The Instincts of a Successful Trader

by Rich Hamilton
March 15th, 2008

It’s generally accepted that to be successful in stock trading we need to hold rising stocks for as long as possible and sell losers quickly. This is summed up in the trading maxim:

“Cut your losses and let your profits run.”

Do you have the instincts of a successful trader? Most people don’t. It’s not so much that they hate uncertainty – but they hate losing.

Your answers to two simple questions tell you whether your gut instincts are those of a successful stock trader.

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Day Trading for a Living

by Rich Hamilton
April 16th, 2006

Regardless of timescale, a stock’s price direction is always determined by supply and demand. Long term supply and demand are driven by fundamentals – company earnings, return on equity, dividends, etc. Short term supply and demand are more readily manipulated.

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Stock Trading Systems

by Rich Hamilton
December 1st, 2005

An obvious failing of our first trading system was the high number of times it indicated you should buy and sell shares. In these circumstances, brokerage costs would be high. You can reduce the number of buy and sell decisions if you lower the volatility of daily prices.

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Stock Trading System

by Rich Hamilton
November 27th, 2005

There are tens of thousands of stocks worldwide you could invest or trade in. How do you pick the best? You need a screening system – a series of sieves, each of which excludes stocks that don’t match your criteria. Eventually you will be left with just a few stocks to examine in detail. If you want to design your own trading system, how can you do it?

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