Book Recommendation

At the suggestion of a member, I am reading three books by Mark Minervini. I was persuaded by the idea that he is one of the most trolled traders in the US. Corny titles but worth the read. Available on Amazon, there are three titles. The first book is about how to identify "Super" growth stocks. He is a trader trying to tell us how to spot stocks like APT before they come onto the institutional radar. Bit of fun. I can't help thinking that this sort of wisdom is another thing I'll look back on and see it as a sign of the top, "Everyone was so confident of the market I was reading a book about achieving Superperformance". A sign of the times, or good advice? It doesn't matter, enjoying the read.

I have been taking some notes for you.

• Trading is about making money not getting it right. Make up your mind right now that you’re going to separate trading from your ego. It’s more important to make money than it is to be right.
• Practice does not make perfect it simply makes things habitual so can make errors habitual. Practising does not make perfect if you are practising the wrong things.
• Even guesswork will hit on winners occasionally, the answer is not to pretend that it was skilful when it was lucky and not to persist to rely on luck.
• Your objective is to buy shares that are in strong demand and sell them at a higher price. The objective is not to buy shares and hold them until the end. Getting it right is not the point. Making money with as little risk as possible is more important.
• If you treat trading as a hobby it will pay you like a hobby. If you treat trading as a business it will pay you like a business.
• Don’t invest like a fund manager. Rule number one is to stop listening to the professionals. They have an agenda very different from money-making - which is your focus. If you’re going to invest like a fund manager, give it to a fund manager. It will achieve the same result with less work. Better still why not just invest in the stock market index funds which beat most fund managers in a bull market.
• Fund Managers stay invested even during dreadful market conditions. In a bear market the only asset is cash.
• The most important priority for a fund manager is to insulate their reputation from performance. The way they do that is to buy quality. It is defensible in all market conditions. Making money is not the goal.
• You will not be successful, and definitely not exceptional, if you stay in your comfort zone of conventional wisdom.
• You will not become rich by mimicking the crowd.
• Growth comes at the expense of comfort.
• Michael Phelps quote - If you want to be the best you have to do things other people are not willing to do. To be a top trader you have to decide..."What are your goals?" Now what are you prepared to give up to achieve your goals? What are you prepared to sacrifice?
• No champion has a balanced life when he or she is going for a gold medal. Champions are laser-focused which comes at a price, the price of sacrifice. Sacrifice is difficult. It is one of the most important decisions in the pursuit of success. Sacrifice means prioritising, giving up certain activities to have time to pursue trading. It is a tough test.
• Bruce Lee quote -  "I fear not the man that has practiced 10,000 kicks once. I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times".
• You cannot be every type of investor. Choose one. Focus and specialise.
• In order to be decisive, you have to have a set of rules you operate from with clearly stated goals.
• Probably best to choose an approach that suits your personality.
• Embrace your setbacks, disappointments and losses as a valuable part of the process.
• 16 people broke the four-minute mile months after Roger Bannister, not because there was some advance in human physiology, but because they believed it could be done.
• Celebrate when you win.