I'm Busting One of the Biggest Investing Myths of All Time

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We're going to make a little wager with you.

The next time you're talking with a group of "informed" investors, bring up the topic of options trading. Before long, someone in your group will cite the well-known statistic that more than 90% of all options expire worthless.

And most of the other folks will nod in solemn agreement.

All the experts want us to believe that options are to retail investors what Kryptonite is to Superman.

Because of that the "90%" stat is presented as trading gospel and is cited over and over and over again – in speeches, in magazines, and in investing analyses of every type.

There's only one problem.

It's just not true.

How Our Beliefs Give Us a 140% Trading Advantage

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Last week we talked about the overall importance of beliefs.

I told you about the systematic application of winning beliefs by professional traders in The Wall Street Journal's pros versus dartboard competition.

You'll recall that through 100 contests, the pros' average win was a striking 140% higher than those stocks picked at random, striking a blow against the old academic tenet that markets are random.

I want to give you a guided tour of the beliefs that form the foundation for The 10-Minute Millionaire's systematic approach to trading.

So today, I'm going to show you the individual steps that form the foundation of how we believe the markets work. Think of it as our "beliefs roadmap."

This One Thing Is What Sets Apart the "Thrivers" from the "Strugglers"

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Today, I'd like to ingrain in you the importance of adopting the right beliefs about the market.

Now, I know some of you won't be able to hear this ultra-important message.

That's because your belief is that making money in the markets is all about numbers and indicators and that things like mindset and discipline are not important.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

The more I work with great traders and new investors alike out there, the clearer it becomes that market beliefs and trader mindset are what set apart the "thrivers" from the "strugglers."

I've always liked the statement that we don't trade the markets, we trade our beliefs about the market.

But it only covers part of the picture.

Even more important is that you have beliefs that actually reflect how the markets work.

It's D-Day for the Downfall of the "Easy Money" Market; Here's What We Can Expect from the Fed

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We've talked at length about "The Great Unwind" and "The Downfall of the 'Easy Money' Market" over the past couple of months.

And through all of that time, I've told you that there was one date you needed to keep your eye on – Sept. 20.

Well, that day has finally come, and it only took me a few minutes on the web to prove just how ahead of the curve we were on this one…

You can't turn on the TV or open a newspaper today without hearing about this massive sea change.

The Wall Street Journal's front-page headline trumpets "The Fed Braces for the Great Unwinding."

And the top WSJ online story is "The Fed Is Braced for the Unwinding of Easy Money."

It's like they were reading our emails from July and August…

Or, as a good friend and savvy investor told me this morning: "You don't follow Wall Street's lead… but they do follow yours."

Not only does the media finally agree that this is a big deal, the market thinks so too. But it is signaling it in very subtle ways.

From the beginning, I've told you that I was going to guide you so that you're prepared for all the challenges and opportunities coming our way.

As America's "Can-Do" Spirit Prevails, We'll Ride Alongside with This New Trade

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Natural disasters are tough to talk about objectively.

They leave behind devastation – emotionally, physically, and financially.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of the people affected by the back-to-back hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and the surrounding areas.

Current estimates predict that the United States will spend billions of dollars recovering from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

But if there is one thing we do know, it's that Americans are a resilient bunch.

The same "can-do" spirit that has made this an amazing country will be at the heart of the recovery in the "Lone Star" and "Sunshine" states.

They will rebuild, and they will make us proud.

And it's that restoration stage that I want us to focus on today.

When these industrious people rebuild, they will need building materials – and lots of them.

And when I think of large-scale residential projects, my mind immediately turns to the industrious "red metal."

Copper is one of the most versatile materials on Earth.

It is widely used in electronics and wiring because it's an incredible electrical conductor.

It can be used in water piping because it easy to work with, recyclable, and exceptionally reliable.

It can be used in heating and cooling systems and household appliances because it's such a good conductor of heat.

And that means this red metal doesn't just show up in our homes – but also in office buildings and in our cars and trucks.

Mounds of copper will be needed during the recovery efforts over the coming months.

And as that demand for copper grows, it's going to funnel massive amounts of wealth into the companies that mine it.

Fortunately for us, our 10-Minute Millionaire system has uncovered a beautiful Continuation Extreme in a mid-cap copper miner that will allow us to buy into that future demand at a discount.

With This Trip Behind the "Velvet Rope," I'm Making You a Market Insider

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One of life's little pleasures is being treated like an insider.

We've all watched those movie scenes where there's a long line outside the popular club and a huge bouncer stands beside a velvet rope. The velvet rope is fancy – but it really doesn't hold anyone back. It's just the symbol that separates those who are on the outside from the insiders.

This same thing happens in real life, too, though there's usually no velvet rope…

It's when you go to the bank and the new teller is struggling to help. But the branch manager steps up to the window and says, "Mr. Barton, so good to see you today and thanks for your patience. Step into my office and let me take care of this for you personally."

Or – and this is my favorite – I go to my favorite sausage store where the owner is a master sausage and salami maker. He motions me over and reaches under the counter to cut off a piece of his newest cured creation and asks me for my opinion. My one-word reply: "Stunning."

He tells me that he'll be in full production next week but he can spare a link a two for his "best customers."

And while I can't offer up personalized service at your bank or tasty sausage samples, one of my jobs here at The 10-Minute Millionaire is to keep you on the inside when it comes to market information.

That's why I keep you up to date on my insight about the market narrative.

Before You Sit Down to Watch Kickoff, Here's One Football Lesson You Need to Know

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One of the most frequent questions I get about The 10-Minute Millionaire system is, "What makes this work?"

And I always start with one of the most overlooked aspects of financial markets.

Despite all of the automation in the process, that stock market is still just a big, old-fashioned auction.

A sophisticated multitrillion-dollar auction, but an auction nonetheless.

And anytime human beings are involved, emotions will arise.

And those emotional reactions give rise to the cornerstone of our strategy – extremes.

The fact that market participants get emotional shouldn't come as any surprise.  We see emotional reactions pop up in lots of places – even in our hobbies.

Take football, for example.

This week marks the start of the professional football season.

This Young Man's Tragic Tale Teaches Us an All-Too-Important Lesson

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From a 30,000-foot view, risk management lets us stay "in the game" long enough for our system to work.

While watching professional poker players go "all in" in televised tournaments is thrilling, it's a losing strategy in the financial markets.

That's why we have two parts to our risk management.

In our last article, we covered the importance of sticking to our contingency exits – commonly called stop losses.

Well-placed stops can both protect your capital and improve your reward-to-risk ratio.

But even a good stop-loss plan can't save you if you're risking too much of your money on each trade.

How Our System Will Keep Us "In the Game" When the Coming Market Storm Hits

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I have bad ankles.

While playing basketball, I have dislocated my right ankle, torn ligaments in both my right and left ankle, and severely sprained each of them so many times that I've lost count.

All told, I've been in a cast four different times with busted up ankles.

But I continue to play basketball. I love the game.

And, over the years, my ankles have kept reminding me that they are my weakest link.

So I've learned how to properly protect myself using ankle braces.

The right braces – ones that provide protection and allow me to move freely – help me get safely back on the court time and time again.

I've found that the same is true for many traders and investors.

Some use no protection at all – leaving their positions open to devastating moves against them.

Others use certain tools for protection but don't set them correctly – limiting the possibility for optimum protection and profits. But not us.

We have a system in place that has protection and proper risk management at its very core.

As I'll show you in a minute, our strategy utilizes two key components in its risk management plan to keep us in the game and scoring points no matter what kind of market we are facing.

Don't Be a Pattern-Hungry Trader

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Random but memorable market events can cause a great deal of confusion for investors.

Just look at the recent big down days on consecutive Thursdays that happened on Aug. 10 and Aug. 17.

Ever since, I've had two questions tossed at me over and over again…

Does it mean the market is topping? Should we "beware of Thursdays" and avoid trading on those days?

I wish I was kidding about that second question…

But, to be honest, that "beware of Thursdays" mentality reflects the same "random but memorable" event bias I dealt with as a child.

That's why we are going to spend some time today digging into this common bias…

This way, we can make sure you don't let it trick your pattern-seeking mind into making a potentially disastrous decision.

And after that, we'll spend some time answering the first question. I'll be sharing some deeper insight on the market to figure out if we're seeing topping action or not.