Do You Have Discipline In Your Corner?

Congratulations go to the New England Patriots for winning this year's Super Bowl. It is perhaps a mixed blessing for investors, as any time a team from the American Football Conference (AFC) wins the Super Bowl, the stock market closes lower for the year. Although, I think investing on the outcome of a football game is not going to get you to where you want to be financially.

Of all the tools available to the trader, none is more important than his or her own mind! Lack of mental discipline has to be a significant cause of losses in the marketplace. Why else would traders with years of experience and reliable systems fail to be consistent winners? Show a 6-year-old child a chart and he will tell you if a market is going up or down by simple observation. Yet, 80% or 90% of all traders end up as losers. The market doesn't beat you, you beat yourself! You are your own worst enemy!

Challenges To Your Mental Discipline

Challenges of a trader's mental discipline exist in many areas of the marketplace and appear in many different forms. Virtually every trader who has spent any amount of time in the commodity business has experienced one or more of the following upsets to his mentality: Continue reading "Do You Have Discipline In Your Corner?"

Be Honest With Your Answers To These Two Questions...

Today's Guest blogger is Norman Hallett from The Disciplined Trader, and today he's challenged us to answer two very tough questions that ALL traders should sit down and think about. They have to do with our mental approach and Norman's one of the best at helping traders.

These are the first two questions of a 10 question quiz.  If you want to see where you stand as a disciplined trader (or lack of it!) then take the whole 10-question quiz. It won't take much time and it's free. He's looking forward to your answers and comments!

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The following 2 questions will conjure up different visions for each person. The idea is to relate to certain trading experiences and what actually happened in such situations-not what sounds like the best answer. Moreover, if a described situation has not yet been experienced, try to make an honest appraisal of how you would act. Again, not what sounds correct but how you think you would actually correct. Remember, being a successful trader requires continuous and almost brutal self-appraisal.

There are no “perfectly disciplined” traders.  But there are many traders who come close.  This quiz is meant to help you assess where you are in your quest to be The Disciplined Trader and help you to identify areas that you may want to improve upon… because the way to maximize your potential as a trader is BE The Disciplined Trader, and adhere to your tested trading plan without hesitation.

The following are the first 2 questions (and answers).

Continue reading "Be Honest With Your Answers To These Two Questions..."