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You are the sum total of all that you know intellectually and all that you feel emotionally. 

You are the system. 

If you don't like the results you are getting, you either have to change your rules or change you.

Intentions equal results. 

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Commodities have no value per se. There is no valuation basis such as "growth" or "value" in commodity trading. 

Traders learning about commodity trading can get into a great deal of trouble if they try to buy a commodity on a pullback on a "valuation basis."

Saying "I should buy it here because it's pulled back X% and that's a reasonable decrease" will put that trader out of business. 

You can't be "reasonable" with the markets and you can't negotiate your stops. 

The best rules and systems are price-based models that eliminate sub-optimal trades and thereby filter out many of the losers BEFORE a trader would put the trade on. 

How do you lose less? Avoid losing trades in the first place. 

Admittedly, it's a bit of a different mindset at first, but it's possible for traders to trade both asset classes albeit with slightly different rules. 

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It's not about the knowing - it's about the doing. 

If your goals is to be a successful trader, make it a goal and be unrelenting in achieving your goal.

Create a clear vision of yourself succeeding at trading, and take the active steps to go to that vision. 

You don't need any evidence - you don't have any.

You don't even know "how" you'll get there. 

If you don't take the steps, success in trading isn't going to show up because you're a good person. 

Listen to this episode on personal growth and start making the steps you need to hit your goal.

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...you have to be bullish on yourself, to put it in context. 

When you have zero evidence, and no one to support you, and to endeavor something where most people fail, all you have when you listen to your inner voice, is the unwavering confidence that you have in yourself. 

That you're going to make it no matter what, no matter the obstacle, and not knowing how you're going to do it. 

Just take the action and the resources will show up for you on the way. 

But you have to take the first step. 

Nothing is going to happen if just sit and overthink things and wait for the perfect moment. 

You have to take action.

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If the chart you're looking at runs from the lower left corner to the top right corner, it should be on your watch list. 

Many traders who are chart readers "anchor" their outlook to what they feel they missed, rather than where the underlying is going. 

The top right corner of the chart is a function of how the data is coded to appear on your screen, it's not a fundamental or technical call that the move is over by any means. 

If the trend is up, the underlying should be on your watch list. 

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Volatility can change after you put the trade on. That means you may have slightly too much or too little risk on. 

For one trade, it's probably nothing to worry about as long as you have a protective stop in. 

However, it is significant when you look at it over the hundreds or thousands of potential trades you'll make over your career. 

This is especially true when volatility increases significantly, as we've seen the last 3-4 months. 

Listen to this episode and learn what to do when volatility expands after you've put a trade on.

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You can add as many qualifiers to your orders to try and control the environment, but they can work against you too. In the case of Limit orders, you might get your price, but not the size you're looking for. 

Listen to this episode to learn the tradeoffs of using Limit orders or not. 

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For short-term traders, it might make sense to have fast machines, fast screen refresh rates, and maybe low latency to the exchange servers, but for the majority of traders trading from their office or home, it's not about hardware or software. 

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More important than figuring out entries and exits is knowing how to position size. 

Newer trades should focus on this more than anything else. 

Bruce Kovner was quoted in Market Wizards as saying (I'm paraphrasing) whatever you think your position size is, cut it in half, then do it again.

You might not make as much when your trades take off, but it's more important as a trader and speculator to play superior defense. 

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Normally, we want to get filled on our Entries at our Stop price because that's where we've determined we'd like to add the risk - either from our mechanized trading system or by reading the chart.

So it might be surprised or frustrated when you get your executions and your fills are above your Stop price. WTF?

Stop orders become Market orders once they're elected, so there might be several orders (sometimes big ones) in front of you.

Those can push the price beyond your own Stop entry price.

In my experience, when that happens, it's a good thing.

This type of slippage doesn't infer a bad execution on the B/D or FCM's part, but because other buyers are interested at the same levels you are.

Listen to this episode and hear why that can be a good thing.

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