Today's Quote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle.

The current list of excuses:

1. The Market Maker or Specialist saw my stop and took it out on purpose then rallied the stock without me… Comment: First of all, using a direct access trading system, Market Makers do not have access to your stops any more than you have access to their information. While specialists (listed stocks) sometimes do see your stops (this has almost disappeared also), in most liquid stocks they cannot move a stock that is rallying all the way down to your stop, nor would they want to. They only can do that if your stock is coming close to its stop on its own. If you pick a good play, you should not be in the neighborhood of your stop. If you are, you must accept it was your play that allowed a specialist to get that close that they could take your stop. So this only happens rarely, and is not a valid excuse when it does happen.

2. The stock just ‘blew by’ my stop… Comment: This may have different meanings to different people, but here is the list. First, the trader may have been watching the stock as it approached their stop and ‘froze’ when it hit the stop, blaming the ‘fast fall’ for still being in the play. This is trader error. Second, the trader may have set a stop limit with a very tight stop, thinking it would save money. This again, is trader error and stops must be set properly. The chance that a properly set stop does not activate without the trader having advanced knowledge is very rare.

3. The play would have worked but the market was against me… Comment: Isn’t this part of your decision to take a play? It is like the golfer who says he hit a perfect golf shot; just the direction was bad. This is never an excuse, as the market should always factor in to your decision. If you decide the market need not be considered on that play, then it cannot be used as an excuse. It is trader error one way or the other.

4. There is a conspiracy working in the market to make all good plays stop out… Comment: There is no conspiracy. There ARE a lot of good Market Makers and Specialists who are better equipped and better traders. Again, this is an excuse to keep the blame firmly away from the trader. If EVERY single base break out pulls in hard and shakes people out EVERY time, can’t you learn a way to play that? Or do you keep doing the same thing hoping something changes.

The bottom line is simple. Most traders lose; a few learn to rise a cut above. They get educated and think outside the box. Remember, for every buyer there is a seller, for every ‘loser’ on a single trade, there is a ‘winner’. There is not a mystical ‘they’ that is hiding out for the sole purpose of defeating you and only you. All on the list above are excuses that traders use to avoid the obvious facts. Sure, things happen occasionally. The rest of the time, the better trader wins. Sorry for the cold analysis, but it would do many traders good too simply accept responsibility for what they do every day.