I am a US equity speculator whoâs looking to beat the benchmarks (indices and ETFs) by a few percentage points each quarter. I have been trading US equities for more than 20 years.
Caveat: Rules do not do much for you unless you have a true edge (i.e., a working system). Most people never could develop an edge due to personal limitation on intellect or psychology. If you do have an edge, you can teach it to anyone, initially. Then, they will inevitably mess it up by trying to improve/adapt it.
My Ten Most Important Stock Trading Rules:
1. Learn from history
2. Forget history
3. Understand the odds
4. KISS
5. Follow your instinct
6. Understand offense
7. Understand defense
8. Trade at market
9. Don't overtrade
10. Take good care of yourself
it all take a good book chapter to elaborate on each rule. Following is a synopsis.
1. Learn from history
History repeats itself. Learn from it to understand what's likely to happen in the future. Hence, make good use of historical data & charting techniques.
2. Forget history
There are invariants and evolutions in history. Do not make the mistake of treating an evolution as an invariant, and vice versa. In addition, do not make quantum leaps of faith when extrapolating from the lessons of history.
3. Understand the odds
Know the odds of success of whatever you are trying to do based on reliable statistics.
If you have no sense of what the odds are, you are taking a blind bet.
4. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Stay with simple strategies. Trying to be too clever ruins many traders.
5. Follow your instinct
Follow your instinct when you trade. Don't get into the destructive habit of second-guessing your decisions. However, if your instinct consistently gets you into bad trade, learn to ignore it, or better yet, quit trading stocks.
6. Understand offense
Make the most when you are trading well.
7. Understand defense
Lose the least when you are trading badly.
Trade simultaneously in several orthogonal sectors. This helps mitigate your downside risk.
Do not make a position too large relative to your other positions, because no bet is a guaranteed success.
Do not buy the same stock for several different accounts. This complicates your exit and potentially reduces your sell price.
8. Trade at market
It's often more important for the trade to get executed than to get an additional eighth or quarter point.
9. Don't overtrade
Do not let greed or despair cause you to margin to the hilt, or take a position that is too large. If you go for broke, you will be broke.
10. Take care of yourself
Spiritually and physically you have to be well to trade well. A trader who does not know how to take care of himself will eventually lose.
1. Trade probabilities. I only trade my setups that have a 75% or higher probability of success. These occur regularly at the open and the close. I rarely trade anything in between.
2. Wait for your setups to materialize. Don't try to make something happen.. be patient.