I do not care how good your system is, how sharp your analysis, how perfect your timing. If your size is wrong, you are finished. And if your size is right, you can survive even your mistakes.
That is the irony of this business. The smaller you bet, the bigger your chances of getting rich. The larger you bet, the quicker your chances of going broke. The beginner thinks the opposite. He thinks the bigger he bets, the sooner he will be rich.
But speculation is a profession, not a lottery. A profession requires you to last. It requires you to accumulate slowly. It requires you to respect your capital more than you respect your opinion. And respecting your capital begins and ends with the size of your position.
I repeat, because repetition is the mother of truth, size is everything. Not tips. Not timing. Not inside dope. Not opinions. Size. If you remember nothing else, remember that. Make your positions so small that you can take them, cut them, carry them, add to them, all without strain.
Make them so small that you can follow your rules without fear. Make them so small that the market cannot shake you out with its tricks. Make them so small that you can stay in the game long enough to see the real move. The move that makes your fortune. You can only get rich in the market if you first refuse to go broke. That is the law and it is enforced without mercy. The market is patient. It will wait until you have forgotten this rule. Then it will strike. But if you never forget it, if you always respect your size, then you can stand before the market without fear.