To: lightfoot who wrote (52854 ) 2/5/1999 10:20:00 PM From: Tae Spam Kim Respond to of 119973
Here's a short piece on the importance of trading risk control: The most important thing about doing short term trading is risk control. That means SETTING AND KEEPING your stop losses. Since my account is not that large, I usually put about 1/3 of my equity in a stock at a time. This let's me play about 3 positions concurrently. By limiting myself to three stocks, it forces me to pick the cream of the crop. Moreover since it's 33% of my equity, multiple bad trades that hit their stop losses will not ruin me. Also if I have almost 100% conviction on a trade (this happens maybe once or twice a year), I am willing to put 100% my equity in one trade for a short term period. But that is only if I am almost 100% sure that the trade will work out. On ANY TRADING, set your stop losses and SELL when your stock hits them. DO NOT let your losses run, by doing so, it's a sure way to financial ruin. Another point is to STAY HUMBLE about the markets. Even if you're on a tremendous hot streak, the market can BLOW YOU AWAY in one trade, one minute, one day. It's also important to have a set of investors/traders you can trust and share information with another. No one person alone can assimilate all the opportunities out there. Fortunately I've found that quality serious investing community on my stock investing website. I'm up almost 100% so far this year, but I'm contantly trying not to let it get to my head. I'm proud that I've been sticking to my 33% per stock/trade rule and cutting my losses immediately. Trading is hard work. It takes discipline. But if you set the right rules and think rationally, and do the right type of research with others.. you CAN succeed. -Tae Kim