Michael Marcus Quotes

“Always bet less than 5 percent of your money on any one idea. That way you can be wrong more than twenty times; it will take you a long time to lose your money.”

“As long as you stick to your own style, you get the good and bad in your own approach. When you try to incorporate someone else’s style, you often wind up with the worst of both styles. I’ve done that a lot.”

“Be contrarian.”

“Being a successful trader takes courage: the courage to try, the courage to fail, the courage to succeed, and the courage to keep on going when the going gets tough.”

“Determine what the central banks are going to do.”

“Ed Seykota is a genius and a great trader who has been phenomenally successful.”

“Every trader has strengths and weakness. Some are good holders of winners, but may hold their losers a little too long. Others may cut their winners a little short, but are quick to take their losses. As long as you stick to your own style, you get the good and bad in your own approach.”

“First, the fundamentals should suggest that there is an imbalance of supply and demand, which could result in a major move. Second, the chart must show that the market is moving in the direction that the fundamentals suggest. Third, when news comes out, the market should act in a way that reflects the right psychological tone.”

“Get out if you become unsure about a position.”

“Hold on to your winners and cut your losers.”

“I have learned not to be as attached to material things. I accepted it as a life lesson. I learned I don’t have to own a house in every beautiful place in the world; I can stay at a hotel and walk on the beach or climb a trail there. Or, if I really feel like spoiling myself, I can charter a plane; I don’t have to own one.”

“I look for confirmation from the chart, the fundamentals, and the market action. I think you can trade anything in the world that way.”

“I think the leading cause of financial disablement is the belief that you can rely on the experts to help you. Investing requires an intense personal involvement.”

“I think to be in the upper echelon of successful traders requires an innate skill, a gift. It's just like being a great violinist. But to be a competent trader and make money is a skill you can learn.”

“I think to be in the upper echelon of successful traders requires an innate skill, a gift. It’s just like being a great violinist. But to be a competent trader and make money is a skill you can learn.”

“I will continue to lose money and lose all, if I lack patience, so as to ignore the trading principle, and rush into the market without waiting until the main trend becomes clear.”

“If a position doesn't feel right as soon as you put it on, don't be embarrassed to change your mind and get right out. If you become unsure about a position, and you don't know what to do, just get out.”

“If we saw a surprise price move against us that we didn't understand, we often got out and looked for the reason later.”

“In the final analysis, you need to have the courage to hold the position and take the risk. You need to be aware that the world is very sophisticated and always ask yourself: ‘How many people are left to act on this particular idea?’ You have to consider whether the market has already discounted your idea.”

“Mathematics is the supreme nostalgia of our time.”

“Nowadays, I try to avoid the currencies, because I feel it is a totally political situation; you have to determine what the central banks are going to do.”

“Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer profitable trading opportunities, so you have to be patient.”

“Perhaps the most important rule is to hold on to your winners and cut your losers. Both are equally important. If you don’t stay with your winners, you are not going to be able to pay for the losers.”

“See the signal, like the signal, follow the signal. If you follow your system or methodology then over time your edge will kick-in and you’ll end up ahead.”

“The best trades are the ones in which you have all three things going for you: fundamentals, technicals, and market tone.”

“The big players, including the governments, would always tip their hand.”

“The trend-following systems approach doesn't work anymore. The problem is that once you have defined a trend and taken a position, everyone else has taken a position as well. Since there is no one left to buy, the market swings around in the other direction and gets you out. One reason we don't have many good trends anymore is that the central banks are preventing currency moves from getting out of hand by taking the other side of the trend.”

“Trade assets that are not dominated by the big professional traders. I don't trade the Dow stocks. I prefer the little ones because they are not dominated by the big professional traders who are like sharks eating each other. The basic principle is that it is better to trade the Australian dollar than the Deutsche mark, and the small OTC stock than the big Dow stock.”

“Trading was a release and hobby for me. It replaced a lot of other things in my life.”

“When I’m losing money, I say to myself: you can’t keep trading. And when you get a good card, you should be patient to hold. Otherwise, you can’t make up for the money you lost when you got a bad card.”