Post feedThursday
The market must not be too concerned about the possibility of terrorist attacks, or we would see things in a much worse state than they are now. The airlines have cancelled flights, which has caused a slight reaction in the airline index XAL, and has brought down the price of oil. With flights being cancelled oil will be in smaller demand.
Now on to my opinion. I think this market sucks. This has been one of the hardest times to make money that I have encountered in a long time. This year has been the most challenging year I have traded in my career. As a result, I have created a traders block.
This might happen to you at some point in your career, where you go on a ridiculous losing streak, where you just can't seem to make money on anything. This is devastating to your confidence, and also brings out negative energy and unhealthy mental habits. If you get at a point like I have been this year, start to scale back on your positions. Many professionals do this, so when they are trading at their very worst, they will also be trading at their very smallest size. Or just stay out of the market. Their is no reason to force trades during times where the conditions are hard to understand. This is why you can see I'm only in a small handful of trades at any given time, and only using a small percent to trade them with. I am doing this since I am at a tough spot. This problem has been so severe that I have questioned my aggressive approach, time frames, and even options trading in general (even purchased a trading psychologist!). Now of course I don't plan on changing anything I do, since I am confident in the longer term result, but this year has been severe enough to entertain the thoughts.
Thanks for letting me vent. I think it is important to hear this as a trader so you know that this could happen, and what to do in case it does. The markets are always changing, so when it does I plan to fully recover and get the losses back. But when most traders experience what I have gone through, they force things and typically blow up accounts. Make sure you don't do this. Do what you can to stay in the game during the hard times, and the easy times will show you exactly why it is crucial that you do this.
I'll post later this evening. Thanks.
Now on to my opinion. I think this market sucks. This has been one of the hardest times to make money that I have encountered in a long time. This year has been the most challenging year I have traded in my career. As a result, I have created a traders block.
This might happen to you at some point in your career, where you go on a ridiculous losing streak, where you just can't seem to make money on anything. This is devastating to your confidence, and also brings out negative energy and unhealthy mental habits. If you get at a point like I have been this year, start to scale back on your positions. Many professionals do this, so when they are trading at their very worst, they will also be trading at their very smallest size. Or just stay out of the market. Their is no reason to force trades during times where the conditions are hard to understand. This is why you can see I'm only in a small handful of trades at any given time, and only using a small percent to trade them with. I am doing this since I am at a tough spot. This problem has been so severe that I have questioned my aggressive approach, time frames, and even options trading in general (even purchased a trading psychologist!). Now of course I don't plan on changing anything I do, since I am confident in the longer term result, but this year has been severe enough to entertain the thoughts.Thanks for letting me vent. I think it is important to hear this as a trader so you know that this could happen, and what to do in case it does. The markets are always changing, so when it does I plan to fully recover and get the losses back. But when most traders experience what I have gone through, they force things and typically blow up accounts. Make sure you don't do this. Do what you can to stay in the game during the hard times, and the easy times will show you exactly why it is crucial that you do this.
I'll post later this evening. Thanks.
Hearing that surely helps. You mentioned earlier that CNBC was "noise" you kept in the background and usually on mute. On one of their recent programs an analyst or talking head mentioned that in all the years of (their)experience, had never seen a market with so many influencing factors...economic, geopolitical, etc, etc,. If that's a possibility, and it could have merit, your sentiment rings true. For me, working to become proficient in the active trader world this feels like boot camp and once the market begins to settle and pick a direction I believe all your instruction and insights will have provided a great foundation......thanks
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/10/2006 09:50:00 AM
I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one that feels this way. Thanks for venting. I thought it was me.
Klawyer
Posted by
Klawyer |
8/10/2006 09:53:00 AM
Good post...thank you for your insite. As a fairly new trader, it helps to hear it from someone with a lot experience.
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/10/2006 10:11:00 AM
Thanks for the encouragement of realizing what emotion does to us when the "worst" seems to come. It also helps us who are newer on the scene see from an expert's perspective. (Looking forward to meeting you in Utah in Nov for our 3-day live)
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/10/2006 10:56:00 AM
While I wallow in self pity over my lack of success in the last 5 months, its helpful to know I'm not the only one struggling.
Mike
Posted by
Mike |
8/10/2006 11:18:00 AM
I only now read your post and I feel better knowing that I am not the only one who has experienced this frustration. Waiting for a bounce only to have it dragged away for no reason at all. Playing Puts in the Housing stocks and then all of a sudden they go up! Loser stocks in a loser sector in a Bear market should go down shouldn't they? Anyway....thanks for helping me feel better and reading this post and the comments to my wife will also help keep our marriage together. She was losing confidence in me too.
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/11/2006 10:39:00 PM