May 22nd, 2007

Successful Stock Trader Requires Stellar Timing, Experience To Succeed

It takes patience, a good sense of timing, and financial resources to become a successful stock trader. If you have enough money to open a brokerage account, you can see what the market brings you. Trading is similar to gambling in that the action moves quickly and you can make or lose money fast. Trading discipline and prior experience can help prevent investing in the market from being too difficult or painful. In the current markets, longevity means success, so here are a few recommendations on how to keep trading for the long haul.

Investing in the market is easier than being a successful stock trader, since trading requires more time and dedication. Thousands of experts in the stock market devote their careers to trading, and the competition is tough. However, amateur traders do also succeed; when that happens, it’s often due to their knack at setting and adhering to trading rules, as well as to their tolerance for occasional financial setbacks even when they have adhered to the rules.

When people trade with the goal of turning a profit, the bad experience of losing money can be so unnerving that it causes trading discipline to quickly break down. This can lead to irrational decision-making and even more losses as the trader attempts to recoup the losses. A great trader of the 20th century wrote that traders should avoid the vices of fear, hope, and greed.

Basic timing plays an important role in the difference between profit and loss, especially in the myopic world of daytrading. Because most trades are for “fast money,” it’s when such a trade quickly turns into a loss that the need for patience is highest. A trader never wants a trade to become an investment, but it’s also vital to avoid “overtrading” and hangin on one’s own set of trading rules is the finest way to obviate that mistake.

Timing stock, like timing the markets, takes time to learn and master. Observing, and analyzing the amount of stocks traded and it’s price movement, will enable one to learn to observe the moment when it is best to sell the stock. When a trader learns to do this successfully, the cost for a new investor can return a high yield.

Finally, enough capital to be independent is an essential requirement for the successful day trader. Compared to all logistical concerns, the access to funding tends to have the most significant impact as it sets the tone for the trading activity and may have bearing on the final result. At a bare minimum, funding must be sufficient to absorb expected trading losses; however, it is crucial that everyday living expenses do not ever get compromised or dependent on the outcome of a trade. Trading should only use funds that can afford to be lost. As such, an individual that plans to daytrade for a living can plan on tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars of start up costs.

A successful stock trader takes dedication, formulation of rules, stick to them, and prepare loss. It is difficult when things appear not to work and losses are mounting. Decisions become irrational. Fear, hope, and greed are best avoided by trader. Day trading is timing profit and loss. Trading discipline takes patience and following the formula when a trade turns to a loss to avoid “overtrading”. Experience teaches timing and patience, important when timing the market, reading signals, and spotting trends. The amount treaded determines dividends. Can you absorb the losses? When you start trading the largest offset is how much you will invest could make you a Market Wizard.

- Mark Crisp