Trader Mindset

You need a great deal of help when you're getting started. That doesn't mean you have to give away the house in order to get it.

For one, I'll help you as much as I can with what I know that will save you time and money.

Second, pay as you go compensation plans have the most flexibility, as opposed to "you were here at the beginning, there are two of us, so you get 50%." That's a bad deal.

When you align your goals with your overall behavior, you'll have harmony in your life and business.

Coach your clients about what they should expect. It will save you tons of time in work and having to explain things, and in the process make you look like a pro.

It's the differences that sell. Your potential clients are looking for more than just performance from you.

Spend some time taking notes on this episode if you're looking to get new assets from potential clients.

There are a ton of moving parts to your trading business. Pick your partners carefully - sometimes you can't unwind things as fast as you set them up.

Everyone flirts hard to get your business and the best deal you can strike is on the day you walk in the front door - it only gets worse after that - and that's why people change firms.

Measure 8 times and cut once.

If volatility increases while you have an existing position on, you should probably cut the size of the trade down to reflect the new vol.

Market vol is increasing due to higher level of discomfort and uncertainty, but don't go adding new indicators now. They're not as telling as you'd think.

In this episode, Michael Martin discusses the various reasons you might consider to add short selling to your portfolio.

You can short sell for real returns, or you can use it to cut the vol in your long-only strategy.

If you enter a short sale late as can happen with breakouts to the downside, you might have it rally in your face before it becomes meaningfully profitable.

In today's episode, Michael Martin discusses one way that you can enter the market short with a more improved entry - and potentially less risk.

The most valuable information is not necessarily the recent data.

Michael Martin discusses what you can learn from a historical chart. Names mentioned CMGI, Munder Net Net Fund, Vertical Net, Cronos, Bitcoin, and Cisco.

Most rookies are looking to take profits when the have a winning trade. Professionals look to continue riding the trend for all it's worth. As I've said here before, inexperienced traders need the boost to their self-esteem by posting smaller wins to validate their behavior as traders. Small or not, a win is a win and that's what's important to them. We advocate something that takes a little more evolution.

I have found in almost 30 years of teaching that a trader's unwillingness to add to winners is more of an uncomfortable, emotional problem than it is to understand the math involved.

Like any behavior, it takes some getting used to, but if you do it enough times, you can make it a good habit and replace the bad habit of having price targets.