Trading plan

I was updating my trading plan and i thought it would be a good idea to share this with you,

Trading plan template by Tim wilcox.

Link

Some advantages of using it(taken from the pdf)


• Relaxed, stress free trading that is simpler with a plan than it is without one
• Ability to monitor your progress, diagnose faults and amend the plan accordingly
• A plan helps to prevent many psychological issues from taking root
• A plan that is adhered to strictly will reduce the number of bad trades
• A plan will help prevent irrational decisions in the heat of the moment
• A plan enables you to control the only thing you can control - yourself
• Professional traders are highly disciplined. A plan will instil a large measure of
discipline into your trading. Gamblers tend to lack both discipline and a plan
• A plan will enable you to trade outside your comfort zone. How many times have
you let a loss run and cut a profit short because it was the comfortable thing to do?
A plan, executed with discipline, will help to prevent this from happening
• A plan is your roadmap which will enable you to get from wherever you are now to
wherever you want to be – i.e. consistent profitability
• The template (and, by implication, your plan) – is designed in such a way that if
you do take a ‘wrong turn’ on your roadmap, you will know about it very quickly
and have the opportunity to correct the problem before losses spiral out of control


Treat your trading like a business. Don't Gamble.


r9

Pepsi MAX & Kyrie Irving Present: "Uncle Drew"

Very nice video. Did you recognize Kyrie?

r9

Improvements for a better trading (focus, intensity)

Hello traders, how are you?

Today i would like to give a quick tip about something that helped me to trade better and to keep a good focus and intensity during the day. You will think that the idea is crazy but it helped me a lot. 

I used to have a very comfortable chair, a very expensive one, and i thought it was very good for me, but it wasn't. I can be 50 % more productive with a cheap chair as long as it is good for your back and its not very very comfortable the way you would not sleep. One thing that i learned some time ago is that one of the ways to change your mental state is the way you use your body physically. For example. That expensive and very comfortable chair made me very comfortable, so, i would have a very comfortable mental state, and my attention would be in "comfortable mode", rather than "alert mode".

For the people that say, "oh you need a very good chair that is very very comfortable because you will have back pain sooner or later" i would recommend doing more physical exercise that includes back exercises. One hour/day at least. 

Good trades guys and try the idea.

r9

Recommended film

Full time trading - from dream to reality

Hello traders, today is a great day, isnt it?

I usually dont make posts about my life but i would like to share today a good conversation that i had with my parents. The result was very good and i was not expecting it at all.

With all the crisis that Europe is facing and Greece not wanting to adapt we started talking about unemployment in our country and the future of it (Portugal). And during the conversation i started to explain my parents the things that i had in mind for my future with all that passion and usually they were very negative to agree with my perspective but this time i convinced them to trust me and give me a chance. I said that i didnt want to work 40 years behind a secretary doing something that i dont love and i explained my point that is very similar to what i learned in the book "Rich dad poor dad". The author calls it "the rat race". You work for other people. You make them rich and you will just get wealthy and have time to enjoy other things near the end of the career, if you get there. Is this want i want? NO. Most people will think that im just talking about money. I'm not. I'm talking about doing what you love to do and use the best thing we have, TIME. My parents are very successful and i respect their perspective but they play it very safe and don't have big dreams and motivation. So i asked them to trust me and they respected my decision, so, i will start trading fulltime during/after summer.

Never let your dream go away... you will regret later.


Some quotes from the book "Rich dad Poor dad"

“People do two things. Some just let life push them around. Others get angry and push back.”

"Be truthful about your emotions, and use your mind and emotions in your favor, not against yourself."

"You must be an observer, not a reactor to your emotions. Most people do not know that its their emotion that are doing the thinking. Your emotions are your emotions, but you have got to learn to do your own thinking."

"By not giving in to your emotions, you were able to delay reactions and think. That is most important. We will always have emotions of fear and greed.  From here on in, it is most important for you to use those emotions to your advantage and for the long term, and not simply let your emotions run you by controlling your thinking."

"Most people have only one problem in mind, and it’s short term."

"If they think money will solve problems, I am afraid those people will have a rough ride. Intelligence solves problems and produces money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone."

good trades
r9

Reading now...

"Reading is food for the mind.."

good trades
r9

Great video

Dont search for glory in the markets.
Post about money management coming later.

good trades
r9

ps: Focus strategy updated on the students blog

PAIN IS TEMPORARY

Trading softwares / never quit what you love. change instead/ free time section

Hello traders, How are you?

This is a great time to test new softwares in order to choose the one that has more value. I have always been a fan of a single window with all the tools to trade and i thought that i had that belief but i really missed geeks toys  when i tried other softwares. Its not because im used to it, its because it enables to place things that i want on the place that i want with the colours i want... I really missed my graphs :D . I use just two monitors and i want to keep it that way and geeks toys allows me to organize everything very well. Geeks toy gets my vote. Whats your trading software? leave a comment.

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I like to read a lot. It's food for the mind and the source of many ideas. Today i read a post on a forum about someone that is going to quit trading because he is very "unlucky" and "works a lot".

My first question would be, Do you love trading?

If you do, quitting is not the answer. 


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover" – Mark Twain

Do you want quit something that you love, really? Do you want to be very old and regret not making some things differently?

He says that he is unlucky. Let me tell you something. Success is self-created and you have to own your mistakes and failure and move on. If you were "unlucky" it's because you have made a decision towards it and if you are trading, luck and unlucky must not be in your dictionnary a lot because its not a game of luck.
So what's the best attitude that we can have and that helped me a lot when i started. We have to be more HONEST. Most people have a lot of pride and a perfect self-image and thats not correct. If you want to have success and if you are starting trading, you have to be honest to say that you arent a trader and you are willing to learn. Practising honesty is fundamental.  Its very important for something to change.

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

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Babypuntz students - I will update today a new strategy that i learned in a book to keep the intensity and focus all day.

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Free time section

Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

http://www.ted.com/

Funny text from an interesting book

Book - Trader Vic - Methods of a wall street master. (top trader from financial markets)
I laughed a lot when i read this text. I have some interesting stories too. Expensive lessons ;P

" The $4017 HAIR DRYER

One day in 1979, I was trading the commodities when i got a call from my friend, susan. I was long 40 wheat contracts, and the market was moving, so i had to watch the position intensely. I had a mental stop set to get me out and limit my losses. Anyway, Susan calls me, she's hysterical-crying, sobbing, sniffling-to the point that i can't understand what she is saying.
Naturally, i was concerned. I thought that maybe she and her husband had been fighting, that some real crisis had occurred. Then the truth came out.
Through sobs and sniffs i heard, "MMmmm....my hairdryer, it's.... its........ it's broken!
I just couldn't believe  my ears. "Your hairdryer! is that why you are so upset!" I looked over at my good friend
and longtime partner. Norman Tandy, he just rolled his eyes.
"Susan", I said, "Susan calm down. How much do hairdryers cost?"
"Sniff...17 dollars."
At this point, I'm amazed and on the verge of bursting out laughing, "If it will make you feel any better, I'll buy you another one."
Naturally, any time someone gets so upset over a hairdryer, something else is really wrong. So, I started talking to Susan, trying to help her come to terms with whatever was really bothering her. In the process, i lost my mental focus.
I looked at my screen, and wheat had dropped 2 cents below my mental stop. That's $100 times 40 = 4000 bucks. I immediately called and sold the position, losing $4000 more than i had mentally allowed. A $4017 hairdryer, and i didn't even get to pick out the color"

good trades
r9

Horse racing days/ Update of babypuntz students info post

Screenshot from the best race today. Started the day very slow and decreased the stakes. When you are still slow and not focused always decrease your stakes and when you are trading very well increase them but always respecting money management. Not my best result (near 100 €) but  my idea for this post is to give some motivation to the people starting. There is a lot of competion in horse racing and you need some months (at least)to develop the feeling of the market. I have been trading it for 4 months now and everything just can get better.

Pre live trading

I will start writing some articles about horses, greyhounds and nba on the students blog.If you are interested in joining

send me an email and i will give you the info.

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I updated the babypuntz info post with a small FAQ for the readers that are interested in joining.

Click here

good trades 

r9

ps: I will post a nba value example with my thoughts today if someone comments ;P

Betfair live video fullscreen using chrome

Hello guys, One of the posts with more visits in the blog is the one talking about using fullscreen mode on betfair live video for firefox. Most traders i know use chrome, i use it too, so i would like to talk about how you can use that mode. Its very simple

1. Download this chrome extension (Flash Plus)

http://www.chromeextensions.org/appearance-functioning/flashplus/

2. Everytime you are in a website with a flash object you can click on the icon of the flash plus and it will present you the various flash objects in the website.

3. Choose the the flash object and then there is an icon to maximize it.

4. The window will get bigger. Restart the video and it's done!

good trades
r9