Trading Lessons Learned from Matt Choi CMT, Owner of Certus Trading

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A professional trader&comma; educator and best-selling author&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;ideamensch&period;com&sol;matt-choi&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Matt Choi <&sol;a>has been trading successfully for more than 17 years&comma; using a self-taught approach and trading with his own money&period;  Under Certus Trading&comma; Matt Choi offers a range of educational courses on how to trade stocks&comma; ETFs&comma; options&comma; commodity and financial futures&comma; and FOREX&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In his teaching&comma; Choi often quotes Albert Einstein&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I am not a genius&comma; I am just curious&period;  I ask many questions&period;  And when the answer is simple&comma; then God is answering&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Choi <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;certustrading&period;com&sol;certus-trading-review-boring-predictable&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">encourages <&sol;a>traders to adhere to this same sort of philosophy when trading &&num;8211&semi;  ask the right questions&comma; look at everything from a 360 point of view and actively seek out answers to those questions before making an informed decision&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Successful trading is about managing risk and making the right decisions&period;  It’s also about taking a step back and asking yourself three important trading questions&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li>What is it that you do well&quest;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>What’s your plan&quest;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Does the trade make sense&quest;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">As a trader you have to be able to identify your strengths&period;  Perhaps it means you excel at trading earnings&comma; breakouts or weekly options&period;  Whatever the case&comma; identify the type of trades that have proven to make you the most money&period;  Focus on those strengths and further honing your skills&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you are new to trading&comma; try experimenting and find what type of trades best fits your style&period; If you can’t clearly identify your edge&comma; start off by trading small&period; This way you can explain why the trade opportunity looks good and give examples of similar trades that have worked in the past&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Next &&num;8211&semi; ask yourself&comma; what’s the plan&quest; What is your decision making based off&quest;  No matter what the circumstances&comma; traders should always have a plan in mind before jumping on the next trade&period;  It’s best not to formulate a plan based off of whether you think a stock will go up or down or by blindly following the opinion of an analyst on TV&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you allow your emotions to get involved in your decision making&comma; you are at risk for taking a loss&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Lastly&comma; ask yourself&comma; does the trade make sense&quest;  Some traders focus too closely on high priced stocks but forget to take account of the risk and volatility&period;  For example&comma; some stocks have wild swings that are not suitable for all accounts and won’t make a dent in profitability&period;  Instead&comma; look at the trades that have proven to have an edge for you and focus on your potential gains&comma; and be more strategic with your decision making&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In an industry where keeping up with new trends and strategies is an important part of success&comma; there is always an opportunity to add to one’s book of knowledge&period; Most successful traders will agree that formulating good habits played a big role in their longevity&period;  Let’s face it&comma; if you blindly follow and copy other traders&comma; you’re only holding yourself back&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Rather&comma; you should try to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t&period; When you utilize your own strategy&comma; you become more self-sufficient&comma; constantly improving your trade style&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;