January 13, 2012 By Elliott Wave International

Close to ninety percent of all traders lose money. The remaining ten percent somehow manage to either break even or even turn a profit — and more importantly, do it consistently. How do they do that?

That’s an age-old question. While there [...]]]> Five Fatal Flaws of Trading

January 13, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

Close to ninety percent of all traders lose money. The remaining ten percent somehow manage to either break even or even turn a profit — and more importantly, do it consistently. How do they do that?

That’s an age-old question. While there is no magic formula, EWI Senior Instructor Jeffrey Kennedy has identified five fundamental flaws that, in his opinion, stop most traders from being consistently successful. We don’t claim to have found The Holy Grail of trading here, but sometimes a single idea can change a person’s life. Maybe you’ll find one in Jeffrey’s take on trading. We sincerely hope so.

The following is an excerpt from Jeffrey Kennedy’s Trader’s Classroom Collection, Volume 4. Learn how to get 14 more actionable trading lessons — FREE — below.

Why Do Traders Lose?

If you’ve been trading for a long time, you no doubt have felt that a monstrous, invisible hand sometimes reaches into your trading account and takes out money. It doesn’t seem to matter how many books you buy, how many seminars you attend or how many hours you spend analyzing price charts, you just can’t seem to prevent that invisible hand from depleting your trading account funds.

Which brings us to the question: Why do traders lose? Or maybe we should ask, “How do you stop the Hand?” Whether you are a seasoned professional or just thinking about opening your first trading account, the ability to stop the Hand is proportional to how well you understand and overcome the Five Fatal Flaws of trading. For each fatal flaw represents a finger on the invisible hand that wreaks havoc with your trading account.

Fatal Flaw No. 1 — Lack of Methodology
If you aim to be a consistently successful trader, then you must have a defined trading methodology, which is simply a clear and concise way of looking at markets. Guessing or going by gut instinct won’t work over the long run. If you don’t have a defined trading methodology, then you don’t have a way to know what constitutes a buy or sell signal. Moreover, you can’t even consistently correctly identify the trend.

How to overcome this fatal flaw? Answer: Write down your methodology. Define in writing what your analytical tools are and, more importantly, how you use them. It doesn’t matter whether you use the Wave Principle, Point and Figure charts, Stochastics, RSI or a combination of all of the above. What does matter is that you actually take the effort to define it (i.e., what constitutes a buy, a sell, your trailing stop and instructions on exiting a position). And the best hint I can give you regarding developing a defined trading methodology is this: If you can’t fit it on the back of a business card, it’s probably too complicated.

Fatal Flaw No. 2 — Lack of Discipline
When you have clearly outlined and identified your trading methodology, then you must have the discipline to follow your system. A Lack of Discipline in this regard is the second fatal flaw. If the way you view a price chart or evaluate a potential trade setup is different from how you did it a month ago, then you have either not identified your methodology or you lack the discipline to follow the methodology you have identified. The formula for success is to consistently apply a proven methodology. So the best advice I can give you to overcome a lack of discipline is to define a trading methodology that works best for you and follow it religiously.

Fatal Flaw No. 3 — Unrealistic Expectations
Between you and me, nothing makes me angrier than those commercials that say something like, “…$5,000 properly positioned in Natural Gas can give you returns of over $40,000…” Advertisements like this are a disservice to the financial industry as a whole and end up costing uneducated investors a lot more than $5,000. In addition, they help to create the third fatal flaw: Unrealistic Expectations.

Yes, it is possible to experience above-average returns trading your own account. However, it’s difficult to do it without taking on above-average risk. So what is a realistic return to shoot for in your first year as a trader — 50%, 100%, 200%? Whoa, let’s rein in those unrealistic expectations. In my opinion, the goal for every trader their first year out should be not to lose money. In other words, shoot for a 0% return your first year. If you can manage that, then in year two, try to beat the Dow or the S&P. These goals may not be flashy but they are realistic, and if you can learn to live with them — and achieve them — you will fend off the Hand.

Fatal Flaw No. 4 — Lack of Patience
The fourth finger of the invisible hand that robs your trading account is Lack of Patience. I forget where, but I once read that markets trend only 20% of the time, and, from my experience, I would say that this is an accurate statement. So think about it, the other 80% of the time the markets are not trending in one clear direction.

That may explain why I believe that for any given time frame, there are only two or three really good trading opportunities. For example, if you’re a long-term trader, there are typically only two or three compelling tradable moves in a market during any given year. Similarly, if you are a short-term trader, there are only two or three high-quality trade setups in a given week.

All too often, because trading is inherently exciting (and anything involving money usually is exciting), it’s easy to feel like you’re missing the party if you don’t trade a lot. As a result, you start taking trade setups of lesser and lesser quality and begin to over-trade.

How do you overcome this lack of patience? The advice I have found to be most valuable is to remind yourself that every week, there is another trade-of-the-year. In other words, don’t worry about missing an opportunity today, because there will be another one tomorrow, next week and next month…I promise.

I remember a line from a movie (either Sergeant York with Gary Cooper or The Patriot with Mel Gibson) in which one character gives advice to another on how to shoot a rifle: “Aim small, miss small.” I offer the same advice in this new context. To aim small requires patience. So be patient, and you’ll miss small.

Fatal Flaw No. 5 — Lack of Money Management
The final fatal flaw to overcome as a trader is a Lack of Money Management, and this topic deserves more than just a few paragraphs, because money management encompasses risk/reward analysis, probability of success and failure, protective stops and so much more. Even so, I would like to address the subject of money management with a focus on risk as a function of portfolio size.

Now the big boys (i.e., the professional traders) tend to limit their risk on any given position to 1% – 3% of their portfolio. If we apply this rule to ourselves, then for every $5,000 we have in our trading account, we can risk only $50 – $150 on any given trade. Stocks might be a little different, but a $50 stop in Corn, which is one point, is simply too tight a stop, especially when the 10-day average trading range in Corn recently has been more than 10 points. A more plausible stop might be five points or 10, in which case, depending on what percentage of your total portfolio you want to risk, you would need an account size between $15,000 and $50,000.

Simply put, I believe that many traders begin to trade either under-funded or without sufficient capital in their trading account to trade the markets they choose to trade. And that doesn’t even address the size that they trade (i.e., multiple contracts).

To overcome this fatal flaw, let me expand on the logic from the “aim small, miss small” movie line. If you have a small trading account, then trade small. You can accomplish this by trading fewer contracts, or trading e-mini contracts or even stocks. Bottom line, on your way to becoming a consistently successful trader, you must realize that one key is longevity. If your risk on any given position is relatively small, then you can weather the rough spots. Conversely, if you risk 25% of your portfolio on each trade, after four consecutive losers, you’re out all together.

Break the Hand’s Grip
Trading successfully is not easy. It’s hard work…damn hard. And if anyone leads you to believe otherwise, run the other way, and fast. But this hard work can be rewarding, above-average gains are possible and the sense of satisfaction one feels after a few nice trades is absolutely priceless. To get to that point, though, you must first break the fingers of the Hand that is holding you back and stealing money from your trading account. I can guarantee that if you attend to the five fatal flaws I’ve outlined, you won’t be caught red-handed stealing from your own account.

Get 14 Critical Lessons Every Trader Should Know Learn about managing your emotions, developing your trading methodology, and the importance of discipline in your trading decisions in The Best of Trader’s Classroom, a FREE 45-page eBook from Elliott Wave International. Since 1999, Jeffrey Kennedy has produced dozens of Trader’s Classroom lessons exclusively for his subscribers. Now you can get “the best of the best” in these 14 lessons that offer the most critical information every trader should know. Find out why traders fail, the three phases of a trader’s education, and how to make yourself a better trader with lessons on the Wave Principle, bar patterns, Fibonacci sequences, and more! Don’t miss your chance to improve your trading. Download your FREE eBook today!

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November 22, 2011 By Elliott Wave International

In an interview with the Mind of Money, Robert Prechter stresses the importance of keeping your money safe in this bear market environment. According to the Elliott wave model, we have entered a critical phase in the market. This 3-minute video [...]]]>

“What’s the Downside of Being Safe?” 

November 22, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

In an interview with the Mind of Money, Robert Prechter stresses the importance of keeping your money safe in this bear market environment. According to the Elliott wave model, we have entered a critical phase in the market. This 3-minute video clip will help you to prepare for what’s ahead.

The Most Important Investment Report You’ll Read for 2012 Every year or two Elliott Wave International (EWI) publishes analysis with a message so critical that they decide to share it, FREE. They have just released The Most Important Investment Report You’ll Read for 2012, a free report to help you navigate the markets and prepare for what’s ahead. You’ll get hard facts, 25 eye-opening charts and 14 pages of straightforward commentary that will put the volatile market action of the past months into perspective within the “big picture” to help you position for the years to come. Download your free report now.

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Think about your most recent auto purchase. [...]]]> What Personality Type Makes the Best Trader?
EWI’s Jeffrey Kennedy shows you how your psychological strengths and weaknesses determine your ability to “live long and prosper” in fast-moving markets
September 21, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

Do your decisions rely on data, or do you go with your gut?

Think about your most recent auto purchase. Was it based on meticulous consumer research or did you go with a model that “felt right”?

How about the last time you had to assemble something? Did you read the manual first or just figure it out as you went?

What about your most recent successful stock market trade?

Consistent trading success demands independent thinking and emotional discipline.

Jeffrey Kennedy, our Chief Commodity Analyst and highly-respected tutorial instructor, says:

I just cannot stress enough how you have to manage your emotions whenever you’re on [a] position.

Field dependence can sabotage you unknowingly when you’re trading, because you’ll see a trade signal, the trade will be there, but “it just won’t feel right.”

[It's] one of those things that can sabotage us if we’re not aware of it, or, more importantly, [don't] have a well-defined methodology and the discipline to follow it.

In footage from his trading course in Las Vegas, he goes on to discuss the psychological profile that makes “the best trader:”

What Personality Type Makes the Best Trader?
EWI’s Jeffrey Kennedy shows you how your psychological strengths and weaknesses determine your ability to “live long and prosper” in fast-moving markets
September 21, 2011
By Elliott Wave International

Do your decisions rely on data, or do you go with your gut?

Think about your most recent auto purchase. Was it based on meticulous consumer research or did you go with a model that “felt right”?

How about the last time you had to assemble something? Did you read the manual first or just figure it out as you went?

What about your most recent successful stock market trade?

Consistent trading success demands independent thinking and emotional discipline.

Jeffrey Kennedy, our Chief Commodity Analyst and highly-respected tutorial instructor, says:

I just cannot stress enough how you have to manage your emotions whenever you’re on [a] position.

Field dependence can sabotage you unknowingly when you’re trading, because you’ll see a trade signal, the trade will be there, but “it just won’t feel right.”

[It's] one of those things that can sabotage us if we’re not aware of it, or, more importantly, [don't] have a well-defined methodology and the discipline to follow it.

In footage from his trading course in Las Vegas, he goes on to discuss the psychological profile that makes “the best trader:”

Learn more about managing your emotions, developing your trading methodology, and the importance of discipline in your trading decisions in The Best of Trader’s Classroom, a FREE 45-page eBook from Elliott Wave International.

Since 1999, Jeffrey Kennedy has produced dozens of Trader’s Classroom lessons exclusively for his subscribers. Now you can get “the best of the best” in these 14 lessons that offer the most critical information every trader should know.

Find out why traders fail, the three phases of a trader’s education, and how to make yourself a better trader with lessons on the Wave Principle, bar patterns, Fibonacci sequences, and more!

Don’t miss your chance to improve your trading. Download your FREE eBook today!

Learn more about managing your emotions, developing your trading methodology, and the importance of discipline in your trading decisions in The Best of Trader’s Classroom, a FREE 45-page eBook from Elliott Wave International.

Since 1999, Jeffrey Kennedy has produced dozens of Trader’s Classroom lessons exclusively for his subscribers. Now you can get “the best of the best” in these 14 lessons that offer the most critical information every trader should know.

Find out why traders fail, the three phases of a trader’s education, and how to make yourself a better trader with lessons on the Wave Principle, bar patterns, Fibonacci sequences, and more!

Don’t miss your chance to improve your trading. Download your FREE eBook today!

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Using [...]]]> How to Find and “Hook” Potential Trade Setups
A Free Lesson on How to Combine Technical Indicators with Elliott Wave Analysis 
July 11, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

Trading using technical indicators — such as the MACD, for example, Moving Average Convergence-Divergence — can do one of two things: help you or hinder you.

Using them as a forecasting method alone can be about as predictable as flipping a coin. But when you combine them with other forms of technical analysis (i.e. the Wave Principle), the same MACD can be your new best friend.

Technical indicators are meant to do exactly what the name implies: “indicate” that a buy or sell signal may be in place. (Don’t confuse “indicate” with “guarantee”: They are not called “technical guarantors” for a reason.)

Elliott Wave International’s Futures Junctures editor Jeffrey Kennedy shows you how he uses technical indicators to his advantage in his FREE eBook, The Commodity Trader’s Classroom:

“Rather than using technical indicators as a means to gauge momentum or pick tops and bottoms, I use them to identify potential trade setups.”

Jeffrey goes on to describe his favorite indicator, the MACD:

“Out of the hundreds of technical indicators I have worked with over the years, my favorite study is the MACD [which] uses two exponential moving averages (12-period and 26-period). The difference between these two moving averages is the MACD line. The trigger or Signal line is a 9-period exponential moving average of the MACD line.”

Figure 10-1 gives you an example of the MACD indicator in Coffee futures.

One of the signals of a potential trade setup that the MACD often introduces is what Jeffrey refers to as the Hook. Here’s another quote from the free eBook:

“A Hook occurs when the MACD line penetrates, or attempts to penetrate, the Signal line and then reverses at the last moment. In addition to identifying potential trade setups, you can also use Hooks as confirmation. Rather than entering a position on a cross-over between the MACD line and Signal line, wait for a Hook to occur to provide confirmation that a trend change has indeed occurred. Doing so increases your confidence in the signal, because now you have two pieces of information in agreement.”

Figure 10-4 gives you an example of the Hook at work in live cattle futures.

“A Hook should really just be a big red flag, saying that the larger trend may be ready to resume. It’s not a trading system that I follow blindly. All I’m looking for is a heads-up that the larger trend is possibly resuming.”

Learn more about other technical indicators that you can use to your advantage, as well as the other important lessons in theFREE 32-page eBook, The Commodity Trader’s Classroom. It is filled with actionable lessons you can apply to your trading strategy. Download it right now, instantly, when you create your free Club EWI profile.

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