{"id":106964,"date":"2017-06-06T11:11:49","date_gmt":"2017-06-06T15:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=106964"},"modified":"2017-06-06T07:13:57","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T11:13:57","slug":"11-tips-from-a-retired-day-trader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2017\/06\/11-tips-from-a-retired-day-trader\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Tips from a Retired Day Trader"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"inves-3223116317\" class=\"inves-below-title-posts inves-entity-placement\"><div id =\"posts_date_custom\"><div align=\"left\">June 6, 2017<\/div><hr style=\"border: none; border-bottom: 3px solid black;\">\r\n<\/div><\/div><p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/WallStreetDaily.com\/\"><u>WallStreetDaily.com<\/u><\/a> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-home-th size-home-th wp-post-image\" style=\"display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear: both;\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wallstreetdailywebsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/1116_light_feature.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wallstreetdailywebsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/1116_light_feature.jpg 580w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wallstreetdailywebsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/1116_light_feature-300x155.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Day trading \u201calmost killed\u201d this venture capitalist.<\/li>\n<li>But he learned 11 lessons that still help him today.<\/li>\n<li>What it really means when you say, \u201cThis is crazy\u201d<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Also recommended:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/pro.agorafinancial.com\/m\/688676\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">5 stocks driven by Trump policy changes.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left; max-width: 85px;\" src=\"https:\/\/duip7hn7nchpo.cloudfront.net\/editor-circle-louis-basenese.jpg\" alt=\"Louis Basenese\" \/>Dear <em>Wall Street Daily<\/em> Reader,<\/p>\n<p>In yesterday\u2019s <i>Wall Street Daily, <\/i>hedge fund manager and venture capitalist James Altucher broke down three things any successful investor should look out for.<\/p>\n<p>Today, he\u2019s sharing 11 more powerful nuggets of wisdom. All of which he gleaned from a job that he claims \u201calmost killed\u201d him.<\/p>\n<p>Check out his full list of investing insights below.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the tape,<\/p><div id=\"inves-3829423768\" class=\"inves-in-content inves-entity-placement\"><hr style=\"border: 1px solid #ddd;\">\r\n<div id=\"inpost_ads_header\">\r\n<p style=\"font-size:10px; float:left; color:#666;\">Free Reports:<\/p><\/div>\r\n<div id=\"inpost_ads\"> \r\n<p style=\"font-size:15px; float:left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/1ApBOV\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/investmacro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/graph_techs_PD.png\" align=\"left\" width=\"80\"  height=\"55\"\/><\/a>\r\n\t     <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/1ApBOV\"><b><u>Get Our Free Metatrader 4 Indicators<\/u><\/b><\/a> - Put Our Free MetaTrader 4 Custom Indicators on your charts when you join our Weekly Newsletter<\/p><br><br>\r\n<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<p style=\"font-size:15px; float:left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/f3RrHX\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/investmacro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cot_pie_80.png\" align=\"left\" width=\"80\"  height=\"55\"\/><\/a>\r\n\t    <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/f3RrHX\"><b><u>Get our Weekly Commitment of Traders Reports<\/u><\/b><\/a> - See where the biggest traders (Hedge Funds and Commercial Hedgers) are positioned in the futures markets on a weekly basis.<\/p><br><br>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<hr style=\"border: 1px solid #ddd;\">\r\n<br><\/div>\n<p>Louis Basenese<br \/>\nChief Investment Strategist, <em>Wall Street Daily<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2 class=\"centered headline\" style=\"text-align: center;\">11 Things I Learned About Life From Day Trading Millions of\u00a0Dollars<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left; max-width: 85px;\" src=\"https:\/\/duip7hn7nchpo.cloudfront.net\/editor-circle-james-altucher.jpg\" alt=\"James Altucher\" \/>I was a day trader for many years and it almost killed me.<\/p>\n<p>I made money by making profits on my own money and also taking a percentage of the profits for the people I traded for. I traded up to $40 million or $50 million a day at my peak. I did this from 2001\u20132004.<\/p>\n<p>I learned about day trading\u2026 but I also learned a lot about myself and what I was good at, what I was horrible at and what I was psychotic at.<\/p>\n<p>Things that had nothing to do with day trading.<\/p>\n<p>Day trading is the best job in the world on the days you make money. You make a trade, and then maybe 20 minutes later, you are out of the trade with a profit. And for the rest of the day, you think about how much money you made.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the worst job in the world on a bad day. I would make a trade, and it would go against me. And then I wanted my heart to stop so my blood would stop thumping so loudly.<\/p>\n<p>I did it for years, though, because I was unemployable in every other way.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what I learned. All of these lessons I will certainly use today, many years after I stopped day trading.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;1) You can\u2019t predict the future. Everyone thinks they can. But they can\u2019t.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This applies not just to trading but to everything. You could be married for 10 years, and the next thing you know\u200a\u2014\u200ayou are divorced, and you would not have predicted that.<\/p>\n<p>You could be healthy all your life \u2014 and drink your vegetables and exercise and reduce stress \u2014 and a year later you could be dead from cancer.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s much less stressful if you let go of trying to predict the future.<\/p>\n<p>You can always seek to increase the odds in your favor\u200a\u2014\u200aif I don\u2019t jump off bridges, for instance, it\u2019s more likely I\u2019ll be alive a year from now. But certainly, a path to unhappiness is thinking the future can be predicted and controlled.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;2) Hope is not a strategy.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If you get to the point where you \u201chope\u201d you don\u2019t get ruined, then you did something wrong beforehand.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, if you plan a wedding outside and you don\u2019t have a backup plan in case it rains, then you probably mis-planned your wedding, unless you are getting married in a desert.<\/p>\n<p>Hoping is not a bad thing. I hope that every day my life goes perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>But if hoping is the only thing I\u2019m relying on, then it means I didn\u2019t really look at all the possible outcomes of something that was important to me.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;3) Uncertainty is your best friend.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>100% of opportunities in life are created because people are uncertain about almost everything in their lives.<\/p>\n<p>We are constantly trying to close the enormous gap between the things we are certain about and the things we are uncertain about, and almost every invention, product, internet service, book or whatever has been created to help us close that gap.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes this is hard. If your husband betrays and leaves you, you often feel like crawling on the floor and burning all the self-help books. They all lied.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to feel \u201cin the now\u201d or to \u201cpositive think\u201d when life feels like it\u2019s over. I\u2019ve tried. For me, it\u2019s too hard.<\/p>\n<p>But at the very, very least, you can say, \u201cHelp me.\u201d You can say it to your close friends. You can say it something inside of yourself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelp me\u201d is the most powerful, and most forgotten, prayer.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;4) Taking risks versus reducing risk.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Some people take too many risks and they go bankrupt. This happened to me. And sometimes people are too cautious and don\u2019t take enough risks.<\/p>\n<p>When I first started day trading, I was so afraid of risk that if I had a small profit, I\u2019d end the trade. But then I would take big losses, and that would wipe out all my profits.<\/p>\n<p>The key is that you can take larger and larger risks if you work on better and better ways to deal with those risks.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, I might be able to risk marrying someone if I know she is not a hardcore drug addict who regularly betrays the people she is close to.<\/p>\n<p>I can risk driving without a license if I always stay below the speed limit (I know this is a stupid risk, but still). Once you have a method of reducing risks, it\u2019s easier to make trades or decisions about anything.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;5) Diversification.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Often I get emails saying, \u201cI really want ONE job, but they don\u2019t seem to want me, and now I\u2019m miserable. How can I get that job?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well\u2026 you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>And you\u2019re going to be unhappy. You can\u2019t wish yourself a job.<\/p>\n<p>When I was raising money to day trade, I probably contacted over 1,000 people. When I was starting an internet business, I started over a dozen internet businesses and watched all of them fail but one.<\/p>\n<p>When I was trying to sell my internet business, I contacted over a dozen companies (although Google broke my heart\u200a\u2014\u200adamn you, Google!).<\/p>\n<p>When I wanted to get married, I went on lots of dates. My wife\u2019s approach was even smarter\u200a\u2014\u200ashe wouldn\u2019t waste time with dinners. Claudia would only go to tea with guys. Within the first 20 seconds, you know if you are attracted. So keep it to a tea.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;6) Say No.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In day trading, if something is not working out, even if your heart wants it to work out, you have to say \u201cno\u201d and cut your losses.<\/p>\n<p>If a business relationship is not working out, don\u2019t put more energy and time into it.<\/p>\n<p>There is a cognitive bias called \u201ccommitment bias.\u201d We think because we\u2019ve already put time and energy (or money) into something that we have to stick with it. But this is just a mental bias. Say no to it.<\/p>\n<p>You have to decide every moment if this is the situation you want to be in.<\/p>\n<p>Just because you were in the situation a moment ago or yesterday or for 10 years doesn\u2019t mean the situation is right for you anymore.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;7) Health.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Day trading pulls everything out of you. It sucks the soul out of your body, blends it up and then explodes. It doesn\u2019t turn into a nice smoothie. It explodes.<\/p>\n<p>So you have to take care of yourself. If you don\u2019t sleep enough, if you don\u2019t eat well, exercise, be around positive people and be grateful for what you have, you will lose all of your money and go bankrupt.<\/p>\n<p>And obviously, this applies to everything else in life. Every day, what small thing can you do to become a slightly better you?<\/p>\n<p>The reason we get so attracted to \u201csafe\u201d cubicle jobs is that the pain is more subtle and sneaks up on us. It\u2019s not the blender drama of day trading, so the need for health on a daily basis doesn\u2019t seem as important. But it is.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;8) Laughter.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The only way to survive is to laugh. There\u2019s that saying: \u201cMen make plans, but God laughs.\u201d Well, you might as well be on the same side as God.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;9) \u201cThis is crazy\u201d means you\u2019re crazy.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen it a million times\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Guy makes a trade. The market goes against him. He says, \u201cThis is crazy\u201d and puts more money into the trade. And then he loses all his money and goes crazy. I\u2019ve had to talk people off the ledge or tell them to put the gun down.<\/p>\n<p>The market is never crazy. The world is never crazy. And I will go so far as to say that your girlfriend who just lied to you about where she spent the night is not crazy.<\/p>\n<p>I only care about you. And you\u2019re crazy if you thought the world was going to line up any way other than the way it lined up.<\/p>\n<p>Tough on you.<\/p>\n<p>I know when I feel like, \u201cUgh, this situation is insane,\u201d the first place I need to look is at me.<\/p>\n<p>I am insane.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;10) It doesn\u2019t matter if a trade (or a day, or a life) is good or bad.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Good and bad days happen. But life is about a billion little moments that add up to all the things around you. If you let one of those moments have too much control, then you are bound to be mostly miserable.<\/p>\n<p>I was mostly miserable during the period I was day trading. I let that aspect of my life take control. So I stopped focusing on being a good husband, a good father, a good friend, a good anything.<\/p>\n<p>All of my other constituencies went to hell.<\/p>\n<p>I would have nightmares. I would lose sleep. I would wake up many mornings and go to the church across the street so I could be by myself and pray. What would I pray? \u201cJesus, please make the markets go in my direction today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m Jewish. Nobody answered my prayers.<\/p>\n<p><b>&gt;&gt;11) It\u2019s never about the money.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Every day, I get emails like, \u201cCan you show me how to day trade?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NO!<\/p>\n<p>I know 1,000 day traders and only two who won\u2019t go bankrupt. So what makes anyone think they will have an edge? How many people listen to me?<\/p>\n<p>About 0%.<\/p>\n<p>How come?<\/p>\n<p>Because people are sick of their lives, their relationships, their jobs and all the lies that have been told to them ever since they learned how to walk.<\/p>\n<p>They want freedom from the BS.<\/p>\n<p>I get it.<\/p>\n<p>Day trading is the dream. You can make enough money to not care. To do it from anywhere. To be happy.<\/p>\n<p>It won\u2019t work. But people don\u2019t want to believe it. Most people think they have that one special something that will make it work for them.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s true\u200a\u2014\u200athey do have that one special something.<\/p>\n<p>But you can\u2019t get there by day trading first.<\/p>\n<p>You can skip right to the being happy part. You can skip right to being free.<\/p>\n<p>But we never learned that. We were taught we had to DO something first to earn freedom.<\/p>\n<p>We were taught that suffering was the currency to buy happiness.<\/p>\n<p>OK, go do it. Then cry about it. Then get scared. Then curse the craziness. Then cry more. None of that will make you happy.<\/p>\n<p>Then read this blog post again. Not because it will make you happy. But because I like when people read my posts.<\/p>\n<p>And laugh.<\/p>\n<p>-James Altucher<\/p>\n<p><b>P.S.<\/b> Not long ago, James Altucher made a single investment from his home computer\u2026 and walked away with a profit of $10 million in nine months. Now, on June 8 at 1 p.m. EST, he\u2019s going to show you how to use the same strategy to multiply your wealth. <a href=\"https:\/\/signup.agorafinancial.com\/688612\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Click here<\/b><\/a> to reserve your spot to this free webinar now.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wallstreetdaily.com\/2017\/06\/06\/11-tips-from-a-retired-day-trader\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">11 Tips from a Retired Day Trader<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wallstreetdaily.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wall Street Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By WallStreetDaily.com Day trading \u201calmost killed\u201d this venture capitalist. But he learned 11 lessons that still help him today. What it really means when you say, \u201cThis is crazy\u201d Also recommended: 5 stocks driven by Trump policy changes. Dear Wall Street Daily Reader, In yesterday\u2019s Wall Street Daily, hedge fund manager and venture capitalist James [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106964"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106969,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106964\/revisions\/106969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}