It's always refreshing to hear from some of the trading greats that have made a killing on the markets.
Here are ten quotes that'll make you think twice:
"Volatility is greatest at turning points, diminishing as a new trend becomes established." - George Soros
Soros cemented his position as a trading legend when he banked billions by shorting the British pound ahead of Black Wednesday - the day that traders broke the pound. They didn't really break the pound, but they forced the British Government to pull it from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), which it had joined in an attempt to unify European economies.
Soros made a pretty penny from trading volatile markets, opting to use it as an indication of a the beginning of a new trend.
"Don’t be a hero. Don’t have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don’t ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead." - Paul Tudor Jones
Jones is a Tennessee-born hedge fund manager, investor and philanthropist who as of February 2017, was the 120th richest person on the Forbes 400. The market is a living, breathing thing. It is constantly changing and it is always right. Jones understood this, which is why he stressed the importance of being adaptable and capable of changing your trading style to suit market conditions.
As Darwin famously said, it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change.
“You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ.” - Warren Buffet
A household name in the trading and investing sphere, Buffet has made more money than most of us put together.
You don't need to understand electricity to flick the light switch, and you don't need to understand the physics of a wave to be able to surf it.
“Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole. There is nothing extraordinary or superhuman in any one of those actions; only the fact that they are done consistently and correctly, and all together, produce excellence.” - Daniel F. Chambliss, Professor of Sociology
Here, Chambliss emphasizes the mundanity of excellence. Each factor that helps us make our trading decisions may seem underwhelming on its own, but bundle them all together and it produces some incredible results.
"I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one." - Mark Twain
Trust your analysis before you miss the move.
Livermore went from farm boy to multi-millionaire, losing several fortunes along the way and earning himself the nickname "Bear of Wall Street." He believed that the more a trader invested his time and energy into studying the markets and economies, the better an his or her returns would be.
"Win or lose, everybody gets what they want out of the market. Some people seem to like to lose, so they win by losing money." - Ed Seykota
A solitary trader with over four decades of experience, Seykota understands his flaws more than most. Understanding one's psychological weaknesses is a central trading principle according to Seykota; it allows us to improve our trading.
"The goal of a successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary." - Alexander Elder
Elder has written many trading books, so he is well placed to tell us to focus on the quality of our trades and forget about the money. You're never going to make money if you don't know how to trade.
"A great trader is like a great athlete. You have to have natural skills, but you have to train yourself how to use them." Marty Schwartz
It is a willingness to learn which trading style suits you, and adapt your trading that is is one of the most important skills traders can learn, according to Schwartz. He should know, it took him over ten years to be a profitable trader.
"You're only as good as your last trade." - AvidTrader
Those that appreciate the freedom that trading gives us, both in terms of financial freedom and time, will understand that trading is not a get quick rich scheme. It is a life-long endeavor and something that we will likely be doing for a long time. The only trade that really counts is your next one, and the one after that, and the one after that.
Happy trading,
AvidTrader