Educational articles on trading psychology. Available in ActionForex.com http://www.actionforex.com Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:23:22 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.actionforex.com/images/M_images/aflogo.jpg http://www.actionforex.com Educational articles on trading psychology. Available in ActionForex.com http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/%22follow%11through%22-%11%11-it%27s-significance-for-your-market-position-2008022137379/ Patience is a virtue in most endeavors in life, and it's certainly a valuable asset in futures and stock trading. You will many times hear me use the important term, "follow-through," when I discuss significant market moves such as price breakouts or trend changes. Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:30:16 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/how-to-handle-a-losing-streak-2008011635069/ Don't overtrade. If you are trading several markets and not having any success, cut back to trading one or two markets. You can follow fewer trades more closely and document your success or failures more easily. Plus, your trading account won't be drawn down so quickly. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:20:57 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/getting-what-you-really-want-2007122133922/ I used to do an exercise in the Peak Performance 101 workshop entitled "Getting What You Want". The exercise starts out with a question: If you could have anything in the universe, what would it be? Perhaps your answer might be $10 million dollars. However, the exercise doesn't end there.... Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:09:37 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/a-healthy-psychological-profile-is-needed-for-successful-trading-2007121733644/ Many mental health professionals define an "uncertain" condition as being stressful. Uncertainty occurs because of too much information or because of too little capacity. The very fact that we cannot deal with available information is stressful. Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:16:30 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/self%11sabotage-revealed-2007101930366/ In my peak performance training with traders, I give a strong psychological slant to the concept of self-sabotage. Self-sabotage typically occurs when one lacks the discipline to act in one's own best interest. For example, when you have dessert, knowing it's taboo because you are trying get healthy, you might... Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:10:02 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/hank-pruden-on-%22behavioral-finance%22-and-technical-analysis-2007092128722/ Hank Pruden’s theory of "Behavioral Finance" proposes that human flaws are consistent, measurable and predictable, and being aware of and utilizing this phenomenon can benefit a trader. "For the better part of 30 years, the discipline of finance has been under the thrall of the random walk\cum efficient market hypothesis.... Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:57:21 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/make-an-honest-self-appraisal-2007090127546/ If you are willing to accept total responsibility for your investment results, you will realize that you are the most important factor in your trading or investment success. If you have done that, you are way ahead of the crowd. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:50:31 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/behavioral-patterns-that-sabotage-traders-%11-part-i-2007082427154/ Although I do not maintain a private practice of counseling/coaching for traders, it is perhaps inevitable that traders would contact me for assistance after reading my book on The Psychology of Trading. Once in a while I take on a project of working with a group of traders because of... Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:39:01 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/enjoy-bumping-into-walls-2007072025296/ If you're in the market, one of biggest obstacles you'll face is the wall of losses. It's fairly difficult dealing with the markets if you are not willing to lose. It's almost impossible. It's like wanting to be alive, but always wanting to breathe in and not willing to breathe... Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:09:28 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/van-tharp-back%11to%11basics-series-2007071324920/ People get exactly what they want out of the markets. Most people are afraid of success or failure. As a result, they tend to resist change and continue to follow their natural biases and lose in the markets. When you get rid of the fear, you tend to get rid... Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:40:53 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/know-when-to-fold-%27em-2007070624527/ One of the advantages we have as traders is that we do not have to trade. And it costs nothing to not trade. So the common solution is to only take a position in outstanding trades. And these are usually either trades that are moving strongly in your favor before... Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:54:46 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/do-what-you-love-2007061523375/ So what does this have to do with trading and success? I've noticed that the people who are really successful in many, many fields start some sort of program of self improvement. I have mentioned many of those in past tips and the Artists Way is one of them. They... Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:44:41 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/when-to-quit-your-day-job-2007052522259/ I have had many readers through the years--most of whom were less-experienced traders--tell me that at some point in the future they planned to quit their day jobs and trade futures full-time. While their optimism was certainly positive from the standpoint of eagerness to learn about a truly fascinating business,... Fri, 25 May 2007 11:02:44 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/finding-the-best-traders-in-the-world-2007042020495/ I was recently approached by a top hedge fund about profiling the best traders in the world. Profiling really refers to finding those psychological characteristics that will best predict success. And I believe that I'm one of the world's experts in that area since we have a huge database of... Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:24:37 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/using-the-%22adm%22-method-to-deal-with-losing-trades-2007042020494/ A main tenet of success in futures trading is the ability to accept losing trades as part of the overall trading process. This is not an easy undertaking--especially since many futures traders tend to be of a more competitive nature in the first place. Traders certainly don't have to enjoy... Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:21:51 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/peak-performance-trading-tips-2007030918489/ The sixth key quality is that they all have a business plan to guide their trading. I've been talking about the importance of this plan for years. Most companies have a plan to raise money, but you need such a plan to help you treat your trading like a business.... Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:56:49 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/abell,-koppel-discuss-their-profitable-short%11term-trading-methods-2007030218144/ No short-term trading system is perfect. However, having and using a system is critical for short-term trading success, say Howard Abell and Bob Koppel. "A successful short-term trading system must be profitable, consistent, and personal--conforming to the unique psychological and methodological needs of the individual," they said. Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:11:59 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/everyone-can-profit-2007030218143/ What most people don't realize is that at any given time 4-5 people might go long a position and another 4-5 might go short or unload a position. Each of them can have different systems and different ideas, and all of them can make money. They might have different ideas... Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:08:15 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/better-to-be-profitable-than-right-2007011215799/ The ultimate goal of a futures trader should be to have overall trading success by being profitable. There is no single-best path one can take on the destination to trading success and profitability. However, there are a few general trading tenets to which all successful traders have subscribed. One such... Fri, 12 Jan 2007 09:17:46 +0100 http://www.actionforex.com/articles-library/trading-psychology-articles/peak-performance-trading-tips-2006122915283/ Jack Schwager's primary conclusion after writing the first two Market Wizard books is that great traders all have developed systems that fit who they are. I tend to agree that that's one of the secrets to success. Chapter 4 of the new edition of my book, Trade Your Way to... Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:49:49 +0100