Trader Mindset

You enter and exit the market with stop orders.

No need to be anal and use Limit orders - they make the order less liquid. Your goal is to let the market come to you. Trading otherwise is impulsive.

Love yourself and stop looking at 10 minute bars. There's nothing material there. Trading is about making money, not the action. Buying and selling is not trading.

Sometimes the best trades are ones you don't get filled on.

Don't chase the market.

If it stalls, you'll go head-first into the back end of it.

Use protective stop orders 100% of the time.

Trail the market with stops in winning trades and reinvest your gains into the stop order.

Your stop price is the point where you are willing to transfer the risk to someone else.

You are not smart enough to have price targets. Humans suck at prediction.

Technical analysis is no more scientific than economics at large.

Timing has as much to do with your success as does your trading process.

Just because you have a system, does not mean that you will begin harvesting cash.

The markets must be amenable and compatible with the rules that you are going to deploy.

This is true if you are a credit option trader also. Selling option premier doest not mean you will keep it.

Monte Carlo your system to see how it would have done if you vary the start date.

The trading year typically doesn't start on January 1… Features are not benefits…

You don't need to program "hot keys" or the buttons on your mouse.

I don't have real-time quotes.

Timing has as much to do with your success as does your trading process.

Just because you have a system, does not mean that you will begin harvesting cash.

The markets must be amenable and compatible with the rules that you are going to deploy.

This is true if you are a credit option trader also. Selling option premier doest not mean you will keep it.

Monte Carlo your system to see how it would have done if you vary the start date.

The trading year typically doesn't start on January 1… Features are not benefits…

You don't need to program "hot keys" or the buttons on your mouse.

I don't have real-time quotes.

You need to monitor your mental health, your amount of sleep, and your diet.

Don't be afraid to take a mental health day to reset.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

You need to monitor your mental health, your amount of sleep, and your diet.

Don't be afraid to take a mental health day to reset.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

You are responsible for all your success and failure.

That type of integrity will need to manifest in how you handle money - your money and your client money - your investments and your trades.

Until you backtest, you don't know your numbers. You need to know the expected value of a trade. You need to know what the probability is of your risk of ruin.

You can't get this without a simulator or backtesting software. If you have talked yourself into the Johnny Cochran logic of "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," (no basis in law) you have sold yourself on an outcome that is not based on 100% integrity and is not a 360 degree outlook.

Your success as a trader will come from your knowledge of yourself - what you know, what you think, and how you feel.

You have to own everything you do and that includes all the results of the trades you take and the ones you don't.

You are responsible for all your success and failure.

That type of integrity will need to manifest in how you handle money - your money and your client money - your investments and your trades.

Until you backtest, you don't know your numbers. You need to know the expected value of a trade. You need to know what the probability is of your risk of ruin.

You can't get this without a simulator or backtesting software. If you have talked yourself into the Johnny Cochran logic of "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," (no basis in law) you have sold yourself on an outcome that is not based on 100% integrity and is not a 360 degree outlook.

Your success as a trader will come from your knowledge of yourself - what you know, what you think, and how you feel.

You have to own everything you do and that includes all the results of the trades you take and the ones you don't.

The sum total of all your trading activity will accumulate in your track record. You can be successful and be making a great deal of money right now, but you still might not be a good fit for a particular allocator.

I know a few traders with 20+ years who cannot get big allocations in today's environment b/c their results are too volatile.

These traders have their own models and have been trading the same asset class in mostly the same manner for 2 decades.

Allocators are looking for very low daily vol today. Your daily volatility will increase due to market forces as well as the relative strength of your attachment to your rules.

You have to do your own simulations, backtesting, and research. This is an ongoing process.

Markets will evolve - so will you and your model will need to keep pace also.

And you thought that you can buy someone else's trading rules and make a career?

The sum total of all your trading activity will accumulate in your track record. You can be successful and be making a great deal of money right now, but you still might not be a good fit for a particular allocator.

I know a few traders with 20+ years who cannot get big allocations in today's environment b/c their results are too volatile.

These traders have their own models and have been trading the same asset class in mostly the same manner for 2 decades.

Allocators are looking for very low daily vol today. Your daily volatility will increase due to market forces as well as the relative strength of your attachment to your rules.

You have to do your own simulations, backtesting, and research. This is an ongoing process.

Markets will evolve - so will you and your model will need to keep pace also.

And you thought that you can buy someone else's trading rules and make a career?

With options you can bet where you think something is going to go and also where it might not.

You can backtest and simulate option strategies for outright directional trades as well as multiple option positions.

This includes butterflies and condors.

Love the VIX? Don't fall in love...

You can create a vol trade around any instrument and perhaps better manage your risk.

Tony Saliba's new book shows you how you can do with while minimizing your risk. (I published the book).

Click here to get Tony Saliba's new book for free.

If you are interested in studying this further, you can study with Tony AND get access to his proprietary options trading simulator.