Our market strategist and co-founder Erik Hansén is a guest on Sparpodden.

It was an interesting conversation about Erik's rules of thumb and view of the market.

This is an episode you must listen to!

Click here to watch the episode on YouTube.

Below you can read the rules of thumb that were discussed in the section:

1. Be long-term
The key to success is long-term thinking. Be patient and think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. Think of it as a business with a business plan.

2. Diversify properly
Create financial security through a core portfolio with a number of negatively correlated investments that reduce risk without reducing returns. Regardless of how tactical strategies work, we will be fine and sleep well at night.

3. Process more important than forecast
It doesn't matter how much money we make if we lack a process because we will inevitably lose a lot of capital.

4. Separate the ego from the trade
Don't focus on being right. We will often be wrong, but we should be wrong for the right reasons and not be wrong for too long. If we don't separate our ego from our trading, the ego will separate us from our money.

5. Dare to go against the flow
The key to success is the ability to go against the grain. Sometimes we need to stand outside the herd even if it feels very uncomfortable. Pay attention when all the “experts” agree on something.

6. There are no safe cards
There are no safe bets. All investments have risks and we need to manage them. Don't forget that the stock market is the place where the improbable has an unusually high probability of occurring.

7. Be humble and flexible
We don't know what will happen in the future. The market punishes the arrogant ruthlessly and rewards the humble and disciplined with brutal honesty. Sometimes we need to change our minds quickly because conditions can change quickly.

8. Don't take profits too quickly
Even experienced players can sometimes tend to take their profits too early. The profits must be able to finance our losses and losses are part of the game. Beginners often have problems minimizing losses and take profits too early.

9. Learn to embrace your losses
The fear of losing ironically leads to losses. Each trade is just one of a long series of trades. The performance of an individual trade is of secondary importance.

10. Ask the right questions
Avoid asking WHY something is happening. Instead, focus on WHAT is happening and WHEN to act. Finding logic in chaos is often uninteresting. It is not our intellect that makes us winners.

11. Avoid the obvious
Most people who study the market look for the obvious and that means you will obviously be like the average.

12. Learn to manage your emotions
Instead of trying to keep our emotions out of trading, we should work on getting in touch with our emotions and managing them. Meditation helps!

13. Let go of control and be present
Focus on what you can control (process) and accept what you cannot control (outcomes), and learn to understand the difference.

14. It's rarely different this time
Be careful about assuming it's different this time. It rarely is. History doesn't always repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

15. Be aware of optical illusions
Be aware that subjective chart analysis can lead to optical illusions. In charts we see patterns and formations we want to see and not always what is really there.

16. Trade what the market is trading on
Since we never know for sure what will happen in the future, the starting point in short-term strategies is to act on what is now. If the trend filter or market regime changes, we have to think again. We should primarily act on what is and not question the regime or trend.