Be A “Fair-Weather” Trader


The fact that people are as unpredictable as they are means that you want
to be a “fair-weather” trader. It’s just like fair-weather friends, who are
around as long as things are going well with you and they need something. This
is the way you want to treat your stocks. As long as things are going well
with your stocks and you are getting something from them, continue to trade
them. But when the stock settles down into a listless trading range, don’t
hang around out of nostalgia over better days. Drop the stock like a hot
potato and find another. And don’t shed a tear over it.

-Bob Baird and Craig McBurney, from

Electronic Day Trading to Win
(1999,
John Wiley & Sons, New York).