Having a plan

Having a plan of action allows you to be objective when others are often reacting emotionaly. Every weekend I sit and create a list with potential trading candidates for next week. I choose 5 longs and 5 shorts, representing different industry groups, which my analysis reveals that might have a significant move during the week. Watching such a small number of stocks helps me to be more focused and objective. Usually only 2 or 3 out of the chosen 10 stocks will behave the way I expected, but in my scheme of things this is more than enough.