These are uncertain and confusing times. Everywhere you look, any conversation you listen to, it is about the economy and its impact on our lives. We hear about deficit, raising taxes, unemployment and lack of liquidity. It is enough to make everyone enter a negative emotional spiral.

In the past few weeks, have you felt like you were in quicksand?

By the markets' volatility causing a lot of uncertainly and P&L swings, does it feel like the harder you try, the worse things get?

Do you feel overwhelmed?

Well, you are not alone. These are very hard times in the markets. One of the hardest things to deal with is uncertainly. You hear a lot about risk management which has different aspects. The normal ones are market, credit and operational risk. One of the most important risks that people seldom talk about and it is much more evident in these markets, is the emotional risk.

I  am fascinated to watch the Olympic Games. Athletes from all over the world come together and compete with each other. As you might have noticed, sometimes the winner surprises everyone. It is not the one who is most talented or most favored...

Have you ever heard traders say, "The market is just against me"?

The truth of the matter is that the market does not care about you. It does not care if you win or lose. It does not care if you are right or wrong. The market is neutral.

A lot of us try to figure it out and beat the market. For many men, it is like figuring out women.

How many times have you heard that one of the keys to trading success is consistency?

Probably too many times. Well, it is true.

How do you define trading consistency? What are the elements of it?

Just how much emphasis should be placed on your personality when trying to develop your trading plan? We take a look at some of the different categories that traders might fall into.

If trading was purely a science, you wouldn't need traders. Everything could be done through program trading. However, to be successful, to have that edge, not only you do need the science of trading, but you also need to develop the mental edge and the art of trading.

I was participating in a meeting the other day and the speaker was talking about leadership.

When I was thinking of leadership, it occurred to me that as traders, we own our business and we set its direction. We are leaders and how we run our business is very essential to our success.

Just how much emphasis should you place on your belief system in conjunction with your trading.  Ruth Barrons Roosevelt lists some empowering beliefs to adopt.

Overtrading is the most common challenge of trading and source of loss. Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar?

After a few wins, you become overconfident. You start taking trades immediately, feeling invincible. You forget all the rules.