Karma Trades

The other day I stumbled upon this interview with Tim Grittani and found it pretty interesting and inspiring.

One of the ideas that he shared and reallystuck with me is that he began to become consistently profitable when he started to focus on one single pattern/strategy before moving on to others. So that's going to be the way that I'll be approaching the markets from now on.

I share with you the interview so that you can also learn and get inspired by this incredible skilled trader.

One thing you need to realize, is that by choosing to become a trader, you have just choosed to try another career; and as in any other career you will have to get good education in order to succeed.
Many times, traders (me included) begun by checking out some stock tips, random strategies and random tips that they found on the internet, or worse, by getting involved in a promoted, pumped & dumped stock.

When I had the realization that stock trading is very much a career on its own, I decided to focus on learning:

• Learn all about technical analysis: Support&Resistance, Trendlines, Indicators, etc. 
• Learn at least the basic of fundamental analysis.
• Learn strategies from real succesful traders.
• Learn about trade & money management.
• Learn about emotional control. Trust me, you will need it.

Finally, discover what trading style suits you best. You like fast action and are quite impacient? Try out daytrading; Do you prefer playing stocks that take a couple of days to move? maybe swing trading is for you; You are incredibly pacient and recon the opportunities of big wins on the long term? Well, then you could do really well with position trading.

Of course, after education there is the second part that is practice. But as I said, as in any other career, begin by getting quality education and then test yourself and improve your skills upon what you have already learned.

To finish, I would like to share with you this 2 videos from ClayTrader. He regularly makes "Stock Trading Quick Tips" videos regularly and this 2 relate to education with very clear examples. Enjoy!

Trading is an amazing endeavor. It involves an huge emotional component that I didn't expected when I first begun and I think many traders can relate to this.

Emotions run high when you are about to get in, when you are in and when you are out of a trade.
Greed. Fear. Hope. Euphoria. Sadness. Regret. . All of those can be felt in the course of a single trade.

Sometimes you will hit a really bad trade that makes you feel like an idiot, or you will go through a losing streak that will make you question yourself if you are really going to succeed at trading. That kind of event can really affect your emotional state and in turn, affect your trading even more.

In those cases, I like to remember that I must believe in myself! 
I must remember that succeeding at trading is possible, it has been done.
I must remember that most successful traders had a hard time their first months or even years; they burned several accounts become they became consistently profitable.
I remember that I must keep going.
I must learn from my mistakes;
I must review what is working for me and what not.
I must focus on what I'm doing right and avoid what I've done wrong.

I must believe in my strategy.
I must believe in my skills.
I will believe in myself.

Trading is hard, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
To succeed at trading, you will require discipline, preparation, hard work and good mindset.
Take away any of this components and you will fail.

If you ask any succesful trader at what time their day begins, they will tell you that early in the morning, some of them even before 5:00 a.m.

Trading is like a sport and just like in any sport, you must prepare yourself before the game begins.

Wake up early, way before the market opens, to prepare yourself for the trading day.

Wake up early, because you will need to check general market conditions:

• How are futures doing today?
• Is there any major news that could affect the market today?

Wake up early, because you must check which stocks are hot right now:

• Which stocks are up/down premarket?
• Which stocks have news?
• How is your watchlist doing?

Wake up early, because you must prepare your body and mind:

• Exercise. Go running, lift weights, do some jumping jacks, have sex; Do whatever you like, but get that blood flowing, awake the body. 
• Meditate. Because a clear mind will always perform better; Remove any anxiety, worry or urgency before you start trading.
• Plan. Lay a trading plan for those stocks that catched your attention. Look for support & resistance, look for optimal entry points and determine where you should exit, for both a win and a loss.

Wake up early, because you are a REAL TRADER, not a degenerate gambler.

• You are prepared.
• You know what you are doing.
• You will succeed.

Wake up, Rise & Shine.

Before I start posting motivational videos for traders, I will start with this great video from ClayTrader that shows you the wrong way to motivate yourself.

Yes! Trading is very much a psycological game where you need confidence in your skills, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be flexible and be ready to change your mind. Being stubborn in this game is a sure way to burn your account!