More Nuggets September 30, 2010

…of trading wisdom, courtesy of The Kirk Report.

“Trading Wisdom of William Eckhardt”

“One common adage on this subject that is completely wrongheaded is: you can’t go broke taking profits. That’s precisely how many traders do go broke. While amateurs go broke by taking large losses, professionals go broke by taking small profits. The problem in a nutshell is that human nature does not operate to maximize gain but rather to maximize the chance of gain. The desire to maximize the number of winning trades (or minimize the number of losing trades) works against the trader. The success rate of trades is the least important performance statistic and may even be inversely related to performance.”

– William Eckhardt

Plenty more…

Adventure Capitalist September 30, 2010

Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers

When you need to take a break from the stock trading and chart watching books listed elsewhere in this section, pick up Adventure Capitalist. Ride with Jim Rogers as he takes you on a journey around the world that you will never have the opportunity, resources, nor (most likely) the guts to take yourself.

Rogers circles the globe, driving (yes, driving) a custom Mercedes and trailer through 116 countries over three years. His book provides a truly fascinating account of his travels though those countries—of the food, the people, the cultures, the history, the politics and the economics. And this isn’t some guided tour, with fancy hotels along the way. The trip is filled with difficulties, ranging from stubborn border guards and uncooperative boat operators to civil wars.

Rogers invests his money all over the world, but is not content to manage his investments from his office. He prefers to get a firsthand look at what’s really going on in the various areas of the world where he either has invested money, or is thinking of investing. You will learn quite a bit about simple economics through his examination of a country’s financial condition, why some countries are doing well and why others are not. His diary of the trip (amazingly, not his first!) provides an extremely unique perspective on the rest of the world, including many countries that you and I would probably never even think about visiting.

BMB found Adventure Capitalist to be not only enjoyable, but very educational as well. Give it a read—then see if you can put it down without wondering what adventures await you in the next chapter!

Tunes — Queen September 27, 2010

I was looking for something — I have no idea what — out on YouTube one night, and I stumbled across this: “Classic Albums: The Making of ‘A Night At The Opera’ “

As one of the guests in the video mentioned, ‘A Night At The Opera’ was truly a “seminal” album for Queen. I’d become interested in the band mostly because of the ‘Killer Queen’ single from the ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ album — the vocal harmonies were unlike any I’d ever heard, as was that amazing sound that Brian May was able to get out of his guitar (his homemade job, along with those Vox amps and his special little ‘treble booster’ box). But when ‘A Night At The Opera’ came out, it was the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ single that simply stunned everyone at the time, and I was hooked. I went out and bought up all the Queen stuff I could find, and did get to see them live on the ‘Jazz’ tour, the tour that ‘Live Killers’ was recorded on (although the band did start to lose me later on…sometime after ‘News Of The World’, I think).

Anyway, I found this series of videos truly fascinating. After I’d watched the first one or two parts, I couldn’t stop and ended up watching the whole thing straight through. You’ll get insight from band members Roger Taylor, Brian May and the late Freddie Mercury, as well as from the album’s producer (Roy Thomas Baker) and engineer (Gary Lyons). You’ll hear stories of how the songs came to be (‘Death On Two Legs’, for example), and you’ll get to hear parts of the songs like you’ve never heard before — selected tracks played in isolation, like Freddie’s own set of backing vocals on ‘Love Of My Life’, and Brian’s incredible ‘jazz band’ arrangement from ‘Good Company’ — all parts done on guitar, of course.

For those that are Queen fans, you’ll love it. For those that are not necessarily big fans, it’s an interesting look at what goes into the making of an album (well, ok, over 30 years ago…), and what a group of talented musicians are capable of doing in the studio, where they are limited by only their own imaginations.

Enjoy!

(The video is in 9 parts, but each part is only around 5 minutes, so it’s not as long as it looks! Oh, and don’t believe what the subtitling tells you — it’s pretty messed up at times…)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

Bollinger on Bollinger Bands September 26, 2010

Bollinger on Bollinger Bands by John Bollinger

You may have seen Bollinger Bands displayed on charts before, or seen them in the list of available indicators on your favorite charting web site. If you have seen them, it is somewhat obvious that they are drawn to enclose most of the price movement on a chart. But if you are like BMB, you probably wondered just what these bands were supposed to tell you, and how you were supposed to use them!

Well, no better way to learn than from the guy who designed the bands, John Bollinger. Bollinger Bands are quite simple in construction, but are very flexible in their use, offering a number of different ways to look at them and trade off them. Bollinger’s book describes those methods, along with the his reasons for designing the bands, and his opinions on other indicators that can be used in conjunction with the Bollinger Bands.

One refreshing theme that Bollinger offers throughout the book is that every investor find what methods or systems he/she may be comfortable with. Everyone has different needs, and all situations are not equal – it is important that an investor develop their own style that he/she can work within. You will find his book interesting and easy to read, and hopefully it will encourage you to experiment and find an investment style that works for you!

Dave Landry September 25, 2010

Dave Landry On Swing Trading by Dave Landry

Dave Landry’s 10 Best Swing Trading Patterns and Strategies by Dave Landry

BMB has been a fan of Dave Landry for quite some time now, but has been remiss in getting his books up here in the recommended reading section.

We promise we’ll get more info up on these books soon. In the meantime, Dave’s third book, “The Layman’s Guide To Trading Stocks” is now available! See our review here.

The Layman’s Guide To Trading Stocks by Dave Landry

Nuggets of Wisdom September 21, 2010

“WISDOM FROM A DEPRESSION ERA STOCK TRADER”

A few samples:

2. “It is an undeniable fact that indiscriminate trading in a hectic market will send one to financial oblivion quicker than any other known process.”

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4. “Market action is not complex but surprisingly simple. Yet it is often made to appear complex by newspaper forecasters and market letter writers.”

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10. “Adopt one system of trading and stick to it, just as you employ and stick to one physician in whom you learn to have confidence.”

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12. “Don’t trade just because you can afford to lose.”

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19. People will always be prone to be extravagantly optimistic or dolefully in the slumps and “in this action is unlimited wealth for the men who realize this fact and will use it with confidence and decision.”

Link from FinanceTrends on Twitter.

Tunes — Head East September 15, 2010

Ok, so this is a little different and off topic, but it’s my blog and I just felt like it. Maybe I’ll make it a somewhat regular irregular feature. And maybe not.

If you’re old enough to have heard of Head East, you’ve heard of their album “Flat As A Pancake”. Or at least you’ve heard of “Never Been Any Reason”. You may have even heard enough of it to be sick of it — unless you haven’t heard it in, maybe, twenty or thirty years… If so, give it another listen — you might get a pleasant reminder of what a great song it is!

But there’s a lot more on “Flat As A Pancake”: it’s not a one-hit wonder, it’s simply a great classic rock album.

Take, for instance:
“Love Me Tonight” (acoustic guitar a nice touch, and a nice melodic guitar solo.)
“City Of Gold”
“Fly By Night Lady” (how ’bout those drums — and can those guys sing or what?)
“Jefftown Creek” (organ is awesome — no YouTube, click the gray arrow at lower left to expand player)
“Brother Jacob” (talk about harmonies, but no link? What’s up with that?)

Great vocalists with great ranges, great harmonies, guitars, synths, organ — and I like the punchy, high-end eq’d bass sound too. Say no more.

How To Improve September 13, 2010

…as a trader. From the Kirk Report.

A sample:

Turn off the noise – Information may be the world’s most precious commodity, but 99% of the information at your disposal is not. In today’s age of real-time information, opinions, analysis, etc. it is my strong belief that information overload and noise is hindering performance far more than it is helping. The first step is to stop watching all TV and to place severe restrictions on all media. In addition, to perform better this year you must stop wasting time on seeking out advice and opinions that only serve to confirm what you really want to hear in order to justify your positions. If anything, what time you spend in social media should be devoted to looking for ideas that challenge your positions and/or offer unique insight you can really learn something from.

So turn off that CNBC crap. And stop reading those silly blogs.

Link from Ron Sen on Twitter.