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August was another positive month.   I was up around 1500. This number alone is nothing inspiring. But 9 consecutive positive months might be able to show that trading might not be random.  Of course, more time is needed to prove the consistency.

All three markets have recovered a lot from their lows in March 2009. some stocks have doubled and even tripled from their lows.  People who started trading in March or later must have made some good money and their confidence in trading is on the verge of exploding.   How can it not be? A lot of them have made 50% or move returns so far.  I would if I were a beginner.  Beginners have the courage that old hands do not have because Mr. Market humbled them badly numerous times in the past.  Blind courage is very lethal and kills so many aspiring traders every year. A lot of them think trading is easy after a few initial successes.  So they start to bet more and more, thinking they are invincible.  Most of them will hold onto their losers dearly when the market goes down. And a few big losers will send most of them packing very quickly. I know a grandma type of person who betted heavily in the Chinese stock market a couple of years ago. She knew nothing about trading. Of course she thought she knew it because she made some good returns in 2007.  The thing she did not know is that every one is a genius in a bull market and a lot of other grandmas made good money too.   The Chinese stock market crashed from 6000 to 1800 later and I heard her swear that she would never touch stocks any more.  I do not know how much she lost. But it is enough for her to totally quit trading/investing.

There was a week in August I did not trade because I took a break. One good thing about my trading is that I do not push myself.  I just let my trading flow naturally, partly because there is no pressure for me to make money.  Of course, I still do think about improving my trading.  My first goal is to make 3k-4k per month consistently.  Right now, it has been just around 1.5k to 2k, which is some good gas and grocery money. Anyway, this step is actually not easy since my psychology will change once I start to trade more aggressively.