Reminders, for myself, in no particular order.
ALWAYS check the charts, check the news, and I especially check the number of posts, and who has posted, on SI. If there has been a lot of hype, and it's run away, best to stay away, never chase.
Do an SI full text search, do an dogpile.com search or whatever your favorite mother of all search engines is.
Don't chase them up. Get it, when it drops back, simply because, THEY ALWAYS DROP BACK, they HAVE to, it is just part of the mechanics of the market maker system, and of course, the inevitable profit taking, and if you aren't taking profits relentlessly, then what the hell are you doing here?
Market order?? It just ain't in my vocabulary.
If you have not read books on how the MM system works, I suggest that you do so, ASAP.
If you haven't already, learn some T/A especially Williams%R, stochastics, MACD and maybe volume+. Go to clearstation.com to the education section.
For volume+ and Williams% use Big Charts. bigcharts.com and learn to set up the interactive charts.
Control greed, learn discipline, set reasonable targets, and stick to them. Ya right, if it breaks xxx it's gone, sure Jim, sure...
ALWAYS reduce risk/reward at the first opportunity. That may mean selling 1/3 or 1/2 a long way from the top, but I'd rather protect my investment, and live to play again, than just slowly let the original pile erode.
A profitable trade, is a good trade.
Get out, when you CAN, not when you HAVE to.
Stocks move in the path of least resistance. If it is hard to buy, it is going higher, if it's hard to sell, oooops, it's going down.
When you have what you want, take it and run, and don't look back. Don't wait, for the market to take it back.
NEVER let a winner, turn into a loser. But we all do, why? Think about it, one answer, always....GREED!
NOBODY wins all the time. Learn to take your losses, EARLY, don't let them grow, until it's too late.
A big gap up, in the morning, is a gift, ACCEPT ALL GIFTS. Sell into strength.
MM's biggest trick - making stocks look their best, before they make them move, in the opposite direction.
Volume precedes price
As long as there is volume, and volatility, $$ can be made, bear or bull.
And from Joe "Think long term, Trade short term" I like that one. |