Don't think you know better than your rules

"If you take emotion - would be, could be, should be - out of it, and look at what is, and quantify it, I think you have a big advantage over most human beings." - John W Henry

In trading, hindsight can be a not-so wonderful thing. Your stop gets hit, kicking you out of a trade for a small profit. All of a sudden, price takes off in the direction you were looking to profit from, leaving you on the sidelines.

Take it from me. If it's happened once, it will happen a thousand times.

Is this type of event frustrating? Sure.

Are you a Borg or a McEnroe?

Given that this year's Wimbledon is currently in progress, I have a tennis theme to this post.

Any trader who has been profitable over the long-haul has developed a method and mindset that works for them.

Usually, this means approaching the markets in an unemotional, rational state, rather than an emotional, irrational state.

In my opinion that is the way to be, but that statement is not complete. Behind that, it is quite possible to go through emotional ups and downs on a daily basis and be successful.

The charts tell you what you allow them to tell you

I was having a long conversation the other night with an aspiring trend follower, about how I go about selecting the stocks I want to trade, and how it maybe differs from more 'traditional' trend followers.

If you trade a small basket of futures markets (like the Turtles) then, providing you are not 'fully loaded' in your existing positions, you were instructed to take all signals given, as not taking a signal could mean missing out on the most profitable trade of the year.