I would have done the same thing that I do when I gamble for fun at the casinos. As soon I'd have discovered the dorman investments, I would have sold enough of to recapture the initial investments (adjusted to modern day by taking in the rate of inflation), and left the rest of the appreciated value in the market as “play money.” This is money that I can, by definition, afford to lose (since it wouldn’t have been mine had I not made the investment, let alone the fact I had forgotten all about it) and left it invested in Chinese stocks over the long term. Following this strategy assures that over the long term, you can never lose money (it all depends on how you see things though).

I'm a day trader, and have been for years. My philosophy is very different from the investor – I am in and out usually in under 5 minutes. I make a tiny profit, but I do it many many times a day. If I have a stock for 10 minutes, I made a mistake. Whereas investors try to find a series of companies that appeals to them for whatever reason (market position, the books, growth prospects, etc), buy into it and wait weeks, months, or years.

However we have one thing in common. If you get emotional about your position, it's because you have TOO MUCH MONEY in it. How much money varies from person to person, depending on their tolerance (guts or foolishness!), income, total net worth, etc. However the big key that I have found over the years is that usually when I make a BAD trade, it's because I got greedy and made a BIG trade, biting off more than I could chew and having the market move against me. So what if I lose $50? But I've had positions go sour and literally lost thousands of dollars in just a few minutes. Hard not to be emotional when that happens. Now I trade smaller.

Keep it simple – tell yourself beforehand what the maximum you're prepared to lose is, and STICK to it. Every stock program or broker understands what a stop loss is. Use it. Don't regret your losses – count yourself lucky because usually you get out before it gets worse. Then start again. The game is PRESERVATION OF CAPITAL. If you can manage not to lose money, you're ahead of most people. If you make money, be happy, and take some profit. The past 10 years have shown us that if you haven't taken a profit in stocks, you have actually LOST money (and that's without counting inflation!). Take profits when you have them, and if it's STILL a good investment, you can always get back in. Just remember – you haven't taken a profit if you go back in with even more money – that's greed.

Anyway that's my free lesson on how to avoid becoming emotional when trading. Hope it helps.

It is still a free market so, let the banks do what they want is they do not have bailout money from the tax payer and no x-mas payday for (GS)_NYSE

John Ca.

Free markets capital is keeping America Great!!!

It is very interestingly written, to the author thanks.

Sometime you win ....sometime you lose.... What goes up ....goes down and vise-versa. The key is to not get distracted , especially when market goes to a tailspin following a crisis of confidence . History has shown that stock prices do go down as much as 80% and do recover, within two years. As long as you have the staying power, just stay put. And if you have the cash, this is a buying opportunity (rare one) to add to your portfolio. The key to manage your emotion and the history of market crashes and recoveries is what we need to know to 'calm down our nerves.'.

Even if you have to liquidate out of fear, take a loss or failed to take up the buying opportunity, do not regret. We should not mourn the "big fish that go away". The key is to learn from our mistakes rather than to it shaped bad behavior such as 'chasing the market' to make up for that loss. Just charged our 'bad call' to experience.

Boo Boo Khoo