9. I can ignore the mass media, which raise emotions
and thus increase the risk of not executing a trade.
It is often the trade that is hardest to take, that winds
up being the most profitable.
10. The markets provide a constant stream of opportunities.
If I miss an opportunity, another one will follow.
11. Keeping losses small and letting profits ride
is not just a Wall Street saying.
Beliefs of Unsuccessful Market
Timers
1. I must be trading all the time to be successful.
I am uncomfortable when in cash.
2. If my strategy is not doing what I think it
should, I will make a change immediately.
3. If I lose on this trade, I feel like a loser.
4. If the market is rallying, I must get in even
though my strategy gave no signal for it.
5. I am unlucky.
6. I get very upset when I miss a rally, or if
I am in a bullish position when the market is declining.
7. I dread adverse news events and constantly
worry that something will happen to make the markets
go against me.
8. I can't afford to lose anything on this buy
or sell signal.
9. I can't go broke taking small quick profits.
10. When this losing trade gets back to even,
I'll dump it.
Final Notes on Unsuccessful Timers
Unsuccessful market timers tend to see the stock market as a place that will
give them future riches and solve all their problems.
Unsuccessful market timers have difficulty coping with the reality of being wrong.
When events don't live up to their hopes, they seek to ignore them.
| "As a successful market timer,
you have to move from a fearful mind set to a psychological state of
confidence. " |
If their timing strategy gives a sell signal and they have losses in that position,
they have a difficult time executing the sell signal and they will hold the position
so that they can exit when it gets back to break even.
When things go bad, they often exit with huge losses and blame the strategy,
the timing service, the markets. Everyone but themselves.
Many market timers give up because they are usually too quick in judging small
loses as a system that is not working.
Giving up is the most common way a market timer can lose. You will win only if
you execute the timing strategy. Every trade.
Paper trading cannot simulate the psychological aspects of trading with real
dollars. Once a market timer has experienced what it is like to keep trading
through a draw down and how good it feels to follow the strategy through the
good, the bad and the ugly days, he or she will not be as easily swayed again
by adverse markets.
Final Notes on Successful Timers
Successful market timers know how to follow a strategy. They know the stock market
is not a game and the only way to succeed is with a plan.
As a successful market timer, you have to move from a fearful mind set to a psychological
state of confidence.
You must use a strategy that builds confidence by keeping losses small and letting
profits ride when the markets trend.
Do not focus too much on each individual buy and sell signal. It is where the
strategy takes you over years of trading that is important.
