What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Market Lore to Ignore? Market Lore to Ignore?
-
1. Mental Processes 1. Mental Processes
-
2. Behavioral Characteristics 2. Behavioral Characteristics
-
3. Emotions of an Individual or Group 3. Emotions of an Individual or Group
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Part front matter for Part Two Lessons Learned
Get access-
Published:30 April 2013
Cite
Extract
Good judgment is usually the result of experience, and experience frequently the result of bad judgment.
—robert lovett
What started as a search for the secret to making money had turned into a search for the secret of how not to lose money. Why is it is so important to learn how not to lose? Because when people lose money in the markets, they usually look for a new approach to make money. Obviously, the previous method was defective; it’s never the investor’s or trader’s fault. Given the myriad of how-to methods, you could spend a lifetime trying, and failing, to make money with each one because you don’t know how not to lose. On the other hand, if you learn why people lose and thereby control losses, profits will follow.
Basically, what I found is that there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people in the markets, but there are relatively few ways to lose money. When I say lose here, I don’t mean that there won’t be any losses. You don’t win every point in every game in every set in every match in tennis; you win some and you lose some. There will be lots of losses, just as there are losses in any business. Former Citicorp CEO Walter Wriston said that a lender who doesn’t have loan losses isn’t doing his job. And it’s the truth. Trying to avoid taking losses altogether is the loser’s curse. But the losses you are trying to avoid are the ones for which you hadn’t made allowances, the ones that sneak up on you and the ones that ultimately put you out of business.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Metrics
Metrics
| Month: | Total Views: |
|---|---|
| April 2023 | 2 |
| August 2023 | 2 |
| November 2023 | 1 |
| January 2024 | 1 |
| July 2024 | 2 |
| August 2024 | 2 |
| April 2025 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 1 |
| October 2025 | 2 |
| November 2025 | 1 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution's website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution's website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see "Sign in through society site" in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.