FXstreet.com: Education: Market Psychology

Fear and Excuses Can Create Disaster

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:56:46 GMT

When the market becomes volatile or a series of trades produce loses, it is easy for us to become fearful. We then start to verbalize excuses as to why we even executed those trades or why we use the trading strategy that we use or any of a long list of items. Listen to the author's thoughts We Need To Do What We Have Never Done Before By seeing the areas that we have strengths and keeping them on a path of growth along with honestly working on those areas that need strengthening, each of us

Patience, Preparation and Performance

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:49:09 GMT

Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. With the current volatility of the financial markets, it is extremely important that each of us resolve to be patient in our decisions and not make snap judgments. These can create future disaster. The most successful individuals around the world have a foundation of processes that they utilize consistently, no matter whether the markets are trending with clear direction or being extremely volatile. Each of us needs to be patient and allow the

Is the Grass Really Greener?

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:47:37 GMT

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, yet we still need to cut, weed and water it. There are many aspects of today's society that can cause each of us to not be able to enjoy our successes because we are told to expect more even when we do surpass a target. Sometimes we reach new heights and then beat ourselves up because we could have done better. A trader can become very depressed if they only focus on what they could have made if they would have stayed in longer or

Developing the Trader's Mind: Strategies for Long Term Success - ITC 2008 presentation

rob@robbooker.com (TraderRadio.net) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:06:08 GMT

Summary I’m different. The Market will always come back Heart Of Darkness You have to work on your mind every day Excessive idealism Loss aversion Accumulation Risk & Preference Patience Gratitude Generosity Rob Booker's presentation at the International Traders Conference (ITC), held in Barcelona in October '08

Gaining an Edge with Sentiment Indicators - ITC 2008 presentation

info@fxcm.com (FXCM) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:24:28 GMT

Summary I. Trends – A Produce of Psychology II. Sentiment Indicators III. Elliott Wave Introduction and Setups IV. Speculation as a Fine Art V. Forecasts Jamie Saettele 's presentation at the International Traders Conference (ITC), held in Barcelona in October '08

Decide to Be a Learner

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:11:26 GMT

The world is changing rapidly every day. All financial markets move from a smooth pathway to a very volatile environment in the blink of an eye. For each of us to continue to reach and exceed our goals and objectives, we cannot sit still. If we think that we are educated and expect to sit back and just use that knowledge to achieve what we desire, then we are going to receive a big surprise. Only when we decide to continue learning will we stay on a pathway of continued success. Listen to the

Change Is Always A Challenge

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:01:15 GMT

As traders it is so easy to criticize our trading strategy when results do not meet our expectations. The last thing we want to do is acknowledge that we might be making mistakes. However, rarely does a proven trading strategy continuously deliver poor results without the discovery of a trader making changes in the steps due to unproven gut feelings, revenge tactics, fear, greed and so many other emotions that arise when we try to outsmart the market. For all of us to enhance our skills and

Being In Control Requires A Decision

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:59:25 GMT

Our thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, habits and character are what determine our destiny. As a trader, each of us needs to decide that we will be in control of each and every session. We must understand and accept that the way we respond to great successes as well as disappointing losses has a huge impact on how we approach our next trading session. Trading is a skill that we add knowledge and new objectives on a daily basis. If we stand still, the market will become more difficult to

You Will Never Get Wet Unless You Jump In

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:53:14 GMT

We all can probably remember a time early in our life when we were standing on the edge of a pool or a boat dock and being encouraged to jump in. We waited and waited and sometimes never jumped in or maybe we jumped in immediately. Those same feelings are still with us today when we trade. The world around us has a way of instilling indecisiveness in executing trades or exiting trades. If we have developed a proven process of risk management, money management and a strategy that has been

Evolution of a hedge fund manager

editor@traders-journal.com (The Trader's Journal) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:35:07 GMT

This article is taken from the Trader's Journal magazine (Aug 2008 issue) The author, Kevin Teeple has appeared as a featured expert on CNN, Bloomberg, the FOX Network in addition to the NASDAQ’s market site in New York City. Days after the attack on the World Trade Center, Kevin was honored to be one of a select few appearing on the CNN Financial Network to respond to the questions and concerns of Americans regarding their investments, the market and the economy. Kevin Teeple shares the steps

Don't Let Fear Conquer You

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:09:58 GMT

Fear is a very powerful emotion and in trading it can lead us to large errors if we allow it to do so. If we truly understand that every trade we make will bring about one of two results - a profit or a loss - and not make it any bigger than that, then we will be way ahead of most traders. Whether we win or lose, the main factor is whether we followed our trading strategy or not. If we did, then we must not let fear overtake us and keep us from taking the next trade or possibly making major

Small Steps Lead to Better Things

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:45:44 GMT

It is always easy to hesitate, to slow down or to even quit. However, many of us might be looking at situations and being more concerned with the possible outcome instead of the potential growth and learning that we will receive. All great successes start with the first step, the first action and even possibly the first loss. Don't allow yourself to see a small step as a barrier. Let's make the decision to wake up each day and take new steps, no matter how small they may be. the results will

Are You Creative?

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:44:08 GMT

Creativity allows each of us to approach life with new thoughts and ideas. Everyone is creative. The struggle comes when we do not recognize and accept that we have creativity inside of us and ignore the talent and actions that we are capable of achieving. Successful individuals will always strive to think outside of the box and try something new to enhance their proven methods. In trading we each need to apply our proven strategy with new ideas that are creative. If you change the way you

Use Circumstances to Build Discipline

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:33:34 GMT

One of the greatest stumbling blocks to achieving success in the important aspects of life is circumstances. We seem to use them to get us off track or keep us from continuing to the end. On the other hand, successful people use circumstances to drive them towards their goals. As a trader, we all need to understand that there will be times when things arise that could easily cause us to make huge errors, become lazy in our decisions or even quit. Instead, let's use the bumps in the road to

Be An Achiever

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:35:22 GMT

Every day we trade we experience challenges that can disrupt our session. These include the market movement, the economic outlook, our emotions, our attitude and so much more. These items can cause us to do many things. including quitting. However, the achiever recognizes all challenges when they arise and then adjusts so as to continue to move forward. For all of us as traders, we need to never allow challenges to keep us from growing and becoming better at what we do. We need to use

Decide to Believe

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:53:59 GMT

People all around the world desire to have better things happen in their life. The interesting fact is that many of them have had better things happen; however they just did not stop to enjoy it. As traders, we need to evaluate how we are doing and then if we are doing well. enjoy it. If we are not, then we need to be courageous enough to adjust. Change is good if we believe in ourselves. Belief is the strongest element of any journey. Traders who believe will always perform better than those

Trading and Emotions

fxquestions@forex-trends.com (Forex-Trends.com) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:34:41 GMT

Psychological factors about the trading are well covered in the books, articles and in all sorts of media information and in this article all the ideas about emotions, caused by the “mad” movements of the market, probably will not be new, but solutions how to deal with them for some traders could be a discovery. I am not pretending to be a wizard of the market, but what helps me could help others as well. Let me first express my opinion, what any trading strategy or investment plan, no matter

Back to the Future

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:50:34 GMT

If you could go back in time to the very first day you began trading, would you do anything different? What if you had the knowledge you had right now after months or years of trading experience. Would you make some changes? By analyzing what we do and what results we are getting and then being open to changing our habits or actions, we will always have a better opportunity for enhancing our skills. So, let's go "Back to the Future" and look at what we might want to do if we decide to re-start

Winning and Losing are Both Part of the Power of Probabilities

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:28:44 GMT

Winning, Losing, Money and Success are just a few of the many aspects of life that people use to determine the worth of others as well as themselves. In reality, it is not these results, but how we respond to them that will make our journey one that we enjoy and desire to continue doing, or whether we quit. As a trader, the understanding of probabilities and how to make them work for us instead of against us will provide great power for you as you move forward in your trading career. Listen to

What Do We Do Now?

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:22:14 GMT

How long do we wait to get started when we face something new? Are we being held captive by the desire to have everything perfect before we begin? Do we want to be sure that we will not have any problems or failures before we get going? The only thing that can keep us from experiencing success in trading is to not trade at all. Don't allow yourself to stop trading, or quit using a strategy or never trading with real money because of the numerous mind games that we play waiting for the perfect

Focus on the Bulls Eye

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:20:33 GMT

Every day that we trade, we need to ensure that we have a specific goal in mind. Without any goals, we will never know if we had a successful trading session or not. Profit is not the only indicator for success. The best traders continue to fine tune their goals and the target gets smaller and smaller. If you aim for the bulls eye, even if you miss, you still end up with a good result, because when you aim small even if you make an error, those errors are also small. Listen to the author's

The Power of Fear

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:31:33 GMT

Fear can be a very powerful emotion, yet for some it can cause disaster and for others it drives them towards new levels of success. As a trader we need to analyze and understand what causes us to be fearful when we trade and how it affects us. Then we need to use that emotion of fear to move us to become a better trader. Listen to the author's thoughts

Decide To Believe That You Can

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:28:32 GMT

Emotions can be a roller coaster for some and a gentle road for others. Successful traders make a conscious decision that no matter what happens during their trading session they will stay calm and in control. If you truly believe that you can do something, it is amazing how successful you can become. Trading takes belief abd when you finally decide that you CAN do this, you have taken the first step towards growth and higher levels of success. Listen to the author's thoughts

A trader's Guide to Stress and Coping

editor@forexjournal.com (The Forex Journal) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:19:34 GMT

This article is taken from the Forex Journal (June 2008 issue). The author, Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D. is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY and author of The Psychology of Trading (Wiley, 2003). As Director of Trader Development for Kingstree Trading, LLC in Chicago, he has mentored numerous professional traders and coordinated a training program for traders. Brett N. Steenbarger helps us understand the

Your P.R.I.M.E.R for Successful Trading

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:23:50 GMT

All successful traders know what they need to do and then they just do it. Their monetary results are not the focus for them. It is the process and the ability to follow it consistently that keeps them at the top of the trading world. Each of us must learn how to prepare and proceed with direction and conviction. When we do this, we will see continued growth and confidence in our trading sessions Listen to the author's thoughts

Just Be Yourself

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:45:32 GMT

Success in all aspects of life seem to follow those who do not try to act like someone else, but rather have a foundation of knowing who they are and act in that manner. Many traders seem to want to act like other traders who have recently had a string of successes instead of being committed to their own strategy and trading style. To be the best we can and have consistent success in trading takes a devotion and passion to learning our strengths and weaknesses and applying our skills to match

Fix Your Eyes Forward and Not In The Past

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:19:36 GMT

Some of the greatest successes have been accomplished not long after a person had reached the end of their rope. They had been beat down so much they had their backs to the wall and were ready to quit. but they did not. Trading can easily cause us to get to this point unless we decide that when we hit the most difficult times in our trading is the exact time when we can emerge with more power and passion than every before. Give yourself a push and decide what you truly want to accomplish and

Tomorrow is Too Late

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:18:18 GMT

Trading has many ups and downs and can easily cause us to feel defeated. However, defeat can only be disastrous if we classify it as disastrous. Losses, defeats, failures, etc. have been a part of history for every person who has reached high levels of success. The difference with the successful people is that they analyze the situation immediately. Those that tend to fade away are those that wait until tomorrow or maybe never to review and discover why the results were not what they expected.

Trading In the Eye Of The Storm

editor@forexjournal.com (The Forex Journal) — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:07:22 GMT

Trading In the Eye Of The Storm This article is taken from the Forex Journal (April 2008 issue). The author, Daniel M. Gramza, is President of Gramza Capital Management, Inc. and DMG Advisors, LLC. He is a trader, consultant to domestic and international clients and an advisor to the St. Croix hedge funds. An excerpt from Daniel Gramza’s book The Thought Demons of Traders Once you understand the process of thought choice, thought energizing, and the impact both have, it becomes easier to

A 3-Step Approach for Growth

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:50:25 GMT

The best growth and learning comes from seeing our challenges, hurdles and problems as a way to get better at what we do. Most traders have the right strategy and tools, but they have not taken the time to analyze some of the difficult times to see how and what they can learn from these situations to become a better trader. Let's look at 3 steps you can do to ensure that you are on the right path. Listen to the author's thoughts

The Beach Ball

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:29:57 GMT

Have you ever tried to hold a beach ball under the water? You might be successful for few moments, however it only takes a small change in how you are holding it to make it burst up out of the water, hit you in the face and splash you all over. Sometimes, we as traders try to hold the beach ball under the water. We want the big success, the big win, the huge profits, etc. in a short timeframe. This rarely happens. What are your current trading traits? What do you expect of yourself? Are you

The Daffodil Principle

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:27:54 GMT

Trading success takes discipline, passion and continuous learning just to name a few. One additional area that seems to be evident in all traders that keep enhancing their skills and their profits is the ability to ask good questions of themselves and then to apply the answers immediately. To reach new goals takes new steps that must start now and are not delayed until tomorrow. Listen to the author's thoughts

The Measuring Stick

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:27:40 GMT

What do you use to measure your success after a trading session? If you are like most, your success or failure will be determined by the amount of profit you made or lost. If that is what you do, you are missing out on one of the greatest aspects of your growth. We all need to be more than just disciplined with our trading tools; we need to be devoted to trading. Eliminate greed and you will enhance your skills faster Listen to the author's thoughts

The Power of a Safety Net

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:27:26 GMT

If you attempt a challenge without a safety net, you have the possibility of serious catastrophe if you do not receive the results you expected. In trading, we strive to make high probability trades, however the market can turn against our well planned execution. If we do not have a safety net in place, we can experience an "Account Blow Out". The successful trader always plans properly for all possibilities so that they will not be taken out of the game and lose the opportunity to trade

Building a Winning Momentum

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:27:03 GMT

History has recorded many great winning streaks. Whether they were made in business, team sports, individual sports or other areas, they all had some common characteristics. They had a strong foundation, a belief in what they were doing and they took it one step at a time. In trading, we can develop a winning streak if we decide to not always categorize winning with profits. Success brings about more success, however if we decide we are a failure, then failure can also bring about more

The Miracle on Ice

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:26:48 GMT

The Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Olympics was an amazing story. That hockey team did not just win because they were good. They won because after a lot of hard work and frustration, they all realized that they had to do something different than everyone. They had to expect nothing but the best!. Through training and belief, they accomplished what many said could not be done. A successful trader can accomplish what many say cannot be done if they decide to accept nothing but the best from

Commit to... "A Little Bit More"

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:26:35 GMT

The most successful people in any area of life seem to do what most others also do, but then they do "A Little Bit More". In trading, many of our friends and associates who do not trade will try and convince us to quit. This is mainly because they have found that they cannot do what you do. Don't allow this to change your goals. Keep on doing what it takes. Listen to the author's thoughts

The Mental Side - Method Commitment & Mentoring Approach

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:26:21 GMT

Our mental attitude is a powerful force that we need to harness. If we will dedicate ourselves to being more aware of where our mindset is each day, practice and study our trading method and continually participate in the mentoring opportunities that we have available, each of us will enhance our skills and performance in trading. Listen to the author's thoughts

Are You Focused?

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:26:06 GMT

For each of us to continue to enhance our trading skills we need to remain focused on our commitments to both the technical and mental side of trading. When you do this, you will experience a clear picture of continued growth in your trading success. Listen to the author's thoughts

How Do You Approach Trading?

admin@tradingpostfinancial.com (www.TradingPostFinancial.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:25:52 GMT

The way that we approach our trading has a major impact on the potential success that we can achieve? Don't allow the critics in your world to cause you to quit. Listen to the author's thoughts