rss

Embracing the Fear of Losing Money

  • FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. Almost all fears never materialize.
  • When facing these fears, and we must face them, it might be good to ask the question “what is the worst thing that could happen?” If the pain in the answer to this question is too much to bear then simply exit the trade.
  • The main reason traders’ exit their losers is that the pain of losing one more dollar becomes almost unbearable. All of this pain could be eliminated by using a trading plan and learning to think in probabilities — nothing is certain.
  • Ask yourself what is the worst possible thing that could go wrong with the trade and what would be the best possible outcome that could happen with the trade? Somewhere in between these two extremes is the logical outcome.
  • Differentiate between rational and irrational fear. If it isn’t life threatening, it is probably irrational fear.

The emotions in markets are off-the-charts

Do you feel it?

comic about warnings
Fear is the strongest emotion but greed isn’t far behind.
What we’re seeing in the markets and in the world right now is extreme emotion. Collectively, I believe that COVID-19 has left everyone an emotional wreck.
We all agree that the fears from the virus have diminished but what has replaced that is a mess. It’s all anecdotal but I’ve come to believe the series of events around the coronavirus has elevated individual and collective emotions — like every day is a full moon.
The fear around the virus has left some kind vacuum and people are trying to fill it.
You see it in people’s lives, in protests, in anger but you’re also seeing it in markets. There has never been a market like this. People are throwing away their hard-earned savings on idiotic gambles on bankrupt companies.
But it’s not just the stupidest of the stupid. The uncertainty in the world is extreme and there’s no reflection of that in risk assets. The transition from fear to greed to euphoria is nonsense.

(more…)

Conquering Your Fear

So, what can you do about the fear that keeps you from following your trading plan and maintaining your commitments? How to overcome fear that keeps you from following your trading plan. Well, let’s begin with what causes fear.  Fear stems from a perceived threat that may or may not be real. Threat begins as a perception and a thought.  In other words, when we have interpreted that an event is threatening our physical, mental, emotional, social or spiritual well-being we have given that event a meaning.  Now, meaning is a crucial process that controls not only what you perceive but how you perceive it. For example, that price action is moving toward my stop and that means that I’m going to lose in this trade (the movement of the price action may or may not take you out and at this point it is only an opinion but it is often treated as a fact).  In other words, the meaning here would be activated by a limiting or irrational belief about the inevitability of losing, and this in turn would prompt another limiting belief about what that says about you; i.e., “I’m a very poor trader and a loser because my stop loss was hit.”  It often continues to spiral downward from there.  So, what you are thinking is the genesis of the emotion that you experience…the fear.

Secondly, fear determines what you choose to do.  This is where you become immobilized or act in erratic illogical ways that increase your risk and destroy your desired results.  At this point it is important that you identify the thinking/beliefs that are fuelling the fear.  Here is an important question to ask; “What must I be telling myself or believing to feel this fear.”  This introspective inquiry will help you ferret out the underlying fear based programming that created that belief and in-turn developed the fear response in the first place. (more…)

Weekend HK press – China questions whether to continue trade talks with the US

An opinion piece from an account associated with State media Economic Daily newspaper expressed pessimism about whether trade talks with the United States should continue

This in response to US President Trump’s new tariffs on China
  • It said Trump’s latest threats as “destructive”
  • “The US has again stepped back from their promises for two reasons: to pressure China into fulfilling [America’s] expectations in the deal, and to attain someone’s political aims by meddling in the Sino-US trade talks”
  • via South China Morning Post
Negatives build for  China proxy trades (such as AUD)
An opinion piece from an account associated with State media  Economic Daily newspaper expressed pessimism about whether trade talks with the United States should continue 

NOW is all that matters when it comes to executing that next trade

Lao-Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer who coined the following phrase:

If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present’

In relation to trading, living in the past may relate to a bad trade you made. Maybe you risked too much and took a heavy loss. Or perhaps you made an impulse trade centred on FOMO which ended badly.

If you replay negative experiences over and over, it can lead to depressing thoughts. And an inability to move forward, clean the slate and inability to execute the next trade. It can also lead to revenge trading and the urge to make up for past losses quickly.

On the flip side if you are living in the future, anxiety can set in. You end up worrying about your future trades and the money side of things. The bills you have to pay. A list of endless hypotheticals start entering your mind.

Yet when it comes to trading, or anything else in life, living in the NOW is crucial. Learning from the past and planning for the future are ok. Yet executing and focusing on what you are doing right now is most important.

We need to remember as well that the market doesn’t care about our past losses. Nor does it care about our future bills. So although worrying about these things is natural, it’s not going to help us succeed with our next trade. In fact it will likely create unwanted blockages towards future success.

Being and working in the present though eliminates negative thoughts and reduces anxiety. It means you are working afresh from a blank slate. With that next trade being completely independent of any other you have recently made.

Doing the right thing right now is what is important. Not the mistake you made last time. That is ‘old news’ and no longer matters. So focus purely on what is in front of you. Plan the trade, trade the plan and refuse to be tempted by impulse or micromanagement. Two actions that are often influenced by past actions combined with future expectations.

Trade in the NOW and affirm to yourself that the NOW is all that matters when it comes to executing that next trade.

US President Trump says Congress have reached a deal on debt limit suspension

As if there was ever going to be any doubt the US would once again add to its gargantuan deficit

Trump says a deal has been reached between Congress and the White house
  • debt limit ratcheted higher
  • for the coming two years
For those with a stick up their you know what – this is not a real photo, K?
US once again add to its gargantuan deficit

China press response to trade truce: “Mexico, China can be partners against US pressure”

A weekend report in the outspoken Global Times – never shy about saying what they think.

This was in a report on Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard’s official visit to China, which continues this week.
  • Although Trump said on Saturday that US companies could sell equipment to Huawei, security concerns raised by the US have not been completely settled
  • It will be a fierce game whose results will decide whether Huawei can develop 5G networks in Latin America.
  • Mexico is the target of pressure from the US, and that pressure is likely to continue. 
  • The US has too much influence over Mexico
  • China and Mexico can see each other as partners in development and in resisting US pressure and unilateralism
While the ‘truce ‘ is a positive the underlying issues remain unresolved, and given the two country’s divergent goals, unresolvable.

64 points : Traders Reality Wisdom

Knowledge only becomes wisdom if it is transferred and applied. I have compiled 65 of the best
tweets that focus on the psychology of trading. This is beneficial for those who would rather refer
to this document in their spare time, maybe print it off and have it near their trading desk?
Enjoy…
1. It’s so important to understand what is meant by failure? Failure occurs when you lack
knowledge, even if you have the knowledge and still fail…well I guess determination and
perseverance come into play.
2. If you are prepared to study an indicators entry and exit criteria, why would you assume
that is all that is needed to make money. Pay more attention to the function of how the
market works. Then you will realise that indicators alone are not sustainable.
3. You have to build calluses in your mind. The tough conditioning of losses builds a
character that eventually develops a discipline of awareness and embraces uncertainty.
Train your mind to lose, perform to win…
4. The development of a irrational trading mind starts with the traders lack of conviction on
their preferred trading personality. It’s paramount to your progression that you establish
your trading personality.
5. Most new traders are back testing how their method will perform. Most new traders
neglect to train the mind which = emotional imbalances?
6. A Trader that boasts of his victories, tends to be hiding his losses. Entertain the Trader
that talks of losses for he has been humbled.
7. I used to take losses and be angry. Then I accepted one important element in trading. I
HAVE NO CONTROL OF UNCERTAINTY.
8. Believe Me When I Tell You…Unless You Accept Uncertainty, You Will Forever Have
Expectations That Will Lead You To Losses. Learn Acceptance.
9. Some Are Happy To Accept Reality Of Being Correct But Not If Wrong. This Battle In Our
Mind Will Forever Obstruct Our Progression as Traders
10. Losses are Gold to every trader.
11. An Old Saying Can Be Related To This “Observe Your Enemies (Emotions) They
Highlight Your Faults.
12. Many Hide From Losses. Little Do They Know, Losses Are The Key To Changing And
Becoming Aware Of What Needs To Be Done To Improve.
13. Trade for the moment, for the dwelling on expectation of a move is sure to upset and
damage Trading moral.
14. The market will never teach you how to win. It will teach you how to become one with
your mind. The battle is in our minds
15. Never Start Your Trading Week Convincing Yourself How Much Money You Are Going
To Make. Focus On Trading Well. The Money Will Come…
16. Rule Of Sales: Customer Is Always Right Rule Of Trading: Market Is Always Right!
17. Taking Time Away From The Markets Creates Transparency In Your Mind To Correct
Behaviours That Sabotaged Your Trading
18. Your philosophy is the determining factor to your trading success
19. The minute that we change our minds and stop giving power to the past, the with its
mistakes loses power over us.
20. Our brains use biological mechanisms to translate expectations of what we want to
perceive…Manage these mechanisms to trade mindfully.
21. Why Get Mad If Your Indicators Give You A False Signal? There Is No Indicator That
Factors The Unknown.
22. Never be excited to trade…This will set you up to avoid taking losses…More importantly
feeding The Ego.
23. It is through adversity, are you then able to reset your mind and focus on forming new
habits to overcome the self limiting beliefs.
24. There’s no greater wisdom than of those who tell you not to make a mistake.I guess the
smart learns from himself.The wise learns from others.
25. The only factors that MM rely on is Fear and greed of retail traders. Not to forget that they
make the market. So they can see all orders and simply send price in that direction to get
their orders filled
26. Does your imagination as a profitable trader hinder your approach to trading
successfully? Do not be fooled by short term success.
27. A Trader Will Continue To Encounter The Dark Perils Of Trading… It Is Only When He
Accepts That He Is Allowed To Be Wrong, He Is Then Free
28. Trading is about the expression of one’s character to manage their behaviour through the
chaos of the financial markets. Only when he is one with his mind he expresses his true
ability as a mindful trader
29. Let’s Face It…Trading Is Like This…Some Will, Some Won’t, So What!!!! Next Trade. If
you understand this…You free your mind of expectation
30. It’s Really About Taking Your Profits And Accepting Your Losses. Everything Else That
Intervenes Is Bad For The Trading Soul.
31. Trading Safely Is Like The Habit Of Driving Safely, Always Pay Attention, Whether You
Are Angry Or Happy, You Still Have To Drive (Trade) Safely. Habit Will Protect Your Car
(Capital)
32. Results orientated: in poker, you have no control of the outcome of the flop. You only
have the strength of your hand to go by. Acceptance and understanding of variance
sustains longevity. This is no different in trading
33. The beauty of trading is this. The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
34. The only way you can really apply yourself when taking a trade is to not care…how do
you do it? Simple. Practise…like driving a car. Are you continuously conscious of
changing gears? No. Subconsciously you do it without hesitation. It’s the only way to
move forward.
35. Anyone that enters into the realm of trading usually has the perspective of “me against
the market”…The true reality is, it’s “ I Against I” before you confront the battle of trading,
confront the battle in your mind.
36. A mistake that traders make, one that took me a while to overcome was once I entered a
position,I turned from a trader into an investor…Biggest mistake you can make. If your
position is losing, get out, don’t “ride it” in hope it will return. Waiting to break even costs
money.
37. Trading same way you would on a roulette table: 1) you bet/trade 2) your number
hits/trade is profitable 3) you take your winnings/close trade. So why would you allow a
winning trade to turn into a loss. Take whatever is given by the market. You never knew it
would be a winner.
38. Admitting that you lose is the first step to transitioning as to why you lose. Many traders,
even myself, have struggled with accepting this. It’s only when enough money is lost that
you then decide, “to survive in this game, I have to accept it’s OK to be wrong”
39. When you decide to not allow your conflicts of the mind deter you from making
systematic and objective decisions, you will be taking the first step to becoming a trade
40. Once you detach from the money. You then become a trader. A trader thrives on the
process not the result. Being results oriented most likely guarantees expectations, which
definitely guarantees upsets and mistakes.
41. Many will learn from their mistakes, but few focus and study their behaviour when they
were right…Learning from mistakes saves you money…Learning from your wins, makes
you money.
42. A Retrace. The idea behind it is “oh it needs a break” or “it’s taking a breath”…that’s what
the MM want you to think. A retrace is a stop hunt for the market makers to suck in as
much liquidity as they can to fill their orders.Don’t be fooled.
43. When you learn to detach from what the market is fooling you to believe, you are then in
a position to take advantage of the market makers momentum. Get in and get out. The
market is no place for heros. You will get slaughtered.
44. The mind is a great thing. Funny how you place a trade and then all of a sudden the entry
you took does not seem to align with your analysis? Hindsight does that to you. But we
can avoid this by simply accepting what is and not focus on what it could be.
45. There were days when I felt compelled to trade. This was because I had FOMO. Fear of
missing out mindset is guaranteed to make you successfully lose each time you enter
into the market with this way of thinking. Cash is a position too.
46. If you really want to succeed in this game, you have to let go my friends. This game takes
no prisoners. It doesn’t care if you have £1m account or £1, to the market, it’s liquidity,
they will take it from you. Unless you learn to play the game.
47. The great thing about trading is, you only need to be right 50% of the time..there are
traders that are right less than 50% of the time and are profitable.???Money
Management and Mind Management
48. Be aware of the FOMC. This is a passport for the market makers to really take out areas
of liquidity for their own gain. If you have profited from today’s movements. Great…Don’t
give it back. Let the Dumb money get swallowed.
49. At some point you will develop the skill set to be able to close a losing position and re
enter. Avoid being results oriented, focus on the process of execution, if done correctly,
the results will always be positive.
50. Your objective as a trader is to survive. If you trade and win, great…Next trade. If you
lose and lose small, great…Next trade. It really is all about the process of entry to exit
and simplifying this behaviour by managing your emotional imbalances.
51. Avoid thinking like the herd. It pays to really focus on the behaviour of the one who
controls the herd. Then you will have you answer.
52. You will only improve your trading if you allow yourself to. The same way stands if you
close a losing position when your rules tell you too and close a winning position when
your rules tell you too. Become me aware of your behaviour, then you can grow.
53. It’s nothing to be afraid of…Losses are indefinite in this game…Just aim to keep them
small
54. Trading is all about gathering the wisdom of those who are prepared to share their
losses, their wins and determination to find the balance with their mind.
55. Who cares if you made a call and said price would hit a certain price area, are you a
genius? Have you developed a flawless consistently profitable indicator? Who cares!
Demonstrate your ability to manage risk effectively before you claim the title of “Trader”
56. If you feel the market is out to get you…your right…but the flip side, the market can be
very rewarding, it’s all down to perspective and mindset.
57. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that the current trade you have is the final one. There will
always be tomorrow.
58. It’s no secret, the market makers will manipulate price.They can also manipulate your
mind. If your thinking is irrationally based, then this is your greatest adversary. Fix your
thinking…Then you will see trading for what it is
59. I guess the greatest tool to a trader is a drawdown….this exposes you, to your faults and
thoughts. Using a drawdown can be advantageous and help you improve your trading.
Drawdowns happen regardless. It’s what you decide to take from each one.
60. If there is one thing I can share with everyone. If your trading. Always Always Always pay
yourself…This game is about longevity
61. So you are left with a zero account after you had received margin call on a position to
only see it be closed out…the irony is, the moment you placed the trade, your mind said
“that’s too much”, but greed stepped in…be systematic, not impulsive
62. I guess the key to trading successfully is to accept that you have no idea how the market
will behave…However, have a very clear vision of how much money you are willing to
risk. Always make money management your priority
63. Always always protect yourself…I guess the #science of boxing and trading are really no
different. The battle you must overcome is the battle of ” I Against I”
64. There is no indicator that will manage your emotions during trading. However, executing
a plan, without hesitation will eliminate you responding emotionally to any circumstance that arises in the market

False Beliefs About Trading the Markets

1) What goes up must come down and vice versa.

That’s Newton’s law, not the law of trading. And even if the market does eventully self-correct, you have no idea when it will happen. In short, there’s no point blowing up your account fighthing the tape.

2) You have to be smart to make money.

No, what you have to be is disciplined. If you want to be smart, write a book or teach at a university. If you want to make money, listen to what the market is telling you and trade to make money — not to be “right.”

3) Making money is hard.

Nope. Sorry. Making money is actually easy. Statistically, you’re going to do it about half the time. Keeping it, now that’s the hard part.

4) I have to have a high winning percentage to be profitable.

Not true. How often you are right on a trade is only half of the equation. The other half is how much do you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong. You can remember that with this formula:

Probability (odds of it going up or down) x Magnitude (how much it goes up or down) = Profitability

5) To be successful, I have to trade without emotions.

That is both wrong and impossible. You are human so you have emotions. Emotions can be a powerful motivator to your trading.

When you feel angry or scared in trading, take that emotion and translate it into something more productive. For example, if you’re feeling angry because you just got run over by the market, view that anger as a reason to be more focused and disciplined in your entry and exit levels on the next trade.

Market is like an Ocean

oceanThe market is like an ocean – it moves up and down regardless of what you want. You may feel joy when you buy a stock and it explodes in a rally. You may feel drenched with fear when you go short but the market rises and your equity melts with every uptick. These feelings have nothing to do with the market – they exist only inside you.

The market does not know you exist. You can do nothing to influence it. You can only control your behavior.

The ocean does not care about your welfare, but it has no wish to hurt you either. You may feel joy on a sunny day, when a gentle wind pushes your sailboat where you want it to go. You may feel panic on a stormy day when the ocean pushes your boat toward the rocks. Your feelings about the ocean exist only in your mind. They threaten your survival when you let your feelings rather than intellect control your behavior.

A sailor cannot control the ocean, but he can control himself. He studies currents and weather patterns. He learns safe sailing techniques and gains experience. He knows when to sail and when to stay in the harbor. A successful sailor uses his intelligence.

An ocean can be useful – you can fish in it and use its surface to get to other islands. An ocean can be dangerous – you can drown in it. The more rational your approach, the more likely you are to get what you want. When you act out your emotions, you cannot focus on the reality of the ocean.

A trader has to study trends and reversals in the market the way a sailor studies the ocean. He must trade on a small scale while learning to handle himself in the market. You can never control the market but you can learn to control yourself.

A beginner who has a string of profitable trades often feels he can walk on water. He starts taking wild risks and blows up his account. On the other hand, an amateur who takes several losses in a row often feels so demoralized that he cannot place an order even when his system gives him a strong signal to buy or sell. If trading makes you feel elated or frightened, you cannot fully use your intellect. When joy sweeps you off your feet, you will make irrational trades and lose. When fear grips you, you’ll miss profitable trades.

A professional trader uses his head and stays calm. Only amateurs become excited or depressed because of their trades. Emotional reactions are a luxury that you cannot afford in the markets.