On Friday night, I went out in NYC and stayed over my friend's apartment. My friend is a successful man who works for a large company and holds an MBA from a top school (which he didnt pay for, his company did).
On Saturday morning, we go out to get something to eat. There are many places to eat along the street and I quickly went into one place. My friend walked in, shook his head and then we headed back to the street. We walked around for what seemed like a half-hour. I became impatient and threw obvious hints that I just wanted to go into anyplace. Instead, he smiled as we continued to walk around in the maze of streets.
Then we came upon one very nice restaurant with a good atmosphere. The food was good and the prices were reasonable. The experience was memorable and a far cry from the first place that I had hastily went into. In fact, the first place was dirty and the staff unfriendly.
He looked at me as we sat down and told me that this is how he handles his affairs when he works. There are always many opportunities out there, but he is willing to wait for the right one before he jumps into anything.
This has been the biggest mistake in my investing/trading. In the past, I've been impatient wanting to make money now and feeling that I should be trading all the time. For example, I knew there was a correction coming at the start of the year. I should have just waited until it came and then jumped in with my cash after.
Another example is 2006. A person that went to cash and patiently waited for the correction and the bottoming would have made more cash then the ones who attempted to trade from the start of 2006 until the end. I can only imagine that quite a few traders were shaken out during that May 2006 correction.
On The Kirk Report, I saw how Kirk only made a 16% return in 2006. Kirk seems like a knowledgable, educated man with over a decade of experience in the market. However, what if he just went on vacation at the start of 2006 and then came in the last two quarters?
My biggest lesson is one of patience. Patiently waiting for the right opportunities and not trading all the time. There are some people on here who insist that in order to be a good trader you must be able to trade through any market at all times everyday. I dont believe this to be the case. The best traders, in my opinion, are those that patiently wait for the right opportunities, even if it takes months of sitting on the sidelines.
In my view, its difficult to predict exactly when a market or a stock will correct. However, its much easier to see when it will probably bottom through technical analysis.
I made a mistake this year in not patiently waiting for the right moments. I feel now that we have almost completed the handle of the cup/handle that has formed on the charts and soon we will be breaking out to fresh new highs. There wont be another correction this year, maybe in 2008. The returns I will have this year will be good, but not as good as if I waited for stocks to go on sale.
On Saturday morning, we go out to get something to eat. There are many places to eat along the street and I quickly went into one place. My friend walked in, shook his head and then we headed back to the street. We walked around for what seemed like a half-hour. I became impatient and threw obvious hints that I just wanted to go into anyplace. Instead, he smiled as we continued to walk around in the maze of streets.
Then we came upon one very nice restaurant with a good atmosphere. The food was good and the prices were reasonable. The experience was memorable and a far cry from the first place that I had hastily went into. In fact, the first place was dirty and the staff unfriendly.
He looked at me as we sat down and told me that this is how he handles his affairs when he works. There are always many opportunities out there, but he is willing to wait for the right one before he jumps into anything.
This has been the biggest mistake in my investing/trading. In the past, I've been impatient wanting to make money now and feeling that I should be trading all the time. For example, I knew there was a correction coming at the start of the year. I should have just waited until it came and then jumped in with my cash after.
Another example is 2006. A person that went to cash and patiently waited for the correction and the bottoming would have made more cash then the ones who attempted to trade from the start of 2006 until the end. I can only imagine that quite a few traders were shaken out during that May 2006 correction.
On The Kirk Report, I saw how Kirk only made a 16% return in 2006. Kirk seems like a knowledgable, educated man with over a decade of experience in the market. However, what if he just went on vacation at the start of 2006 and then came in the last two quarters?
My biggest lesson is one of patience. Patiently waiting for the right opportunities and not trading all the time. There are some people on here who insist that in order to be a good trader you must be able to trade through any market at all times everyday. I dont believe this to be the case. The best traders, in my opinion, are those that patiently wait for the right opportunities, even if it takes months of sitting on the sidelines.
In my view, its difficult to predict exactly when a market or a stock will correct. However, its much easier to see when it will probably bottom through technical analysis.
I made a mistake this year in not patiently waiting for the right moments. I feel now that we have almost completed the handle of the cup/handle that has formed on the charts and soon we will be breaking out to fresh new highs. There wont be another correction this year, maybe in 2008. The returns I will have this year will be good, but not as good as if I waited for stocks to go on sale.