Saw It, Liked It, Reposting Here...

I have been AWOL from the blog for a while, and not posting much for longer than that. But, I saw this recent post from Joe Fahmy and thought someone else could benefit from it. You be the judge:

http://joefahmy.com/2011/09/15/5-signs-youve-matured-as-a-trader/

5 Signs You’ve Matured as a Trader

Posted by Joe Fahmy on September 15th, 2011

1) When you don’t need to rely on anyone else’s opinion and you stop asking others: “What do you think of the market?” Have conviction in your ideas and don’t be easily influenced by others. You shouldn’t have to rely on other opinions because YOU should know yourself.

2) When you stop feeling the need to pound your chest every time you make 30 cents on a stock. “Act like you’ve been there before!” Don’t act like you’ve never had success trading before.

3) When you stop feeling the need to trade every day and you get over the “fear of missing out.” This “fear” is the downfall of most traders.

4) When you make a good trade or a good call on the market and don’t feel the need to remind everyone. If you are doing a good job, people will notice.

5) When you learn to cut losses without hesitation. No one likes to lose, but cutting losses is part of the game. Accept it and move on!


Good trading to all.

First Real Money Trade in Over Two Years

Yesterday I bought a small long position in TNA; only 250 shares. With the monster run at end of day, I decided to sell at EOD for a $443 gain. Not much of a gain, considering the recent volatility, but I am happy with the fact that I put a positive number on the board. The last time I traded my live account, I lost over $3000 on a single trade. After getting some VERY GOOD advice from Scott Farnham to stop trading immediately, I did stop and committed myself to not trade again until I had a better understanding of what was going on. Not certain I have a full handle on it yet, but based on what I know now, I can't believe I dared to try live trading back then. It is my intent to put this long trade back on if I can get a good price, then hold it as a swing trade. I will not be day-trading my real account, despite this winner and my intent to put it back on. I haven't quite mastered this art just yet. I am still fighting my mental weaknesses, even though I feel my technical understanding and chart reading is sufficient to produce gains. It has been only 5 1/2 months of watching the market full-time; not quite enough yet to go full live trading.

Simplicity: The mark of experience

As I have remarked here a number of times, I am a fan of the blog over at SMB Trading and their July 9th entry from Mike Bellafiore is a real winner. I decided to repost it here: http://www.smbtraining.com/blog/a-change-in-pyschology

I continue to work hard at practice trading, and at chart study during non-market hours. I am pleased with the progress, though I do wish my skills would develop faster. The market will tell me when I'm ready. It is my goal to return to more regular blogging as my time allows. Good trading to all.