1-Use money you can afford to lose - Never use money that you cannot afford to lose. Trading and Investing have to be stress free. Using money that you cannot afford to lose introduces fear, this clouds your judgement and can paralyse you from taking advantage of opportunities presented.
2-Know yourself - be disciplined, know your weaknesses, control your emotions. You have to be disciplined to survive in this 'business'. You need the dicipline to stick to your trading plan.
3-Start small - try and master the mechanics first. Most people jump into trading risking their life savings. You have to start small and learn the basics. The truth is if you can't make money using a small amount of capital, you would never making money with a large amount of capital.
4-Don't over commit - A trader once said to a fellow trader, "I can't sleep at night because of my positions in the market". His friend replied by saying "Sell down to a level that would allow you to sleep at night".
5-Isolate your trading from your desire for profit - try to eliminate "hope" from your trading plan.
6-Don't form new opinions during trading hours - do not let day to day fluctuations change your overall plan.
7-Take a trading break - trading everyday may cloud your judgement.
8-Don't follow the crowd - More than 80% of traders or participants in the stock market are wrong. Identify what works for you and stick to it.
9-Block out other opinions - do not be influenced by others once you form an opinion. Never seek for tips.
