The Man Who Buys Crashesmarket, know exactly what it is going to do. And then there are
other times when I feel out of tune. I’m out of phase. It’s not doing
what I expect, what’s going on here?
Q: When you’re out of tune, what do you do to get your mojo
back?
A: I try and drop back to 40 percent cash, sometimes even 70
percent cash. I try to figure out what the reason is. I also think
there is a humbling factor that does make you better in the long
run. I think the greatest deterrence is that most of us don’t think
high consistent returns are possible. You can’t achieve something if
you don’t think it’s possible. All you have to do is make a percent a
day, that’s 200 percent per year! [Laughter.] There are stocks that
move around 3 percent, every day and so it’s got to be possible,
and because I believe its possible then it helps me to get better
results.
Q: Last question of the day, what would you say is your number-
one rule for trading?
A: I think my number one trading rule is to not worry about being
right, just focus on making money and just deal with being wrong.
The purpose of trading is not being right, the purpose is to make
money, and I think that’s my number-one rule. Don’t get hung up
on your current positions.
Lessons from Dana Allen
Look for 10 BaggersOne of the most impressive aspects of Dana Allen’s trading is the
amount of trades in his career that have returned him more than
10 times his initial investment or, as he calls them, 10 baggers.
Whether in options, stocks, or commodities, Dana has been able