A person's intelligence is not in the skill of scheming, but in being grounded, in kindness, diligence, seriousness, trustworthiness, and a steadfast pursuit of justice and truth. You can embark on the path of speculation, but you will never succeed simply because you are good at speculation. Speculation is like climbing Mount Everest; choosing it is irrational, but any irrational thoughts and actions after the choice will lead to disaster. Having any lucky mentality only indicates that the lessons learned are not profound enough.
When you see an expert who is skillful and at ease, there are definitely countless bloody wounds hidden behind them, surviving near-death experiences.
The exploration of stock trading has no end; there is no highest realm, only higher realms. We can only move forward step by step on the premise of the correct direction. There are no shortcuts to success; suffering is our good teacher.
One
Our lives should not be built solely on making money in the stock market; we should become responsible and useful individuals for ourselves, those around us, society, and the nation. Because, in a true sense, you are merely a nominal owner of wealth; wealth belongs to society as a whole, it just temporarily exists with you, and the amount of wealth has nothing to do with whether a person is happy.
The stock market is a hunting ground for capital; a person's success is built on the failures of many others.
If we are lucky enough to make money, I hope everyone can think about the sweat, tears, and even lives hidden behind that money, and while spending money to enrich their lives, they can also do something beneficial to society with that money. In this regard, I believe that accumulating virtue and doing good is beneficial to oneself; being the master of money is better than being a slave to money.
Two
The stock market is like a devil that is incredibly charming yet cruel (I increasingly feel that the stock market resembles a form of life with spirit, hehe, perhaps this is a bit superstitious). It can not only swallow your money but can even devour lives and souls. Sadly, in the absolute sense, people cannot defeat the stock market because judgment and imagination cannot triumph over reality; your victory or defeat is not determined by you but by the stock market.
I believe that the ultimate expert is one who can remain calm in both advancing and retreating.
The reason Livingston failed is that he was superstitious about his own strength and could not resist the temptation of the stock market. In other words, he could pick it up but could not put it down. In the 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator,' you can see multiple instances where he abandoned his planned vacation and rushed back to the stock market.
Hehe, actually, it’s easy to pick it up, but letting go is the hardest part. To succeed in the stock market, you must focus all your energy on it and pay a considerable price, but you cannot give up everything because of that. The stock market is not more important than life; you must find a balance between the two, or you may easily lose both money and life. (Isn’t it like walking a tightrope??? Perhaps professional experts have more experience in this area?)
Three
To succeed in the stock market, you must correctly understand the essence of the stock market. The closer you are to the truth, the closer you are to success. The most important question: What is the stock market? Perhaps some people have never thought deeply about it, but every stock trader consciously or unconsciously uses their money to answer this question. This question, of course, has no ultimate correct answer.
At this stage, my understanding is: the stock market is a place for the redistribution of wealth, where the driving force behind price fluctuations is human nature. The specific price of a stock is achieved through competition between buyers and sellers. All my thoughts revolve around this statement. It's easy to make money occasionally in the stock market, but to remain victorious for a long time, one must continuously explore the following questions.
1. What is wealth? What does it mean to you? What is its actual impact on others?
2. Do you know yourself? Do you know others? Do you understand human nature?
3. What is competition? Do you understand it? What methods are you using to compete? What are the results? How do others compete?
Four
It is important to recognize correctly: the difficulty of winning in stock market competition is far greater than in other industries.
The reasons are: 1. Quick profits from stock trading. 2. Work is not hard. 3. Low entry barriers. These factors lead to a much more intense and brutal competition in the stock market than in other industries. Due to human nature's flaws and a lack of understanding of competition's laws, the vast majority will inevitably become victims. We must face this harsh reality: Making money in the stock market is not easy!! But there are indeed some who have been relatively successful for a long time. So, where does the path to success lie?
Five
For a long time, I was trapped in theories and techniques, trying to find the answer to this question, but I never found it. However, after continuous learning and experience (of course, not experiencing the stock market, but tasting life), now I see that the answer to this question is already before me. As the saying goes, 'One does not recognize the true face of Mount Lu, only because one is in this mountain.' You can see that there are medium-term experts and long-term experts in the stock market; some succeed through technical analysis, some through value investing concepts, and others even succeed using random walk theory.
We have already invested a lot of time, money, and emotions in the stock market, struggling yet repeatedly failing and getting hurt. What exactly makes them the lucky few?
My current view is that methods, theories, and even concepts are not the key secrets; the reason experts stand out from the ordinary is that they possess unique personal qualities. These special individuals find methods, theories, or concepts that suit them and are adept at seizing opportunities. Methods, theories, and even concepts can be learned by others, but their unique qualities cannot be acquired. For example: Can you remain unshaken by the temporary fluctuations of the stock market like granite, prepared to hold stocks for more than ten years? Buffett's core competitive advantage lies in being more patient and steadfast than other fund managers. You can learn the value investment concept, but can you match his patience and steadfastness?
Six
Experts have different methods of success, and only by exploring their emotional journeys can we discover the keys to their victories.
The stock market is a competition of human nature. Those who can survive in the stock market for a long time are undoubtedly the strong. The true strength of experts lies in their spirit; the common characteristic of all experts is that they can establish their unique core competitiveness at the level of character, thereby continuously gaining competitive advantages in the market. This means that experts all have their own 'knife of the heart.' However, if we extract their common qualities, we will find:
1. They all have an optimistic and proactive mindset when facing difficulties. This belongs to the level of worldview and outlook on life.
2. They all have firm beliefs and do not blindly follow others.
3. They study diligently, are brave in practice, and enjoy facing challenges.
4. They are good at learning from their own and others' experiences, starting from themselves.
5. They are calm, patient, and resilient.
6. They have a broad perspective and foresight.
7. They are very aware of their own flaws and have effective methods of restraint.
8. They love the stock market and are willing to dedicate themselves to their careers.
Do you see the shadows of these qualities in Buffett, Soros, Lynch, and other experts? Do you see that these qualities are the essence of their true strength?
Seven
These are the common qualities that experts possess, which are necessary conditions for the road to success and also necessary materials for forging an expert's knife.
The road to success in the stock market is definitely different for everyone, but there are common patterns to find. If you realize that the competition in the stock market is a comprehensive competition at the level of human nature, then you must establish your unique core competitiveness at the level of character in order to continuously gain a competitive advantage in the market. This means you must tailor a knife of character that belongs to you, which is the only hope for you to survive in the brutal battlefield of money in the long run.
All the methods, theories, and concepts you are currently spending time and effort studying are nothing more than techniques. No technique can claim the life of different enemies under different circumstances; those who are superstitious about techniques often die from the very techniques they think they understand best. The power of a technique lies in the user's strength, the opponent's strength, and other conditions such as the environment. In fact, there is no invincible technique. Even the most ordinary technique can be magical when used by an expert, while even the most exquisite technique will have flaws when executed by a novice.
Long-term competition relies on strength; outstanding character is a true manifestation of strength in the stock market. Whether one's inner self possesses multiple genuine, enduring, and powerful strengths is the key to success or failure. In competition at the level of human nature, if you have no advantages in mentality and character and have numerous flaws, relying solely on superficial skills is futile. If you are constantly immersed in studying different methods, theories, and concepts, confused in trying to find the invincible technique to sweep the stock market while failing to strengthen your character level, you are discarding the root for the branches; how can you avoid defeat?
Eight
If you want to become an expert in the stock market, you must focus on cultivating these outstanding qualities. Lacking even one will lead to failure!
These qualities must be cultivated through great storms for most people, which requires a long time and various trials. Sometimes, you even have to give up some of your most fundamental beliefs to gain them, akin to a person's experience of death and rebirth, a transformation that is painful and unimaginable to others. The brilliance of human nature is nurtured in suffering, and adversity is often the best teacher for cultivating an outstanding character. This is the real reason behind the stock market saying that without five to eight years of experience and not having gone through great ups and downs, it is impossible to cultivate a mature stock trader.
The true meaning of maturity lies in the maturity of their character, not because they have read some heavenly book or suddenly discovered some tricks to deal with the stock market. Competition never believes in tears; only those strong at the character level can survive in the stock market for a long time!
In other industries, there are competitions in skills, knowledge, and other aspects, but the stock market is purely a naked competition of human nature, that is, a competition of a person's comprehensive internal qualities. A person's wealth must be built on the weaknesses of others, so deception, cunning, and all sorts of means are employed. Have you ever seen so many scammers and robbers playing tricks to cheat your money anywhere else? Where do you see so much deception and lies as in the stock market? Why can't you accomplish the simplest low buy high sell? Relying on intelligence or luck can only help you win temporarily; if you want to keep winning, what will you rely on?
Nine
After saying all this, it can actually be summarized in one sentence: success in the stock market depends on whether one can break through the barriers of human nature, transcend oneself, and forge a good knife that balances strength and flexibility at the level of character.
This is a common point among all experts. If you don't have your own knife, no matter how much time you spend studying advanced techniques, the outcome will only be death or surrender. You exhaust yourself trying to become one of the lucky few who are different from 90% of losers, but in the end, things will only go against you, because this is not a problem that can be solved at the level of relying on methods, theories, or concepts to win through techniques; the solution lies in one's character. It is impossible to take shortcuts in the exploration of the stock market.
Haha, now you can understand why Peter Lynch said it was useless to teach his methods to others, right? Because that is his own technique; without your own knife, how can you expect to use these techniques to take your enemy's life? The value investment concept must be combined with Buffett-style faith and patience along with the growth of the American economy to achieve Buffett-like success. In any case, success comes from the perfect combination of timing, location, and human factors. The only thing you can do is cultivate people, maximize the use of location, and patiently wait for the right timing. You can walk the path of speculation, but you must eliminate any speculative mentality!
Ten
An expert's knife is, in fact, an outstanding character.
For us novices, this requires a long, quite painful accumulation process to achieve, which has nothing to do with a person's intelligence or the amount of theoretical knowledge mastered.
I believe that only when you reach the day of possessing the heart of an expert will you naturally also possess the vision of an expert. The candlesticks are still the same candlesticks, the waves are still the same waves, but from this moment on, they will truly come alive; the techniques are still those techniques, and only from this moment on will they have actual significance for you.
Before reaching the critical point of qualitative change, even if you are highly knowledgeable and exceptionally intelligent, how can the eyes blinded by human weaknesses see the gold scattered everywhere? 'When wealth arrives, it will come so urgently and quickly that it is strange where all this wealth has been hiding during those difficult years.' Do you understand this sentence now? Countless bones have perished for one general's success; how many have truly been heroic throughout history? Only the battlefield can create heroes; only suffering can forge outstanding character. The stock market is merciless; there is no shortcut to the path of speculation, and I hope that those who are destined can understand this very simple truth. Do not seek fish from trees and discard the root for the branches, lest your efforts take you further from success, ultimately leading to the outcome of being too clever by half!
Those with biased character, who only seek to take others' wealth through speculation, will inevitably lose their own money in the stock market sooner or later! As the saying goes, 'If the six roots are not pure, how can one trade stocks?' The essence of stock trading lies outside of stocks!
Eleven
Only with your own knife can you truly embark on the path to your own success, but forging this knife is something that no master or predecessor can teach you. It's like wanting to learn to swim; you must personally get into the water to understand its properties. Mastering fluid dynamics and exercise physiology won't help you much!
The road to becoming an expert is a long and painful metamorphosis, and loneliness is your only companion while failure is your best teacher!
With perseverance and patience, when your character is as clear as a mirror and as flexible as flowing water; when you truly live in tranquility, unaffected by material joy or personal sorrow; when you feel a flowing courage akin to 'Though thousands oppose, I shall advance'; after countless trials and tribulations, your knife will be forged.
