Don’t Let This Happen To You
I made my worst trading mistake
in the summer of 1998. Looking back on it now, it’s hard to imagine that there
was ever a worse time to be in the markets during the late 90s, but that’s far
from reality. There was the Asian Contagion, volatility much higher than today,
and big October drops in 1997 and 1998. It wasn’t all as rosy as we like to
remember it. My trading mistake, was trading, period. In the summer of ’98 the
markets went into a doldrums and I kept right on trading, gradually draining my
trading account dry.
Since that experience, I’ve
constantly reminded myself and warned anyone and everyone who will listen
against the dangers of overtrading, trading without an edge, without a system,
or plan, etc… We need this reminder too, because we are constantly being
bombarded by the industry trying to get us to trade more than is probably in
most people’s best interest. How often or how big a person trades doesn’t define
a trader. All investing is trading. It’s just that the length of the trade
varies.