So the New Year has begun!

What we know is that 2009 was a year of extreme turbulence. Fortunes were lost. But fortunes were also made. Long term investors were handed their heads on a plate. Those with enough reserves as a cushion were able to take advantage of panic selling. Always the best time to buy. Like a crocodile waiting to pick off the panicked wildebeest as it it tries to cross the river during its annual migration across the Serengeti Plains, astute traders sat on the sidelines and waited until the panic had begun in earnest. Doom sayers were talking about the worst downturn since the Great Depression. The best description that optimism could come up with was that we are now in a "new normal." Gone forever are the days of risk taking and high leverage. Wall Street was no more.....and then Goldman Sachs quietly proceeded to make $4 billion dollars in just one quarter. Courtesy again of Main Street.

What we also know is that greed follows euphoria and anxiety follows greed as the markets turn. Then fear pops into the national psyche followed by panic. Huge losses are made yet the smart money finds a way to make huge gains in the face of massive misfortune. So how come this cycle is ever repeating and never prevented? Why don't we learn the lesson of boom and bust cycles? Simply, it's just the fallibility of human nature.

Let this be a year of discipline, patience and preparation. If you have a passion to trade then remember to listen to the markets. Look at the price charts - they don't lie. Look where there is volume. Look for the fear and look for the greed. This is where the opportunities always are. And be patient to wait for the irrational exuberance or the depressing panic. How often will you get the chance to buy a Citicorp share for $1.00 - all the way down from $53?

Stand aside from the emotions in the markets. Be wary of the pundits. Trust in your own systems and methodologies. Test and retest your ideas until your own confidence is unshakeable. Then trade. In the end you can be a driver of your own destiny or a passenger in someone else's. This is the year to choose. Choose wisely!