Three Moneymaking Secrets of a Champion Trader
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, President, Investment U
Thursday, January 22, 2004: Issue #307
David Ryan can teach you a few things about being a champion trader and winning in the stock market.
With an astounding 161% return, Ryan won the stock division of the 1985 U.S. Investing Championship. To prove his results were no fluke, Ryan returned to the contest in 1986 and duplicated the feat, registering a 160% return.
After graduating college, Ryan followed his dream. He went to famed investor William O’Neil and offered to do any job just to get his foot in the door. He even offered to work for free!
All of David’s hard work paid offhe eventually became a professional money manager and one of the elite traders interviewed by Jack Schwager in the book Market Wizards.
- Most traders are right “only” half the time. But they stay in the money by cutting losers quickly and riding the winners.
- Ryan makes it a point to learn from every mistake he makes. Starting out, I tried to forget my losing trades. Now I keep a journal and go over every trade to learn how I could have done a little better.
- Ryan knows what will cause him to sell a stock before he buys it. I follow his example and set a stop loss on every position. I think of it as “worst-case scenario” thinking.
Of these, I think the best lesson I’ve learned from David Ryan is learning from my mistakes (I’ve made so many I should be genius by now.)
It may not sound like a big “secret,” but making sure you don’t repeat investment mistakes will bring you much bigger returns than the next best thing in biotechnology.
Good investing,
Steve
- One of Dr. Steve Sjuggerud’s most essential investing tools – and one I use, along with many other savvy traders – is the “stop loss.” Here’s how it works: You limit your loss on any investment by deciding, in advance, on when you’ll sell it. Most stop losses will kick in when an investment closes the day 25% off its high. In other words, if you buy a stock at $10 and it soars to $20 before it begins a downward move, you’d sell at $15 – that’s 25% off the high of $20. The trick is to stay disciplined the stop-loss approach doesn’t work if you “cheat.” To read more about stop losses, check out IU E-Letter #250 – Getting Out With A Profit.
- Trailing Stops Made Simple…
- The Forex Markets: A Rare Glimpse Into The World of Forex Trading
- Your Investment Portfolio: Crucial Investment Habits Every Investor Should Cultivate
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