MURPHY’S LAWS
FOR 
COMMODITY TRADERS

1. It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money
2. Everyone has a trading strategy that won’t work
3. For every expert who says prices are going up, there is one who says  they are going down
4. If you can drink it, don’t trade it
5. The market is not logical; it is psychological
6. The successful speculator is one who dies before his time comes
7. If you drop a dead cat far enough, it will bounce
8. The market goes your way the day after your stop was hit
ITS COROLLARY
9. The big move begins the day after your option expires
10. He who sells uncovered options goes broke
11. If you feel like doubling up a profitable position, slam your dialing  finger in the drawer until the feeling goes away
12. The perfect strategy works every time until you start using it
13. If your strategy seems to be working well, you haven’t been using it  long enough
14. The guy who owns the horse when it dies is the loser
15. When it comes to luck or skill, you can’t beat luck
16. Pigs won’t eat $5 corn or $500 meal
17. When the plate of cookies goes around the table, don’t forget to take a  couple
18. When the market is wrong, it doesn’t pay to be right
19. He who sells what isn’t his’n, pays the price or goes to prison
20. Be right; sit tight
21. The best way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one
22. He who knows doesn’t tell, he who tells doesn’t know
23. When you’re hot you’re hot, when you’re not, take a vacation
24. The market knows more than the sum total of everyone in it
25. What everyone knows ain’t worth knowing
26. The market will do whatever is necessary to fool the majority
27. Fundamentals are seldom what they appear to be
28. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what  you’ve always got
29. The first five letters of “broker” spell “broke”
30. The market punishes those who make mistakes

Compiled from years of experience by Roy L. Smith, 12200 24thSt., Plattsmouth, NE 68048-7802 402-298-8570, fax 402-298-7465, e-mail soyroy@alltel.net, html  www.soyroy.com