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By Marios Georgiou

THE 10COMMANDMENTS

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Introduction

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7. Focus on risk, not on reward

10. Plan your trade, trade your plan

8. Be your own broker

Prefix - About Marios Georgiou

6. Don’t be a one-hit wonder

5. Support and demand

4. The trend is your friend

3. KISS (keep it simple, silly)

2. There is no holy grail

1. Learn before you earn

9. Zen and the art of trading

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Introduction So you’ve been trading for some time now, winning some, losing some,

and you feel like it’s time to take it to the next level. Right?

In this eBook, I have compiled the 10 commandments every trader must live

by (in my opinion).

These rules of thumb are everything you possibly need in order to turn your

trading method from sheer luck into a powerful strategy.

I highly recommend you save this eBook and read it from time to time to

keep the information fresh in your mind.

I wish you successful investing!

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1. Learn before you earn

Education should be every trader’s first step. Beginner’s luck DOES exist, but it is only for beginners. If you want to create a sustainable portfolio – educate yourself:

Read, watch the news, be curious. Understand the world around you and you’ll understand the way the financial market behaves.

2. There is no holy grail

Traders spend years on end looking for the perfect trading method. One that will work in EVERY market condition ALL the time. It doesn’t exist! The key to profitable trading is keeping your portfolio diverse, reading the news, following trends and trading when your mind is clear and focused.

Some of your trades will be unsuccessful, but as long as you follow this commandment, your balance will, in the long run, be on the upper trend.

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3. KISS (keep it simple, silly)

Trading the markets is no rocket science. There is no need to flood your charts with thousands of indicators or skimming through hours of market news in order to be a profitable trader.

Simply adopt one or two methods that make sense to you, and stick with them.

4. The trend is your friend

Avoid trading in ‘choppy’ markets, where prices can change at any time.

Instead, focus your energies on identifying the predominant trend in the market and trade in the direction of the trend.Remember, the trend is your friend, until it bends.

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5. Support and demand

Knowing where the current price is in relation to previous levels of support and demand can save you from many bad trades.

Be wary of selling near support and buying near demand.

6. Don’t be a one-hit wonder

Remember: one trade alone can’t make you rich, BUT one trade sure can destroy an entire portfolio. It is better to focus on small, constant profits, which will over time help you reach your goals of financial freedom.

It’s better to cry over 1 missed opportunity today than over a dried up trading account tomorrow.

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7. Focus on risk, not on reward

Once you focus all your attention on the amount risked in every trade and its effect on your overall portfolio, you automatically place yourself in a better position in comparison to other traders. This way, you are sure to keep your losses small.

Don’t over leverage, don’t open too many trades at once and always keep a very close eye on each and every position you open.

8. Be your own broker

Approach the markets with a portfolio manager’s perspective. Always diversify and never place all your eggs in one basket.

Whether it be different types of trades, assets or time frames: diversifying is the sure-fire way to achieve lower risk levels and greater profits.

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9. Zen and the art of trading

Leave your emotions at the door. Fear and greed are your 2 worst enemies; fear of missing out on a trade results in sub-entry point, while fear of losing unrealised gains will result in trades being cut prematurely, only to watch the market move in your intended direction.

Greed can result in holding on to losing positions, in hope they will turn around like moving target zones, only to watch the market reverse and hit your stop. Whatever the case is, studies have shown that swings in emotions have disastrous effects on traders.

10. Plan your trade, trade your plan

Once you have mastered all these 9 commandments, you will find that you automatically comply with this last and most important one: KNOW your entries, KNOW your exits, KNOW what you are willing to risk and KNOW the potential outcome for each and every trade.

Most importantly: don’t stray from the plan.

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Prefix - About Marios Georgiou Marios is Opteck’s Head of Investment and Portfolio Management

Department. He’s been with us since 2011, educating and serving

thousands of traders worldwide; leading them towards success.

He started off as a bond trader, where he experienced front-line exposure

to fundamental analysis and its impact on the markets. He then advanced

to a dealer’s position and further developed his technical analysis skills,

this time adding forex, equities and commodities trading to his skill set.

During these years, Marios served as a quantitative analyst,

communicating with 1000s of traders while combing through 100s of

strategies; picking them apart to identify key elements and gaining

insights as to what differentiates good strategies from bad strategies.

His unique specialty is in pinpointing and combining various strategies

and risk-management tools to extract profitable alpha growth from the

global markets.

Marios is available for further discussion at: Marios.georgiou@opteck.com