Trading Opinions

"Trading Opinions"

This section presented differing views on some of the topics in the investment / trading arena, and that's why the term "opinions" is used. They are neither true nor untrue, they are just, as they are: Opinions.

On Efficient Market

"I have a friend who is an economist. He would try to explain to me, as if talking to a child, why what I was trying to do was futile, because "the markets are efficient". I have noticed everyone who has ever told me that markets are efficient is poor."

Larry Hite

On Separating the Stock and The Company

"The invention of a new reason to hold rather sell is confused thinking.* In the same way that weak decision making causes a trader to become an investor (collector) by default, another confusion can creep in that just as easily prompts holding: the mistaken idea that the stock is the same thing as its company. Although a stock certificate legally does represent some fractional share in the corporation, a company and its stock should never be considered identical."

Donald L. Cassidy
It's When You Sell That Counts

* Note: This part probably refers to not following a trading plan that was set at the point of position initiation of executing a sell when a certain support or stop-loss level is breached.

On Using Market Orders

"Never use market orders. That's right: Never use them, Some will disagree but when equipped with the right technology and knowledge, you will always be able to see where liquidity is in issues that you should be trading and have the technology to hit bids and lift offers to enter and exit trades. If I were inclined to use a market order it would be for the purpose of taking a profit, and certainly not to open a trade at the open."

David S. Nassar
Rules of the Trade

On Margin Level

"Minimum margin is a sign of minimum intelligence, correct? Let's demonstrate that we're well above minimum intelligence simply by making a firm policy of committing a good deal more capital to each trade than the exchange may require. As a starting point for controlling the capacity risk presenting this or any futures/options position, committing 300% of the required initial margin is an excellent idea."

S.A. Johnston
Trading Options to Win

On Technical Analysis

"It reminds me of a poem by Ogden Nash. "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." The "technician" tries to predict stock movements through the shapes on a stock's price chart, without reference to value, Technical analysis does seems to me one of the most interesting ways of committing suicide."

Paul Melton
Trading the World's Market

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