New traders get knocked out of the game because they don’t take their stops. You probably heard that 5000 times if you spent even one hour researching the topic of trading. As a matter of fact, there is even a special division of hell saved just for traders who don’t take their stops in case you weren’t aware of that. But here’s another one for you and perhaps my favorite saying. Experienced traders go broke because they do take their stops. 

There is a right way and a wrong way to handle the placement and management of your stops. More money is likely lost in trading through not understanding this concept than anything else in my humble opinion. That’s why it’s a big part of what I teach. I’m not sure I can ever get into that much in one of these podcasts as it is a very detailed part of learning to trade. But regardless of whether you do it right or wrong there always ends up being that moment in time where you have to hit the exit button, or have to pick that exact number to the penny which will be your automatic exit. What I want to talk about in this podcast is what happens when you decide to let your stop go. Even one penny. This is perhaps the utmost important of topics going into the rest of this year.

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This episode has two purposes. First it is to set the record straight about what many traders use as excuses for their own poor trading. The list is long and most of them are fallacies and to the extent any are real, they are always fixable by the trader. Second, it is important as a mental concept to take responsibility for everything you do. When you simply blame some abstract concept, it prevents you from finding the real cause of the problem.

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When you start listening to this podcast you will hear the actual quote about rules and expectations. That quote actually comes from Mark Douglas, who is the author of the book called Trading in the Zone. But I want to expand on the discussion quite a bit because I feel it is at the heart of issues for new traders, and oftentimes for moderately developed traders. I am also going to start with my take on trading books and a couple of recommendations.

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This is definitely what I consider to be one of those “soft” topics when it comes to trading. It actually is about the learning process that we go through as humans and applies to everything, it was not actually designed as a discussion for traders. It’s a fairly well-known concept so forgive me if you heard it before. It is nothing I invented but I feel it is unusually applicable to traders and to learning the process of how to trade. It can also help your development if you understand what level you are at in the learning process.

Here's a link to learn more:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/publicdownloads/The%20R%20Unit.pdf

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

To learn more, visit:
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Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
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Yes, there are two very different comments about common sense in the markets. We need to draw a very hard line between preparing yourself for exactly what you want to do in the world of trading / investing, and then what you do to make money. If you are listening to this podcast or reading this, you’re probably an exceptional person. And you got to be exceptional by using a certain amount of common sense. Not falling for hyperbole, and always thinking for yourself to a large degree. That kind of common sense is critical when you prepare yourself to trade, to avoid all of the scams and general wrong thinking that is out there about making money in the market. However, once you are involved in making money in the market, common sense has no place whatsoever. The market is run by a different set of rules that revolve around the supply of money coming in and out of any market, sector, or any individual stock. You can scream all you want about all the common-sense reasons why a stock should be going up, but if it’s dropping, somebody is selling. Someone who either knows more than you, or simply doesn’t care because it’s time to sell.

Here's a link to learn more:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/publicdownloads/The%20R%20Unit.pdf

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

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http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
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A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true because someone believes or expects it to come true. This concept is very alive and well in trading. I actually refer to it quite often and it’s not always in a negative way. It has its place in certain situations, although it has a very “soft” use. It sort of gets into the concept of subjective versus objective. A few Podcasts back I talked about the difference between subjective and objective when it comes to trading in general, but this is specifically regarding what we look at for price action. This is more of a technical discussion in case you’re not all that in tune yet with technical analysis.

Here are the charts to follow:

Chart 1:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uCNXj_baAaRYM_NY_zkbBsK_rhR0iMMS/view?usp=drive_link

Chart 2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dxleeVAhUFEzRez9h_CiQzqQaBUOfQJS/view?usp=drive_link

Here's a link to learn more:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/publicdownloads/The%20R%20Unit.pdf

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange/

This podcast is about the difference between being “long” stock positions and being “short” stock positions. It’s going to come to you at several different levels. I find a lot of new traders don’t even understand or are not even familiar with the concept of being “short”. I want to explain what it is and discuss two unbelievable myths about “short selling”. I also want to explain why it needs to be a part of your arsenal no matter what time frame you trade. I also want to discuss the advantages of shorting over being long when everything else is equal.

Here are the charts to follow:

Chart 1:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BnDac7f33YJ_-eDtO4cB9IldFYeQImmd/view?usp=sharing

Chart 2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Isl2ifmoIuZhnbZrDeAGx8o-GcOGMtzj/view?usp=sharing

Here's a link to learn more:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/publicdownloads/The%20R%20Unit.pdf

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange/

Okay, this may be a little bit of a boring topic for a podcast. At least to the average person. However, as I have mentioned in some prior podcasts, oftentimes these boring topics are the most important when it comes down to the final strokes of making a good living in the market. I also have to continue to remind myself that while some of these topics seem obvious and boring, to many new traders they are completely new and a lack of understanding of some of these concepts will make it impossible to make money consistently. This will start off defining exactly what we mean by “the risk unit”, and then discuss how it permeates through all of your trading.

Here's a link to learn more:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/publicdownloads/The%20R%20Unit.pdf

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange/

Lack of patience is probably one of the greatest trader-killers out there. If that grabs your attention, it should. In my experience, when a trader starts to develop technical skill and starts to potentially become profitable, it is the lack of patience that ends their career. Lack of patience is related closely to FOMO and they are both concepts that you need to handle if you truly want to be a disciplined trader. Without discipline you will lose. Understand that first you need the technical skill, but oftentimes traders with the technical skill don’t have the discipline to do what they know (or should know) they are supposed to do.

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange/

Don’t let the title fool you, this has great information. If you are going to learn how to trade, there are many pitfalls. There are enough natural pitfalls out there, like the fact that trading is counter-intuitive. But there are ‘man-made’ pitfalls as well. Most everything you view, read, or hear will be incorrect. Some through ignorance, some through design.

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff/

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange/