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!