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Trading Principles and Lessons from Leonardo Da Vinci

A good read that adapts Leonardo Da Vinci precepts to trading:


Leonardo Da Vinci’s model for learning to paint, from his own notes:

1. Imitate a masters work — best to imitate an antique.
2. Draw objects from relief but not from memory.
3. Familiarity of the human form — seeing each muscle in every possible position.
4. Do stick drawings from nature and expand them at home.
5. “Thus I say to you, whom nature prompts to pursue this art, if you wish to have a sound knowledge of the forms of objects begin with the details of them, and do not go on to the second [step] till you have the first well fixed in memory and in practice.”
6. Keep the company of people who share the outlook of being mirror like in their observations. If such people cannot be found then keep your speculations to yourself.
7. “I myself have proved it to be of no small use, when in bed in the dark, to recall in fancy the external details of forms previously studied, or other noteworthy things conceived by subtle speculation; and this is certainly an admirable exercise, and useful.”
8. “Winter evenings ought to be employed by young students in looking over the things prepared during the summer; that is, all the drawings from the nude done in the summer should be brought together and a choice made of the best [studies of] limbs and body.”
9. He is a poor disciple who does not excel his master.
10. “Some may distinctly assert that those persons are under a delusion who call that painter a good master who can do nothing well but a head or a figure. Certainly this is no great achievement.
11. “Nature has beneficently provided that throughout the world you may find something to imitate.”
12. The mind of the painter must resemble a mirror.
13. “When, Oh draughtsmen, you desire to find relaxation in games you should always practice such things as may be of use in your profession”
14. “The sorest misfortune is when your views are in advance of your work.”

More.


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1938 Wisdom Part 2

Last night I posted an excerpt from The 1938 book “Commonsense Speculation”. Another very relevant excerpt:

Never forget that all market profits are “paper” until collected. A $1000 or $100,000 paper profit can soon turn into a loss from mental lethargy or indecision.

Continuing:

Inasmuch as 99% of speculators trade on the bull side, get out somewhere while the going is good. For most people a bull market is like a trip in a elevator. Floor after floor is called out by the starter, but few emerge. Finally, to continue the metaphor, the elevator reaches the roof as the bull market is culminating. Then the machinery breaks, the car plunges to the bottom of the shaft, and the passengers – most of them badly injured – struggle to climb out of the wreckage that a bear market has brought.

Of course, it goes without saying that getting into a market, or getting out, requires a preset plan before you ever take the first step to speculate.

More.

1938 Wisdom Part 1

The 1938 book “Commonsense Speculation” offers:

One of the most commonest of speculative sins is to be unduly influenced by the previous high of a stock. If the price has declined a good many points, a universal feeling is to assume that it cannot go much lower. The stock market can do anything and an individual stock can go almost anywhere – up or down – in the course of a dynamic move.

Further the book quotes the head of Chase National Bank from 1937 regarding speculation:

I know the whole system of speculation in securities is questioned by some; that speculation, as a whole, in any market is condemned by some; I know that there are those who identify all speculation with gambling, and would not rule out all speculators as social parasites who have no useful function. But the verdict of impartial economists on this point is clear and very nearly unanimous. The difference between speculation and gambling is that in gambling artificial and unnecessary risks are created; whereas in speculation the risks already exist and the question is simply who shall bear them.

More.

Larry Hite: Life Is A Betting Game

From Larry Hite:

“There are just four kinds of bets. There are good bets, bad bets, bets that you win, and bets that you lose. Winning a bad bet can be the most dangerous outcome of all, because a success of that kind can encourage you to take more bad bets in the future, when the odds will be running against you. You can also lose a good bet, no matter how sound the underlying proposition, but if you keep placing good bets, over time, the law of averages will be working for you.”

More on Larry can be found here.

Michael Covel and Larry Hite
Michael Covel and Larry Hite

How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.

Also jump in:

Trend Following Podcast Guests
Frequently Asked Questions
Performance
Research
Markets to Trade
Crisis Times
Trading Technology
About Us

Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.

Mark Cuban on Preparation

I found a good excerpt on Mark Cuban’s blog. He attended Indiana University when Bob Knight was the basketball coach. Cuban was reflecting on what was the greatest thing learned from the famed basketball coach:

When I was at Indiana you were on 60 Minutes. In your interview you said one single thing that I took to heart. I reminded myself of it while it was in school at Indiana. I reminded myself of it when I failed. I reminded myself of it before any of the many businesses I have started I will continue to remind myself before any of my endeavors going forward. Its also the best advice I’ve been able to give people of any age who ask me for advice. Its also the characteristic I look for when choosing a partner or hiring…You said, and I’m paraphrasing: “Everyone has got the will to win, its only those with the will to prepare that do win.” Words for every athlete and those of us who partake in the Sport of Business to live by.

Trading rules, or a good entrepreneurial plan if pursuing some business idea, are important, but that will to prepare is even more critical.