16 Observations on Learning Powerful Money Making Strategies for Beating the Financial Futures Market.

1.    The average trader cannot succeed unless he or she is 100 percent mechanical. Most of us can't "hear what the markets are telling us" because for all practical purposes, the markets ain't saying sqaut.
2.    Human psychology tends to be drastically out of synch with what is needed to trade successfully.
3.    Market activity consists overwhelmingly of noise with a very small trend component. The latter is what makes mechanical trading possible, but it can't be perceived over one trial. It takes many trades — a numbers game universe — for an edge to manifest itself.
4.    Spontaneous traders therefore have nothing to tune into other than noise. That is why it is so hard for such a trader to move forward or get better over time. There is no tangible reinforcement.
5.    There is the occasional trader who proves the exception to the rule. He or she is born with the talent, and tends to discover it almost immediately after embarking on a trading career. If you've been losing money for several months, you are almost certainly not one of those people.
6.    When one combines mechanical with discretionary trading, one tends to get the worst of both worlds.
7.    Simple is best.
8.    Basic elements can be combined to create greater wholes.
9.    Day trading can work, but there are inherent problems compared to other types of trading. The main obstacle lies in the relatively small trading arcs compared to trading costs.
10.    Ideas generally have to test well over a fairly wide array of markets and trading environments in order to be considered trustworthy.
11.    If you're getting a buzz from your trading, you're not doing it right. Good trading should be boring.
12.    Never act on anything you don't thoroughly understand. Understand every step and every aspect of your research.
13.    Nobody has a magic informational pipeline. The most successful traders of all time are still going to be wrong roughly half the time. Never coat-tail anybody. Never trade on touts.
14.    If you're praying, you're wrong. In fact, God loves to punish system violators.
15.    If you're emotionally engaged at all, you're wrong.
16.    If you think there's any wisdom in "yes I know what the system says, but this time, it has to be wrong," you're wrong. Wrong wrong wrong?(should I stress it one more time?)?wrong.

And finally, you might want to frame this one :
If you are not following your systems 100 percent exactly as mandated, then by definition you are not trading mechanically.

16 Observations on Learning Powerful Money Making Strategies for Beating the Financial Futures Market.

The Different Realm of Financial Planning. What is Your Goals of Financial Planning?

The Different Realm of Financial Planning

Single Transaction. From the perspective of the individual client, financial planning could mean nothing more than locating the least expensive credit card, or finding the best way to save for a child's college education. From the perspective of the "financial planner," it could be the advice given by an investment adviser or stockbroker on what stocks the client should purchase, or the ledgers provided by a life insurance agent comparing the relative advantages and disadvantages of purchasing term or permanent life insurance. The difficulty here is that the process tends to be focused on doing, but short on planning.

Source And Depth Of Advice. It could also be argued that financial planning does not begin until the individual client consults with his investment adviser, insurance agent, tax attorney, CPA, or other such advisor, on more in-depth matters relating to either investment, insurance, or tax planning. Again, the difficulty here is that the process may be appropriately in-depth, but is narrow in scope and fails to consider all aspects of the client's financial situation.

Comprehensive Planning. And finally, there is the comprehensive must-do-it-all approach to financial planning. Clearly, this approach takes the high ground in maintaining that true financial planning involves a coordinated process of gathering facts relating to all areas of the client's financial affairs, determining the client's overall financial goals and objectives, and designing and implementing plans and strategies for attaining these goals. Although individuals involved in the financial planning process come from diverse backgrounds, the focus should not be so much on who is working with the client, but rather on assuring that the client receives comprehensive and in-depth advice that is implemented in coordination with the client's overall financial situation.

The financial planning process is important, not only in creating a "financial road map," but also in creating a better awareness of the short and long-term consequences of every-day financial and consumption decisions. Once armed with this knowledge, financial planning will become a day-to-day exercise, not just a once every few years or a once in a lifetime event.

HERE ARE THE TYPICAL GOALS OF FINANCIAL PLANNING
It has been said that financial planning involves risk management; the risks of dying too soon, becoming disabled, and living too long. While this is certainly true, some of the following goals clearly fall outside of the concept of risk management, yet are important elements in many financial plans.
1.    Improve current standard of living.
2.    Protect property from loss and damage.
3.    Protect family from large medical expenses.
4.    Reduce or eliminate debt, particularly high-interest credit card debt.
5.    Provide for ongoing income in case of disability.
6.    Create an emergency fund.
7.    Increase net worth through savings and investments.
8.    Minimize income taxes.
9.    Accumulate funds for specific large investments, such as weddings, vacation homes, and extensive travels.
10.    Provide funds for child's education.
11.    Provide for a comfortable retirement.
12.    Protect family in case of premature death.
13.    Create an estate plan for disposition of assets at death.
14.    Pass business interest to surviving family members.

The Different Realm of Financial Planning. What is Your Goals of Financial Planning?

Characteristics of Financially Troubled Organizations. 3 basic "financial pathologies" that are present in their boardrooms.

Characteristics of Financially Troubled Organizations
Organizations that are financially troubled fail to prosper because one or more of three basic "financial pathologies" are present in their boardrooms:
1.    All forest—no trees
2.    All trees—no forest
3.    Management of incremental financial events

In the all forest-no trees pathology, the board wants the big picture but doesn't want to be bothered with the day-to-day details of financial management. "Details are what management does," says the all forest-no trees board. A global understanding of what the organization is trying to accomplish is not accompanied by respect for the planning and implementation of actions that will make the goals happen. Also lacking is an assurance that the critical financial responsibilities of the organization are being handled properly on a daily basis.
For example, the board understands the big-picture results of declining investment earnings because of stock market losses. However, having not come to grips with its full responsibility in the trees arena, it doesn't consider whether the organization's financial managers have taken steps to ensure that the pension fund is properly capitalized. In fact, this issue is never discussed. The frame of the puzzle is assembled, but the pieces cannot possibly fit into a whole.

In the all trees-no forest pathology, which is perhaps the most prevalent of the three pathologies, the board lacks a clear understanding of the organization's overall strategic financial goals and objectives and concentrates only on the details of day-to-day management. During board meetings, simple agenda items degenerate into 45-minute conversations on such subjects as "how to reduce receivables." Board members appear to be itching to come to work and actually run the organization. Without an aerial strategic financial vision, the puzzle pieces have no frame. Board members and management cannot possibly interact in an intelligent and systematic way to establish and meet financial objectives.

Some portion of U.S. organizations exhibit the third pathology—management of incremental financial events. Like the second pathology, it is characterized by the absence of a comprehensive strategic financial road map that describes what the organization is trying to accomplish and how it will get there. Opportunities and problems are isolated from one another and considered to be truly separate, unrelated issues. Every financial event is handled in an incremental way.

For example, perhaps an organization needs to achieve ten major goals in the course of a fiscal year to meet its overall financial target. Aboard that addresses financial events in an incremental fashion cannot articulate the overall objective. As progress or lack of progress toward reaching each of the ten goals occurs, the board judges the events separately. Project A should have generated $2 million of cash flow but comes in at just over $1 million. "Not bad," says this board, "It's pretty close to the target." Next, project B brings in $3 million instead of $5 million. "Still not too bad," says this board. The problem is this: If each program sequentially underperforms, and no actions are taken to balance the equation, there is simply no way to achieve the overall financial target.

Characteristics of Financially Troubled Organizations. 3 basic "financial pathologies" that are present in their boardrooms.