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Mistakes are a part of trading. Every trader makes them. But the most successful traders in the world—the ones who make huge profits every year—are the ones who make the least number of mistakes. The following is a list of ten common trading mistakes. Once you’ve learned to avoid these errors, you’ll expand your knowledge of the futures and options markets and increase your chances of making more winning trades.

#1. FOLLOWING THE CROWD

Although it’s been said there’s safety in numbers that statement almost never applies to trading. Successful traders know that it’s better to “lead the pack” than it is to blindly “follow the herd.” Because the biggest profits are made by catching moves before the crowd has a chance to react, it’s important that you form your own opinions and then act on them with total confidence.

#2. REVERSING YOUR POSITION

If your position is wrong, avoid the temptation of making a 180-degree turn. Instead, get out and give your trading a rest before taking another position. Ignore this advice, and you run the risk of being whipsawed—losing as the market moves against you, then losing more when the market turns and goes against you again.

#3. TRYING TO PICK TOPS AND BOTTOMS

The smartest traders always let the market price action prove a top or bottom has been formed before taking an active position. Trying to pinpoint tops and bottoms is a risky business where the possibility of taking a loss far outweighs the potential gain. By exercising patience and waiting for a definite high or low to appear, you’ll increase your odds for making a profit while reducing your risk and stress. [Read more]

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On Risk

Worry is not a sickness but a sign of health if you are not worried, you are not risking enough.
Always play for meaningful stakes if an amount is so small that its loss won’t make any significant difference, then it isn’t likely to bring any significant gains either.
Resist the allure of diversification.

On Greed

Always take your profit too soon.
Decide in advance what gain you want from a venture, and when you get it, get out.

On Hope

When the ship starts sinking, don’t pray. Jump.
Accept small losses cheerfully as a fact of life. Expect to experience several while awaiting a large gain. [Read more]

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A husband wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table. He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So is the rest of the house.

He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table. “Honey, breakfast is on the table, I left early to go grocery shopping. Love You!”

Totally shocked with the note, he goes to the kitchen and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. He asks, “Son, what happened last night?” His son says, “Well, you came home around 3 AM, drunk and delirious. Broke some crockery, puked in the hall, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door”. [Read more]

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Opto Circuits India

Source: Sharekhan
Recommendation: Buy
Price target: Rs460
Current market price: Rs338

Key points

# Opto Circuits India’s (Opto) non-invasive business is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.5% over FY2007-10E to Rs550.7 crore on the back of rising demand for its sensors and patient monitoring systems, coupled with an increasing market penetration and innovative new launches.

# The invasive business would be driven by the increasing acceptance of the company’s stents due to superior technology and better pricing. Further, the growing revenues from DIOR in Europe and the semi-regulated markets due to limited competition would also fuel the growth of the invasive segment. We expect the invasive segment (EuroCor) to contribute ~43% to the company’s total revenues by 2010. [Read more]

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Are you a salaried employee in India? Want an easy do-it-yourself way to calculate your income tax liabilities?

If you’ve answered yes to both the questions above, look no further. Nithyanand (better known as ynithya) has created a new version of the income tax calulator for FY 2008-09 and I must admit this is the best (excel sheet based) income tax calulator I’ve come across. It is very easy to use, provides just about everything you’d need to calculate your tax liabilities. I’ve been using his tax calculators for many years now and I simply love it. And best of all, he’s made this tax calculator available to us for FREE. [Read more]

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A section of traders are busy accumulating shares of a Delhi-based pipe manufacturer Bihar Tubes. The news on the street is that the company is looking at an acquisition and a greenfield expansion in Maharashtra. It had recently aquired Bangalore-based Shri Lakshmi Metal Udhyog, with a capacity of 35,000 mtpa. The capacity will go upto 75,000 mtpa on investment of an additional Rs 20 crore. This will also help in saving transportation cost of about Rs 700 per ton. The buzz is that the acquisition target is a Maharashtra-based company. Analysts expect Bihar Tubes to achieve a net sales of over Rs 600 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of about Rs 36 crore in FY09.

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Rain Commodities is said to be on the radar of a domestic brokerage firm who seeks to ‘invest smartly’. The firm is said to be aggresively asking investors to buy heavily into the scrip. The firm seems to be creating a buzz that Calcined Petroleum Coke (Rain is the world’s largest producer of CPC) is increasingly becoming a sellers’ market, as no new capacities are coming up. It has recently contracted CPC at over $500 per tonne to aluminium majors in contrast to about $250 last year. As a result, its EBIDTA margins have increased significantly up to $100 per tonne. It has a total capacity of about 2.5 million tonne. [Read more]

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This guest-post is by Jeff Miller. He is an Economist by training, a tech geek by inclination, and an IT Manager and a Real Estate Investor by experience. Jeff also knows a number of people who are smarter and better connected than he is and he hopes to share what he has learnt with you in a series of articles that will complement his somewhat lengthy comment to my post Black Money Saves Our Financial Sector.

As I mentioned in US Housing Market Crisis caused by Mortgage Backed Securities, the recasting of the minimum payment loans caused a lot of what we are seeing. Looking back on those loans will give us a clue as to what is going to happen in the housing market.

The minimum payment loans started being mass marketed in 2004. At that time, many of those loans were set to recast after a set interval. There were two intervals, 3 year and 5 year. The 3 year recasts hit in 2007. The 5 year recasts will hit in 2009. So, we know what will be coming in 2009. I don’t think that 2009 will hit us as bad as 2007. For one thing, the institutions will already be geared up to handle the loans (loss mitigation departments, REO departments, etc.). Also, the public will be use to it and is less likely to panic (unless the new media succeeds in its “the sky is falling” reporting). [Read more]

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It feels great when your blog post is a source of inspiration for others to start a new blog. And that’s precisely what happened with this post Black Money Saves Our Financial Sector. [Read more]

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I filled up my car’s fuel tank, and I thought fuel has become really expensive after the recent price hike. But then I compared it with other common liquids and did some quick calculations, and I felt a little better.

To know why, see the results below - you’ll be surprised at how outrageous some other prices are!

[Read more]

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