This could be helpful to some. One of my most strident beliefs is not to corrupt one’s own thinking.
If you as trader have found your way to keeping the head, mind and account above the waterline and perform consistently,……. never change.
Some traders seem to have natural abilities, an ingredient X . In my own personal experiences this was not the case from the outset of my journey. Mistakes were made, still made, will always be made. A constant tough market love finds me perplexed at times and elated at others. A ceaseless reminder of our fragility when faced by a monster more powerful, all knowing, that will grab you and shake you down at every opportunity.
News effects markets. This is undeniable. How we translate news into profits can be most challenging. A perpetual game within the game,- an added dimension to the battle .
Data announcements, tweets, trade wars, yield curves and Central bank rhetoric feed the monster and are a constant focus to a traders day.
I’m not a ‘news’ trader in the conventional sense. I never set out to tame the monster. Many a good trade has been lost or thrown away by myself in the early days by chasing the market monster rather than the price action. I now try to always trade what I see and not what I expect. To me there is a big difference.
Ego is an account killer and the main battle should be fought from within. I attempt not to leave my guard down and be tricked into following every news item and finding myself left stranded and vulnerable. Caught the wrong way. If the news is valid and has lasting market relevance, – there will always be time to step back and assess and make the trade / adopt / change a bias .
Gone are the days when I spent valuable trading time drifting from site to site reading every minutiae failing to get an edge. The daily commentary posts here on ForexFlow are top notch. Syphoning through the data deluge to report on what’s important rather than fill space with what’s not.
A question that I encounter on many forums is “Why did the price just move, what was the cause ? ” — Being a simple chap my answer will never deviate. More willing buyers than sellers or vice versa at the given time — Fear, greed, doubts, snap decisions all feed the monster.
To my knowledge Carl Jung was never a trader of markets, yet undoubtedly would have made a fine one.
“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”
“The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.”
Jung. Nietzsche and Steiner will always have a seat at my virtual dinner party table. From where we will argue good naturedly and throw rotten vegetables at the old perv Freud. ……..….. “If you can’t do it give up” never resonated with me Doctor Freud.
Philosophy: "Trading rules.....it most certainly does"
Read how Horatio got into trading here
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as always…try to be the 1st to comment….LOL
thank you very much…are you enjoying beef and skirt again?
Well done Q – You got the gold medal again.
All is good my friend. Enjoying the weekend. the good food and company.
Nothing finer than beef skirt soup noodles
Unless you are vegetarian of course … respect ?
Great post Dubs. PA is king. And I’d like to be in that dinner party table too. I think Nietzsche was a bucatini lover 😉
I’ll lay a few more settings then magics.
If he doesn’t like the bucatini we can always mix it with the rotten veg and lob it at Freud 🙂
Thanks Dubs, I am still going through the process of trying to find out what would make me consistent winner. Always willing to learn and take advice. Keep up the good work. Cheers
Cheers William.
Have a nice weekend .Stay away from those midges and bars 😉
Amen to that Super H. And no matter for how long we do it, it’s a incessant exercise not to let the ego take over. As soon as we think we’re invincible, that’s when the monster hits back. Been there, done it. The ego stays at the door once we enter trading mode. Work, study, connecting the fundamentals with the price action and patterns is our dot plot.
Great piece
Bloody hell, you have got to know me very well!!!!!
Brilliant article.
Best line ” I now try to always trade what I see and not what I expect”
Ryan, I suggest you pin this article on the notice board in perpetuity
All food for thought Dubs. Great stuff