being a good trader today does not necessarily imply you will be a good trader tomorrow. stay humble and teach yourself a lesson everyday. trading is raging a war against an unbeatable opponent. all the best
after loosing hefty $$$.i learn without discipline, money managment,market experience,patience,dedication it is hard to be profitable.it take 3-7 yrs to learn all that. stop loss take longest to learn. i am still using stop loss only in 98% of trades. that 2% is still a problem.
Sticking to your proven mechanical based system. The moment a trade is made outside of this system it becomes an impulsive "gamble". The vast majority of gambled trades lose. The vast majority of system based trades win. Maintain discipline and patience at all times when capital is exposed to the exchanges. Always document each and every single trade to track the system's performance. Graph/Chart one's own liquid net worth every 2 weeks. 2007 will be another great year for those that follow their own plan through thick and thin.
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. (Calvin Coolidge, American 30th President of the United States, 1872-1933)
I learned that despite what a noe defunct 12 figure hedge fund manager promised, the S&P did not top at 1250 ,1280,1300,1328,1350,1400.
I learned that it's OK & in fact 'better' to be a small-time loser rather than a small-time winner. It also helped to draw some parallels between trading & running a regular business (which I was more accustomed to), I don't need to see green every day basically, I am more acceptive of consecutive losses, tax avoidance is still good which in actual fact has developed into legal tax evasion. What I also learned is that I have become some sort of Net junkie, though a lot of participation was very educational for me I find myself posting way too much & getting into online 'cock fights' with people I don't even know or care about, so my New Year's resolution is to post a maximum of 1 post a day on ET. Happy New Year to all!