Real stock trading tips for traders who want control

Stock Trading Tips – Trading Systems

“If you’re not consistently following your trading system, then it doesn’t fit you!”

The big challenge for traders is finding a system that fits you, that you’re psychologically comfortable to trade because there’s lots of different strategies and trading systems that can make money. Still, for any of them to make you money, you need to follow them consistently. As soon as you stop following the system,

you start making mistakes and destroy the profitability of that system. If you’ve got a system or a set of trading rules, and don’t follow them consistently, break or bend the rules, exit trades too early, exit trades too late, or skip trades; that means that system isn’t a good fit for you psychologically. What you need to do is understand what style of system will suit you. Are you a patient person? Are you willing to wait for several weeks or months for trends to play out? In which case, trend-following system is going to make the most sense.

On the other hand, maybe you’re a more hyperactive person who wants quick feedback on whether that trade was a success or a failure. In which case, a mean revision system is probably a better fit for you. So if you’re not following your trading systems consistently, step back and have a look at what is it about that system that’s making you uncomfortable.

The second reason that you might not be following the system correctly or consistently is you don’t have confidence in that system. If you don’t have confidence, it’s hard to keep following the rules when things move against you. You’ve got to have confidence in the system and learn to correctly and fully backtest to build confidence in the rules to follow them. Regardless if you’re up or down, winning or losing, so that if you follow that system consistently. Because of that confidence, you are more likely to achieve the expected profit from that system over time. Either your system doesn’t fit you because it’s not a good match to your personality, or you don’t have the level of confidence required to trade that system. Either way, you need to address this issue because otherwise, it will be hard to make money trading stocks if you don’t follow your system consistently.

“Follow your trading system every time you trade!”

One of the biggest killers of trading profitability is inconsistency. If you have a trading system that is the most profitable in the world, but you follow it inconsistently, you take some trades from the system and ignore other trades from the system. You follow the system some days, and then you follow your gut instincts or stock

tips or advice from someone else other days. That inconsistency will ruin the profitability of even the very best system.

Once you become a systematic trader, the key to success is being 100% systematic. Rather than having a system that you follow sometimes and stock tips and advice from others and gut instinct calls and charting-based calls and discretionary based calls, commit to being 100% systematic. Then, follow that system every time you trade because that will give you consistency, repeatability, and profitability in your trading. If you follow your trading system every time you trade, you’re far more likely to get the results that you want in the long run.

“Empower yourself to have the life you want.”

This might not sound like a trading tip, but it is because one of the things I’ve noticed after working with hundreds and hundreds of traders is that the people who succeed are the ones who are empowered to make the trading decisions themselves. The people who fail are the ones who say “Tell me what to do. What stocks should I buy? Take my money, manage it for me.” Those people are not empowering themselves. To empower yourself, you need to

learn how to trade for yourself. That doesn’t mean you have to figure everything out yourself. It means you’ve got to take control of your money because that will allow you to choose a trading system and trading strategy that fits your personality, objectives, and lifestyle that you understand and have confidence in so that you can succeed in the long run.

Empowering yourself means you do the work upfront to learn how to be a profitable, consistent trader. You don’t abdicate that responsibility to someone else and expect them to make you money because that’s how you’re going to fall victim to scams and fraud and lose control of your money. Instead, empowering yourself to choose a trading system, build confidence in that trading system, and then follow that trading system, in the long run, is how you’ll make money and build wealth trading stocks. If you need help to do that, click the link above and join the Trader Success System, which will take you from beginner through to advanced systematic stock trader and give you everything you need to be 100% empowered to manage your own trading decisions.

“Elegant simplicity – something that stands great traders apart.”

Most new traders come to the markets with the false belief that success requires advanced and complex formulas to decode the markets to make money. But to succeed in reality, you need an elegantly simple solution. There’s a big difference between elegantly simple and simplistic. Simplistic is something like buy when the price crosses above the 200-day moving average and sell when it crosses below the 200-day moving average. It’s simplistic

because to expect that that crossover will work every single time is false. You’ll end up with too many whipsaw signals, and it won’t be profitable overall.

But by the same token, you don’t need the rocket science complex solution with 15 or 20 different trading rules and highly optimized using 300,000 different combinations. What you need is an elegantly simple trading system that gets you in and gets you out at the right time, consistently, that you’ve backtested over decades of trading history, over thousands of stocks, to make sure that it works consistently over time. Elegantly simple systems have few rules. Typically, between four and eight rules are enough to have an elegantly simple trading system that works consistently over time.

“If your trading system doesn’t suit you then you won’t follow it consistently.”

All traders have different personalities, objectives and lifestyles. Some trading systems will be suitable and fit you, and some won’t. Those that will fit you will be psychologically easy to follow because they suit your personality. They’ll also be easy for you to follow physically in the real world because they suit your lifestyle.

If you’ve got a full-time job and trying to trade a day trading system that is entering and exiting 15 times a day, it’s going to be impossible for you to execute that system correctly because you can’t fit it in with your lifestyle. Similarly, if you are sitting at home, got no job, and all you’re doing is looking at the markets. You’ve got a trading system that is very long term. It’s going to end up very frustrating for you because it won’t be enough activity. So, having a trading system that suits your lifestyle is also critical. Otherwise, you won’t be able to follow it consistently. You’re going to end up making mistakes.

And finally, objectives. If you have a trading system that doesn’t meet your objectives in terms of return or drawdown, then it’s going to be quite difficult for you to follow it. Let’s say for example, you’re comfortable with up to a 25% drawdown on your account. Still, you’ve got a trading system that might suffer a 30% drawdown that then becomes very difficult for you to follow because the drawdown is going to be psychologically uncomfortable for you. You’re going to want to change, bend or break the rules, or stop trading the system.

So, you need look at the trading system and decide whether or not it fits you. If it does, it will be very easy for you to trade and follow it consistently. If it doesn’t, then maybe it’s time to look for a different trading system or adjust the trading system to better suit your personality, objectives, and lifestyle so that you can follow your system more consistently. If your trading system doesn’t suit you, you won’t follow it consistently. Find a system that does, and your trading will improve. You’ll make fewer mistakes and get better results with less time, effort and stress.

“If you are not consistently following your trading system then it probably doesn’t fit you!”

There are many different trading systems and strategies that works to be profitable. But to extract the profit from those systems, you have to execute them consistently with discipline and make sure you get the correct prices and take the right trades to follow those rules strictly.

If for example you’re following a system, but you skipped trades, did not take the entries when you’re supposed to, or skipped exits to hold on for it a longer hoping it’ll turn around. In that case, there’s something about that system that doesn’t fit you, or you don’t have enough confidence to follow that system consistently. If this describes your situation, you need to pause, take a time out, and a step back. Have a look at the trading system that you are using, run some backtests on it, and see if you can figure out what it is about that system that doesn’t suit you. For example, is the win rate too low? Or maybe the trade duration is too long. Perhaps you’ve got to be too patient, or it’s too short-term, and you keep making mistakes because you’re trading too frequently, and it’s getting you frustrated and uptight. Whatever it is, you need to see if you can isolate it and identify the problem with the trading system so you can adjust or tweak the trading system to suit your personality, objectives, and lifestyle.

If you have trouble consistently following a system, that’s not the right system for you. Again, take a time out, step back, and look for a different trading system that better fits you, your personality, objectives, and lifestyle. When you have a system that fits you, systematic trading is easy; very low stress, and takes very little time and effort. If you are struggling, fighting against the system, not taking the right trades, and not exiting when you’re supposed to, the system is not suitable for you. You’re going to end up losing money so make sure that you pause and don’t keep throwing money away by making mistakes on a system that doesn’t fit you.

“Once you succeed in the trading systems business the rewards are immense!!”

Running a trading system with $1,000 takes the same amount of effort as running it with $10,000, $100,000 or a million dollars. Systematic trading is very scalable. Just because you’ve got more money in the account doesn’t mean you have to do a lot more activity. It doesn’t mean you have to spend longer on your trading. The rewards from systematic trading are so great and powerful because it’s scalable.

When I was running my portfolio of trading systems with a ten or $15,000 account, I spent about the same time then as I do now trading with a seven-figure account. Systematic trading is so scalable. That’s why the rewards are so great. Now here’s the problem. The problem is that when you first start, it’s going to feel like it’s taking a lot of effort, and you’re not getting much out of it.

If you’ve got a $10,000 account, you diligently do your trading each day all year. You do fantastically well and make 30% on your account. It’s just not that much money but you’ve got to have the big picture in mind and see the end game. It may not be much money in dollar terms, but if you realize that it’s scalable and you can keep doing that, you can keep adding money into your account to grow it. You can grow your account with profit. Over time, the reward per unit of time you spend becomes astronomically good.

Don’t give up because you’re trading or even if it feels like you’re not making many dollars. If you’ve got a profitable trading system, then stick with it because you are on the right path. Just follow the system, try to save and add money to the account to grow it more quickly so that the dollar returns become more significant. That’s when the rewards kick in. Grow your account organically with profits and inorganically with savings. Bulk it up so that your dollar returns get bigger and bigger. Once your account gets to a specific size, the returns will take care of themself and the account will take off.

The reward is immense once you succeed in the trading systems business, but you’ve got to stick with it. You’ve got to get through that initial phase where it feels like hard work and grow your account so that all of a sudden, it feels like you’re making money with minimal effort.

“If you can profit from all the things the market can do.. Then it doesn’t matter what the market does!”

If you find yourself lying there at night, worrying about whether the market’s going to crash or wondering whether the sideways consolidation is going to finally stop and turn into a new bull market, or stressing whether the bull market is going to go on for longer. That means that you don’t have trading systems that allow you to profit from all the different market behaviours.

If you’ve got trading systems that profit when the market is going up when the market is going sideways or down, it doesn’t matter whether the market goes up, sideways, or down, you can still make money.

Have systems that make money in all different market conditions and be diversified as traders. That way, no matter what is happening in the world, you’ve got something in your portfolio that’s going to be making money. We don’t want to buy and hold on the long side, have one trend following system, or have one mean reversion system. You need to have a portfolio of trading systems that make money in different market conditions. That way, no matter what happens, you are going to be profitable. If you want to improve, diversify your portfolio of trading systems, you’ll sleep better at night, you’ll make more money, and your returns will be more consistent.

“Market conditions change, so make sure your system adapts.. CHANGE… or has an off switch”

Not every trading strategy will make money all the time. What you need to know is when your trading system or strategy work, and make sure you only use it when it works now.

Just like what you find in my course, the Trader Success System, trading systems have rules that turn them on and off depending on whether they’re in sync with the market. We’ll only activate our trend following system when the stock index is moving up, and the stock market is moving smoothly. We’ll only activate our mean reversion system when the stocks are behaving the right way; not going to keep following the rules when they’re out of sync with the market. If you’ve got an indicator-based system, you’d buy when the RSI does this, or when the moving average does that. If you reply that blindly all the time, chances are it’s only going to work under certain market conditions. The trouble with technical analysis and the indicator-based rules like that is often not holistic enough. Put all of those indicators into a trading system and you can test that system across 30 years of stock market history. You can look at whether that system makes money when the index is going up, down, or sideways. You can also look at whether that system makes money when the market is volatile or when the market is trending quietly. By doing that sort of analysis with your backtesting software, like Amibroker, it allows you to do is determine when you should turn that system off.

Let’s say your system only works when the stock index is moving up. You need to have an off switch or a rule in your system that prevents any new buyer signals from coming when the index is down; so you don’t have to turn the system on or off consciously. Put a rule into the system which prevents new signals or exits old signals when the system is out of sync with the market.

A complete trading system has rules that will keep it in sync with the market and stop the trading when it’s not in sync with the market. If you’re trading with discretion and got a strategy that you use, you need to make sure you understand the broad context of when that strategy works and when it doesn’t. If you want to take your trading to the next level, it’s time to move from discretionary trading to systematic trading so that you can make your trading consistent and apply the rules when they’re in sync with the market and backtest it to build confidence.

Market conditions change. Make sure your system adapts or has an off switch so that you don’t blindly follow signals out of sync with the market.

“Good trading is hard… unless you get the right directions!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Optimisation is not about maximising profits, it is about maximising the probability of profits”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

Stock Trading Tips – Trading Strategy

“Trend following stocks works because it is emotionally difficult.. Most people don’t have the resilience to keep following the rules”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Trend following is not emotionaly easy.. That’s why it works year after year!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Your trading strategy must suit you!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Complexity kills trading profits. Simplify Simplify Simplify!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Save $10 brokerage per side on 1000 trades and you’ve made $20k profit… so reduce your trading costs!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Diversification is the only free lunch in the stock market. Eat all you can!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Diversification is the only free lunch trading stocks but it is a 5 star meal!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Stressed about trading? Part of your strategy doesn’t fit you”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“If you can’t articulate your trading edge then you don’t have one.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“the BEST trading signals are those which are consistent with your beliefs…”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

Stock Trading Tips – Risk Management

“Without a positive expectancy, your trading is dead in the water.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Your biggest drawdown is always ahead of you, so trade conservatively!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Your worst drawdown is always ahead of you… Will you survive trading the way you do today?”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“If you want to be successful, you’ve got to aim bigger wins and smaller losses.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“No trade should be big enough to hurt you financially!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“One trade won’t make you rich, But it could take you out of the game… so reduce your risk levels”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Risk control is critical, it is no good making $1M if you go bust the next year!!! Reduce your risk”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“trade less… to make more”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“in stock trading activity costs money, patience makes money – trade less, earn more”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“You can’t win the trading game if you are not in the game. Capital preservation is critical to your success.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

Stock Trading Tips – Trading Plan

“What is the first step in your trading plan‘s daily activity checklist?”

Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Setting written goals puts you at a significant advantage over other traders”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“With a written trading plan, you dreams are closer than you think!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Without a written trading plan, a goal is nothing more than a pipe dream.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Take 30 minutes NOW to describe your ideal life – identifying the dream is the first step to achieving it!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Take 30 minutes NOW to describe your ideal life – identifying the dream is the first step to achieving it!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Create a detailed picture of your ideal life to move you to take action and succeed on your stock trading journey.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Did you execute your trading plan flawlessly today?”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“If you gave your trading plan to a stranger, could they execute it flawlessly? If not then get to work!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Plan the trade, TRADE THE PLAN… all decisions should be made BEFORE taking the trade!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“No one can predict the future – especially CNBC… stop listening to other people and focus your trading plan”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“The markets are a competition. Your trading system is your edge. Your trading plan is your play book and your discipline wins the day!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“your trade plan is like a single tree, your trading plan is like the whole forest. If you don’t have either, all you grow in trading account is weeds!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“what gets measured gets done… track your daily account equity”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Stock trading should support the life you really want… so design your ideal life”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Under intense stress, human IQ drops dramatically.. That’s why having a written trading plan saves your account.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“If you don’t know where you are (financially), you can’t get where you are going.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

Stock Trading Tips – Trading Psychology

“Trying your hand at trading is like trying your hand at neurosurgery.. Get the right education first!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“What will financial freedom bring into your life?”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Peace gives clarity and perspective… So make big trading decisions outside market hours”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Being great is a choice – Make it!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“The media is there to shock and entertain you, NOT to inform your trading decisions. Turn off the TV!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Understanding yourself is the path to prupose and profit so look inside for the answers.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Undertanding yourself is the path to profit.. So look inside for the answers.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Forget about what others think stock trading is.. Decide what it means for you

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Without traing rules we revert to judgment.. With judgment comes emotion.. With emotion comes mistakes.. With mistakes comes losses.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“We all deserve success and abundance but we have to believe it to receive it.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Trading produces two types of people – humble and broke.. Which will you be?”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Pride comes before a fall, especially in the stock market.. Humble traders survive.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“I don’t have the time to learn to trade but I dit it anyway. Now I have all the time in the world so I am grateful!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Mastering your psychology and trading a system that FITS you is the KEY to free profits”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Personal responsibility is the key to success, no one else has as much at stake as you do!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“trading is a continuous journey of growth and self awareness leading to greater and greater profitability”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“if you are not growing you are dying” – T Harv Eker Trading is growing!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“When EMOTION is high, INTELLIGENCE is low… trading systems ELIMINATE the impact of emotions on your trading”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“the markets will teach you humility one way or another… so be humble or be humbled “

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“to find the best signals you need to first look at yourself “

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“track you daily equity and make it visible – this focuses you on continuous improvement “

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“The key to trading profits is not on the charts, it is between your ears”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“trading gives you continuous honest feedback on your decisions in the form of profits or losses!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

Stock Trading Tips – Trade Execution

“The thing you are most resisting is probably what you most need to do.. What are you resisting?”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Personal responsibility is key to success. No one else has as much at stake as you.. So take control!”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“Pay attention to every trading detail, every little edge makes a difference”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“That thing you are best are most resistant to doing is probably the thing you must need to do”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

“The more patient you are as a trader the more flexibility you have to adopt different trading strategies.”

 Explanation of Stock Trading Tip:

These stock trading tips will help you learn stock trading and take control of your trading decisions so you can become a consistent, profitable stock trader.

Comment below – Which is your favourite piece of trading wisdom?

The best stock trading tips are not about which stock to buy or sell – they are trading words of wisdom that last a lifetime. Click here to read the stock trading tips from some outstanding Enlightened Stock Traders.