Category: Psychology
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Time – friend or foe?
Several times over the last year, I’ve had conversations with others about finding new or different ways of making money. Invariably the limitation of time availability comes up i.e. time to learn new skills, gain new knowledge etc. Some of those people were interested in learning about investing or trading (which are different concepts) –…
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The loser’s game
The news has been out from August 2018 that the European Securities and Management Agency (ESMA) has compelled all brokers (subject to its jurisdiction) to reveal their statistics on the percentages of losing trader accounts. See informative article headed, “ESMA Regulations Reveal: Where CFDs Traders Lose the Most“. The reported percentage of losing accounts ranged between…
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Courses, horses – or the mind?
If you’re reading this looking just for the best course to attend, you may be disappointed. I go deeper than the simple issue of ‘which courses‘ or ‘what course is best’. Introduction I’m sharing a summary of my experiences over the last 4 years, so that others can see something more about ‘courses’ – and…
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Microtrends and risk aversion
Many a trader will have looked at the same chart (say AUDUSD) at different times (let’s say 4 hours apart), and had doubts or an urge to change their minds on what to do. This situation occurred recently with BTCUSD. On one day it appeared that there was as strong microtrend on a 2H time…
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So did you get it right?
Did you get it right? This is an important question for new and seasoned traders to think about – but there is a problem with it. So you made your best risk assessment, decided your entry point and stop-loss and you entered the trade. What happens next? Many a new trader would spend some time…
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New traders conned
This morning I receive yet another email from somebody selling a system for beating the markets, subject to terms and conditions. It’s some software that runs on their server, that gives off signals when to enter long or short. Cost? USD $x9x down from $xx9x – and one is offered some ‘ultra’ indicator as free.…
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Patience in trading
What is patience? According the Cambridge English Dictionary, it means: “the ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed.” Patience is of course a psychological characteristic. It certainly isn’t something physical. The opposite of patience is of course impatience. Why is patience important? As a…
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Coping with volatility – the value of experience
This post continues from ‘Is volatility your friend?‘ The emphasis here is on copying with volatility. ‘Coping’ is a psychological thing. New traders will have emotions and it is no good denying this or avoiding it. The screencast below brings out what tends to happen with new traders when price moves in the ‘opposite’ direction (full…
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No courses, no horses.
Over the last few months there has been much reflective practice. This is about looking back at what one has done in the past, learning and re-learning from mistakes, and understanding how novices to financial trading approach it. A mistake is usually, in simple language, recognising a genuine error that has happened. Learning from a…
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What is gambling?
Gambling is a bad word and a bad thing for most people. Strangely enough at September 2014, it was estimated that “70 per cent of UK adults, more than 32 million people, play the lottery on a regular basis.” This means that 70% of the UK population are gamblers. The percentage of people taking chances on the Lottery have varied…
