Trading is often very lonely, sure there's the people on Twitter or WhatsApp group you chat to - but mostly that's wild and wooly and not really any support. Your friends and partner are likely not much help either as frankly they don't truly get what you do or the pressures involved.
So we need a trading buddy, not just to keep us sane - but also to keep us honest and help us when we need it. we can use them to vent as required but even more importantly we give them access to our trading account for two reasons.
The real hard part is finding this trading buddy. Check around your circle of friends, try Twitter and other forums and be very selective when choosing.
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I want to aim this mostly at the newbie traders. Those who've been flirting with the idea of trading for ages. Maybe you've tried your hand at it but failed or perhaps you haven't dipped your toe into the water as yet.
Trading is not hard, the psychology is hard, but there are ways to deal with that.
First find a strategy you think makes sense, then start working on it. Test it with hundreds of back tested paper trades. Tweak as required and test again, rinse and repeat until you have something that seems to have a profitable edge. This may take you weeks of manual work - that's fine.
Then when you have something that seems to work, start with a small amount of money. Small as this will help reduce the stress.
Set the rules and risk management and get trading. Track your performance, your perfect trades and keep a journal. Importantly change NOTHING about the system. Ideally you should trade the exact same system for the entire 2018. If it is losing money badly, then your testing was bad. But by the end of 2018 you'll ideally have a working trading strategy and you can start increasing the portfolio size.
Point is start and have modest expectations. Aim to break even in year one - that's winning.
Online resources;
My grandfather introduced me to markets in the 80's and one of his key sayings was "when it's time to panic, panic fast".
When bad news breaks (yes we looking at you CIL) and a stock crashes the immediate response is that it's too late to do anything. Maybe, but often times the will be continued weakness because news and response is not instant. It takes time for everybody to respond. The bigger issue is if the news markedly changes a view and saying the damage is done is not an answer.
This is especially true if the issue is management related and also in cyclical and small/mid cap stocks.
Importantly I am not talking about panicking when the market crashes. This is about exiting a stock forever and moving on until it proves its bonafides again. Selling crashes is nice in theory but never works. Stocks are different because they can go to zero worse case or spend years, decades, forever languishing around little or nothing.
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JSEDirect is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.
Brait (JSE code: BAT) has valued their UK New Look business at zero. They paid R37billion just under two years ago. Woolies* (JSE code: WHL) and Famous Brands* (JSE code: FBR) both struggling with big deals and now Firstrand (JSE code: FSR) spending some R20billion buying Aldermore.
How many big deal really work? Sure they work eventually, but at what cost and never as management promised.
I suspect it has two key problem. Firstly they buyer typically over pays in their eagerness to get the assets, this is especially true when the target is listed and the premium has to be agreed on by shareholders and is hence usually 20%-30% or more. Secondly merging two business is never easy. Some easy wins such as centralised costs like HR can be lowered, but actually extracting value a lot harder. The third of course is the ego of management. Who wants to be boss of some regional business when you can be a global titan over seeing a vast network of losses?
My memory says very few ever work very well. Have you got some examples of large deals working? SABMiller worked, BHPBilliton* (JSE code: BIL) worked. Any others?
JSE – The JSE is a registered trademark of the JSE Limited.
JSEDirect is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.
Your trading system is one of the least important parts of a successful traders arsenal. Yes you need one and yes it need to be profitable. But it is not what is going to make you the money. That will be your discipline, your money and risk management - this is your trading edge.
So stop trying to find the best system in the world. Stop tweaking your system every tine it loses some money and stop jumping from one system to another.
Find a system that makes money, test it and learn to trust it. Become the absolute pro at the system and then trade it; unemotionally and with discipline.
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JSE – The JSE is a registered trademark of the JSE Limited.
JSEDirect is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.