Dennis Gartman's 19 Rules Of Trading

2013 was great year for stocks and a crazy year for bonds.

But the amount of money you made depends on how you traded.

Dennis Gartman, editor and publisher of the Gartman Letter, has 19 rules of trading from 2013. But these hold true in general.

Here they are verbatim:

1. NEVER, EVER, EVER ADD TO A LOSING POSITION: EVER!: Adding to a losing position eventually leads to ruin, remembering Enron, Long Term Capital Management, Nick Leeson and myriad others.
2. TRADE LIKE A MERCENARY SOLDIER: As traders/investors we are to fight on the winning side of the trade, not on the side of the trade we may believe to be economically correct. We are pragmatists first, foremost and always.
3. MENTAL CAPITAL TRUMPS REAL CAPITAL: Capital comes in two forms... mental and real... and defending losing positions diminishes one’s finite and measurable real capital and one’s infinite and immeasurable mental capital accordingly and alway.
4. WE ARE NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF BUYING LOW AND SELLING HIGH: We are in the business of buying high and selling higher, or of selling low and buying lower. Strength begets strength; weakness more weakness.
5. IN BULL MARKETS ONE MUST TRY ALWAYS TO BE LONG OR NEUTRAL: The corollary, obviously, is that in bear markets one must try always to be short or neutral. There are exceptions, but they are very, very rare.
6. "MARKETS CAN REMAIN ILLOGICAL FAR LONGER THAN YOU OR I CAN REMAIN SOLVENT:" So said Lord Keynes many years ago and he was... and is... right, for illogic does often reign, despite what the academics would have us believe.
7. BUY THAT WHICH SHOWS THE GREATEST STRENGTH; SELL THAT WHICH SHOWS THE GREATEST WEAKNESS: Metaphorically, the wettest paper sacks break most easily and the strongest winds carry ships the farthest,fastest.
8. THINK LIKE A FUNDAMENTALIST; TRADE LIKE A TECHNICIAN: Be bullish... or bearish... only when the technicals and the fundamentals, as you understand them, run in tandem.
9. TRADING RUNS IN CYCLES; SOME GOOD, MOST BAD: In the “Good Times” even one’s errors are profitable; in the inevitable “Bad Times” even the most well researched trade shall goes awry. This is the nature of trading; accept it and move on.
10. KEEP YOUR SYSTEMS SIMPLE: Complication breeds confusion; simplicity breeds elegance and profitability.
11. UNDERSTANDING MASS PSYCHOLOGY IS ALMOST ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THAN UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS: Or more simply put, "When they’re cryin’ you should be buyin’ and when they’re yellin’ you should be sellin’!"
12. REMEMBER, THERE IS NEVER JUST ONE COCKROACH: The lesson of bad news is that more shall follow... usually hard upon and always with worsening impact.
13. BE PATIENT WITH WINNING TRADES; BE ENORMOUSLY IMPATIENT WITH LOSERS: Need we really say more?
14. DO MORE OF THAT WHICH IS WORKING AND LESS OF THAT WHICH IS NOT: This works well in life as well as trading. If there is a “secret” to trading... and to life... this is it.
15. CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF: Need we really say more? Errors only get worse.
16. SOMEONE’S ALWAYS GOT A BIGGER JUNK YARD DOG: No matter how much “work” we do on a trade, someone knows more and is more prepared than are we... and has more capital!
17. PAY ATTENTION: The market sends signals more often than not missed and/or disregarded... so pay attention!
18. WHEN THE FACTS CHANGE, CHANGE! Lord Keynes... again... once said that “ When the facts change, I change; what do you do, Sir?” When the technicals or the fundamentals of a position change, change your position, or at least reduced your exposure and perhaps exit entirely.
19. ALL RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN: But they are to be broken only rarely and true genius comes with knowing when, where and why!

(C) MAMTA BADKAR

10 Old Fashioned Dating Habits We Should Make Cool Again

1. Coming to the door to pick someone up.

I think we’ve all had it with the incredibly unromantic “here” text, and meeting up always seems to be more casual and platonic than the alternative. Of course, meeting someone from online or any circumstance like that would probably be the exception to this rule, but generally: the 30 seconds it takes to get out of a car or cab and knock on the door makes a huge difference.

2. Trying to dress really nicely for a date.

“Nicely” means different things for different people, so I think it’s just a matter of putting effort into how you put yourself together to go out with someone. It’s not about wearing suits and petticoats again, but just realizing that, whether or not we like to accept it, appearance does count for something, and we should do our best to make sure that our appearance says something about us, in whatever way we’d like it to.

3. Bringing flowers or other tokens of affection to the first date.

Now, many lucky ladies (and some men) I know get this regularly, and in fact, I have myself as well, but only ever with people I’d been dating for a while. I think there’s something to be said for bringing flowers to the door on your first date. It’s become uncool because it’s forward and it’s a gesture that confirms their interest, but we should definitely get past that idea and worry more about how we’re going to let someone know we really do care and appreciate that they want to spend time with us.

4. Going dancing that’s not grinding on a grimy club floor.

Whatever happened to this? Dancing for the sake of dancing, like fun, not essentially sex on a dance floor dancing. What’s a better way to literally shake off nerves than seeing them bust a really dorky move on a dance floor? And the art of slow dancing has generally been lost, though I’ve been one to do it in my living room with my slightly coerced significant other, and I’ll tell you he’s said on numerous occasions it ended up being one of the most romantic nights we had together.

5. Straightforwardly asking someone out and not calling it “hanging out.”

Or, as is very popular these days, “talking.” “Oh, we’re just… talking.” As in, seeing one another and speaking frequently as to get to know each other? So… dating? We’ve found these really convenient ways to skirt around the issue of having to put our hearts on the line, but honestly, it just ends up being messy and confusing for all parties involved. There’s no need to go back to the idea of courting or anything, unless you want to, but simply being direct about whether or not you’d like to go on a date with someone is a truly lost art, one that really shouldn’t be.

6. Additionally, being clear about when you’re “going steady.”

Oh, the awkward, “so… are we… you know… what are we?” talk. Classic. We should go back to asking one another if the other person would like to “go steady” or something. There’s something about asking them if they’d like to rather than assuming that you are or aren’t anything that’s just very cute, in my opinion.

7. Romantic gestures like writing poems.

Writing poems may not be for you, I know mine would look something like “Roses are red, violets are blue, I hate poetry but I love you.” I literally just made that up thank you please quote me when you inevitably post that gem on Tumblr. But seriously, like a handwritten letter in the mail or just surprising them with something you made even if it looks like the macaroni necklace you made when you were 5 is cute just because you tried and were thinking of them.

8. Turning electronics off and just being with one another.

I’m not sure there is anything worse than the person who picks up their phone and starts staring at it in the middle of dinner, or at any point while you’re together and having a conversation. I’m not anti-technology here (hello, I work for the Internet) but I am saying that there comes a time to turn it off and disconnect and remember what actually matters. People.

9. The general concept of asking permission for things.

It used to be principle for people to say: oh, when can I see you? Or, when could I call you? Rather than just assuming they can at any point. But I think that old concept could be applied to our modern world by just assuming that, unless told otherwise, you should ask permission to you know, touch them anywhere, take them out, call them at a certain time, etc. Once you’re in a relationship these things usually don’t require asking anymore, but some do, especially when it comes to sexuality. I once knew a person who said that they asked permission before so much as touching a girl’s thigh, and that always stuck with me.

10. Not assuming sex is to be had at any point in time.

Now, I’m certainly not saying it should go back to being a taboo that’s unspoken of, but we certainly shouldn’t expect it from someone on the third date, on the first date, because they’re being flirty, because you know they’re into you, or even because they agreed to go out with you. A date does not have to be a precursor to sex, and you shouldn’t be disappointed if it isn’t because you should never assume that it will be. It depends on the person you’re with and what they want to do.

(C) KATE BAILEY

 

You Can Easily Wake Up With Motivation In A Way Most People Don't

Lets face it, feeling motivated is perhaps one of the most difficult things you could ever do. If it were so easy, everyone would be making progress and achieving their goals they’ve set out to achieve.

Even worse is when we read countless articles from around the web that make it seem straightforward. As a result, it often becomes frustrating due to it seeming easy to apply on paper. It does little to improve your self-esteem and confidence, especially when you face difficulties in applying the advice you know and understand so well.

But all of this should feel encouraging, because one of the main things I personally found with regards to motivation is that it takes very little of it when doing the things you truly love. It seems very confusing at first but it makes sense when understood. Have you ever felt like you needed motivation when doing something that excited you?

In setting up the following points to help you wake up motivated, we need to firstly get the following basic point out of the way in order to establish good fundamentals and a strong foundation:

Find out what you truly enjoy doing in your life.

Really think about what you truly enjoy, and ffter establishing what truly fascinates and excites you, lets look at the 20 things you can do that will make you feel energized to start your day.

1) Have your biggest dreams written and visible for you to see the minute you wake up.

Our brains constantly need reminding of what we want from our lives. Having it written down creates a massive shift in our psyches and belief systems because what is simply a thought and a dream suddenly becomes tangible and clearly visible for everyone to see.

It suddenly no longer becomes a vivid imagination, but something that could actually become a reality.

2) Focus on what needs to be done for that day.

The morning is quite possibly the hardest time in the day to become productive due to having so many things to get on with. So many tasks and errands to get done, and often feeling overwhelmed due to constantly focusing on the big picture of what we hope to achieve in the long term.

It’s a great way to motivate and excite you, but be aware that the things you have to do today is what will eventually lead you there 3-4 years down the line. Break down your goals into smaller chunks and begin to hack away at them.

3) Stretch and Exercise before starting your day.

It’s been proven by science that regular exercise releases dopamine, which is the same chemical that makes us feel a burst of happiness. It’s our biology’s ‘feel good’ pill that does wonders to our positivity.

Doing this often will not only increase your feel good state, but will also help you keep fit, healthy and in great shape, which is an added bonus.

4) Practice Discipline to help you follow through with your tasks.

Due to social media, the internet and smart phones. We are constantly bombarded by information from every angle that can suck up your time and willpower to get things done.

Have the tenacity and discipline to set priorities for yourself and to focus on what needs to be done first. Set your phone on silent, block websites on your filtering service to help stop you from logging on.

5) Take regular breaks.

It is always important to give yourself a few minutes break for every half hour of work you do.

Use the ‘Pomodoro Technique’ by setting yourself a 20 minute timer to do as much as you can in that time period. Undistracted and pure productivity. Then spend the remaining 10 minutes to wind down, make a coffee or go for a short walk around the block.

You will find you will have gotten more work down in those 2 hours than you could have ever done throughout the entire day of unfocused work.

6) Call up friends and family and share your thoughts.

As focused as we can be, it is always a good idea to speak to people in order to share your thoughts and worries. We are social creatures by nature and need to speak with someone in order to feel connected.

This will help you re-gather your mind in order to keep you focused and concentrated.

7) Always aim to look your best at all times.

Looking your best will help you feel more confident and sure of yourself. This is especially important if you’re currently lacking in self-confidence and self-esteem.

The fact is, people who think highly of themselves will naturally aim to look their best at all times. Even if you don’t feel it yet, you can always fake it until you make it.

Look for clothes that fit your body well and feels comfortable to wear on any occasion.

8) Plan and take short trips abroad multiple times a year.

Taking short trips are especially important when times get tough and will help you clear your mind from the daily struggles, which will inevitably arise as you continue to take action.

These are commonly referred to as ‘mini retirements’. Spend some time planning out your travels throughout the year. Fortunately, with cheap airline flights and apartments, this could easily be achieved within a small budget.

9) Keep improving yourself.

Staying comfortable is never a good thing and is what generally makes us lose satisfaction over time. Have the drive to always improve where you currently are.

The people you hang around with will constantly find you interesting to be with as they will never be able to create a sustained impression of you due to growing on a daily basis.

If you’ve achieved your goals, try and set even higher goals for yourself that will take you to the next level. There really is no such thing as destinations, only milestones.

10) Start a personal blog and share your discoveries with the world.

The greatest satisfaction you could ever have is in sharing what you know with others. I’ve never felt any better than when I’ve personally received an email from a reader of my own blog, telling me how much it’s helped them with their personal life.

This feeling can’t ever be bought and is without a doubt, the greatest thing you could ever do for your self-worth.

11) Spend an hour a day learning new skills.

Similar to point #9, learning new skill sets is perhaps the best way to improve your overall value and marketability as a person.

The more you’re able to provide for people, the better you’ll be able to effectively communicate high market value, which will increase your self-worth and self-confidence.

12) Aim to give more in value than you expect to receive.

The biggest difference in my life personally was in understanding the importance of giving in value to others.

In reality, we very rarely place importance or significance in things if it doesn’t provide us with a sense of value in the first place. With this understanding, I realised how crucial it is to give as opposed to receiving.

Find out what people want, and aim to give more to them in value than you expect to receive. This will not only create more satisfaction in your life, but will also help see the world with positivity.

13) Start talking to strangers and making new friends.

We become so busy in our daily lives that we simply have little time to meet new people outside of it. As a result, the concept of meeting a new person beyond a social environment is generally seen as taboo.

There really is nothing wrong with meeting new people whilst out and about. Start talking to new people wherever you go. Talk to checkout clerks, bus drivers, people on the street. You will eventually realize that it’s not as scary or out of the ordinary as you once thought it was.

14) Look for mentors who are already doing the things you would like to achieve.

Whatever goals and dreams you have for yourself, chances are there is likely someone out there who is already successful at it.

Seek these people out and surround yourself with them. If it’s not possible, look for successful figures in books, audios or other blogs and learn from their successes.

Your learning curve will be a lot quicker and will help you create the positive mindsets you need in order to achieve.

15) Spend a few hours a day purely for fun and leisure.

It is never a good idea to focus purely on work. We need to wind down and do fun activities as well. In fact, this is so important that Google uses this as part of their work ethic.

Some of our most creative and ingenious ideas come from doing the things that aren’t related to work.

16) Focus on creating a balanced life.

If you place all of your time and energy on one thing, you are at great risk of hurting your identity due to having nothing else in place in order to keep you happy.

Set a balanced schedule to fit in all of the things that make you happy so that if one thing suddenly fails, you will always have something else in your life to keep you positive.

17) Pursue things that scares you and makes you feel uncomfortable.

Never be afraid to push yourself and to live on the edge. As long as it’s physically safe and not harmful to your body, you will always come out the other side a better person who is able to tackle more things comfortably.

Your goal is to eventually have a comfort zone that is so large that everything you’ll ever experience in your life will no longer seem out of the ordinary and will be able to competently tackle them all with ease.

18) Learn how to sell and market yourself.

The key thing I learned in life is that the better people were at selling and marketing themselves via effective communication, the more opportunities and successful they were.

You can have all the skills and abilities in the world, but if you do not know how to sell and market yourself, no one will know you exist or know your true value.

19) Build a mastermind group to share ideas with.

Look for like minded people who also want the same things as you do. Going on the path to success can sometimes be a lonely journey.

Having other people on the journey will help make things easier due to sharing and bouncing ideas across, which keeps everyone motivated.

Finally…

20) Don’t take life too seriously.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that in the end, this life is only temporary. As important it is to achieve goals and better yourself, in the end neither of us will come out of it alive or live forever. Always take the time to admire and appreciate the time you have and to appreciate the finer details of life.

It will keep your feet on the ground and above all, help you stay humble.

(C) ONDER HASSAN

How to predict the market’s next moves

MIAMI, Fla. (MarketWatch) — If you ask many traders which market indicator they’d use if they could only choose one, it would be moving averages.

Even if you don’t believe in technical analysis, take a look at moving averages, a powerful but simple indicator that gives important clues to market direction. The most popular are the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, although people use the 200-day measure as a guide to the long-term market trend.

But in a recent article, MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulbert found that a portfolio following the 200-day moving average hadn't produced such impressive results over the past 20 years. “Even on a risk-adjusted basis over the last two decades, the 200-day moving average has lagged a simple buy-and-hold approach"

If you’re a buy-and-hold investor, you’re probably not interested in timing strategies, and as Hulbert concludes, the 200-day moving average may not be the ideal vehicle for timing the market. If you’re a trader, however, you can use moving averages for timing. More important, moving averages can help provide clues to market direction.

Short-term traders tend not to use the 200-day MA for timing, but prefer the 13-day, 20 or 21-day, or 50-day. For example, long-term trader Laszlo Birinyi, president of Birinyi Associates, makes his trades based in part on a stock’s 50-day moving average.

Other traders use even shorter time frames such as the 8-day or 10-day moving average. They use it both for support and resistance, and also observe when one moving average crosses another. One popular crossover strategy: when the 8-day MA (the shorter moving average) crosses above the 13-day MA (the longer moving average), this is a signal to buy. Conversely, if the 8-day crosses below the 13-day MA, this could be a signal to sell.

Using moving averages for support and resistance

Traders, and investors, also use moving averages for support and resistance. For example, in June the S&P 500 sliced through the 50-day and 100-day moving averages. If the benchmark were to drop below its 200-day moving average, this would be a major sell signal.

Why? Because the 200-day moving average, and other moving averages, act as support (which is like a floor), or resistance (which is like a ceiling). It takes a lot of buying or selling pressure to move the market above or below a moving average.

Yet moving averages are not perfect. First, they are considered lagging indicators, which means they follow prices. In other words, they are often slow to react to market conditions. By the time the index drops below the moving average, you may already be out of luck. In addition, moving averages are not ideal during choppy trading environments. Like any indicator, you never want to make trades based solely on its results without confirming with other indicators.

Moving averages for rookie traders

If you are a rookie trader and want to know more about moving averages, here’s a brief tutorial.

Moving averages show the value of a security’s price over a period of time, such as the last 10, 20, 50, 100, or 200 days. Most people overlay the stock price over its moving average on a chart to get a good feel where the stock or market is headed.

Calculating a moving average is not difficult. For example, the 20-day simple moving average is found by taking an average of the last 20 days of the market’s closing price and dividing by 20. So as the 21st day is added, the first day is dropped off. It’s constantly moving, which is why it’s called a moving average. In addition to the simple moving average, many people use the exponential moving average, which gives more weight to the most recent time periods.

Many traders have designed strategies based on moving averages. With the help of a professional technician, last year I back-tested dozens of trading strategies. What did I find? The moving average crossover strategy (buy when the 50-day crosses over the 200-day, and sell when the 50-day crosses below the 200-day) consistently ranks high, especially when the market is trending.

The advantage of using moving averages is that it helps keep your emotions out of the trade.

Bottom line: If you are an investor or trader, you can gain valuable information by watching how stocks or indexes react when they rise above, or below, their moving averages.

Credit: Michael Sincere is the author of Start Day Trading Now (Adams Media, 2011), All About Market Indicators (McGraw-Hill, 2010), and Understanding Stocks (McGraw-Hill, 2003).

Why Japanese soldier's son donated P87,000 to PH

MANILA, Philippines - A Japanese man from Fukuoka donated 200,000 yen (around P87,000) to the relief efforts in the Philippines, which was battered by super typhoon "Yolanda" (Haiyan).

Kenji Hirakawa sent a letter to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo by post. In his letter, he expressed wishes for the quick recovery of the Philippines, and his desire to help in any way he can.

However, Hirakawa's ties to the Philippines run deep.

“My father lies sleeping in a mountain somewhere in Luzon,” he said in the letter, as quoted by the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.

He said he was just three months old when his father, a member of the Japanese imperial army, left him to serve his country during World War II.

His father was sent to the Philippines and never made it back home. Japan occupied the Philippines from1942 to 1945.

"I am enclosing here 200,000 yen for all the troubles my father may have caused to the Filipino people,” he said.

He expressed hope the money will help in easing the plight of the typhoon victims in central Philippines.

The Philippine embassy was unable to contact Hirakawa, since he did not include a contact number in his letter.

Last week, a Japanese preschooler touched the hearts of many Pinoys, after he donated his piggy bank savings for the victims of typhoon "Yolanda."

(C) abs-cbnnews global-filipino

CORRECT SEATING POSITION

Sitting straight upright in your chair is bad for your back.

You should instead slouch at an angle of 135 degrees.

Scottish and Canadian researchers used a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show that

Sitting straight places an unnecessary strain on your back.

Levent Caglar from the charity BackCare: "In general, opening up the angle between the trunk and the thighs in a seated posture is a good idea and it will improve the shape of the spine, making it more like the natural S-shape in a standing posture.

"As to what is the best angle between thigh and torso when seated, reclining at 135 degrees can make sitting more difficult as there is a tendency to slide off the seat: 120 degrees or less may be better."

Dr Waseem Bashir of the Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging at the University of Alberta Hospital, Canada, who led the study: "Sitting in a sound anatomic position is essential, since the strain put on the spine and its associated ligaments over time can lead to pain, deformity and chronic illness."

Rishi Loatey of the British Chiropractic Association: "One in three people suffer from lower back pain and to sit for long periods of time certainly contributes to this, as our bodies are not designed to be so sedentary."

reference:

news.bbc.co.uk

6 Ways to Get Yourself Motivated in Saving

Most students enter the real world when they reached the age of 20 or 21. That is when they enter the corporate race. This is also where the real challenge happens when it comes to saving money.

You’re not dependent anymore on your allowance from your parents. You now earn your own money. With that come different challenges to lure you not to save money. Social pressure from your friends to buy the latest gadgets just to be ‘in’ comes along your way. Officemates will be there to invite you too for gimmicks and parties.

You say to yourself that you earned that money and that you’re entitled to spend it in anyway you want. Some say they are entitled to reward themselves because they worked hard for it. Before you knew it, your salary goes directly to expenses leaving you with zero savings and perhaps credit card debts if you really cannot discipline yourself when it comes to saving money.

What should you do then in order to fight the urgency to spend? Here are some useful tips to resist spending away your hard-earned money.

Know your hourly rate in your job. Before you spend that hard-earned money from your job, calculate first how much you make on a per hour basis. Suppose you earn 18,000 a month as a fresh graduate and you work 8 hours a day, five times a week. In a week, you’re working for 40 hours and in one month, you’re working for 160 hours.

So your hourly rate from your job would be 18,000 divided by 160 leaving you Php 112.5 per hour.

Now before you buy stuffs, calculate first how many hours you worked for that money you’re going to spend. Are you thinking of buying a pair of shoes worth Php 3,000? Ask yourself first: Do you really want to work 26 hours just for that pair of shoes? Do you want to repeat the 26 hours of tiring labor, 26 hours of your boss shouting and bullying you, 26 hours of your back hurting sitting in front of that computer, and 26 hours talking to annoying colleagues for just one pair of shoes? Think about it carefully. Think twice, thrice or even four times.

Force your savings. True enough, it’s hard to save money especially if your will to do it is weak. Leave it to automation so you’ll be motivated to save!

Nowadays, you can now automate your savings by setting up a fixed amount to be deducted on your payroll account on a particular date every month. With the availability of UITF investments as the new form of trust funds of banks, you can enroll to their Regular Subscription Plan (RSP) for as little as Php 1,000 every month so that you are not only saving but also investing in your chosen UITF fund.

Make a savings goal and track it. Make a savings goal for yourself. Do you want to have 1M in savings before you reach 30? Then list down that savings goal! Listed goals are more achievable than unlisted ones.

Make an excel sheet tracking your savings developments on a monthly basis. Update it at the end of every month. You’ll get excited as you see the amounts increase every time you save especially as you get closer and closer to your savings goal.

Look for more ways to earn money for you. Do you have that unused item on your house? Then sell it by setting up a garage sale or post it on online classifieds like Sulit. Sell your services to your friends and colleagues. Think of more ways to earn and don’t forget to add the earnings of these to your savings goal. Your excitement grows more and more as you become closer to your goal.

Think of your health. Are you the type of person who needs exercise because you’re fat or are you worried about your health? Then try to save transportation costs by walking short distances. Instead of drinking sodas and juices in restaurants, drink water. Aside from additional sugar that will be added in to your body, you will just excrete it anyway through urine few hours after you leave the restaurant.

Don’t buy too much junk food in grocery stores. They are called such because they don’t provide much nutrients to your body. Avoid smoking, it won’t make you any good. It will just destroy your lungs and will cause you bad breath. Instead of thinking ways to spend your money, engage yourself in physical activities such as sports or your favorite hobby such as cooking or crafting.

There are many ways on how to save money by just thinking of your health. These little savings can pile up to make thousands when saved for a long time. A penny saved is always a penny earned. Truly, health is wealth.

Let the ‘Law of Attraction’ works. Do you have a goal of building your own dream house in the future? How about traveling to another country for vacation? Or perhaps buying your own car?

Place a picture of how you visualize these things in your wallet with the motivational words such as “I will achieve this” or “I will have this”. You can have the option to make it more specific by placing a time to it – “I will go to this place by December” or “I will achieve this by age 35”

Every time you spend money either by cash or credit cards, you’ll be reminded about these goals which will make you think twice before spending especially if it’s only a want.

Put a name on your bank accounts. Put a name on your bank accounts according to your specific goals. If you’re saving for a car, try to name it “Ride To a Brand New Vios” or if you’re planning to go abroad, try to name it “Enjoy Singapore Trip”. You’ll get more motivated to save for these savings goals.

It’s important to treat yourself occasionally to avoid getting frustrated and spending all your savings at once, so make sure you include a little “happy time” money in your budget to treat yourself every now and then.

Nowadays, with the influence of TV and media, everyone is encouraged to spend which makes saving more difficult. Saving money is hard and for some, it’s boring.

However, if you have that will and determination towards your goals in life, you will surely possess that self-discipline to save your hard-earned money and stick with your plans.

Credit: Tyrone Solee

3 Reasons Why USD Rallied after the FOMC Statement

Considering how the U.S. economy has more problems than a mathematics book, it was no surprise that the Federal Reserve decided against tapering stimulus in their monetary policy statement this week. But why the heck did the Greenback rally after the Fed announcement?! Here are three possible explanations:

1. No mention of the government shutdown or the debt ceiling

Perhaps the biggest issue that affected the U.S. economy this month was the government shutdown, which resulted to the temporary closure of non-essential services and furloughed employees. This shutdown lasted for more than a couple of weeks so it’s likely that overall economic activity took a hit.

However, the U.S. central bank seemed totally indifferent about the government shutdown, as Bernanke didn’t say whether it put a significant drag on economic growth or not. He didn’t even talk about the need to adjust their monetary policy stance because of this!

2. Less dovish economic outlook

What’s even more surprising is that, even with the slack in the jobs sector, Bernanke said that labor market conditions have improved. Really?!

A quick recap of the latest non-farm payrolls figures shows three consecutive months of subpar increases in hiring. Next week’s October NFP release is also projected to post weaker jobs growth of 120K, which would mark a steady decline in hiring since June this year.

Despite this, the Fed still believes that the economy is expanding at a moderate pace, similar to what they have been saying in their past rate statements. For now though, policymakers will continue to wait for more conclusive evidence that growth will carry on.

3. Fed didn’t postpone the taper

At the end of the day, Bernanke didn’t drop any hints on whether the taper will be pushed back a few more months or not. A few weeks ago, market watchers began speculating that March 2014 would be the earliest possible time when the Fed would start winding down its bond purchases. Further disappointments in U.S. data in the past few days led some to believe that the Fed wouldn’t start tapering until the second half of next year.

All Big Ben said was that the Fed would keep close tabs on incoming data, which means that U.S. economic releases could continue to spark a fundamental reaction from the Greenback in the coming weeks.

In a nutshell, the Greenback’s post-FOMC rally wasn’t really a result of what the Fed said but more of what they DIDN’T say. Those who were expecting to hear downbeat remarks or hints of a delayed taper were relieved to find out that the Fed wasn’t so pessimistic after all. In fact, some even started thinking that the Fed could start tapering this December! Do you think this is possible?

Credit: Piponomics

The Girls You Should Be Marrying

Earlier in the month I wrote an article titled “The Girls Who Are Never Getting Married”. You may have read it; it continues to get an influx of negative comments to this day, as the only people that are offended are the ones that know its true. So many women were furious with the article, claiming that the man who wrote it was misogynistic, disgusting, and my favorite comment “has four girls buried under his crawl space.”

Well Elite Daily readers, I wrote that article, and I am a female. Surprised? Feeling stupid? I hope so. I wrote that article because I’m disgusted with the girls of my generation who use their sexuality to get ahead in life, and disrespect themselves on a daily basis. I’m flattered that you think I’m a male chauvinist and a creep though. I may be a bitch but I’m just being honest.

I could honestly care less if your goal in life is to get married or not. If you choose not to, that’s your choice and I hope that it makes you happy. I wrote that article because those are the women I would hate to see my close guy friends end up with, or my brothers. If any guy that I’m close with wants to pursue a long-term relationship, these are the women I hope they do that with and eventually end up with.

The 30-Year Old With The Graduate School Degree

This girl took the initiative to further her education, and wants to make something of herself career wise. She’s a hard worker and she chooses to work hard on her own. She is independent and she is the perfect alpha woman. It’s one thing to go to a four-year university and graduate with a degree and get a successful job. Trust me, I commend anyone that does that and encourage all of you to do so.

The thing about a graduate of graduate school that intrigues me is that they knew that it would mean more work and less partying. Not many people are willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money to further their education. I like a girl like this because you know that she’s smart, you know that she has drive, and you know that she’ll keep you stimulated. She is the farthest thing away from that club whore you usually hang out with that is most likely blown out down there by now.

The Best Of Both Worlds

The perfect girl. She’s smart, she reads during her free time but watches shitty television. She loves to shop and present herself well but feels most comfortable with her feet up on the coffee table, drinking a few beers, watching the game with the guys. This girl can laugh at stupid girly nonsense but still take a joke when the guys she’s friends with try to bust her balls.

I want guys to end up with a girl like this, because I feel like they’ll never be bored. They’ll get the sexiness and femininity that they crave along with a best friend, because relationships almost never work if you’re not friends with your significant other. My parents have been married for 25 years and still chase each other around the house and play tag and that’s because my mom is a down ass bitch who loves Led Zeppelin and stilettos. Oh shit, I called my mom a bitch, that’s offending feminists right? Sorry I’m not.

The best of both worlds is truly what it means. It’s the girl that will pig out with you on burgers and hotdogs but still be so hot about it. She may even know how to play Madden. This is the girl that will go and buy beer and steak for you and your friends during man night. There is nothing like being with a girl that is just down with everything.

The Girl Who’s Got Her Own

Just like the annoyingly catchy Ne-Yo song says. The girl who’s completely independent. She wants you but she sure as hell doesn’t need you. She’s educated, she has a job, she pays her bills on time, buys all of her own shit, completely takes care of herself and is more than happy with her life. You want to go out with your guys? Cool, do that, she’ll call you tomorrow, cause she’ll be out doing her own thing.

A girl like this is an absolute keeper. She can be in a relationship, but she doesn’t need you to take care of her because she can take care of you. What guy wouldn’t want this? It’s borderline terrifying when a girl absolutely needs you in her life to make her happy.

So Elite Daily, that’s who I would want my brothers or my good guy friends ending up with. I know what some of you are thinking, “girls like this don’t exist”. I hear it everyday in these offices, but guess what, they do. They exist and I’d much rather all of the men out there wait and find one, instead of wasting their time on a girl who doesn’t respect themselves. Some may say these girls are unicorns and don’t exist but I beg to differ, try looking in the right places and not the club you frequently visit.

credit: ALLY BATISTA

8 Things You Should Know About Janet Yellen

In a few hours, the White House is expected to announce the nomination ofJanet Yellen, currently the Vice Chairwoman of the Fed, as the next head of the Federal Reserve. Here are 8 things you probably didn’t know about Ben Bernanke’s likely successor.

1. If confirmed, Janet Yellen will be the first female Fed head in its 100-year history. 
She will also be the first Democrat to fill up the post since Paul Volcker left in 1987.

2. She specializes in inflation and unemployment issues. 
In 1996 she famously debated then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan over the right inflation target. She argued that an ultra-low inflation could harm the economy as much as high inflation could.

She also believes that the Fed should be more aggressive in bringing down unemployment since inflation isn’t likely to balloon given the current economic conditions.

3. She has the best track record in predicting growth, jobs, and inflation.
This isn’t surprising given the point above. A Wall Street Journal report tracked more than 700 predictions, speeches, and Congressional testimony made by 14 Fed policymakers from 2009 to 2012 and found that Yellen has produced the most accurate forecasts.

4. She has warned of the real estate bubble as early as 2005. 
Back when she was San Francisco Fed President Yellen gave a speech that warned that house prices are “abnormally high” and that there’s a “bubble element” even accounting for the factors that support the high prices. +1 for her forecasting scores!

5. She is one of the driving forces behind the Fed’s recent policy changes. 
According to the Fed’s transcripts, Yellen has been calling for aggressive stimulus measures since December last year. It wasn’t until a couple of months later that the Fed pledged to keep rates near zero with targets forinflation and unemployment.

6. She has experience in communicating the Fed’s plans to the public.

In 2010 Bernanke had asked Yellen to lead an internal communications committee that articulates the central bank’s goals to the public.

She also supports the Fed’s transparency, saying that “The effects of monetary policy depend critically on the public getting the message about what policy will do months or years in the future… I hope and trust that the days of ‘never explain, never excuse’ are gone for good.”

7. She prepares well for her meetings. 

Who doesn’t, right? However, more than a few Fed insiders have noted her thoroughness in her preparations. For example, back in April she had prepared a 20-page speech complete with 18 footnotes and 15 charts to argue the case for low interest rates. She’s also been known to speak concisely and directly.

8. She is married to a Nobel Laureate.

In 1978 she married George Ackerlof, who won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. Their dinner conversation would probably be like “How’s inflation these days, dear?” “It’s fine. We bought more bonds today. Please pass the salt.”

There you have it, folks! It looks like the next Fed head is all about inflation, unemployment, low interest rates, and girl power. In the wise words of Alicia Keys, “This girl is on fire!”

How do you think Yellen’s leadership will affect the Fed’s monetary policy and the U.S. dollar? Let us know by voting through the poll below!

Credit: Piponomics

Part 4 – Become a Professional Trader: Putting It All Together !

Putting It All Together

In Part 3 of this mini-series we discussed how to “take off the training wheels” of demo-trading and progress on to trading with a real-money account. If you missed Part 3 click here.

Here’s a quick review of the main points we covered last week:

Step 7: How to handle the emotions of trading with real money

Step 8: Successful Forex trading money management

We are going to wrap up this 4-part blog mini-series in today’s lesson by discussing how to “put it all together”. I am going to walk you guys through an example of how a professional trader operates in the market by taking you through a trade step by step. Hopefully, in today’s lesson you will understand how all the steps in this series work together to provide you with an effective trading approach. Now, let’s check out how a pro price action trader would progress through a trade:

Step 9: Finding a price action signal

If you’ve completed all the previous steps in this mini-series, you will be ready to take the next step which is to actually look for a price action signal to trade on your real-money account. This is where your Forex trading plan comes in; it will give you a checklist to guide you through the process of finding a valid price action signal. It is not a concrete rule-set, but rather a guide or an outline that you follow to make sure any potential setup that you find meets certain criteria. Here’s an example:

• What time frame am I looking at? The daily chart time frame is best.

• What market am I trading? Is it a major Forex pair or a more volatile exotic pair?

• What condition is the market in? Trending, consolidating?

• Where are the obvious key support / resistance levels in the market? Have I drawn them in?

• What are the 8 and 21 daily EMAs doing? Where is price in relation to them?

• Is there an obvious price action signal on the chart?

• If there is an obvious signal, does it have confluence?

• What confluence does it have? Trend, static support / resistance, dynamic support / resistance, 50% retrace level? Event area? The more the better…

• Is the signal showing rejection of a key market level?

• Is the signal showing a false-break of a key market level?

These are just some of the things you would want to look for as you analyze the market and try to find a high-probability price action setup; it’s not a ‘complete’ trading plan or checklist. A professional Forex trader will have gone through the process of making sure any potential trade setup meets his or her checklist so many times that it turns into a habit and gets ingrained into their mind. Trading success is all about developing and maintaining the proper trading habits.

Here’s an example chart of the Kiwi/Yen pair, we can see this was a pin bar trading strategy that formed at a key level in the market and with the dominant daily trend. This was a very obvious price action setup that any professional trader trading this market would have caught. Note that it provided a very nice profit as the trend took off after the pin bar broke out to the upside:

Step 10: Calculating the risk to reward ratio of the trade

After a professional Forex trader finds a valid signal to trade, the next thing they will do is concentrate on the risk. That’s right; the RISK is the first thing a pro trader concentrates on…not the reward, like most amateurs.

Depending on the particular setup you are trading and were the nearby key support or resistance levels are, a pro trader will place their stop loss at the most logical place that gives the trade room to breathe. Logical stop placement is a crucial difference between winning and losing Forex traders. Winning traders will take the time to focus on finding the “safest” place to put their stop, while beginners usually place too tight of a stop just because they want to trade a bigger position size…or they place no stop at all, which is just insane.

Professional Forex traders calculate their risk reward ratio in terms of dollars at risk. So, if you have 100 dollars at risk, 1R (1 times risk) for you is $100, 2R is $200, and so on. Most pro traders are not very concerned with percentages or pips, because at the end of the year all that matters is how much money you lost relative to how much money you won. That’s why I measure my risk and reward in dollars, not percentages or pips.

In the chart below, we see the same NZDUSD pin bar trade, but this time we are calculating the potential risk reward on the trade. This trade actually ended up moving about 5R higher, meaning it would have returned 5 times what you risked if you had your stop loss just below the low of the pin and you entered at the high; a very good risk reward ratio indeed.

Step 11: Managing the trade after it’s live

Managing trades after they are live is perhaps the part of trading that gives traders the most trouble. The reason why traders have difficulty managing their trades is primarily because they over-complicate the process. I am a strong believer in “set and forget Forex trading”, and indeed this is a core part of my overall trading philosophy. Meddling in your trades after they are live and second-guessing your trade setups are things amateur traders do. Professional traders only take trades they are 100% OK in risking their hard-earned money on, thus they don’t second-guess themselves usually, and they rarely meddle in their trades. If you have a Forex trading plan and actually follow it, there should be no reason to mess around with your trades a lot after they are live. I personally have found that just letting the market run its course is usually the most lucrative forex trade management technique out there.

In the NZDUSD pin bar trade below, we can see this market easily presented us with more than a 2 times risk reward. I personally almost always take a reward of two times my risk, as more often than not, the market is ready to retrace substantially after pushing in one direction long enough to net me 2 times my risk. However, in strong trending markets like in our example trade below, there is usually a good probability you can get a reward of more than 2 times your risk. Indeed, in the example below this NZDUSD trade provided a 5 times risk reward.

I get a lot of emails about exits and how to manage them. The simple truth is that I almost always set and forget my trades; it’s a rare occasion that I meddle in my trade by closing it out before it hits my stop or by moving my profit target further away. I like to either take the loss or take the profit. Over a longer period of time, this trade management technique will work out in your favor, because you are not acting emotionally. Most traders who meddle in their trades are trying to “control” the market or force their will upon it.

You are far better off just entering your high-probability price action setup and letting the market “do its thing”. You will get better at this and at taking profits from your Forex trades, but it’s not something that will magically happen overnight. It takes a solid understanding of price action and market dynamics as well as putting in the screen time to develop your discretionary price action trading skills. All of this adds up to obtaining a keen “sense” of how to read and trade the raw price action in the market, and this is an art and a skill which will reward you many times over.

Step 12: Controlling yourself after a trade

Finally, we come to the last step of this mini-series on becoming a professional trader, and it is perhaps the most important one:

I know that most of you have had some good trades and made some money in the markets. But, what did you do afteryour trade? The honest answer to that question is truly what defines a professional trader. Your mindset right after a trade is at its most fragile, because you are likely either feeling a bit euphoric over your winnings or angry and frustrated over your losses. Granted, you should not experience these emotions too intensely if you’ve manage your risk properly, but you will likely still feel them to some degree no matter what, after all, you are risking your hard-earned money.

Whether you win or lose on a trade, you are at the greatest risk to make an emotional trading decision immediately after a trade closes. While there is no miracle-formula for making sure you avoid these emotional trading errors, if you understand and accept the following points you will be far less likely to make them:

• If you have just lost on a trade, remember that jumping in the market again to try and “make back” what you lost is an emotional reason for trading, not a logical one. Do not enter another trade right away unless there is a valid price action trade setup that meets the criteria in your trading plan.

• If you have just won on a trade, remember that you are not some “perfect” trader who can do no wrong in the markets. Beginning traders tend to get over-confident after a winner or a string of winners, this can cause them to veer of course and “run and gun” rather than trading Forex like a sniper.

• Remember, your trading success is not defined by your last trade; rather it is defined by the result of a large series of your trades. To become emotional and react defensively to any one trade is to say that you think your success as a trader hinges on one trade, and it simply does not. You have to learn to take your losses as just a part of doing business in the Forex market.

• In regards to taking losses, it will be a lot easier to swallow the inevitable losses if you are only risking an amount per trade that you are truly OK with losing. When you start trading with money that you need for other life expenses, or risking too much per trade, you put yourself at a very great risk for wanting to enter a “revenge” trade after you lose.

• Perhaps the best way to control yourself after any one trade is to simply take some time away from trading. Rarely are you going to exit a trade and then get another high-probability opportunity immediately after that. It usually pays to separate yourself from your charts for at least 24 hours after you exit a trade, whether it was a winner or loser. This will give your emotions time to die down and cool off before you begin analyzing the charts gain.

Where to go from here…

Now that you’ve finished this mini-series on becoming a professional trader, you should have learned a lot and have a deeper understanding of what pro trading is all about. I am not implying that you will be a professional trader just because you read this blog series. You need to understand that becoming a pro trader is the result of months and likely years of disciplined trading and making small steps toward your ultimate goal of professional Forex trading.

The first thing you should aim to do now is to follow all the insight in this series and aim for making small yet consistent gains each month on your trading account. If you are making money each month while managing your risk effectively on every trade and trading like a sniper…YOU ARE A SUCCESSFUL TRADER. You don’t need to be a professional / full-time trader right out of the gate to be a winner. Rather, this should be a longer-term goal that will sort of just “happen” if you trade consistently and remain disciplined over a long enough period of time.

Every trader is different, and so every trader will take a different amount of time to become successful. But, I promise you that if you learn and master a high-probability trading strategy like price action, and combine that mastery with a realistic attitude and a disciplined trading approach, you will be well on your way to becoming a profitable trader. To learn more about the professional Forex trading concepts discussed in this mini-series and my personal approach to trading the markets.

Credit: Nial Fuller