Here are some tips for mastering the art of speculation. I've made a few of these posts before but they can get lost.

Some of these are taken from books, some are my own comments.

1. Study the market every single day. No day should pass by without watching the tape, watching the market, understanding the correlations and feeling the sentiment.

2. Try and visit an exchange even if it is not related to the market you trade. I recently went to the LME (London Metal Exchange) where you can stand in the viewing gallery and watch the action. Watching the traders execute in the pit is as close as you can get to the heart of the action. Look at the emotions of the traders and how they transact.

3. Do not necessarily start with one product but start with one market first. The stock market is a good starting place.

4.Take one position at a time.

5. Keep your transactions to yourself. Do not boast about wins or lament lossses to other people - especially those that do not trade themselves.

6. Never trade out of boredom.

7. Keep a record of all losing and winning trades.

8. Make sure you have adequate capital to sustain a string of losses. Every trader has losing streaks. Be sure you can weather them out. If you cannot take at a very minimum, 10 losses in a row and still place an eleventh trade, you do not have enough capital.

9. Vary the size of the position based on your assessment of the distribution between risk and reward. There are benefits to risking a fixed percentage but there are times (and trades) when the reward is too good not to take extra risk. If you do not understand when these times are, you do not have enough experience.

10. Be awake and alart before the market opens. If the market opens at 8am, there is no point sitting down at your computer at 8.15am. You should be aware of news, sentiment and overnight moves (or related market moves) at least a full half hour before trading.

11. Take a break when you are losing.

12. Cultivate and nurture all emotions during the trading day.

13. Read up on the markets. Most traders read books on HOW to trade. I suggest that books by or about great traders are a far more important read. If you want to be the best you need to try and surround yourself by the masters of your art. If that has to be via their writings, then so be it.

14. Forget about the great prices you could have traded at. Should you enter, add or exit, right now?