - but how much and at what risk? How do you determine what the best stock market price is? Ultimately, a well-defined trading goal should specify the desired average annual return and the corresponding equity drawdown that a trader is comfortable with, financially and emotionally. Top 25 Growth Funds On Monday, November 25, 2000 Investor's Business Daily listed on page B1 the Top 25 Growth Mutual Funds for the last 36 months along with their performance for the year 2000 to date. Only four showed a profit this year of 21% and the other three had increases of 12%, 5%, and 5%. Fifteen had loss of from 10% to 28% and the other 6 were down slightly. Evaluation II As I said in Part I everyone in the insane asylum looks normal, but at least the doctors are sane. Unfortunately, in the insane asylum known as the stock market all the doctors (brokers) are also insane. Stock Options Trading Strategies - Lean Professional stock options traders use the term lean to refer to one's perception about the directional strength of the stock. When you own a stock option and intend to hold it for a period of time, you are aware that you will probably be holding it while it goes up and while it goes down. Whitewater Stock Market Ever done any whitewater rafting or canoeing? Long periods of tranquil river followed by short periods of terror. Suddenly the water grips your vessel and you are pushed and shoved by massive currents over which you have no control. Missing boulders you paddle as hard as you can. You almost lose everything and think to yourself, "Why didn't I portage that last rapid?" Planning Your Dive and Diving Your Plan ? Trading! A colleague of mine just returned from a scuba diving trip in Cozumel, which just happens to be one of my favorite places to dive. Anyway, she was telling me about an unexpected difficulty she encountered while swimming around the corral reef down about 85 feet. It wasn't anything serious but her story reminded me of something my scuba instructor used to say over and over again. "Plan your dive, and dive your plan". Gurgle Gurgle Caught in a whirlpool and being sucked under. No life vest or other device to save you. Gurgle, gurgle. Down you go. The Surgeon General The Surgeon General of the United States says that smoking cigarettes is harmful to your health. It is printed on every pack of smokes you buy. When was the last time a smoker read or paid any attention to it? Stock Analysis I receive emails from Morningstar. This company provides statistics and analysis of just about every publicly traded stock company you can think of as well as voluminous information on mutual funds around the world. Buying Stocks and the Importance of Correct Timing An investor can find and research the best stock on the market, one with huge potential but if the general market indices are negative, it will most likely be the wrong time to buy. A stock with tremendous accelerating earnings, rising sales, an up-trending chart pattern and a strong industry group may sound excellent to buy but will mean absolutely nothing if the market is positioned to move in the opposite direction of your expectations. As soon as a stock is purchased, the time comes for an investor to make a decision to hold or to sell. If the position shows a profit, hold as your judgment is correct. If the position shows a loss, cut it quickly and don't rationalize the situation before it doubles in size. Timing will play an important role in determining if you are right or wrong. Buy and Hold Investment Philosophy Wall Street has been preaching the doctrine of Buy and Hold forever. The worst part about it is the small investor (and some big ones) actually believe it. Brokers and financial planners believe it, but when you show them they can get a better return by timing the market they just say, "It can't be done". They are either lazy or stupid. Stuff I continually hear from economists, talking heads, other market letter writers, analysts and assorted "experts" that I need to know all kinds of "stuff" about the stocks and mutual funds I am going to buy and I should keep up with them on a regular basis. Trading Baskets II: The Crapolio, A Roll of the Dice in the Stock Market In a previously written article, we expanded the use of the term "Trading Baskets" to include stocks from different sectors or industries. Now I want to share with you an approach to day trading or swing trading that I had some success with back in the wild and woolly, pinnacle days of day trading that may still work today. Unfortunately, this basket of stocks was dubbed "The Crapolilo", a name it just could not shake. You'll see why. |
home | site map |
© 2005 |