Making 2009 Better Than 2008 - Step 1

November 12, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: trader training 

Now is definitely the time to begin your planning
regarding how you’ll make 2009 better than 2008,
regardless of how this year has gone.

You DO want next year to be more profitable, yes?

The first step in being proactive about next year is
to get a clear picture of where you are right now and
also to review what you’ve done and not done that
has you in your current status.

Now the assessment of where you are now means
more than simply looking at your account balance
and your equity curve, although they are part of
the process.

Knowing your metrics is part of any successful
business, and for traders that means several key
performance indicators.  Such metrics include:

  • Percent of Winning Trades*
  • Profit-to-Loss Ratio*
  • Average Return per Trade*
  • Return per Dollar Invested*
  • Total number of trades placed
  • Total number of winners
  • Total net profits
  • Total number of losers
  • Total net losses
  • Average Profit*
  • Average Loss*
  • Your longest winning streak & how much you made
  • Your longest losing streak & how much you lost
  • Your greatest drawdown*
  • Your REAL Reward-to-risk ratios for winners, losers and overall

Ideally, you have been tracking these numbers for your trading
throughout the year on a monthly basis, plus keeping notes as
to what has transpired along the way that has affected the numbers.

Running and tracking your metrics is one of the most effective
and efficient ways to stay in the continuous improvement cycle,
and when it comes to making money, you definitely want to
always be making progress.

The reason that metrics are so powerful is that they give
perspective to what you’re doing and give you clear focus
as to what is working and what is not - in hard numbers,
not just opinion.

If you are running and tracking your metrics, then now is
a good time to review them so that you can be proactive
to make sure that 2009 sees greater profits and fewer
mistakes than 2008.

If you haven’t been measuring your trading performance
and tracking it, then now is a great time to start.

To make doing this quick and easy, use the Trading
Performance Analyzer, which was created specifically
for you for this purpose.  You can check it out here,

http://insideouttrading.com/tpa/

Or simply click on the image to the right.

No matter what you’ve been doing or have going on right
now, this is one of the best practices to have as part of your
trading business and to have confidence in the future.

Cheers

Brian

P.S.  If you’ve had challenges with discipline and/or confidence,
this will help tremendously with these two aspects of your trading
as well.

http://insideouttrading.com/tpa/

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Trading as a Business - Lessons from “Over The Hedge”

November 11, 2008 by admin · 1 Comment
Filed under: trader training 

In the kids’ movie “Over The Hedge”, there are several
good lessons for kids, but also for traders.

R.J. was a raccoon that in his hunger, made the near-
fatal mistake of stealing the hibernating bear’s food
stash.

He snuck into the cave of a hibernating bear to get
his food-stash.  Had it all loaded up on the wagon
the bear had in the cave (hey it’s a cartoon) and was nearly
out of the cave when his greed got the best of him
and he just had to go get that can of “Spuddies”
that the bear was holding in his sleep.  When R.J.
opened the can, the bear heard it and awoke.

The wagon goes rolling down the hill only to be
run over by a truck and the food all destroyed.

Now R.J. finds himself with his head in the clutches
of the bear and having to replace all the food and
he’s only got a week to do it - or he’s dead.

Lesson 1:  greed can wipe out your account, even
with just one mistake.

The scene now shifts to the turtle Vern and his
“family” just waking up from their winter’s sleep.

First thing on Vern’s mind and which he reminds
everyone of, is that they have to start preparations
for the coming winter, because they were down to
a handful of berries for food from last year’s stock.

Lesson 2:  prepare for the coming year.  Don’t just
let the days pass until things are upon you, especially
when you can foresee them and make ready.

Back to R.J.

R.J. discovers Vern and his family and the light comes
on over his head (a firefly in the movie).

Here is a group that has the skills that he needs, as Vern
and his family are a group of foragers, so he enlists their
help (unbeknownst to them) to collect his needed food
and save his life.

They manage to get everything needed to save R.J.’s life
and in the short time frame of a week.  Had he gone
about it himself, he’d never had made it in time.

Now the way R.J. goes about it in the story is not the
right way to get help from others (through deceit), and
along the way, he finds that they are a good group.

At the end of the movie when the truth comes out,
Vern says to R.J., “All you had to do was tell us, and
we would have helped you.  That’s what families do.”

Lesson 3:  when you’re livelihood depends on it, your
best bet to make things happen quickly is to enlist
the help of people with the skills, knowledge or
experience to help you achieve your goals.

Quick summary of the lessons:

1.  Avoid mistakes, especially decisions made based
on emotions.

2.  Prepare for the future

3.  Get help, and don’t go it alone, especially if your
livelihood is riding on your success.

2009 will be upon us soon, so are you beginning
YOUR preparations?

Have you updated your business plan for the coming
year (or at least created the first one)?

If not, now is the time.

Don’t know how to create a business plan for your
trading business?  That’s what we’re doing in the
Trading P.I.T. Club - and it’s easy when you know
how.

Don’t wait until New Year’s Day to get ready for ‘09.

Begin preparations now so that it will be your best year
yet.

Cheers

Brian

P.S.  By the way, did you know that you can save $120
on the membership to the Club for a limited time?  Go
here,

http://insideouttrading.com/pit/save120.html

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Does Your Trading Business Have a 12-month Financial Plan?

November 7, 2008 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: trader training 

If you don’t have a financial plan (with realistic
numbers) to reach your objectives, how do you
expect to reach them?

For the initial group of traders that joined the
Trading P.I.T. Club, this week’s lesson and
assignment is where we’re building the 12-month
financial plan as part of the business planning
session in the training.

In any business venture, the business plan is
essential to having a business that generates
income in a reliable and consistent manner, and
the same is true for your trading business.

Now if you have never created a business plan,
it can be a daunting task, especially making
the financial planning portion of it.  Being
unable to forecast the income and expenses with
any reasonable accuracy is one of the main
reasons that business plans don’t get created.

Throughout the training in the P.I.T. Club, the
lessons and assignments build toward the creation
of the business plan and make it a breeze.

If you’re sincere about having a thriving
trading business that you can rely on for
building wealth and generating income (the
reason anyone goes into any business), then
you might find the Trading P.I.T. Club very
helpful in building such a trading business.

You can find out more about the P.I.T.Club
and how it can help you become a true
professional trader and owner of a successful
trading business here,

http://insideouttrading.com/pit/save120.html

Also, to give you incentive to do the right
thing for your trading business (you already
know that you should be treating your trading
as a business) if you take action now rather
than wait, for a limited time you can save
20% by using the coupon code 50C50A67FA which
means you save $120

http://insideouttrading.com/pit/save120.html

Don’t leave your trading business to chance -
invest in yourself and make your trading business
all you hoped it would be.

Cheers

Brian

P.S.  This is a limited offer, so don’t delay or
put it off.  Make your life easy starting right
now!

http://insideouttrading.com/pit/save120.html

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How Professional Traders Can Predict The Future

November 6, 2008 by admin · 3 Comments
Filed under: trader training 

There is a way for you to see the future as a trader,
and with a degree of accuracy that will astound you.

The method for doing it is easier than you might think.

There is a way to do it that’s done by hundreds if not
thousands of traders, and it gives them the confidence
to trade with comfortable discipline every day.

Also, it’s not some big secret that just a few are
keeping for themselves.  It’s simply not as widely
known and certainly not put into use by everyone.

Also, it is applicable to any market and any
trading style.

Want to know how to predict the future as a trader?

Would you like to have your own personal crystal
ball?

Go here,

http://insideouttrading.com/tpa/indexc.html

If you are tired of hoping and want to be able to
look to your future with confidence and a sense of
security, then this is what you’ve been looking for.

Cheers

Brian

P.S.  Skeptical?  That’s understandable, but you’ll
see within 60 seconds how this is real and how you
can make it your advantage in your trading for
greater confidence and comfortable discipline.

No kidding.

http://insideouttrading.com/tpa/indexc.html

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Forex & Stock Trading - Are You Trading To Your Strengths?

November 4, 2008 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: trader training 

In your trading, are you playing to your strengths, or are you simply being an “opportunity seeker”?  There is a huge difference between the two and if you’re just an opportunity seeker, then you are leaving yourself open to frustration and losses.

There are many parallels between trading, business and gambling, and your ultimate success long-term will be determined by how you approach any of the three. Playing to your strengths is critical in all three.  In any of the pursuits, there is competition and you always want to make sure that you’re playing to your strengths and not your weaknesses.  The objective is winning, that is profiting, and you want every advantage that you can get.

Too often, the opportunity seeker will go after an opportunity just because they see that there’s money to be made, and they figure that they can shore up their weaknesses (learn more) enough to go get that money.  Let’s take a brief look at how this applies in each area, keeping in mind the parallels between them.

In business, the long term successes are built by those with an end goal in mind, a vision of what the business will look like when it’s mature.  This is critical because the company must stay on a course that is consistent with its vision while it is growing. Distractions and deviations from the path only serve to slow it down or even take it backwards.  Successful business leaders know when to pursue an opportunity and when to say “no”. Saying “no” is essential to keeping the company’s activities (investments of time) focused where competitive advantages exist and avoiding those where the company is at a disadvantage.

In gambling, the poker player will stay at the BlackJack table and make his money there. He won’t jump up and run to the Roulette table just because he heard somebody just won $50,000 over there. He knows what he’s good at and will only venture over to other tables for entertainment, not to make money.

In Trading, let’s say investing for the sake of argument, a good real estate investor that knows how to make $1 million a year isn’t necessarily going to do well in trading. They are completely different games.  Just because a person knows how to buy properties right, increase their value through rehab or raising rents, does not mean that they will have the talents or skills to make money in the Futures or Forex markets.  Even an experienced trader should be hesitant to jump from one game to the next. A buy-and-hold position trader should exercise great caution before jumping into day-trading, and a spread better should hone his skills before thinking about buying (or selling) outright futures contracts.  Each strategy (or game let’s say) has different skills associated with it, and different emotional requirements.

The other serious consideration is your proficiency level - period. This combined with your ability to devote time to trading.  If you are completely new to trading or you haven’t yet become proficient at the necessary skills to trade, then you definitely should seek out help.  The learning curve can be very costly in trading, and if you don’t have the time or a plan to become proficient, how do you ever expect to make regular profits from it?

If you don’t have the proficiency, the strengths, needed to be a good trader, nor do you have the time and resources to become one, you may want to consider other choices available to you.  If you have neither the skills nor the time to develop them, but want to take advantage of the nice money to be made in trading, you may want to consider a managed account. Why settle for an amateur trading with your money (YOU), when you can have a pro do it for you?  Do your Due Diligence first though!!! Ask for the track record and the plan going forward.

Your next option if you’re “starting from scratch” is to trade with the assistance of a seasoned broker.  That’s what they are there for. Of course you can find very low commission brokers to deal with, but you may get just what you pay for. A good broker can be found for $50-$100 round turn commission, and they’ll give you the best advice they can.  In the long run, you’re likely to be way better off - if you’ll follow their advice!  Again, ask for their track record, and check with the NFA to see if they have any complaints.

It wouldn’t hurt to see if the broker you’re considering is recognized within the trading community as being good.  Many very good brokers publish regular articles or advisory columns on respected websites and in established periodicals.  Generally, if you see that the person has been published for a period of years, then that is a good sign.  The wackos and charlatans bounce around too much and aren’t allowed to stay in one place for long before their reputation catches up with them.

Until you have the strengths yourself, borrow them from someone who has them while you’re developing.  When you have the proficiency, the skills, and the resources, only then should you venture out on your own. And that is only if you are so inclined to actually becoming a trader and doing it all yourself.

If your true objective is to make money, then play it smart. Make use of other people’s knowledge and skills until you have developed your own.  Of course, if you really don’t want to devote the time to being a full-time or highly active trader, but still want trading to be part of your income portfolio, consider your other choices.  Whatever you do, don’t simply chase another “opportunity” to make money if it doesn’t play to your strengths.

For Trading, those strengths need to be discipline, emotional control, coach-ability, ability to focus, follow-through, decisiveness, understanding of probabilities, dealing with uncertainty, and a slew of others.  There are activities for entertainment and others for making money.  Trading can be both, but if it is not taken seriously, with a sincere review of your own characteristics and desires, then it can wind up being neither.

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