Best practices

A good article about best practices (link).

I did a study on my trades some years back. My most consistent winners were buy-writes (buy the stock, sell the call). Some of my worst losers were stocks that I bought on fundamental valuations. Emotion is often the enemy for traders and I am not immune. I still occasionally get that fear and go to a fight or flight response. For traders, fighting the market can be the road to the poor house. I know too many sad stories of that type. Flight often means selling at a short term low.

That said, risk control, risk management are absolutely key to staying in the game. Every position trader has bad streaks. Learning to limit the losses is a vital lesson.

Keep a journal, use it. I tell folks there are a 1000 ways to make money in the stock market. Find one that suits your personality, that you can stick with.