These Two Things Will Determine a Traders Success in 2012

Surprisingly winning traders success is not based on picking the right stock at the right time. Millionaires were not created from simply having a magic system for trading the markets.

What is the secret sauce of long term successful traders? You might be surprised.

#1. Having the right mindset to win in trading. (Trading Psychology)

#2. Managing your risk exposure on each trade correctly. (Risk Management)

No system will work if you can not trade it consistently. You have to stick to your method during the times that you are losing. Whether it is to keep taking entries or go to the sidelines and wait for volatility to settle down or a trend to emerge. You must stay in the game ready to take those entry signals or reverse the direction of your trend trade. The biggest reasons traders lose is that they simply quit when the going got tough. They lost faith in the method that they were trading, they believed that they could not make money in the markets. They right mind set in the markets is to persevere, never quit learning, never quit working, always be ready to trade.

No one trade should make you feel like the video below. You should trade a size that has meaning to you but no one trade should risk more than 2% of your account capital. If your account is $25,000 then you should be risking $250 to make $500 or more over and over. If you are risking $5000 to make $2500 or less that will not last very long, about 5 losses in a row to be exact. In the market over the last two months it was crucial to manage your risk through the right position size, many time the market gaps would not let you stop out where you wanted to. If you are going all in on every trade then you may have some amazing returns for awhile if you are fortunate but the odds are that the markets will take back those outsized returns when the market dynamics change. Risk a little to make a lot more, do not risk a lot to make a little more.

Do not risk so much on one trade that you feel like this video:

Kramer on Trading