Saturday 28 January 2017

What 'The Tortoise & the rabbit teaches us about trading

Most of us are familiar with the story of 'The Tortoise and the Rabbit,' but there are some surprising and insightful parallels that can be drawn between this famous fable and the world of trading.

The story begins with a tortoise and a rabbit setting out on a race. The rabbit is of course much faster, so he zooms off ahead while the tortoise slowly plods along.

There are some variations of the story but thinking he has plenty of time to spare, the rabbit stops to enjoy some carrots and take a nap.
Much to the rabbit's chagrin, the tortoise has been gradually making his way towards the finish line, overtaking the napping rabbit and winning the race.
A story of consistency
The basic message to take from this is that consistency and hard work often lead to greater achievements than physical advantages or privileges of some kind.
This also illustrates the importance of remaining mindful of "the long game" rather than focusing solely on potential short-term gains.
So how exactly does this relate to traders?
Slow and steady wins the race
If you're honest with yourself you have probably already figured out whether you are a rabbit or a tortoise when it comes to your trading approach.
A rabbit may typically rush in with high-frequency trading, over-leveraging their account and ultimately making decisions that are based on emotion rather than patience.
After a couple of successful trades, rabbits become overly confident, increasing their risk while placing too much emphasis on their imagined trading abilities.
This decreased risk aversion may lead to increased losses, which may end up with rabbits either spinning their wheels or getting knocked out of the 'race' altogether.
A tortoise, on the other hand, will remain patient in the face of tempting trades.
This means the tortoise will adopt a long-term trading strategy with a lower overall frequency of trades. This also means never over-leveraging his account or doubling up his risk because of a sudden surge of confidence off the back of a few lucrative trades.

Channel your inner tortoise
As silly as it might sound, there is a lot to be learnt from this children's tale.
Consistency coupled with a clear grasp of long-term thinking may help to greatly preserve your trading capital.
If you do enjoy a string of successful trades, don't let this go to your head.
While you may feel excited and extremely confident, it is still wise to hold fire until you see obvious trades.
You might feel like luck is on your side but when this happens, channel your inner tortoise and your portfolio will thank you in the long term!
Trading is not a sprint, it is a marathon, so avoid making rash short-term decisions and instead remember that consistency is the number one factor that will allow you to gradually increase your capital.
Tortoise trading might be what will keep you in profit quarter after quarter; year after year!


Friday 13 January 2017

The story of a woodcutter

The story of a woodcutter


Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.


The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.


“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”


Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.


“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.


“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”


Reflection:

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy that ever.
Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. 
Author: Stephen Covey
From: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
                                                                                                                                                     

Sunday 1 January 2017

Trading Holidays for NSE, BSE & MCX

Sr. NoHolidaysDateDay
1Republic DayJanuary 26, 2017 Thursday
2MahashivratriFebruary 24, 2017 Friday
3HoliMarch 13, 2017 Monday
4Ram NavamiApril 04, 2017 Tuesday
5Good Friday April 14, 2017 Friday
Dr.Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti April 14, 2017 Friday
6Maharashtra Day May 01, 2017 Monday
7Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramzan Id) June 26, 2017 Monday
8Independence Day August 15, 2017 Tuesday
9Ganesh Chaturthi August 25, 2017 Friday
10Mahatama Gandhi Jayanti October 02, 2017 Monday
11Diwali-Laxmi Pujan* October 19, 2017 Thursday
12Diwali-Balipratipada October 20, 2017 Friday
13Christmas December 25, 2017 Monday
*Muhurat Trading will be conducted on Thursday, October 19, 2017 (Diwali- Laxmi Pujan). Timings for Muhurat Trading will be notified by the exchange subsequently.

Holidays On Saturday/Sunday

Sr. NoHolidaysDateDay
1Mahavir JayantiApril 09, 2017Sunday
2Bakri IDSeptember 02, 2017Saturday
3DaseraSeptember 30, 2017Saturday
4MoharramOctober 01, 2017Sunday
5Gurunanak JayantiNovember 04, 2017Saturday

Holidays For Currency Trading And Clearing & Settlement

In addition to the NSE and BSE holidays, the following holidays were announced for Currency Trading and for Clearing & Settlement.You can check out the official list here.
Sr.NoHolidaysDateDay
1Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj JayantiFebruary 19, 2017Sunday
2Annual Bank ClosingApril 01, 2017Saturday
3Gudhi PadwaMarch 28, 2017Tuesday
4Parsi New YearAugust 17, 2017Thursday
5Id-e-MiladNovember 30, 2017Thursday
Official holiday calendar for NSE. Official holiday calendar for BSE.

Holidays For Commodity Trading- MCX/NCDEX

Sr.NoHolidaysDateDayMorning SessionEvening Session*
1New Year’s Day01-Jan-17SundayOpenClosed
2Republic Day26-Jan-17ThursdayClosedClosed
3Mahashivratri24-Feb-17FridayClosedOpen
4Holi (2nd Day)13-Mar-17MondayClosedOpen
5Good Friday14-Apr-17FridayClosedClosed
Ambedkar Jayanti14-Apr-17FridayClosedOpen
6Ram Navami04-Apr-17TuesdayClosedOpen
7Mahavir Jayanti09-Apr-17SundayClosedOpen
8Maharashtra Day01-May-17MondayClosedClosed
9Buddha Poornima10-May-17WednesdayClosedClosed
10Ramzan Id26-June-17MondayClosedOpen
11Independence Day15-Aug-17TuesdayClosedClosed
12Ganesh Chaturthi25-Aug-17FridayClosedOpen
13Bakri Id02-Sep-17SaturdayClosedOpen
14Gandhi Jayanti02-Oct-17MondayClosedClosed
15Dassera30-Sep-17SaturdayClosedOpen
16Moharum01-Oct-17SundayClosedOpen
17Diwali – Lakshmi Puja19-Oct-17ThursdayClosedOpen**
18Diwali – Balipratipada20-Oct-17FridayClosedOpen
19Guru Nanak Jayanti04-Nov-17SaturdayClosedOpen
20Id-E-Milad30-Nov-17ThursdayClosedOpen
21Christmas25-Dec-17MondayClosedClosed