STREET DOGS

AHave a plan. Know why you are buying or selling and what to look for in a trade. If you take a step back and think about what you are doing, you can avoid a lot of mistakes. Find a style of trading to match your personality.

Don’t accept anything. Never take as fact what you read or what others say. Question everything. Do your own research, act on your own ideas. Be prepared to work hard and pay your tuition, which is the money you lose while you’re learning to trade. How long does it take to succeed? At least three to five years of 12-hour days and losing money.

Define a target, a strategy consistent with the target, a set of disciplines to follow and risk management guidelines. Then trade, track and evaluate your performance. Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment.

All that’s required for successful investing is the common sense analysis of today’s facts and the courage to act on your convictions.

Control losses. But don’t be afraid to take a loss. To succeed you have to be willing to lose.

Either go at it full force or don’t go at it at all. Don’t dabble.

And from broker-turnedBoglehead Rick Ferri: Guru predictions are not investment advice — they are entertainment. Treat them as such. For market timing advice, try a shiny penny. There are no experts at predicting markets — there are only experts at marketing predictions.

Good firms make good stocks, average stocks and bad stocks. In contrast, bad companies can also make good stocks, average stocks and bad stocks.

Avoid the noise. Investment noise is the constant drumbeat of extraneous information that we’re all subjected to day in and day out. dvice for novice traders from Jack Schwager’s Stock Market Wizards: