I'm Nervous

I am spread pretty thin today, more than usual. However, I couldn't resist.

I see the comments as they come across my inbox and something occurred to me that I want to share with you...

But let me digress.

Here are the biggest things I try to teach on this blog that I feel are not always heard...

Patience ( you cannot be a successful trader without letting things happen)

Position Size (you wont be emotional with smaller amounts on the table. You wont lose much either!)

Diversify (don't take correlated trades, trade bullish & bearish, different investment types, etc)

Manage Risk ( lose small)

Take good Risk/Reward trades (low risk, high reward)

Have a plan for you trade (What are you expecting? Why? This includes exits...plan for anything!)

Don't focus on the numbers (gain/loss and account balance...they are just numbers...focus on the chart & your analysis...you are always innocent until proven guilty!)

and most importantly...

Don't focus on the day to day price action.

Stocks fluctuate. The Fluct down and Fluct up. Quit worrying about if you should exit, cover, leg up, down, in or out...sit still! Recognize when you are being emotional, and avoid making decisions at that time. Go have a smoke, drink, massage, burrito or whatever will calm you down.

I noticed that 90% of my e-mails today contained questions like "what should I do?" (These are not questions from Addicts, mostly Marketcast traffic) This makes me think that a lot of traders are neglecting to follow rules and are so emotionally wrapped up in a trade that they have given up on their rules and or better judgement. Trade size, lack of rules, etc are what take us to this state of emotion...so find what is causing your emotion and avoid it.

The stocks talked about in the comments today don't look like exits to me, but I am not in all the same trades, or under the same entry or exit scenarios that the other traders are. I want to emphasize that one day does not make a trend, use an objective analysis, and try not to rely on the opinion of others to make your trading decisions. I know most of the comments are looking for the perspectives of others (and this is great!), but make sure in the long run that the decision is ultimately made by you.

I am not trying to criticize or lecture here. Just trying to reiterate the secret ingredients that not everyone might hear, but will eventually learn one way or the other. I just try and shorten the learning curve and prevent large capital misplacement's in the market.

Anyway, want to hear my thought now?

What will the comments be like when we are not in a bull market?

Recommendation: I am here for you. All of you. Through patience you will be successful at this. I have been doing it for almost a decade. It is possible, so be determined to make it to the top.

Long: Positive thinking

Short: Negative actions

JK,
Very nicely stated.
Ladd

Great comments. Thanks for the pep talk!

Jeff:
You read my mind...not my email...I was on the verge of sending one. Thanks, I was getting really nervous...now I'm not. I think I'm speaking for a lot of us.
regards
Don and Deborah Vogel

Jeff

I would love to tease you about having patience with us....but I'm afraid one of the Jeffies (from your following) might hunt me down and beat me with a bag of hammers.

For now, I'll just commend you on plainly stating your points. Well done!

Nice new picture by the way.

Jodi
Canuck

P.S. I like the red writing - adds some flair!

Jodi,

Thanks. I am required to have a minimum of at least 2-3 pieces of flair here. My shorts from last week are included.

BTW- tease away.

Others,

Glad you saw this as a pep talk, and a reinforcement...not a hope crushing lecture.

Thanks for the pep talk Jeff,
It's always nice to get reassurance like yours and to hear that other people are in the same situation. just ran across your blog yesterday, and all I can say is great job and I really appreciate all your insight.

Perry from Calgary

Jeff, please do critize and lecture at least this trader as I am much more interested in learning and success than my feelings so go for it. Oh and thanks again. In the past two days we have been emotional but did not exit just our stops did. With help I am repairing that mechanical problem, thanks Amy.

Thanks, Jeff. This is a post to be bookmarked for the future. Thanks for the consistent reminders and help. It is making a huge difference for me.

Jeff
you are so right! I happened to have been on the wrong side of MGM yesterday, and my emotions caused me to exit a trade that I had no such signals to do so(SLB)! lesson learned and noted

thanks for your efforts
Greg

Amy, congrats on removing the oscillators. Yesterday when Prophet charts went down on TOS, I used Investools Prophet charts, which I haven't used in a while and they still had all of my old oscillator studies that I haven't used in a couple of months. I realized too that I've been off the oscillators for a while and it really helps me.

Guys, the checklist that Jeff just gave us is about a billion times more signficant than any study set.

So here are my two tricks to tame my emotions.
1. on my monitor page I hide the account totals and only look at percentages per trade.
2. I watch the market through my paper account during the day, and open my live account in the last hour of trading(sometimes earlier,but not often..only if something big is going on).

I have to trick myself. It just makes it so much easier. that way I focus on the trade and not the dollars.

I am down last week and this week. The best 2 weeks I have had in a long time came after a run just like this. I just kept telling myself "Plan the trade, Trade the plan" By sittin a couple of weeks ago I made a killing. I am watching unrealized profits dropping bad, but until the trend changes, I AM TRADING THE PLAN BABY. If the trend on all of my postions change we will need to just dust ourselves off and look for other victims.

I thought Greenspan retired, He talks about future economic data and everyone takes profits. Go figure. I'm sitting tight.

Hi all,
Check out DNR. Very strong since mid March. 52 week high. all time highs. couple days of breathing.... stock like to go higher it seems (oil and gas industry)
Ladd

Also, DNR seems to have "reasonably" priced options
Ladd

Jeff, BTW, your comment "you are always innocent until proven guilty" is brilliantly profound
Ladd

OK, enough from me, that's 3 in a row.
And is brilliantly profound redundant?
Ladd

Let me just say:
"This is the place to be." Everyone has different styles, approaches, feelings, etc blah blah blah, but in the end you need to be comfortable with your system and approach. As a fairly new trader I have been distracted by others into different thinking, but find myself coming back here. If work would let me, this would be my home page. To Jeff and the bloggers, thanks! and I hope to contribute actuals plays in the near future.
Ralph

My thoughts on Jeff's thought:

Jeff said:
"Anyway, want to hear my thought now? What will the comments be like when we are not in a bull market?"

Anybody got any great puts?

Have a great night!!!

It's not about "patience"....

It's about being congruent. Are your intent and your actions in agreement?
If you are going to make decisions based on the closing price why would you watch every tick? If you are going to decide to exit based on a price pattern failure why would you exit when it hasn't failed? I want to be "impatient" when I'm congruent. I don't want to be "patient" if I'm acting in agreement with my intent.

John,

If its not about patience, then make sure you are patient with your intent, even if your intent is impatience with your actions.

I am trying to be intent with my congruence, but I am getting impatient!

I just wanted to point out that "hope" is not a plan, I tell my kids this all the time. We aren't all tree huggers in Oregon by the way, we keep them tucked away in certain areas!!!!

Jeff,
You are a master at teaching. Your commentary was outstanding. Thank you so much for your time and dedication to our education. I only wish I could return the favor somehow.
How can I print todays comment?

Jeff,

Great commentary, very beneficial.

With that said, it's appropriate to unveil the newly developed, not fully tested, yet to be endorsed (drum roll building), fully operational...

The
ADDICT-O-METER
a.k.a 'The AOM'

Based on host content and community reaction, todays educational value registered on the AOM = 10 (PHD Impact level).

Thanks Jeff.

Steve K. aka MisterHarami

PS. Anyone in PDC?

Thanks Jeff.Very encouraging words of wisdom & teaching.What would we option addicts do without you.

thanks for the continued support jeff!!
brendan
ca

Jeff,
Thanks. I love the case study. I got into X a couple of days ago, but got in at the high, around 109, and (because of money management rules,) had my stop at 106.5. Well, needless to say, I got stopped out. I have been watching this stock (and have played it several times,) and it still looks good.

MY POINT is that I was reading Reminiscences of a Stock Operater and it helped tremendously. He gave a story about when he was right, but his timing was wrong and he lost his fortune. He didn't get upset, he just waited until the time WAS right and went with his convictions. Thanks for all the teaching, encouraging, and recommended reading. This helps a lot.

Randall and Michelle

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About me

  • I'm Option Addict
  • From Saratoga Springs, Utah, United States
  • I am a professional trader and an instructor for Investools. I've had relations with the markets for 9 years. Born in Concord, CA, but reside in Saratoga Springs, Utah. Father of THREE, Husband of one.
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