At no time in history has technology provided us the ease with which we could so effortlessly and cheaply make a stock trade as it has today. Part of the mentality that previously guided the long-term investor was dictated by having to go through stockbrokers and market makers, the “guardians at the gate.” They were [...]

There are some fundamental differences between short-term trading and long-term investing. The difference in time horizon has traditionally made for different styles of thinking and behavior. While we don’t need to focus on these differences as they have conventionally been viewed, we will mention some of them in passing as reference to illustrate our points. [...]

Generally, active traders who are watching and trading the market all day tend to break the trading session into three broad divisions, each lasting about two hours. Both the first and last segments are characterized by heavier volume, while the middle two-hour period is relatively light. If we want to refine the stages a little [...]

The following statements of affirmation should be repeated frequently during the day (either internally or out loud) as an aid in transforming perfectionistic thinking to excellence thinking. Affirmation statements put into positive words those beliefs that lend direction and support to a chosen goal. Obsessive-oriented perfectionists often do well with affirmations, because they tend to [...]

Taking risks requires what the perfectionist dreads the most – the fear of the unknown and of failure. So it is important to “put your head into the lion’s mouth,” directly to dare to take some risks that you know will challenge your image as a perfectionist. This means doing some things that you know [...]

One or more of the false beliefs presented here are commonly part of the self-talk that maintain perfectionistic thinking. Often they are unconscious and unchallenged by the perfectionist and therefore continue to exert considerable influence. In pointing out each falsely assumed belief, the point is to make them conscious and to fully acknowledge that they [...]

We will show you some selected tools and ideas which may be helpful in striving for excellence in this article:

Restrict the amount of time you engage in perfectionistically driven activities. Purposefully cut back in those areas that you know you devote large amounts of time to but where your performance does not seem to improve. [...]

Like long-term investors who follow the companies they invest in, smart short-term traders need to be aware of the news of the companies they are trading. While the momentum of a stock may be enough for scalpers to focus on, those who are doing swing trades of a few hours or position trades for a [...]

Related to considering exit points and having mental, if not actual, stop losses to protect profits and limit losses, the disciplined short-term trader is often more tuned in than the long-term investor to what are called the support and resistance levels of a stock.
Support means the level at which a falling stock’s price will be [...]

Many active traders seem to pay little attention to the tax consequences of their short-term gains. They believe that they can make enough money with day and short-term trading to make taxes on gains a nonissue. Long-term traders have always been concerned about capital gains, not wanting to hold stocks less than a year so [...]