Thoughts on Trading - collected from various sources

http://www.turtletrader.com/mental-edge.html
Instead of looking for commonalities in the market, look for what every successful trader has in common. Every trader who has broken through to sustained success in the market has a common characteristic. Confidence. In other words, no matter how good you are at analyzing the market, if you don't have confidence, all you're really doing is repeatedly creating experiences to which you will respond with similar frustration and anxiety. How do you achieve confidence? You gather knowledge and practice discipline. The more you learn about the markets and your approach to trading the markets, the more effective you become as a trader. The more effective you become, the less fearful you are. Confidence is the lack of fear. That's it. Lack of fear. When you are confident, you can win.

http://www.turtletrader.com/richard-donchian.html How Did Donchian Start?
"It doesn't matter if you're trading stocks or soybeans. Trading is trading, and the name of the game is increasing your wealth. A trader's job description is stunningly simple: Don't lose money. This is of utmost importance to new traders, who are often told, Do your research. This is good advice, but should be considered carefully. Research alone won't insure a profit, and at the end of the day, your main goal should be to make money, not to get an A in How to Read a Balance Sheet"
Richard Donchian

Quick facts about Richard Donchian:
His account dropped below zero following the 1929 stock market crash.
He began his market career as a stock analyst in the 1930s.
Was one of the Pentagon whiz kids in World War II. Served as a cryptanalyst.
Worked closely with Robert McNamara during his Air Force tenure.
The intent of his trend following ideas was not to forecast prices but to provide a simple, foolproof way to get onboard important trends.
Did not start trading his trend following system until age 65. Traded into his 90s.
He personally trained many traders in the art of trend following. He trained many women at a time when women were second fiddle on Wall Street.

Donchian wisdom from 20 years ago is just as fresh today:

"For decades Donchian toiled over his price charts -- first for stocks, later for commodities -- hoping to hit on the magic formulas that would guarantee trading profits. After 42 years of pencils and graph paper, he was managing all of $200,000. Then, when he was about 66, his system began to click. Now, a decade later, he's managing $27 million at Shearson/American Express, pulling down close to $1 million a year in fees and commissions and almost equaling that in trading profits on his own money"
- Forbes, 1982

"But Donchian loved Wall Street. In 1930 he persuaded a small Hartford broker to lend him some capital and a desk to trade shares in Auburn Auto, the Apple Computer of its day. Auburn eventually folded, but Donchian made a few thousand dollars on the strength of good timing. And thus was born a market "technician," someone who charts prices and formulates buy and sell strategies with scant regard for an investment's underlying, or fundamental, value"
- Forbes, 1982

Donchian's influence was wide and far-reaching. In an interview Ed Seykota cited his influence:
Q. So how did you get introduced to technical analysis?
A. About the time I graduated from MIT, I read an article by technician Richard Donchian that intrigued me. That idea — the idea of an automatic mechanical moneymaking machine — fascinated me. So I bought some block time at a local computer service, spent my evenings punching up cards from The Wall Street Journal and began to reproduce Donchian's results. I tried varying the parameter sets and found that other combinations also worked. I noticed that longer-term smoothing worked pretty well, while transaction costs seemed to chop up shorter-term systems.

A successful trader does not forecast the future - he monitors the market and manages his trading position
-Trading For a Living, by Dr. Alexander Elder

The markets are the same now as they were five or ten years ago because they keep changing - just like they did then
- Ed Seykota Losing a position is aggravating, whereas losing your nerve is devastating

"The object is to make and take significant gains and not get excited, optimistic or greedy as a stock's advance gets stronger"
- William J. O'Neil

"The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves. But unlike the Lord, the market does not forgive those who know not what they do"
- Warren Buffett

I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute
- Warren Buffett

The most prepared are the most dedicated
- Raymond Berry

Watch out for emergencies. They are your big chance
- Fritz Reiner

You must have long range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short range failures
-Charles Noble

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds
- Larry Bird

The fewer facts you have in support of an opinion, the stronger your emotional attachment to that opinion
- Anonymous

Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work
- Thomos Edison

Real wealth is ideas plus energy
- Buckminster Fuller

Making money is a hobby that will complement any other hobbies you have, beautifully
- Scott Alexander

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash
- General George Patton

Success is a progressive realization of worthwhile, predetermined personal goals
- Paul J Meyer

You miss 100% of the shots you never take
- Wayne Gretzky

The task of beating the market is not difficult, it is the job of beating ourselves that proves overwhelming
- Martin Pring

I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon
- Baron Rothchild

Selling a soybean contract short is worth two years at the Harvard Business School
- Robert Stovall

Indecisive traders will always produce inconsistent behavior, and consequently inconsistent profits
- John Hayden

I measure what's going on, and I adapt to it. I try to get my ego out of the way. The market is smarter than I am so I bend
- Martin Zweig

If you don't know who you are, the stock market is an expensive place to find out
- George Goodman

A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong - not taking the loss - that is what does damage to the pocketbook and to the soul
- Jesse Livermore

With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year
- Warren Buffett

If you bet on a horse, that's gambling. If you bet you can make three spades, that's entertainment. If you bet cotton will go up three points, that's business. See the difference?
- Blackie Sherrod