He really meant to tell them that the big money was not in the individual fluctuations but in the main movements that is, not in reading the tape but in sizing up the entire market and its trend.
Interpretation
Success comes from understanding overall trends, not just small changes.
This quote emphasizes the importance of focusing on the broader market trends rather than getting caught up in the minor fluctuations. It suggests that real financial success lies in grasping the larger picture and movement of the market, which can lead to more informed and strategic decisions.
In practice
In a financial seminar, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of market analysis.
The average man doesn't wish to be told that it is a bull or a bear market. What he desires is to be told specifically which particular stock to buy or sell. He wants to get something for nothing. He does not wish to work. He doesn't even wish to have to think.
After spending many years in Wall Street and after making and losing millions of dollars I want to tell you this: It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!
Don't take action with a trade until the market, itself, confirms your opinion. Being a little late in a trade is insurance that your opinion is correct. In other words, don't be an impatient trader.
At long as a stock is acting right, and the market is right, do not be in a hurry to take profits. One should never permit speculative ventures to run into investments.
Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon. I found it one of the hardest things to learn. But it is only after a stock operator has firmly grasped this that he can make big money.
It is what people actually did in the stock market that counted - not what they said they were going to do.
It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.
Just remember, you can't climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.
The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are.
When you want success as badly as you want the air, then you will get it. There is no other secret of success.
Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.
Records are there to be broken. Lots of people would love to swap their world record for an Olympic medal, but for me, my medals are there forever and ever, and that's what does it for me.
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