GOLD

Dear Reader, When it comes to saving a portion of your earnings, an error most people make is to save their wealth in man-made currencies. These currencies are controlled by central planners, are regularly manipulated, and are created out of thin air without regard for the value of the currency you have in your wallet. In the digital age, accounts holding these currencies can be frozen, easily confiscated, and tracked. I personally advocate saving in gold or other precious metals, like silver, palladium, or platinum. A combination of truths lead me to this simple savings strategy: 1. They’re lawsuit-proof. Not technically, but the fact is no one knows how much gold you have – it is a private matter. Gold is "off the books" when it comes to financial accounting. 2. It has a history of being money, an independent unit of account that is the same no matter where it was mined or how old it is. It is a constant measurement of value; you can take a gold piece anywhere in the world and it will still have value. This is much different than a fiat currency. Once outside of your nation's borders, a currency may not be generally accepted. You also have thousands of fiat currencies that no longer have any value, like the U.S. Continental or the Confederate States of America dollar. 3. It can't go to zero. Zero value for gold isn't an option. It hasn't ever happened, and never will. The process to get a one-ounce gold coin to you has hundreds of man hours behind it, and maybe even thousands, if you consider the full operation of gold exploration, production, refinement, and delivery. This is the entire point of saving your wealth: you save to not lose. I understand that you can measure gold vs. the dollar or gold vs. oil, and that its price will fluctuate, but the value in gold itself does not change. 4. The currency printers are hoarding it. When the most powerful group of people in the world, the central bankers, desire to have one asset, then that alone should get your attention. Central banks print the currencies that the masses treat as a store of value, and those central banks buy and store physical gold – not silver, not houses, not oil, they own gold! If it is good enough for the masters of this world, then it's good enough for me. 5. It’s financial insurance. When it all hits the fan... Be it from a government or economic collapse, at the end of the day, gold survives. It still has value in the new world. It also makes for a great "start over fund" for the reasons listed above. It won't go to zero, and it's private money. 6. It’s portable. I think it's important that if you need to, you could easily carry or move your wealth to a different region. Just to give you an idea, $250,000 in gold is about the size of a VHS tape. Your fiat currencies are typically tied up over the weekend and on bank holidays; in fact, even if you wanted to physically get your cash, you couldn't unless you gave your bank a 72-hour notice for withdrawals of over $5,000. 7. It’s legacy wealth. Gold is something you can safely store away, knowing that it is something of great value that you can pass on to your children and your children's children. It is a safe stash of value that you can tap into when you are in your "golden" years, or at any time throughout your life. Ultimately, when you are saving a portion of your earnings, you want to protect and preserve it. Gold, in my opinion, along with the other precious metals, are the best way to achieve the objective of saving money by preserving both the value of your savings and protecting it from unwanted dangers, like government and civil litigation. Daniel Ameduri President, FutureMoneyTrends.com

Elevate Your Trading: 5 Tips on Trading Losses

by Gary Dayton

“I avoid trading losses at all costs; I hate losses!" "Trading losses are just awful!  I can’t stand them." "When I have a trading loss, it just shows I'm not a good trader, husband, father, provider, … or person!"How many of us have such thoughts about trading losses? Most, I would imagine, though we never talk about them. We may not even acknowledge them, but they are important. Such thoughts cause us to cut winners short, hold onto losing trades, avoid pulling the trigger, and even over trade by entering a marginal position or doubling down with position size to make up for that last loss.

Impact of Our Thoughts on Losses

How we think about losses is important. Our thoughts about losses directly influence our trading behavior. They can affect how we see ourselves as traders and our self-esteem. Thinking about losses in an unconstructive manner can create a negative trading spiral and actually compound our losses.  Thinking losses are just dreadful, we actively try to avoid them in unsound ways.  We commit defensive trading behaviors like cutting winners short, letting losers run, etc. These erratic trading actions may cause even greater losses, further reinforcing the notion that losses are bad. Self-esteem and confidence wither, setting us up for more of the same on the next trade.

The reality is trading losses will happen continuously throughout your trading career. They are inevitable and unavoidable. With practice and experience, losses happen less frequently, but you cannot eliminate them completely.

Reasons for Losses

Losses occur for two primary reasons: 1) we make mistakes and 2) the market context changes.

We are human and trading is complex. Trading is very demanding on our mental and emotional capacities; it is hard not to make mistakes. Also, the market constantly changes. A trade setup that worked yesterday may not work today because the market context is now different. Trading is based on probabilities, meaning that there is always a certain likelihood of loss in any trade setup.

If we think unconstructively about losses, we are sure to struggle with our trading.  Here are five tips that can help you re-set your thinking and attitude about losses:

5 Tips on Trading Losses

1. Accept Losses. Instead of viewing them as awful, recognize that they are a natural part of the game. No one wins 100% of the time. Every professional trader had losses. Give yourself permission to have losses and accept the probabilistic truth of trading.

1. Commit to Trading Well. Even when you might be thinking negative thoughts about a potential loss, be steadfast in following your trading plan. Manage your trade by what you see in the price movement and indicators, not by what your mind is saying to you.

1. Use losses to learn. This is what the best traders do.  Learn about yourself as a trader and about the market through your losses. Are you doing things that you can improve on when you have a loss? Did the market context change and show you that the trade was unlikely to work? Use this information with future trades.

1. Trade with an Edge. Make sure all your trade setups have a probability of working and an expectancy of producing profit. Write them down in your trading plan and work only your plan. This is the only way you will generate profit consistent with your edge.

1. Study market context. Any trade setup will work better in some market conditions than others. Know the context in which your setup works best and the context in which it doesn’t work as well. This will improve your edge and reduce the frequency of losing trades.

Reviewing your trades is an excellent way to learn from losses and better understand market context