To operate effectively in any forex market investing environment, you need rules and boundaries to guide your behaviour. No matter what system you`ve developed, the potential exists to do financial damage to yourself – damage that can be greater than you think is possible. There are many types of trades which the risk of loss is unlimited.

To prevent this kind of loss, you need to create an internal structure in the form of guide lines that determine your behaviour so you always act in your own best interest. This structure has to be internal because the market won`t provide it for you. The markets provide structure in the form of behaviour patterns that indicate when an opportunity to buy or sell exists. But that`s where the structure ends; with a simple indication. Nothing happens until you decide to start or forex market investing; you continue to trade as long as you want; and there is no end until you decide to stop.

All the beginnings, middles, and endings of your trades are the result of your interpretation of the information available from the market. However, while the average trader may want the freedom to make these choices, but that doesn`t mean they are ready and willing to accept the responsibility for the outcomes. The reality of forex market investing is that, if you want to be successful, you have to accept that no matter what the outcome may be, you are completely responsible. Not the market, not the economy, not world events – you.

Traders who are not ready to accept this responsibility can find themselves in a dilemma: How do you participate in an activity that allows complete freedom of choice and avoid taking responsibility if the outcomes of your choices are poor? This can be accomplished by adopting a forex market investing style that is random. Random trading can be defined as poorly planned trades, or trades that are not planned at all.

Randomness in trading is unstructured freedom without responsibility. When we trade without well-defined plans and with an unlimited set of variables, it`s very easy to take credit for the trades that turn out to our liking, because in our minds we used some kind of method. But at the same time, it`s very easy to avoid taking responsibility for the trades that didn`t turn out the way we wanted, because there`s always some variable we didn`t know about and therefore couldn`t take into consideration beforehand. Random forex market investing is an unorganized approach that doesn`t allow you to find out what works and what doesn`t.

If the market`s behaviour were truly random, then it would be difficult, if not impossible, to create consistent results. If it`s impossible to generate consistent results, then we really don`t have to take responsibility. However, direct experience with the market tells a different story. The same market behaviour patterns present themselves over and over again. Even though the outcome of each individual pattern is random, the outcome of a series of patterns is consistent and statistically reliable.

These patterns can aid your forex market investing if you choose to use a disciplined, organized, and consistent approach. Many traders spend hours doing market analysis and planning trades for the next day. Then, instead of making the trades they planned, they do something else. The trades they make are usually ideas from friends or tips from brokers. By making unstructured, random trades, they are able to avoid responsibility.

Why would they do this? When you act on your own ideas, you put your abilities on the line and get instant feedback on how well your ideas worked. It`s difficult to rationalize away any unsatisfactory endings, since they`re the direct results of actions. On the other hand, when you enter an unplanned, random trade, you shrug off the responsibility by blaming your friend or broker for their bad ideas.

The nature of forex market investing itself also makes it easy to escape responsibility. Any trade has the potential to be a winner, whether you`re a great analyst or a poor one. It takes a lot of effort to create and follow a disciplined approach that will make you a consistent winner. But, if you invest the effort, you can achieve success as a trader, and reap the benefits of the market.

Jimmy Cox
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/forex-professional-market-investor-reveals-a-shortcut-to-mastering-stock-market-investing-rules-135436.html

Stock Trading tips

Stop thinking that stock tips will help you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I never have the faintest idea what the stock market is going to do in the next six months, or the next year, or the next two." Warren Buffet

"If I have noticed anything over these 60 years on Wall Street, is that people do not succeed in forecasting that’s going to happen to the stock market." Benjamin Graham

"Market-timing is bunk." Pat Dorsey, Director of M* Fund Analysis.

"The market timer’s Hall of Fame is an empty room." Jane Bryant Quinn, Author, Columnist

"Market Timing is a poor substitute for a long-term investment plan." Jonathan Clements, Wall Street Journal

"No, I don’t believe in market timing. I’ve been around this business darn near a half-century, and I know I can’t do it successfully.– In fact, I don’t even know anyone who knows anyone who has ever successfully timed the market over the long term." Jack Bogle

"Market timing is an ineffective strategy for mutual Fund Investors." CDA/Wiesenberger

"Nobody but nobody, has consistently guessed the direction of the bond or stock market over any meaningful length of time." John Markese, President, AAII Journal

"I’ve learned that market timing can ruin you." Elaine Garzarelli

"Among the 160 or so newsletters the HFD monitors, the market timing recommendations of only 10 have beaten the stock market over the last decade on a risk-adjusted basis." Mark Hulbert 1-18-01

"As you can probably sense, we’re not keen on market-timing. It just doesn’t work." Morningstar’s Course 106

"Over a 12.5 year period, 224 of 237 market timing newsletters went out of business." indexfundsadvisors.com

"I’m a strong advocate of buying and holding." Charles Schwab

"Buy and hold is a very dull strategy. It lacks pizzazz and doesn’t inspire much admiration at cocktail parties. It has only one little advantage: It works, very profitably and very consistently." Frank Armstrong, Author

"For most investors the odds favor a buy-and-hold strategy." Carol Gould, New York Times

"There is absolutely no evidence that anyone can time the market." Bill Bernstein

"Some people in the popular press talk about ‘getting into’ a bull market and ‘getting out of’ a bear market, but it is all marketing hype." Rick Ferri, Author

"Only liars manage to always be ‘out’ during bad times and ‘in’ during good times." Bernard Baruch

"There is an overwhelming body of evidence to support the view that believing in the ability of market timers is the equivalent of believing astrologers can predict the future." Larry Swedroe, author

"Don’t trade in and out of funds. Stay invested.– Not only does buy-and-hold investing offer better returns, but it’s also less work." Eric Tyson, author Mutual Funds for Dummies

"Timing the market is for losers. Time IN the market will get you to the winner’s circle, and you’ll sleep better at night." Michael Leboeuf, author, "The Millionaire in You"

I just learned about iron condors and double calendars but which one should I use since I am just starting out?

To be successful at trading options in the stock market, you’ll need practice. The best way to get practice is through paper trading, that’s where you follow a stock and pretend you are actually putting trades in and then taking them out, hopefully for a profit.

You can also find books on the subject, like on amazon or barnes and noble. You’ll need a good foundation on the basics. There are also different strategies when it comes to trading options so you’ll need to learn those first as well.

For more advanced ways on how to trade options, there are sites that offer guidance. The advantage with these sites is that they will take you beyond the basics and offer you a better chance at higher returns on your trades.

I’ve listed some sites below that you can check out, they are for information purposes only and not a recommendation. However, you will learn a little more than what you can get from reading books.

http://www.stockoptiontradingsystems.com

http://optionsexpress.stockoptiontradingsystems.com

http://tradeking.stockoptiontradingsystems.com

I think if you start your learning this way, you will be able to succeed in trading options. Others have done it so there’s no reason why you can’t learn how to do it too.

Hope that helps and good luck!

I bought some stock shares and then, a couple of weeks later, realized what I wanted my long-term stock-trading strategy to be, and this stock does not fit my strategy. I bought the shares in August, and it is now October. How soon can I sell these shares without incurring the tax penalty for selling them too quickly? Do I have to hold them for a year, or is 45 days all that is required, or a different length of time?

There is no penalty for selling "too soon". There is a tax break for long term gains, and you won’t get this. However, one sure way to lose money is to worry more about the taxes than the actual investments. If you don’t want it, sell it.

I’m a 20 year old college student and I’m thinking about getting involved in the stock market. However, I don’t know too much about it or even how to start buying and trading stocks.

Any information on getting involved? Do I need to find a broker, or is it possible to do it all myself? I’m really not sure about the process.

Thanks ahead of time for any information.

Its easy to trade stocks. You need to open a brokerage account. You can use a online broker like Scottrade. If you don’t know anything about trading stocks read a book on it first before trying to trade.