Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 23-Aug-2016

Quote for the day

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." - Thomas Jefferson

Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 22-Aug-2016

Quote for the day

"Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice." - Anton Chekhov

30 Habits of Wealthy Traders

By Tim Bourquin of Trader Interviews:

1. Wealthy traders are patient with winning trades and enormously impatient with losing trades. - it takes time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable; it's impossible to jump into brain surgery days after med school graduation.

2. Wealthy traders realize that making money is more important then being right. - now, making money is just the material reward of making the right decisions, but not always; protecting the down side is also based on making the right decisions.

3. Wealthy traders look at technical analysis as a picture of where traders are lining up to buy and sell. - seeing where buyers and sellers line up, may be the holy grail of trading IMO.

4. Before they enter any trade they know exactly where they will exit for either a gain or a loss. - I think it goes well with making the right decisions; plan your trades, trade your plan...I hear that every day on the Squawk Radio from Nebraska, Hoag, Eddie, Jayhawk, Bob...

5. Wealthy traders approach trade number 5 with the exact same mind set they did on the 4 previous losing trades. - back to strategy and trade plan; they both have to printable.

6. Wealthy traders use naked charts and focus on zones. - indicators are lagging, but combined with a solid strategy and trade plan could have decent results for beginning traders.

7. Wealthy traders realized a long time ago that being uncomfortable trading is OK. - goes hand in hand with the first statement.

8. The markets they trade fit their personality. They are a participant – not an on-looker. - it takes screen time to find all the pieces of the puzzle.

9. They stopped trying to pick tops and bottoms long ago – and stopped losing money doing so there is an edge trading tops and bottoms question is: does it fit traders personality and trading plan?

10. They stopped thinking about the market being “cheap” or “expensive”. - well, we trade leveraged products at TST.

11. Wealthy traders are willing to change sides, short to long and vice versa when the market tells them to do so. - ego, flexibility, market knowledge, all come together when trading both sides of the market.

12. Wealthy traders trade aggressively when trading well and modestly when they are not. - it is easy to lose site of this aspect of trading and swinging for the fences just because of a hunch is not receipt for success.

13. They realize the market will be open again tomorrow. - setting a daily cash goal will push a trader to over trade, take unnecessary risks which result in random results.

14. Wealthy traders will never add to a losing trade....EVER. - I remember a strategy in a old book of trading: scaling in a trade...right!!! Maybe if you're trading 5 – 10.000 S&P contracts. In my opinion this may be the #1 strategy to clean an account when mixed with ego and false hope.

15. Cash is the target but wealthy traders set goals for their trading that are anything but money. - what a concept! Oh, wait a minute, isn't this the concept TST teaches day in and day out?

16. They read trading books, but they read more “crowd” books too ex: The Wisdom of Crowds, The Art of Strategy, Markets, Mobs & Mayhem. - knowledge is power...it's all I got on this one.

17. They provide liquidity to the markets while watching price and volume. - grasping this idea is beyond me.

18. They have a way to gauge fear, greed and speed of transactions. One way: tick charts.

19. They practice reading the right side of the chart, not the left. - screen time again

20. Every wealthy trades has an “edge”. - Now, that's something new, right? Build a strategy, write a trade plan...could this have something to do with fining an “edge”?

21. Their position size is calculated exactly on risk tolerance. - this reminds me of the AHA moment I had after listening to Greg Weitzman webinar on TST http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V6RQmuVrRA I might say, it was the turning point for my trading plan.

22. Profit targets are based on Average True Range. - noted in my plan

23. One or two trades a month make their month. - Base hits, base hits, base hits...sounds like a broken record, but one must learn to like this broken record.

24. Confident decision makers in the face of incomplete information. - but it's not gambling. To the onlookers, traders are major risk takes, always flippin' the coin. I would call it organised chaos and one needs some fantastic glasses to see the 3D picture: discipline, discipline, discipline.

25. A losing trade is not a reflection on themselves as a trader. - based on my trading plan, out of 10 trading days, I can afford 4 losing days and at the end of a losing day I can say: “well, that's out of the way, now I can concentrate on the upcoming winning day”.

26. Their business isn't trading – it's fining the right trades. - I hear it all the time: “I’m going to try a short here and see what happens, hope for the best”. I know there is no trading plan when “trying” a trade and “praying” it works out. I was there a few months ago.

27. They write down or record every trade: price, thoughts, mood... - some new guy here at TST is putting an emphases on keeping a journal. Don't have time for that? Einstein wrote his thoughts and he was a genius.

28. Their conviction on an active trade remains unless something major changes. - When you have confidence in your trading plan, taking a bad trade is just a way to get to the good trade; recognising trend change helps with not letting winners turn into losers.

29. A winning trade does not result in taking on extra risk the next trade. - Nebraska always says: “trade 1 lot and let the winners build your account” and Dr. Andrew Menaker says: “ winners build confidence”.

30. They trade the reaction not the “news”.

Source: www.topsteptrader.com

Quote for the day

"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." - Carl Jung

39 Behaviors of the Most Likable People

By Andrew Thomas
You can quickly become more charismatic by adopting the traits of the most likeable people.

There are a lucky few born with natural charisma - masters of working a room in seconds with handshakes and laughs. Candidly, I was not the most likeable person in the room during my late teens and early twenties.

I admired the way likeable people made me feel and how others people gravitated toward them. It hit me that our greatest gift is the way we make people feel. I wanted to learn the secrets of their success.

Starting in 2011, I started learning how to be more likeable. The most effective thing I did was notice the behaviours and traits of the most likeable people - and then adopt them as mine own.

Here's a list of 39 things that the most likeable people do on a daily basis - so you can do the same.

The 39 traits of likeable people

1. They actively listen.
2. They make a great first impression.
3. They're accountable for their mistakes.
4. They do what they say they'll do.
5. They treat everyone with respect.
6. They ask questions instead of making assumptions.
7. They laugh.
8. They live for themselves, not to please others.
9. They follow-up.
10. They smile.
11. They remember your name.
12. They offer to help.
13. They aren't afraid to make mistakes.
14. They send thank you notes.
15. They encourage others.
16. They speak slowly and confidently
17. They don't judge you.
18. They apologize.
19. They forgive, but do not forget.
20. They don't speak for you.
21. They know how to give a compliment.
22. They know how to accept a compliment.
23. They tell the truth.
24. They celebrate others.
25. They have good body language.
26. They don't criticize others.
27. They give you their undivided attention.
28. They don't make you feel defensive.
29. They don't take credit for other people's success.
30. They maintain good eye contact.
31. They let you do most of the talking.
32. They know how to have a tough conversation.
33. They admit when they're wrong.
34. They are consistent.
35. They don't interrupt.
36. They're not afraid to be vulnerable.
37. They don't exaggerate.
38. They can laugh at themselves.
39. They're optimistic, without being unrealistic.

This is a way of life

Take notice that these behaviors are all about being a good person and making others feel good. They aren't tactics and tricks. They're a way of life. You will see dramatic change when you make the necessary effort to practice these behaviors and truly adopt them into your daily life.

Putting this into action

Meaningful change is achieved when you consistently make small improvements over time. My results came from focusing on one or two of these behaviors at a time, and practicing them in my interactions until they became a habit. Only then would I move to the next one.

Learning to be likable takes time, self awareness, and practice to authentically mold these behaviors into a natural routine. There are no shortcuts. 

Additional resources

If you don't quite understand these items, then do more research. The two books that helped me the most were "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and "Crucial Conversations" by Al Switzler, Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, and Ron McMillan.

Source: www.inc.com