Peak Showdown - Buy and Sell Orders for Stock Market Winners

Author: Ning Junming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Keeping a real estate diary and trading diary is both invisible and visible. The visible part is every step of the operation; the invisible part is your memories of joy and sorrow. It is the ruts of the investment journey, the echoes deep in the heart, and the traces carved by the sharpness of time. For professional traders, daily trading diaries are indispensable. They not only meticulously record every trade and the dynamics of the stock market on that day but also note any relevant information they find useful. Some may think their capital is too small to bother with this, but in fact, investment is not about size; what matters is success rate. Securities trading may seem simple at first glance—just buying and selling—but it involves extremely complex market phenomena and psychological evolution processes. To truly record everything and then carefully analyze the success or failure of each trade will certainly help improve your operational level. A professional trading diary consists of three parts: pre-market preparation, in-market adjustment, and post-market summary.
Pre-market Preparation. This includes analyzing the overall market, individual stock analysis, and the day's plan. Grasping the trend of the overall market is the prerequisite for individual stock trading. "Trading individual stocks without considering the market" is not worth promoting or imitating. When the market trend turns downward, no individual stock can remain unaffected. For the stocks you have targeted, based on a correct judgment of their current price level, strive to thoroughly understand their fundamental and technical aspects. Then, formulate a specific trading plan, such as entry points, holding quantities, holding periods, and contingency measures. Only after completing all these preparations should you consider initiating the attack.
In-Market Adjustment. Usually, before buying a stock, you have already mentally simulated its price movement. If the stock does not develop as expected after purchase, you should promptly adjust your trading plan—whether to increase, decrease, or clear your holdings. You must be clear about these decisions. "Let your heart follow the stock and adjust promptly" is not frivolous but a sign of maturity. Think about it: if the stock price has changed, and you still stick to your original plan, you will clearly suffer losses. The investment process, at its core, is a process of negation of the negation. Without negation, there can be no new affirmation. The greatest characteristic of the market is its uncertainty. Whether it pushes you down or lifts you up, whether it takes advantage of the chaos or watches from the sidelines, it is all correct. We can only respect and adapt to it, never confronting it with reckless bravery. The result of such confrontation can only be your own miserable defeat, whether in the past, present, or future. Our expectations and investment actions must stay within the bounds the market can tolerate. We must never cross that line.
Post-Market Summary. It is essential to conduct daily post-market reviews. Compare the closing results with the predictions made before opening. Check if the individual stock trends align with your pre-market simulations. If not, carefully investigate the reasons, identify where the problem lies, and assess whether the measures taken during the market were timely and decisive. Then, document your findings to serve as a long-term warning. However, avoid turning the trading diary into a mere logbook. Mechanical, unanalyzed, and unsed listings will do no good for future practical trading. If you persist in keeping trading diaries, you will eventually find your trading becoming as smooth as flowing water.