Do you have a business plan?
Keep a journal?
Even if no one ever shows up and reads my entries, no matter. This is my journal, and the consistent focus on capturing my primary trading thoughts each day brings clarity to my business.
Yes, trading is a business.
It is not a hobby or a pastime; it is how [...]
Archive for June, 2008
Planning for success
Posted in Psychology, tagged bias, business plan, stabilizing markets on June 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Bear roars
Posted in Resources, tagged bear market, plunge, stop losses, trend trading, wolfe wave on June 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The noise you heard today was the crashing of the bulls hopes and dreams.
Umbrella’s were up all day long, and everyone who kept buying the low for a bounce got beaten up pretty badly.
Body bags were issued for all the traders who get it wrong and average in going the wrong way.
Intuition is a trader’s [...]
Summer Solstice
Posted in Resources, tagged momentum, pivot point, reversals on June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Last Friday was the summer solstice, and there were approximately 30,000 party animals celebrating the event in Stonhenge.
Imperceptibly, but without dispute, we know the longest day of sunlight has already occurred for 2008. We are not ready to plunge into darkness; summer has just begun.
The seed for that season has just been planted.
I like to [...]
The Itsy Bitsy Spyder
Posted in Psychology, tagged headfakes, market reversal, resistance, stop running, support on June 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Jack was at his best in Heartburn.
Tigers cannot change their stripes, any more than bears or bulls can.
Let’s all get on the same page.
Sing along with me, won’t you?
The itsy bitsy spyder…
A main weapon of the boys is ambiguity.
Is the cup half empty or half full?
Let’s try another song to help us remember.
I’m a little teapot…
Like [...]
Sideways shuffle
Posted in Psychology, tagged buy low sell high, FOMC, over-trading, Oversold, range trading, revert to the mean on June 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
So… what can’t go up, must go down. Or what can’t go down, must go up.
So we have been led to believe. If that is your reality, you may want to enroll in OT, overtraders anonymous.
Sideways action is often a path the market takes when it is indecisive and digesting a big meal like Friday’s. [...]
X rated
Posted in The System, tagged option expiration on June 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This week was option expiration.
Anything goes, and we were prepared for it.
Selling puts and calls every month seems to be quite a profitable enterprise for the boys judging by all those beamers, lexus, rovers, and mercedes they drive.
Of course, now and then they get beat.
Selling time decay (a certainty) and a loss of volaility (a possibility), [...]
Strength and Honor
Posted in The System, tagged courage, honor stops, kevin haggerty, pull the trigger on June 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Anyome who is an active trader is sure to understand the significance of the immortal words, taken from the Gladiator:
“E: Strength and Honor.”
“FT: We who are about to die salute you!”
You need a reality check if you don’t understand.
Strength and courage to take the trades as they unfold at the most opportune time.
The courage to Honor [...]
Behind the scenes
Posted in Psychology, tagged divergence, emotions, fear, greed, hope, panic, stochastics, trading emotions, trapped traders on June 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Lines on a chart are important.
What goes on behnd these lines is more important.
Understanding the emotions of the traders behind these trendines is a key determinant to our success as traders. Hope, Fear, Greed, and Panic are all human emotions that eventualy reveal themselves in the marketplace.
The great Jesse Livermore continually illustrates this “pivotal point” [...]
Required Reading
Posted in The System, tagged gap play, pivots, tape reading, trend trading on June 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I was running a chat room today, and a fellow trader asked me how to interpret the PPI results
E: I dont know
FT: Should we go long or short?
E: Short. I said that 10 minutes ago.
FT: TV says this should be ok
E: Ok, then u can go long if you want to.
FT: Dang my stop was [...]
Fractals
Posted in The System, tagged fibonacci, fractals, market rhythm on June 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
If you have had the intellectual curiosity to investigate fractals, your journey has certainly crossed paths with The Mandelbrot Set.
Repeating patterns occur regularly in nature and in the markets, with self-similarity but not necessarily with exact precision.
The golden ratio has been popularized in wall street folklore, and any serious student of the markets will need [...]
