war and peace

"you are losing money!"

"see, you are losing money!"

"you are losing!"

"you are wrong!"

"wrong, wrong, wrong!!!"

"loss, loss, loss!!!"

"losing money!"

"you have left money on the table"

"you have missed out"

"you are left out"

"left out! left out"

"money, money, money"

........some of the noises

that play in the head of an unstable trader

but are absent

from that of a professional.

how to kill fear of trade!

fear blocks knowledge

so, operators use fear.

--

as aristotle said,

"nobody loves the man whom he fears."

same is true for trading also

"nobody loves the trade which he fears."

--

but the reverse is also brutally true

"nobody fears the man whom he loves"

and

"nobody fears the trade which he loves"

--

the biggest risk

"if you are not able to put on a trade
without the least bit of emotional discomfort
then you have not learnt
how to accept the risks inherent in trading.

this creates a major paradox because
to whatever degree you have not accepted the risk
is the same degree to which you will avoid risk

trying to avoid something that is unavoidable
will have disastrous effects
on your ability to trade successfully.

when you have learned the skill of risk acceptance,
the market will not be able to generate information
that you define or interpret as painful.

learning to accept risk is a trading skill, the
most important skill you can learn."

- (trading in the zone)

================================

not taking risk can be the biggest risk a trader takes!

accepting risk

trading is risky.

so, all traders, by that definition, can claim to have taken risk.

but there is difference between

'taking' risk

and 'accepting' risk.

if you 'take' risk without 'accepting' what all can come with it

you are fake

and destined to be knocked out

by market forces.

but, on the contrary

if you enter a trade

while 'accepting' the risk and hence the likelihoods

you can withstand the market stress

and survive its bluffs.

consistency

you can't be 

consistently profitable

in trading!

but you can

definitely be

consistently net-profitable

in trading!!!

and that

should be

your aim.

trading in the zone (summary of ebook)

http://tradersbase.com/backup/ebooks/summarytradinginthezone.pdf

trading commandments from a samurai

trading is a lonely war
fought by we traders
everyday!

given below are some select precepts
from
The Dokkodo ("The Path of Aloneness" or "The Way to be Followed Alone")
written by Miyamoto Musashi
a great sumurai warrior
a week before he died in 1645.

after every commandment
i have given my interpretation/adaptation of it
for trading.

==

1. “Accept everything just the way it is.”
= accept the market reality in front of you.

2. “Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.”
= don't trade for pleasure

3. “Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.”
= don't jump or out of trade on shallow half-baked impulsive feelings.

4. “Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.”
= don't take your trading skills too seriously, take the ability of market to surprise seriously.

5. “Be detached from desire your whole life long.”
= make money, but don't let money make you.

6. “Do not regret what you have done.”
= smile at your mistake, laugh off your profit.

7. “Never be jealous.”
= what you've got is good and enough and incomparable

8. “Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.”
= a loss is never final. it either stays back as lesson or returns as profit.

9. “Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.”
= accept the reality, keep the power with yourself by not complaining.

10. “In all things have no preferences.”
= don't measure your profit or loss, just measure them by the lesson or experience.

11. “Do not act following customary beliefs.”
= dare to think!

12. “Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.”
= a handful of tools are enough if you are willing to submit.

13. “Do not fear death.”
= do not fear unforeseen loss.

14. “Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.”
= don't trade under pressure to accumulate profit. if you remain alive, markets will always be there. just keep learning the game.

15. “Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.”
= respect luck, acknowledge god's blessing, but don't drag them in the market.

16. “You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.”
= loss is honourable if the fighter is worthy.

17. “Never stray from the Way.”
= rise again!