Financial Occultist

cheetah I read a quote about trading a long time ago that went something like: “Trading consists of extended stretches of intolerable boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror.”

No terror for me today but I felt like one of my favorite animals – the cheetah. Just sit with orders in the market wait for price to come so you can pounce on it.

Most people only pay attention to the speed of the cheetah because that part is exciting. But that part only lasts a few seconds.

What they don’t pay attention to is the fact that the cheetah spends the majority of its hunting time lying in wait and silently stalking its prey – “intolerable boredom.”

Waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more for the right situation to present itself.

Yes, that part is boring, but it’s also the most important part. It wouldn’t matter how fast the cat was if it just ran around without a plan. (more…)

In chess and trading during these conflicted times one must:

07-Feb-19 06:38 pm

Anirudh Sethi

focus on the process

keep their fears and anxieties in check

not worry about unseen threats they can’t control

understand the nuances of conflict

center their decisions somewhere between “instinct and reason”

not defy the lessons of history

A game of chess is pure. It is a free market with a level playing field and a product of spontaneous action, not human design. Unfortunately, one cannot say the same in reference to the markets.

Accept The Risk

07-Feb-19 06:37 pm

Education

Anirudh Sethi

Is the money you risk on each trade real for you? Do you really accept the amount of money you are risking and are you willing to let it go? I find it helps me to think of risk as the amount of money I’m willing to spend to find out whether my edge is going to work on this trade. Note that I say spend. I actually think of each trade as though I’ve purchased a lottery ticket. I think that the amount of my stop has already been paid to find out if the edge works, so that as the trade proceeds I’m not afraid to lose anything. This is why the first point about knowing your expectancy is so important – if you trust your expectancy over a series of trades you don’t have to be afraid of the outcome of any single one.

TRADE OPPORTUNITY, NOT YOUR MOOD

07-Feb-19 06:36 pm

Education

Anirudh Sethi

Is it time to be aggressive?

Are you sleeping today thinking how much money you’ll make tomorrow? Are you counting your profits before you’ve even sold it? Are you imagining tomorrow’s going to be another strongly trending up day? Believe me… you are not alone. Upward strong momentum following upside strong surprises releases euphoria in every person. In fact, it is these types of strong markets that fuels even stronger performances in the weeks ahead. Or is it?

So before we rely solely on our human instincts to be greedy and hold all our positions, the first thing we should do is to analyze the charts with a keener eye on volumes other than prices and perhaps check up on what our history teachers have to say. Take away all our biases, and hopefully be mentally flexible to adopt with the perception of the markets, employ sound management practices while profiting with the trend.

Basically, you and I are both thinking the same thing. We both have the same dilemma:

1.) We both don’t want to lose our hefty short term gains.

2.) We both don’t want to sell too early either (i.e. we want to maximize our gains even further).