When To Hold Them And When To Fold Them, The Trading Mindset And How To Get It

So you think you want to start trading stocks? You’ve been studying up on how to find clear path to trading, and perhaps you’ve already taken a deep breath and are ready to make the plunge. Before you do, however, you should hum a few bars from that great Kenny Rogers’ song, “The Gambler”: “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”

Keep singing that song as you sit down at the metaphorical stock trading gambling table, because it will remind you that a stock trader has to have the cast iron gut of the Gambler in that song. As you hum the tune, hold back the part that says “Know when to walk away/know when to run…” You’ll want to start singing that part later.

Well, you’ve been looking for the right signals to pick up the cards and play the game, but before you do, you should start with a little self evaluation. Ask yourself the following questions:

1) Do you need somebody else to tell you what to do?

Most of us come from 8 to 5 jobs where we sit in cubicles, insert parts into other parts, write reports (to regurgitate what we are told to write), or… (fill in the blank — involving some other slavish non-thinking). The question you’ve got to ask yourself is: “can I really act for myself…think for myself?” Take a careful…and honest…personal assessment of yourself and the situation you feel most comfortable living in. How much latitude have you been allowed? Can you really act independently, according to your own judgment or assessments? Do you need permission before you do something? More to the point: Do you need somebody to tell you when to buy, or when to sell stocks? The answers to those questions may spell the difference between winning and losing at the stock market gaming table.

2) Do you have a problem making a profit?

Some people have a real problem with the notion of making a profit. This may sound crazy, but many of us are imbued with the notion that making a profit is somehow “immoral” or “unethical”. Note that the Kenny Rogers song ends with the gambler breaking “even”, somewhere “in the darkness”. Somehow “breaking even” lends a note of moral superiority to the song, making it more socially acceptable. A lot of us have this hangup, and if you have it, you need to get rid of it. Decide to enter the stock market to make a profit, pure and simple, with no apologies to anybody.

3) Do you always have to be in control?

If you are somebody who absolutely has to have everything “under control” you’re in the wrong place with the stock market. The most you can do is study the signs…have good sources stocks of information and predictions by seasoned investors, economics theorists and recognized prophets, and base your trades on their predictions and past stock market behavior. But remember that you can’t control the forces that will determine whether your trades are profitable or not. A need for absolute control can easily lead to a trip to the hospital with a stomach ulcer. The tip from the Gambler is that “you never count your money while your sitting at the table”. When the market has it…it isn’t yours. It may give it back to you, with a little extra, or it may take it away altogether.

4) Can you handle losing?

Some people will never expose themselves to a situation in which there is a chance of losing. In the case of riding motorcycles, for example, some say that the moment you get on one is the moment you’ve decided to “get dumped”. The same is true of the stock market…the moment you start to play you’ve guaranteed the day you will lose. The best thing to do is to learn how to handle the risk, and don’t let the “house” make the rules. You avoid this by managing your risk: assessing the probability of making a profit and never betting more than a reasonable percentage of your assets…what you can comfortably lose.

5)Do you have the patience for adequate research?

You need to know the market you are getting into: it’s history, the economic forces that govern it; the probability of its future behavior. If you don’t have the patience to adequately investigate the trades you are contemplating making, if you don’t have an adequate understanding of the patterns of the past (and don’t want to spend the time to find out), you won’t be able to predict the future or be ready for the ups and downs of the unexpected.

6) Can you “hang tough” when you are losing?

Do you have the cast iron stomach to watch your investment fall with the certitude that it will “come back up again” because of your confidence in your market analysis? Too many people bail prematurely on an investment, and are constantly making losing trades because they “jump” at the first sign of loss. This is where thorough market research is absolutely vital, and faith in your judgments comes into play.

Well, at the end of the song the Gambler was so broke he had to bum a cigarette and drink the “last swallow” of the listener’s whiskey. That won’t be you. Why? Because you’ve made a personal assessment of yourself; because you have evaluated the maximum risk you can take; because you watch the market assessments stock market made by the professionals; because you know your stock, what it has done, what affects it, and have a very good idea of what it will do in the “planned chaos” of the stock market

Journaling For Traders FREE Guide By Norman Hallet

ownload this Journaling For Traders 11 Page FREE Guide by Norman Hallet. Watch this shocking Portfolio Prophet FREE Presentations that show how to predict and then avoid the next market crash. Learn this Dow Futures Secret that can make you rich.

Bill Poulos: Did you get my message yesterday about Norman’s recommendation of 2 things that can help your trading TODAY? If you missed it, then I’ll give you the short version here: Journaling – you can learn how from reading his Master Report: “Journaling For Traders” Get serious about your trading psychology. And if you’re honest with yourself, then you know the only way you’re going to be disciplined on a consistent basis is to get specialized training from the master of trading psychology.

Norman’s “The Disciplined Trader Trading And Support Program” is the benchmark and if you want to see why, I suggest you sign up here to learn more. My inbox was swamped today with two types of messages: either ones telling me “thanks” for passing along Norman’s latest training: “Journaling for Traders…” Or people asking me: “Can we see more journaling examples?” Now if you’ve read Norman’s report, you know that he urges you NOT to copy other people, but to develop your own personal style of journaling

BUT…Taking a look at what other people are doing might help you get over that first hurdle of getting started. So…He’s decided to give away a Brand New White iPad 2 to one lucky trader who is good enough to share one of their journal entries so that others may see it. So to get your name in the hat for the iPad 2 and to see what others are doing with their journals, just go here. If you didn’t get a copy of Norman’s Master Report, don’t worry. He still has plenty of complimentary copies here. Remember that note I sent you earlier about people submitting their Trading Journal entries to Norman Hallett’s blog?

Well, a lot of submissions have been sent in (there is an iPad 2 on the line here after all) but I’m starting to see a hidden benefit…There’s now 47+ journal entries from other traders just like you to look at…To learn from…To be inspired by…And they’re waiting for you here…While you’re there, don’t forget to get on their VIP List, so that you can be first to be notified when the registration begins for Norman’s upcoming The Disciplined Trader Training and Support Program (look for it on the right side of Norman’s Blog.) Don’t forget to get on that VIP list. I know for a fact that Norman always has a surprise for his VIPs! Get on it here…

I hope by now you’ve had a chance to do a “deep dive” into the journal entries on Norman Hallett’s blog. I honestly believe that traders can be inspired by seeing what their peers are doing. It’s a great way to grow as a trader. If you want to not just grow, but THRIVE as a successful trader, then you need to take yet another step and commit to developing your trading discipline. And the first step to that is to register as a VIP here.. Registering to be a VIP (Norman always takes care of his VIPs) will ensure you’re the first to know when the registration opens for his upcoming The Disciplined Trader Training and Support Program. Until then, get started with those Trading Journals.

Norman Hallett here. In preparation for our upcoming registration period next week for The Disciplined Trader Training and Support Program…we’ve been revving the buzz by asking traders to post EXAMPLES of their trading journal entries. The Result Has Been one of the most helpful resources we’ve EVER put together for traders! I’m a firm believer that a trading journal “style” is a very personal thing, and these examples (101 of them at this writing) ARE a great way to see how other traders are journaling… And believe me, you’ll get inspired for your own journaling when you read them…

And while you’re there, don’t forget to get on our VIP List, so that you can be first to be notified when the registration begins for our upcoming The Disciplined Trader Training and Support Program. (and we always have a BIG surprise for VIPs!) REMEMBER: Registration begins next week for our upcoming The Disciplined Trader Training and Support Program… and as a VIP, you get first notice and, yes, that BIG surprise. So, check out the Journaling Examples and then look to the right hand column of the blog and get on the VIP list!

What Is The Quickest Method To Reach A Success

If you consider the possibility to make fast profits and to receive huge returns, then it is time to consider negotiating in Agreements for Diversity. From time to time, it is also called as CFDs. Nevertheless, it is incorrect to think that CFD trading is definitely plain and is a type of negotiating that may be taken by any person. Generally, any person who has the desire to trade in CFD can take this possibility, but not all individuals want to remain in this trading process after some period of practice. You should not forget that if you make a decision to deal with the leveraged production you are to bear in mind that you have the equal possibilities either to make huge profits and returns or to have the big losses. There are a lot of individuals around the world who try to realize whether there is the secured way for making the wealth in CFD trading or not.

When you start your trading procedure you are to create your CFD trading plan. This plan should be based on the assured foundation. So that to build such plan you should spend many years for the studying process during which you will learn about the market and various views of the individuals. The assured foundation for your negotiating plan includes the definite back testing and that is stated as one of the points where the majority of individuals have their mistake. Doing the back testing of your trading plan will be very essential and will give you a lot of positive results in the future, because you will receive the necessary information that includes all required methods of acting during CFD trading procedure.

Another key point that may happen to be very essential is to trust the CFD trading plan you have. If you test your trading plan and you are ensured in that it is very productive and may help you making great sums of cash, you can move into the markets without any uncertainties. It is better not to hope for the quick profits, because they usually happen when you have the high level of leverage. High range of leverage means high returns certainly, but you should not forget that it also means high losses. Any trader desires to get rid of the situations of high losses. The only method by means of which you can make your successes is your definite CFD trading plan. If you have your own plan it should be made in that method so that you have the chance to enlarge your profits and to decrease your losses.

So, if you are a new in the sphere of negotiating in CFDs you are to study the data and to build your own plan with which you will trade. If you have some doubts as for your efforts you may address the specialists for the help