SPECULATION AS A FINE ART

I like to read old books. One of them is "SPECULATION AS A FINE ART and THOUGHTS ON LIFE" by Dickson G.Watts.

The book listed the qualities essential to become the speculator: Selfreliance, judgment, courage, prudence, pliability. In today's market condition, we certainly need all of that.

1. Self-Reliance. A man must think for himself, must follow his own convictions.
2. Judgment. That equipoise, that nice adjustment of the faculties one to the other, which is called good judgment, is an essential to the speculator.
3. Courage. That is, confidence to act on the decisions of the mind.
4. Prudence. The power of measuring the danger, together with a certain alertness and watchfulness, is very important. There should be a balance of these two, Prudence and Courage; Prudence in contemplation, Courage in execution.
5. Pliability the ability to change an opinion, the power of revision.

There is no royal road to success in speculation. In speculation, as in life, few succeed, many fail.