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If you only remember a few things, then these few gems of great wisdom below will serve you well.

 

Here are some DYNAMITE trading wisdoms ~ straight from the minds of the old past masters

  I've kept them plain-spoken, engaging, and easy to digest ~ like nuggets of gold for a "Wisdoms" webpage.

Read them slowly; each one can shift how you approach the market.

 

1. Jim Slater (author of the Zulu principle and Beyond the Zulu principle)

Prices Have Natural Limits to Explosive Moves ~ Profit-Taking Always Fades the Rush

Jim Slater's sharp observation: Even killer news that "should" drive a stock up 50% rarely happens in one straight shot.

Expect an initial surge (maybe 15%), then profit-takers jump in and pull it back to 10% or less.

The real meaty profits come later ~ the next 40% ~ comes slowly as hesitant buyers overcome their fear of chasing strength.

What is the lesson? Dont focus on the short term noise, read the news and do the maths, remember others can do that maths!

Don't get put off by a temporary blow-off tops. True winners build gradually; patience captures the slow grind higher.

2. Jim Slater

Mr. Perfect Company Picker Beats Mr. Perfect Timer ~ Hands Down

Another Jim Slater classic (and a real shocker at first): The investor who spots future giants like early Nvidias or Amazons ~ when they're still "babies" will almost always outperform the trader obsessed with flawless entry timing. Why?

Great companies compound over years. Ride out scary drawdowns as long as the company accounts still show the good reasons why you bought them in the first place, sit patiently and wait for the rest of the World to notice its a good stock, and let time do the work.

Timing is of secondary importance to selection; selection is king.

See No 8 If you dont believe this.

3. Mark Slater (Son of Jim Slater)

Mark pointed out: In their ~50 UK stock portfolio, around 16 became bid targets.

Slater's filters uncover companies that bigger players want to buy, and other bigger companies want to own ~ strong growth, clean balance sheets, hidden appeal.

Here is the key ; Large funds can't touch tiny stocks, they need to be able to buy £100 million worth of stock positions to make it worth their energy.

The small stocks just cannot deliver that much stock without quadrupling the price, so this is your edge:

Get in early to buy the promising small-caps before the elephants arrive.

When they grow or get noticed, bids often follow. The playing field is wide open for patient individuals.

 

4. Dr Van Tharp (Featured in Market Wizards Vol 1- genius trading psychologist and trainer) May he rest in peace.

From the late great Van Tharp: In his extensive studies of top-performing fund managers, every single long trade executed happened at an all-time high. He went on to emphasise, not some of the trades but EVERY TRADE was done at the ATH.

No exceptions. Why? ATHs signal times have never been better and offer momentum and escape from old resistance.

Real strength keeps climbing, weak stocks crash.

To be fussy and details, You don't need to actually pinpoint the exact ATH; aim for those small 5-10% retracements during a strong uptrend when the market gets used to the patterns of slight dips before going to new highs.

This is why shifting to longer-term horizons makes sense ~ short-term noise dies, real trends emerge from proven power.

Buy Strength at All-Time Highs ~ The Best Managers Did It Every Single Time

 

5. Jesse Livermore (One of the most cited traders in history who made and lost several fortures)

Pyramid Winners Only ~ Add When Proven Right, Cut the Rest Loose

Jesse Livermore's unbreakable technique: Start with a small first position. If the stock rises about 10% from your entry and proves itself, add more ~ repeat up to 4-5 times as it climbs higher.

NOTE. Observe your normal risk control here. Be sure that all 5 or 6 parts of the trade only add up to the unit of risk you would normally do on a single trade.

This way if you buy a first tranche and walk into a profit warning you will only lose 1/6 of your normal stake.

If it stalls or falls? Keep the original small size ~ it's no big deal, low concern.

Never average down losers. This method turns solid ideas into monsters while risking almost nothing on failures.

Livermore built legends this way: Reinforce success with evidence, not hope.

This method was employed by Nicholas Darvos to great effect and is the same logic used in the  HATS trading system

 

6. Jim Slater

Specialize Deeply ~ Become the Expert in Your Narrow Corner.

Jim Slater's core "Zulu Principle": Don't try to master everything. Pick a niche (growth stocks, small-caps, a sector you love) and

 dive in until you know more than most.

Slater point was that his wife got a book about Zulus from the local library and soon became the village expert on that topic, because nobody else had read the book. Do you understand?

Specialization in a few companies in a deep study gives you an unbeatable edge over the generalists.

Books like The Zulu Principle and Beyond the Zulu Principle are dynamite ~ grab used hardbacks on eBay for peanuts (often $6-10 total).

The methods still outperform most fundamental approaches. Of course you can refine by adding technical analysis methods.

Hunt Bargain Growth with PEG ~ Growth at a Reasonable Price

Jim Slater's signature tool: Seek stocks with a PEG ratio (P/E divided by EPS growth rate) under 1.0 ~ ideally below 0.75-0.8.

 This flags great growth that's still cheap. Layer on strong EPS growth (15%+ recently), low debt, solid cash flow, and relative strength beating the market. Stockopedia shows free 12-month rolling PEGs and has explanatory videos.

 https://www.stockopedia.com/share-prices/serabi-gold-LON:SRB/ ~ no subscription required for basic use.

It's a simple, powerful way to find undervalued rockets before the crowd piles in.

 

7. Combined wisdoms (could this be a trading system?)

Slow Down, Focus Long-Term ~ Compound Quietly in Strength (My Own Twist, Building on the Masters)

Combine Slater's company-picking edge, Tharp's ATH strength bias, and Livermore's disciplined pyramiding ~ then resist the urge to trade short-term noise.

Markets reward patience: Hunt overlooked growth in niches big funds ignore, buy near highs with proof, add to winners, and hold through volatility.

Most blow-ups come from boredom or over-trading.

The quiet path ~ specialize, stay humble, let winners run ~ compounds into serious wealth without drama. It's not flashy, but your account will thank you over years.

 

8. Finally a pearl of wisdom from Fidelity (The dead perform well as investors)

Fidelity's Famous Anecdote: Doing Nothing Often Wins

In a widely shared story from a 2014 Bloomberg interview (James O'Shaughnessy recounting what he'd heard about Fidelity),

 the brokerage's best-performing accounts belonged to people who forgot they had them ~ or in popular retellings, to those

 who had passed away (leaving portfolios untouched).

The exact punchline: Accounts that saw zero trading activity for years outperformed most active ones. Why?

No panic selling, no bad timing, no fees eating gains ~ just pure long-term compounding in rising markets.

Short moral: Lack of trading is frequently better than too much trading. Set it, forget it, and let time work.

 

Write me and email if you have any questions. Good hunting!

 

 

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