Quotations by Marcel Link
When you buy a system, it is unlikely that seller is using it as well; usually it is an older system that he doesn’t use anymore. [2003] - Marcel Link
Lower the overall risk per trade to under 2 percent. [2003] - Marcel Link
I don’t recommend ever doubling your size. It is safer to increase size when you are going from three contracts to four or from ten to twelve. [2003] - Marcel Link
The proper way to pyramid is to have the most contracts at the bottom and then, as the trade begins to work, to add fewer and fewer. Thus, if you had started with ten contracts, you’d add seven, and later four, two, and one. [2003] - Marcel Link
Almost 90 percent of all commodity traders and those who day trade equities lose money. As a trader trades, the first few years will be filled with countless mistakes. To trade successfully one needs to consistently make trades that offer low risk compared to the reward. [2003] - Marcel Link
For the most part high probability trades are made only in the direction of the major trend. If the market is uptrending, a trader will wait for a dip and test some support level before entering. [2003] - Marcel Link
No matter what one may have read in a book or how long one has paper traded, as soon as a person starts trading for real, everything changes. Mistakes one never even thought of start popping up left and right, and the best way to avoid making them is to make them, lose money, realize they were mistakes, and consciously be aware of them the next time the same situations arise. A trader needs about 3 to 5 years to get through the learning period. One should have a minimum of $25,000 to $50,000, a 3-year horizon, and a very understanding spouse. [2003] - Marcel Link
One of the reasons institutional traders succeed better than does the average trader is that they have much more capital behind them. They can and do make the same mistakes but don’t have to worry that one mistake will end their careers; with capital and management behind them, they can survive those mistakes. [2003] - Marcel Link
When a trader first starts out, he needs to remember that it’s not how much you make but how little you lose that keeps you in the game. [2003] - Marcel Link
The best hedge fund managers and professional traders are ecstatic when they achieve a 35 percent return for the year. [2003] - Marcel Link
What is the minimum amount someone should trade with? A safe bet would be about $25,000 to $50,000 for futures and $100,000 for equities. When trading with these amounts it’s reasonable for a decent trader to expect to make about $5000 to $10,000 per month in a good month while still being somewhat conservative in his trading. [2003] - Marcel Link
I’ve been using TradeStation as my charting platform for years.It gives me the ability to write and test systems and then keep track of them, alerting me anytime they generate a signal. It allows one to create indicators and write and test systems with historical data before risking real money. It is the industry standard for the serious trader. [2003] - Marcel Link
I keep CNBC on all day. It keeps me informed on what the market is doing and what it has done but, unfortunately, not on what it will do. [2003] - Marcel Link
I’m a staunch believer in using technical analysis as the main method of trading, but I still think it’s important to know why the market is doing what it is doing. [2003] - Marcel Link
“Buy the rumor, sell the fact.” It’s before the news comes out that the market makes its move; afterward there is no advantage anymore, and so the smart money gets out. [2003] - Marcel Link
If it is bad news and the market shakes it off and rallies, this is a bullish reaction to the news, so buy it. It probably means that the market has already discounted the news. If good news comes out and your stock or commodity fails to rally, the high probability trade is to short it. It’s more important to see how the market reacts to the news than to know what the news is. [2003] - Marcel Link
The way I like to trade a scheduled report is by looking at how the market reacts just a few minutes before the release of scheduled news. Whichever direction it’s moving in is what the consensus is thinking. Many times the initial response after the announcement is a spike upward which quickly retraces, sometimes to keep going lower and sometimes to come back and rally. The best thing to do in these situations is to sit back, wait until the market picks a clear direction and the noise settles. Once the market has picked its direction, there is still a lot of room to make money. [2003] - Marcel Link
Don’t trade your opinion; trade the market. [2003] - Marcel Link
When price moves with strong volume, the market is more likely to follow through, whether it is a reversal or a matter of following the trend. If price moves up while volume increases, a trend is more likely to stay strong. When volume begins to wane, it could indicate that everybody who wants to be long already is. [2003] - Marcel Link
By looking at 60-minute charts, a short-term trader may be able to catch stronger, more stable moves and see things that are not apparent on a 5-minute chart. One can gain a lot by looking at daily and weekly charts because the patterns there are even more significant and can indicate where the real momentum of the market is. [2003] - Marcel Link