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Non-Tech : MB TRADING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nazbuster who wrote (2033)	11/19/1998 7:35:00 PM
From: funk	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 7382

I behaved like a complete amateur. The careful system I had built up collapsed around me. Every transaction ended in disaster. I put in dozens of contradictory orders. I bought stocks at 55. They went back to 51. I hung on. Stop-loss? That was the first thing I threw away. Patience? Judgment? I had none. Boxes? I forgot about them. As the days went by the vicious circle of my operations started to look like this: I BOUGHT AT THE TOP As soon as I bought The stock started to drop I became frightened AND SOLD AT THE BOTTOM As soon as I sold The stock started to rise I became greedy AND BOUGHT AT THE TOP I developed a tremendous frustration. Instead of blaming my own stupidity, I invented different reasons for my failures. I started to believe in "They." "They" were selling me dear. "They" were buying stock from me cheap. I could not, of course, tell anyone who "They" were-but that did not stop me from believing in them. ... It was a period of complete disaster. I lost $100,000 in a few weeks. A detailed list of my trading at this time reads like a lunatic's chronicle. I can still hardly believe it. Now I know that it was caused by egotism leading to vanity leading to overconfidence, which in turn led to disaster. It was not the market that beat me. It was my own unreasoning instincts and uncontrolled emotions. ::: ::: HOW I MADE $2,000,000 ON WALL STREET by Nicolas Darvas One of the very best books around, maybe. funk