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Strategies & Market Trends : DAYTRADING Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric P who wrote (2103)	7/27/1999 9:24:00 AM
From: Cosmo Daisey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

Eric, Zen in the Markets is a book you can read at half time. The book is about a traders struggle with ego. Ego keeps traders in losing positions and the ego wants instant gratification so we sell winners before they should be sold. The book presents the market as an easy game to play but we are hell bent on making it complicated. There are simple rules to follow: 1. Buy low, sell high 2. Let profits run, cut losses quickly 3. Add to winning positions, not a loser 4. Go with the trend The rules look simple and are easy to understand. How come so many people kill themselves in the market? Why is it so hard to follow these guidelines? The problem isn't the rules, its ourselves. The book attempts retrain us to look at what the market is telling us, not what we want the market to do. The process of Zen reveals that the market gives clear direction of what action to take. Chapter 4 starts off: ""Who cares what happened yesterday? The markets are like the dice in a crap game. They have no memory. Only we do. What happened in the past has no known effect upon the market. But our memories are strong. We would like to think that history matters. Then we can worry and speculate about the effects of yesterdays events upon today's market."" Some people will dismiss the book as some sort of off beat system but it's far from it. The author, Eddie Toppel, was interviewed for the book "The New Market Wizards" by Schraeger. (another great book) Eddie requested that the interview not be in the book and it wasn't because he thought some of his customers might think it was some sort of cult or astrology scheme. Eddie's name wasn't in the book but I found the short note about him interesting enough to search out his book. My trading profits have increased exponentially since reading the book. Whenever I start to slip, I re-read the book. The book isn't about stocks or bonds or futures, its about the inner game of trading that applies to all markets. Cosmo