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Bring your very best or don’t show up at all. That’s the attitude to have when it comes to many competitive activities, and trading is definitely one of them.

Last week, Kobe Bryant put up 81 points one night. Now, I’m actually a Spurs fan (and we don’t like the Lakers!), but I couldn’t help but be impressed by Kobe’s performance. Without question, Kobe had his entire focus on doing his job to the best of his ability. Every time he got the ball, he was on a mission. His focus kept him from being distracted by anything else. Marital problems? Nah. Tabloid rumors? Nope. Disputes with the coach? No way. He had his game face on and nothing stopped him.

Take the same approach with trading. The first thing I try to consider each day is how do I feel. Physically, it’s important to be healthy and alert, but a quick mental check will help you to determine how you should trade today, if at all.

Tiger Woods shows up ready to play every time out, and he stays home otherwise. Think about what an approach like that could do for your trading results!

If you’ve got off-the-court issues bothering you, don’t get in the game. If doing those taxes late last night left you with your head in a fog today, you shouldn’t be trading. If one of your relationships is rocky and you can’t commit your concentration to trading, then today probably won’t be your day to trade. If you have family in town visiting and you feel obligated to entertain, then your trading is going to suffer.

Priorities like health, family and relationships, and a to-do list longer than you prefer can often mean sub-par trading results. Consider sitting on your hands during those times when your situation leaves you with less than 100% focus. A little patience with priorities never hurt anyone. And when you return to trading, make sure you bring your game face!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

Last night in my stock newsletter, I highlighted ICE for a swing trading candidate on the long side if it could make new highs at $48.50. Here’s the chart I showed in last night’s newsletter:

I particularly liked the recent volatility following this stock’s uptrend, along with the fact that this stock was testing the recent highs. Throw into the mix that ICE has been making higher lows in the past couple of weeks, and the ingredients of a good setup were complete. A break above the horizontal line was the entry point I showed to my subscribers, and today ICE raced higher all day long, adding more than 10% to show us a gain of more than $4.00 per share!

Here’s a look at the ICE chart after today, with the breakout very easily seen:

Don’t be afraid of trading the new issues like ICE. Just because a stock has less trading history than many others out there doesn’t mean that you can’t catch a great move out of quality chart patterns!

To catch moves like this with me instead of hearing about them from me, sign up for your 2-week free trial to my stock pick service!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

Most people think that trading is the buying and selling of stocks. I suppose it is, but I often say that trading is the continual process of making and losing money. This is true! A trader’s success all boils down to making more when he’s right and losing less when he’s wrong. What matters is the difference between how much you make and how little you give back!

I’m right more often than I’m wrong, but that wouldn’t necessarily have to be the case for me to make money. By managing trades properly, a trader could be 50/50 or even worse and still come out profitably. It’s about taking small losses and sticking with the winning trades to overcome the small losses.

Trading does involve buying and selling, but it’s all about making more when you’re right than you lose when you’re wrong!

Knowing that I’ll be wrong certainly helps me to accept a losing trade. Every day when I settle into my routine, I’m aware that I will probably have at least one losing trade – but that doesn’t stop me from trading (or making money). That awareness doesn’t hurt my confidence, but instead it keeps my ego suppressed. I know that I’ll be wrong, so when I am, it’s far easier to hit the sell button and wipe that small mistake off my screen. Then I can focus on my winning stocks without the eyesores and annoyances of stocks moving opposite of what I had anticipated.

Don’t let your ego interfere with your trading! Going to battle with a losing trade by adding to it or simply letting the truck roll over you without getting out of the way are all due to ego. Accept that there will be some losses, commit to keeping them small, and stay focused on getting the most out of your winning trades.

Follow my trades and see how I manage both winners and losers with a 2-week trial to my swing trading service. You’ll like the net result!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

Trading platforms have come a long way in just a short time. Now you can set up your trading layout just the way you want it, reflecting all kinds of information back at you to enhance your decision-making process. It’s easier than ever to monitor positions, set a quick stop-loss order, and watch multiple timeframes with several charts. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that more is better!

Information overload is a widely-used term but it certainly applies to trading. I’ve known more than a few traders who suffer from paralysis by analysis. It’s easy to get so into the information that you fail to remember what it’s all there for – trading to make money! If you’re overcomplicating things and getting too wrapped up in making sure all the stars are aligned before you can pull the trigger on a good trade, then maybe it’s time to streamline your process.

Start with the basics in your trading layout and add only what you need.

Take a good look at the information your trading layout displays for you. Do you need it all? Are those indicators doing anything for you other than just adding color to the charts? Is there conflicting information which is regularly keeping you from capturing good moves in this market?

Start with the bare essentials for trading: a level 2 window, an open positions window, a chart of the futures, a chart for your stocks, and a ticker. Add only what you need to this list, and soon you’ll be able to monitor positions and market momentum without getting lost in the shuffle. Simplify your layout and spend your time and energy focusing on the tape this year rather than suffering from information overload!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

My trading strategy is not one that will have me so exposed to any particular trade that if something bad happened I would be wiped out. Because of this, my fear isn’t that I will someday have to take a giant loss on a bad trade. Yes, I will be wrong and take my medicine, but that’s not a big concern to me.

The losing streak is the big bad ugly monster I don’t want to fall victim to. I’ve known a number of traders who allowed losing streaks to continue, and it’s scary. A losing streak leaves a trader not knowing which way is up. During a losing streak, you don’t know what to trade, when to trade, or which way to trade. You don’t know which indicators are meaningful and which are useless. Choppiness looks like a tradable pattern and what ultimately gets chopped up is your account. You’ll change your approach daily, never giving any strategy a fair evaluation. You may even start trading opposite of what you think, just to put an end to it. In short, you become clueless, and are never the same.

No thank you!

Every trader needs capital to trade. Cash in an account is one type of capital, but psychological capital is certainly another equal requirement. A trader must have the courage to act on his convictions and put that cash into play. Losing streaks cost money, no doubt, but more importantly they cost a trader confidence. Money can be borrowed, but without confidence, a trader simply becomes a cash holder with no ability to seize opportunity.

This is of course my 2nd biggest fear.

Protect your confidence at all times, with as much vigilance as you protect your trading account. When you start losing money, take every measure to stop it. Cut down your trading size, trade less often, and wait for more clarity. Put on the brakes to stop a losing streak, and you’ll avoid the nasty long-term damage it can cause to your trading career.

See how I avoid the losing streak at my swing trading site. The no-risk free trial will give you 2 weeks of insights, and you won’t regret it!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com