How to be successful at On-line Stock Trading

The idea that anybody can trade stocks profitably is just wrong. Some people can stand the volatility and the pressure that comes with it, and some people can't. Even among the few who can handle the heat, fewer yet will ultimately be a successful stock market trader. There are no golden rules to follow in order to be able to extract money from the markets on the long-term. However, it's undeniable that the best Wall Street traders all have a few characteristics in common.

1. Profitable traders have their own approach to trading and think differently than most people.

2. Successful traders maintain a regimented system that's as easy and efficient as possible. They use different systems on a daily basis: technical analysis/fundamentals, value/quality... Which one you choose actually matters less than your ability to stick to it. A successful trader knows the benefits, as well as the shortcomings, of their system and executes trades based solely upon the system. "The secret to success is consistency of purpose." In other words, you should always use different methods for entering positions and closing them.

3. The best traders obviously take the factor "risk" into account and try to lower their exposure to it as much as possible. Successful traders abhor losing money and manage their losses before they become too great, even if that entails throwing in the towel and acknowledging they made an incorrect call.

4. The best traders are also very encline to take a shot once in a while and don't fear making mistakes. Successful traders have what Native Americans refer to as, "sovereignty," which is the right and capability to do the wrong thing. Essentially, sovereignty is the courage to make your own mistakes, for it's from our greatest failures that we learn the most.

5. The best traders have no complex taking losses as they know it's only part of the game. What matters to them is just to limit these losses focusing on capital preservation.

6. The most successful traders know exactly how to analyse stocks and have several source of information they use extensively to find out everything there is to know about a specific stock.

7. The best traders usually have a very balanced life outside of work. The large winning trades as well as the large losing ones can bring a huge rush of emotions in a short amount of time, and it can be very hard to cope with on a daily basis if you don't have anything on the side to clear your mind and cool off.

8. Patience is also a strength shared by the best traders in the world. Some positions can be opened and close intraday, but a lot will be based on longer term views and it's important to be able to have the patience and confidence to let the trades reach your targets (or eventually stop-losses).

9. The best traders have a strong will to succeed. As obvious as it may sound, a lot of traders do actually give up as soon as the first losses get them too far out of their "confort zone".

10. A good trader is also one who shows discipline. You can't afford to cut the stock research process short just because you don't feel like going through that essential step, or deviate constantly from your initial strategy based on other people's opinions.

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