Reblog: Principles of Profitable Trading


A profitable stock trader’s success is not based on picking the right stock at the right time. There are dynamics that determine success other than entries and picks. Millionaires aren’t  created because they have a magic system for trading through all market environments. There are a couple of things that influence profitable trading, and they could surprise you.

#1. Having the right mindset to win; psychology.

#2. Managing your risk exposure on each trade; risk management.

No system will work if you can’t trade it consistently. You must stick to your method when you are losing. Whether it’s to keep taking entries, to go to the sidelines and wait for volatility, or to settle down and wait for a trend to emerge.

You must stay in the game and be ready to take your entry signals. The primary reason that traders lose money is that they give up when things get tough because they don’t have faith in their system. A trader must persevere,  never quit learning, never quit working, and always be ready to trade.

Continue Reading →

stockarchitect March 26, 2018

newtraderu.com / Risk Management / Trading Psychology / Trading System /

Reblog: 20 Reasons Why 90% of New Traders Don’t Make It


  1. They risk too much to try to make so little.
  2. They trade with the probabilities against them.
  3. They think trading is easy money.
  4. Instead of focusing on learning how to trade they focus on getting rich.
  5. They blow up due to improper position sizing.
  6. With no understanding of the mathematical risk of ruin they are doomed after the first long string of losing trades.
  7. Blindly following a guru that leads them down the road of destruction.
  8. They don’t do their homework.
  9. They trade opinions not robust systems.
  10. They go looking for ‘trades’ instead of a methodology.
  11. They have no trading plan.
  12. They attempt to piggy back on the trades another trader but don’t understand the risks.
  13. Most new traders quit when they realized how much work is involved in trading successfully.
  14. Most traders quit when they learn how many losing trades they will have to have to get to the winners.
  15. New traders quit if they do not have a passion for trading itself.
  16. Many new traders will give up the moment they realize that trading does not have guaranteed income, you are an entrepreneur.
  17. They are not willing to pay the tuition to learn to trade in time, study, and losing trades.
  18. They are crushed by the learning curve that they do not work hard enough to get through.
  19. We lose a lot of new traders when they realize that trading is actually harder than their job.
  20. The traders that don’t make it quit when they were tired, frustrated, and stressed out, the winning traders quit after they had figured trading out.

The original article appears on newtraderu.com and is penned by Steve Burns. It can be accessed here.

stockarchitect November 1, 2017

newtraderu.com / Steve Burns / Trade / trader / Trading / Trading Research / Trading Rules / Trading System /

Reblog: 4 Types of Trading Signals


Quantified trading signals can be based on different types of strategies. Some buy high in the hopes of selling higher, while  others try to create a great risk/reward ratio by buying low hoping to sell on rebounds or reversals in price action. Here are four different types of trading signals.

  1. Momentum signals are based on buying strength. Momentum traders wait for a strong move in a stock and then buy and get on-board for a short amount of time. Momentum traders usually trade short time frames of days. These work primarily in bull markets.
  2. Breakout signals are based on buying all-time highs or 52 week highs, trying to buy high and sell higher. Breakouts are bought trying to catch a parabolic move where a stock could double or even triple over weeks and months. These work primarily in strong bull markets when indexes break to all-time highs.
  3. Buying oversold dips are based on buying a long term price support level or an oversold oscillator like the 30 RSI, a price extension far from the 10 day EMA, or a -80 to -100 $NYMO. This signal tries to create a great risk/reward ratio based on buying a deep dip of a historical price range. These work best in range-bound markets.
  4. Trend following signals try to go in the direction of the long term trend by using long term moving averages like the 200 day SMA breaks as buy or sell signals, or all-time highs or lows to enter longs or shorts. These work in trends with higher highs or lower lows.

The original article is authored by Steve and appears on New Trader U. It is available here. 

stockarchitect November 28, 2016

Breakout / Buying / Momentum / Trading Signals / Trading System / Trend /

Reblog: Find a Monster Stock in 15 steps


Monster stocks are those wonderful beasts that make you look like a genius trader.

Shorts think that they are way too expensive and will crash, so they go short and have to cover en-mass after another 10 point run; they create even more buying pressure. Traders that short monster stocks do not understand the momentum that earnings expectations and growth cause for a stock’s price. They do not understand supply and demand. A stock that is $300, $400, or $500 based on earnings per share, could still be fundamentally cheaper than a $10 junk stock that has billions of shares floating around with tiny earnings per share.

Sounds great, but where do we find these beasts?

Continue Reading →

stockarchitect October 26, 2016

Bull Market / Monster stock / Trading Method / Trading System / Trend Following /