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1 " Another way to determine the direction of the general market is to focus on how the leading stocks are performing. If the stocks that have been leading the bull market start breaking down, that is a major sign the market has topped. Another important factor to watch is the Federal Reserve discount rate. Usually, after the Fed raises the rate two or three times, the market runs into trouble. "
― Jack D. Schwager , Market Wizards
2 " Actually, the best traders have no ego. "
3 " If you don’t stay with your winners, you are not going to be able to pay for the losers. "
4 " Charting is a little like surfing. You don’t have to know a lot about the physics of tides, resonance, and fluid dynamics in order to catch a good wave. You just have to be able to sense when it’s happening and then have the drive to act at the right time. "
5 " One of my rules was to get out when the volatility and the momentum became absolutely insane. "
6 " hold on to your winners and cut your losers. "
7 " It is impossible to consistently outperform the market by using any information that the market already knows. "
8 " Can you give me an example of how the lack of real world experience would hurt the researcher? "
9 " traders shouldn’t stick their heads in the sand and just hope it gets better. "
10 " When I see a picture like the 1861 cotton market, I ask myself, “What caused that? Why did that happen?” Then I try to figure it out. From that, you learn an enormous amount. In "
11 " I am always thinking about losing money as opposed to making money. "
12 " I figured out that for every dollar I made trading, 30 percent was going to the government, 30 percent was going to support my planes, and 20 percent was going to support my real estate. So I finally decided to sell everything. "
13 " Kovner lists risk management as the key to successful trading; he always decides on an exit point before he puts on a trade. He also stresses the need for evaluating risk on a portfolio basis rather than viewing the risk of each trade independently. This is absolutely critical when one holds positions that are highly correlated, since the overall portfolio risk is likely to be much greater than the trader realizes. "
14 " One of the jobs of a good trader is to imagine alternative scenarios. I try to form many different mental pictures of what the world should be like and wait for one of them to be confirmed. You keep trying them on one at a time. Inevitably, most of these pictures will turn out to be wrong—that is, only a few elements of the picture may prove correct. But then, all of a sudden, you will find that in one picture, nine out of ten elements click. That scenario then becomes your image of the world reality. "
15 " I feel my success comes from my love of the markets. I am not a casual trader. It is my life. I have a passion for trading. It is not merely a hobby or even a career choice for me. There is no question that this is what I am supposed to do with my life. "
16 " Excessive worrying about taxes usually leads to unsound investments in the hope of achieving a tax shelter. "
17 " Those who want to win and lack skill can get someone with skill to help them. I "
