Vantage Point Trading | Tag Archives: trading basicstrading basics Archives

Best Trading and Investing Books For Professional and Personal Development

Posted on August 9, 2018 by comit

Below are some of the books that have had the greatest impact on my trading life and personal life. A few are specifically focused on trading, while others are focused on the mental qualities that will indirectly affect/help your trading and investing. The longer I trade, and the longer I spend on this planet, the more everything seems interconnected. I mean that in a logical sense; the practices and activities I do outside of trading…

Learn How to Make a Trading Plan

Posted on August 7, 2018 by comit

Without a trading plan, we’re just gambling in the markets. Learn how to make a trading plan, and put the edge in your favor. Before taking on an endeavor, it is wise to have a plan. A plan is critical, and when trading there are multiple reasons for having one. One of the best reasons for having a trading plan is it requires you to educate yourself about the market, acquiring knowledge on trading basics…

Probabilities in Trading – Focus On The Relevant Factors

Posted on July 24, 2018 by comit

To trade well, we can’t get bogged down in things that don’t matter. Instead, we must focus on the relevant factors. Some statistical quizzes can help clarify this for us. Then, an understanding of how markets move can provide us with the relevant factors to focus on. In Probabilities in Trading – How Your Mind Is Tricking You, I introduced some errors people make in regards to probabilities–namely, availability bias and assuming increased probabilities if…

Trading Tips from Legendary Millionaire Trader Jesse Livermore

Posted on July 16, 2018 by comit

Lessons on what to do, and what not to do, from a trader that accumulated more than $100 million dollars in profit trading his own account…and then lost most of it. It’s 1929, and over the last 8 years the Dow average has seen an epic rise. Everyone wants to own stocks, and loose leverage requirements allow it. Stock loans reach $8.5 billion; more money than was in U.S. circulation at the time. In September…

Probabilities in Trading – How Your Mind Is Tricking You

Posted on July 12, 2018 by comit

Probabilities explain the chance of something happening. Probabilities in trading are often discussed, but humans have an abysmal capacity to understand and calculate probabilities. Our minds are just not hard-wired for it. We love to assign probabilities though, but the probability assigned to an event is often grossly inaccurate, or based on inaccurate/wrong presumptions. Are there more six-letter words in the English language where the 5th letter is an n, or more six-letter words in…

4 Common Trading Questions From New Traders, Answered

Posted on July 4, 2018 by comit

Most new traders starting out have similar trading questions. While strategies and trading psychology are tackled at a later stage, new traders typically want to know: Can successful short-term trading actually be done? Can it provide a living/income? How long does it take to become profitable? How does one get started? I recently received these question in the form of an email from a new trader. I liked his versions of the questions because they…

Reducing the Risk of Catastrophic Trading Losses (It Happens! Are You at Risk?)

Posted on June 28, 2018 by comit

Risk management and/or stop loss orders aren’t always effective, which could mean bigger losses than expected. See why and how you may be risking more than you think. See real-world examples where short-term traders got annihilated. Then, see how to reduce the chances of it happening to you. This article is not intended to scare people away from trading. I trade and love it. Rather the article is intended to point out potential vulnerabilities in…

Ten Reasons Traders Lose Discipline

Posted on June 22, 2018 by comit

Here is a list of the top ten reasons for losing discipline while trading. This list was sent to me by a risk manager back when I was a trader on the floor of a proprietary trading firm. This manager would routinely send out quick trading lessons and reminders via email. I have kept most of those insights and refer to them regularly. I later found out this list came from Brett Steenbarger, a trader…