Whether you’re here or there: keep it simple, have a plan, and follow that plan. That’s all you have to do.

can you relate...

When an archer is shooting for nothing . . . he has all his skill.

If he shoots for a brass buckle . . . he is already nervous.

If he shoots for a prize of gold . . . he goes blind;

or sees two targets . . . he is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed.  But the prize . . . divides him.  He cares.

He thinks more of winning than of shooting . . . 

and the need to win drains him of power.

            – Chuang Tzu, 400 B.C../
                                                    ...if you are a trader, you can

markets so far in 2016

Here are 10 great technical trading rules that will help you build a systematic approach to trading:

1.  Start with the weekly price chart to establish the long term trend, and then work down through the daily and hourly charts to trade in the direction of that trend. The odds are better if you are trading in the direction of the long term trend.

2.  In Bull Markets, the best strategy is to buy the dips. In Bear Markets, the best strategy is to sell short into each rally. Always go with the path of least resistance.

3.  Support and resistance levels can hold for long periods of time; the first few breakout attempts usually fail.

4.  The more times a support or resistance level is tested, the greater the odds that it will be broken. Old resistance can become the new support, and the old support may become the new resistance.

5.  Trend lines are the easiest way to measure trends by connecting higher highs or lower lows, and they must always go from left to right.

6.  Chart patterns are visible representations of the price ranges that buyers and sellers are creating. Chart Patterns are connected trend lines that signal a possible breakout buy point if one line is broken.

7.  Moving averages quantify trends and create signals for entries, exits, and trailing stops.

8.  Moving averages are great tools for a trader to use, but they are best used along with an overbought/oversold oscillator like the RSI. This maximizes exit profitability on extensions from a moving average.

9.  52 week highs are bullish, and 52 week lows are bearish. All-time highs are more bullish, and all-time lows are more bearish. Bull Markets have no long term resistance, and Bear Markets have no long term support.

10.  Above the 200 day is where bulls create uptrends. Bad things happen below the 200 day; down trends, distribution, bear markets, crashes, and bankruptcies.

"LOVE TO LOSE MONEY"

LOVE TO LOSE MONEY.

This rule is the one that I get the most questions and feedback on by traders from all over the world. Traders ask, “What do you mean, love to lose money. Are you crazy?”
No, I’m not crazy. What I mean is to accept the fact that you are going to have losing trades. Get out of your losers quickly. Love to get out of your losers quickly. It will save you a lot of trading capital and will make you a much better trader. 

H&S top on weekly closing price chart

"DON’T SPECULATE. IF YOU DO YOU WILL LOSE"

DON’T SPECULATE. IF YOU DO YOU WILL LOSE. In all of the years that I have been a trader and associated with traders, I have never met a successful speculator. It is impossible to speculate and consistently print large winners. Don’t be a speculator. Be a trader.

"DON’T WORRY ABOUT NEWS. IT’S HISTORY"

DON’T WORRY ABOUT NEWS. IT’S HISTORY. I have never understood why so many electronic traders listen to or watch CNBC,MSNBC, Bloomberg News or FNN all day long. The “talking heads” on these programs know very little about market dynamics and market price action. Very few, if any, have ever even traded. Yet they claim to be experts on everything. Before becoming a “trading and markets expert”. the guy on CNBC reporting hourly from the Bond Pit, was a phone clerk on the trading floor. Obviously this qualifies him to be an expert! He, and others, can provide no utility to you. Treat it for what it really is… entertainment. The fact is: The reporting that you hear on the business programs is “old news”. The story has already been dissected and consumed by the professional market participants long before the “news” has been disseminated. Do not trade off of the reporting. It’s too late.

"DEVELOP A METHODOLOGY AND STICK WITH IT. DON’T CHANGE METHODOLOGIES FROM DAY TO DAY"

DEVELOP A METHODOLOGY AND STICK WITH IT. DON’T CHANGE METHODOLOGIES FROM DAY TO DAY. Write down the specific market prerequisites (setups) that must take place in order for you to make a trade. Doesn't really mater what the methodology is, but you do want to make sure that you have a set of rules, market setups or price action that must appear in order for you to take the trade. You must have a game plan.

It could be as simple as this:
“My metric for everything I look at is the 200-day moving average of closing prices. I’ve seen too many things go to zero, stocks and commodities. The whole trick in investing is: ‘How do I keep from losing everything?’ If you use the 200-day moving average rule, then you get out. You play defense, and you get out.” --PTJ

“The secret to being successful from a trading perspective is to have an indefatigable and an undying and unquenchable thirst for information and knowledge.”

2.   “Intellectual capital will always trump financial capital.”

3.   “Every day I assume every position I have is wrong.”

4.   “Losers average losers.”

5.   “You adapt, evolve, compete or die.”

6.   “Trading is very competitive and you have to be able to handle getting your butt kicked.”

7.   “The whole world is simply nothing more than a flow chart for capital.”

8.   “At the end of the day, the most important thing is how good are you at risk control.”

9.   “Always think of your entry point as last night’s close.”

10.   “I will keep cutting my position size down as I have losing trades. When I am trading poorly, I keep reducing my position size. That way, I will be trading my smallest position size when my trading is worst.”

11.   “Don’t be a hero. Don’t have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don’t ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead.”

12.   “Markets trend only about 15 percent of the time; the rest of the time they move sideways.”

sell any bounce

The first week of 2016 to the year marks the worst start in the history of the stock market.

The devaluing Chinese yuan, slack global growth, divergences in the major averages, the slide in junk bonds, the slide in oil and other commodities reaching multi-year lows, and the prospect of rate hikes all contributed to the market's troubles.

"DON’T HOPE AND PRAY. IF YOU DO YOU WILL LOSE."

DON’T HOPE AND PRAY. IF YOU DO YOU WILL LOSE.
When I was a new and undisciplined trader, I can’t tell you how many times that I prayed to the “Emini god”. My prayers were a plea to help me out of a less‐than‐pleasant trade position. I would pray for some sort of divine intervention that, by the way, never materialized. I soon realized that praying to the “Emini god” or any other "financial markets God” was a wasted exercise. Just get out! 

"GET OUT OF YOUR LOSERS"

GET OUT OF YOUR LOSERS You are not a “loser” Because you have a losing trade on. You are, however, a loser if you do not get out of the losing trade once you recognize that the trade is no good. It’s amazing to me how accurate your gut is as a market indicator. If, in your gut, you have the idea that the trade is no good then it’s probably no good. Time to exit.

"EARN THE RIGHT TO TRADE BIGGER."

"YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND PLAY THE NEXT DAY."

YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND PLAY THE NEXT DAY. Never put yourself in the precarious position of losing more money than you can afford. The worst feeling in the world is wanting to trade and not being able to do so because the equity in your account is too low and your brokerage firm will not allow you to continue unless you submit more funds.
The most important rule is survival. If you don't survive, you can't keep on playing.

wondering

                        today you can, it's the first business day of the year, do it now
                   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svi-efuZBR8

My message for 2016 is simple: Predictions are useless. Keep an open mind and let the market tell you what it is doing in real-time, and be prepared and ready to put yourself in the position of being able to "get lucky."