Tag: lessons

S&P 500 average return: What 98 years of data really show

The S&P 500’s average return since 1928 is about 10% a year with dividends reinvested: 10.0% compounded over 98 calendar years, 1928–2025. Without…

Trading journal template: Free Excel sheet and how to use it

A trading journal template is a spreadsheet with one row per trade: entry, stop, target, size, exit, the result in dollars and in R, and a few honest…

2024 might be my biggest learning year yet

Another year is over. It was my 8th trading year since I got back to the markets in 2017. As time goes by, it becomes harder to learn much new about…

I’m attacking the risk, not trying to avoid it

The title is a quote I heard from Tom Basso, a semi-retired trader featured in “ The New Market Wizards ” book that was published in 1992. According…

Comparison makes market participants unhappy

Happy New Year! Absolute performance measures the annual returns of a portfolio, while relative performance compares it to a benchmark or some index…

Be bold with your profits