Trading Tit-Bits...

Never “Double Up”; that is, never completely and at once reverse a position. Being “long,” for instance,do not “sell out” and go as much “short.” This mayoccasionally succeed, but is very hazardous, for should the market begin again to advance, the mind reverts to its original opinion and the speculator “covers up”and “goes long” again. Should this last change be wrong, complete demoralization ensues. The change in the original position should have been made moderately,cautiously, thus keeping the judgment clear
and preserving the balance of the mind.

A social drinker enjoys an occasional drink, but an alcoholic craves alcohol. He denies that alcohol controls and destroys his life — until he reaches a personal crisis. It may be a life-threatening illness, unemployment, desertion by a family member, or another unbearably painful event. AA calls it “hitting rock bottom.”

The pain of hitting rock bottom punctures an alcoholic’s denial. He sees a stark choice—to drown or to turn and swim up for air. His first step to recov­ery is to admit that he is powerless over alcohol. A recovering alcoholic can never drink again.Loss is to a loser what alcohol is to an alcoholic. A small loss is like a single drink. A big loss is like a bender. A series of losses is like an alcoholic binge. A loser keeps switching between different markets, gurus, and trading systems. His equity shrinks while he is trying to re-create the pleasurable sensation of winning.Losing traders think and act like alcoholics, except that their speech is not slurred. The two groups are so much alike that you can predict what a loser will do by using alcoholics as a model.Alcoholism is a curable disease —and so is losing. Losers can change if they start using the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.