So why is trading psychology so important? Well, I discovered the hard way that no amount of external success could fix the way I felt inside. The more I achieved in my corporate life, the more I felt I needed to achieve. No matter what I accomplished, I still felt a gnawing sense of emptiness…
“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in a savings account? I rest my case.” — Robert G. Allen Albert Einstein famously stated, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” “Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company, and the unfortunate so that you may avoid…
“A year ago I made a loss in the markets. Now I just can’t seem to motivate myself to trade again. What’s going on?” asks Sharon from Adelaide. Well Sharon, I know that some losses can hit you harder than others, so I do hear where you’re coming from. I want you to examine your…
The tram rattled and groaned. I was coming home from the city where I’d met up with my son. Usually I’d drive. This time though, the school insisted on the families coming in by train, tram or bus. With me was my husband and our excited 11-year old. I’d forgotten. Forgotten how exhausted people are…
Walking to the shop by myself for the first time. Pigtails swinging as I walked. At 4-years old, it was a big deal. A huge deal. The lure of a 2 cent bag of lollies sang loudly. How exciting. Yes, I looked both ways before I crossed the road. And yes, I remembered to turn…
This is a question I have been pondering for the past few days and it has come about as a result of several conversations Scott L and I have had regrading some testing we are looking at. It seems that the extreme survivor bias of the index is causing all sorts of problems. When you…
Very good piece by Dr Brett Steenbarger. We’ll never find our peace by succeeding at trading. Succeeding at trading requires finding our peace, because that’s the only way we’ll be sufficiently open-minded to truly understand what markets are doing. Finding fulfillment in our lives outside of trading is a wonderful path toward bringing peace to…
This is one of the odder posts I have come across. For those who have not sat through Microbiology 101 Toxoplasma gondii is an extracellular parasite that causes the disease toxoplasmosis which is most commonly found in cats where it sexually reproduces. It is also known to infect rodents and in doing so seems to…
Following on from my post a few weeks ago about ETFs I have been mulling over the utility of ETFs within a portfolio. You only need to mention the word superannuation to me and you will get a gob full from me pontificating on how I think the current system is crap, completely inadequate to servicing…
We all know someone who is convinced their opinion is better than everyone else’s on a topic – perhaps, even, that it is the only correct opinion to have. Maybe, on some topics, you are that person. No psychologist would be surprised that people who are convinced their beliefs are superior think they are better informed than…
Straight from the no shit Sherlock files. I am always amazed that people are amazed by the obvious, I am doubly amazed that the obvious also gets research grants……. It’s not just running. Two new studies confirm that weightlifting provides a similar boost to mental health. At the beginning of the year, when I was…
So I find myself sitting on an airplane buzzing my way back from Perth and I am struck by thoughts of how does one hang onto their money after making it. This topic of pondering was prompted by my visit to WA as it seems that nobody there had a plan for hanging onto the…
Most investors have way too much cash. Wealthy investors really have too much. This is a phenomenon Citi Private Bank’s David Bailin has observed whether the markets are soaring, stumbling, or stagnant. According to Federal Reserve figures, retail investors had about 18% of their assets in money market funds and in U.S. bank deposits, considered…
On a foggy February morning in Oxford, England, I arrived at the John Radcliffe Hospital, a shiplike nineteen-seventies complex moored on a hill east of the city center, for the express purpose of being hurt. I had an appointment with a scientist named Irene Tracey, a brisk woman in her early fifties who directs Oxford…
