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Have minimal expectations

Some books on positive mental attitude will tell you to have great expectations, but I caution you against it. Do not have great expectations. Expect to lose. Expect that with time you will begin to break even. Expect that with more time you will begin to have profitable results. Do not expect profits, but rather expect that learning the game will cost you tuition both in terms of time and money. There are hundreds if not thousands of traders who came to the markets with great expectations and a fistful of dollars but who left the markets beaten, broke, and broken. If anything, you ought to expect failure while hoping that, through your efforts you can minimize the failures and maximize the successes.

4. Play your own game. If you allow yourself to be exposed to and influenced by the many fantastic claims for ultimate trading systems and incredible seminars, then you will be distracted on the road to sucВэcess. There is nothing wrong with attempting to improve on what you are doing, but the act of searching, ever searching, tends to distract you from your goal. Don't be side-tracked from your goal. Persevere and ignore the claims as much as you can.

The world of futures trading is constantly barraged by those claiming to have better systems, better methods, fool-proof indicators, outstandВэing results, and fail-safe methods. Before you give any of these serious attention, make sure that what you're doing is not intrinsically better. Every system you test, every seminar you attend, every piece of softВэware you buy, and every path you take may prove to be a costly excurВэsion away from your final destination. They take time, effort, and money. And these, my friends, are the most precious commodities in the world. They are limited resources, not easily replaced. Therefore, I suggest you find a methodology and commit to it for a predetermined length of time. And during this period of time do not allow yourself to become disВэtracted by anything else, even if it means that you need to close your eyes and ears to the magazines, newspapers, and mail you receive.

5. Admit to your losses. I have stated repeatedly throughout this book that the single worst offense a day trader can commit is to carry a posiВэtion beyond the end of the trading day. To do so is to violate the essence of day trading and to risk exposure to everything that a day trader seeks to avoid. Do not, under any circumstances violate this cardinal rule regardless of what the excuse or excuses may be. If, perchance, you are "locked in" to a posiВэtion due to a limit move against you, then you have no choice. You could spread a position off (take an opposite position in a different conВэtract month if possible) in order to avoid the exposure; however, there is still danger, even in a spread. You are either a day trader or you are not. If you are not a day trader, that's fine. You must not, however, change horses in midstream since this will, in the long run, not serve you well. In the short run, you may be very pleased with the results. But, in time they will return to haunt you.

In the event of a limit move in your favor, you may be tempted to hold your position overnight, expecting that there will be more profits in the morning. Even this is a dangerous procedure because a limit move in either direction on any given day does not statistically guarantee follow-through in the same direction on the next day. My research has shown that over the next several days there may be follow through; however, what happens between now and then may wipe you out. I have already given you certain very specific conditions under which a day trade may be kept overnight, but beyond these suggestions, I emphasize once again that a day trade must be closed out by the end of the day.