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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 15 November 2006 Table of Contents (1) Quote on Character (2) Article - Get Out of the Comfort Zone (3) Trading Plan Workshop (4) ATAA Presentation - Brisbane - 16 November 2006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stay up to date with all that is happening at Trading Plan, by subscribing to our 'Trading Blog' (no email address necessary). I am continually adding content and every update of this site is announced here, including minor content updates, page additions, and product releases. So stay plugged in by subscribing to this site's RSS feed. Copy and paste the address below into your RSS reader to receive the Trading Plan RSS feed... http://www.trading-plan.com/Trading-Plan.xml Not sure what RSS is? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previous Issues Only just joined the mailing list? That's OK - you can read all of the previous issues of the Trading-Plan ezine. Visit http://www.trading-plan.com/ezines_previous.html to access the archive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Online Trading Forum Do you want to learn from the experiences of others in a friendly online trading forum? I now frequent and contribute to the online trading forum called Stock Meeting Place. Membership is easy and free. You can come along and ask any trading question in one of the numerous sections of the forum and receive a helpful response from one of the many members (approximately 2000). This forum is the only place online where you will also find Daryl Guppy, the well known trader and author. Remember, there is no such thing as a silly question so visit, sign up and ask a question. Visit http://www.trading-plan.com/trading_forum.html for more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- 1 -- Quote on Character "People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built." Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962). -- 2 -- Get Out of the Comfort Zone Many people who have traded have heard how important your psychology, or mindset is to your trading success. Books have been written, entire seminars presented and numerous tea breaks at traders club meetings across the world are devoted to the subject of the ‘psychology of trading’. Many traders would argue, I included, that your mind is the largest part of your overall trading success. I always wonder however, how many people truly understand what it is they mean when they talk about it and its relationship with trading. In reality, your mindset controls anything you do and consequently, any endeavour you undertake. Trading is no different and it could be argued that it is even more applicable in trading as your money is involved, and that triggers many other emotions inside of us. Numerous examples that confront the mind and our natural emotions include wanting to be right all the time and getting our own way, having our opinion matter and having some influence and control over what happens. In trading, these natural thoughts within many of us will place us in a position of disadvantage. These are just some examples of why our mindset and preparing our mind is so important to our overall success. Furthermore, you would have thought previously about why some people are so successful in life and others are not. How many books have been written about having a positive attitude and taking action towards your goals? There is, and always has been, a single ingredient that separates people who are successful in life from people who are not. It is the mind and how we use it. Many people live their lives with an endless series of "what if" questions that they ask themselves. An activity I will perform when I speak to a large group of traders about the mindset involves asking for a volunteer. I would have spent the last 10 minutes or so explaining how traders must often ‘think outside the box’. In other words, don’t think and act upon natural thoughts … think beyond normal thought. I say to the group, “OK, for my next session, I need the assistance of a volunteer from the audience just for a few minutes. Can someone come up here and join me please?” When I say this, I make sure that I look down at the floor and don’t make eye contact with anyone. After asking, I continue to avoid eye contact with the audience as I pretend to fiddle with my notes or have a drink of water. About 15 seconds pass and no one has made a move. I then look up at the audience and again, I ask for a volunteer for my next session. The atmosphere begins to become slightly awkward as the people in the audience begin to wonder whether my next session will go ahead without a volunteer presenting themselves. I stand there and wait, not saying anything but still determined to wait long enough until someone volunteers. Almost out of pity, someone will inevitably stand up and declare themselves the volunteer and make their way to the front to join me. As they join me and I introduce myself to them, I provide them a copy of my book with my compliments, thank them for volunteering and then ask them to return to their seat. Often the person will then receive a round of applause as he makes his way back to his seat. This simple activity illustrates how the vast majority of us are perfectly happy in our comfort zone. When I ask for someone to come up in front of everybody else and therefore expose themselves to the possibility of embarrassing themselves, everyone feels uncomfortable and hopes that I don’t look directly at them. Therefore, nobody wants to take action. Yet, to trade successfully and master the trader’s mind, we need to be prepared to think beyond natural thoughts and subsequently take action based on those thoughts.
-- 3 -- Trading Plan Workshop With anything in life, preparation is a key to success. Trading is no exception and time spent on developing your trading plan is time and effort well invested. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." The Trading Plan Workshop - an online course which leads you through the mindset, money and method to develop a trading plan - a must if you want trade profitably over the long term. "The questions so far tackled seem to be of paramount importance to a successful trading future. I am very happy with the material so far covered." In 'The New Market Wizards' by Jack Schwager, Howard Seidler said it best when he stated, "In regards to being successful in the markets, I think the single most important element is having a plan." This course goes for almost 3 months with over 40 messages sent every two days. You are able to send me your answers along the way for a personal review and comments. At $197 USD, this is most likely less than your next losing trade. I have been humbled by and appreciative of the comments I have received from people working through it, which include: "There is an absence of hype. In working through it there is a sense of integrity; one of its biggest appeals for me is that there are no outlandish claims. It takes a practical commonsense approach, carefully explaining every step along the way; providing sufficient links to provide greater detail and explanation on the major concepts and topics." "Indecision, fear, lack of confidence & so on; you have named them all & in your workshop plan have set forth means of rectifying them." "This workshop is not about any GRQ scheme - as far from it as you can get actually. What it does is teaches you the most important aspects that will allow you to survive and then thrive in the markets." Please visit http://www.trading-plan.com/trading_plan_workshop.html for more information. -- 4 -- ATAA Presentation - Brisbane - 16 November 2006 I will be presenting at the monthly Australian Technical Analysts Association meeting in Brisbane on 16 November 2006. The topic of my presentation will be 'Developing a Trading Plan', and further details are available at www.ataa.com.au This is available to members only, however non-members are invited to attend a monthly meeting before joining - with no obligation to join. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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