Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Trading affirmations revisited. Part 1

I thought I’d delve a little deeper into some of the affirmations and MP3 I posted a short time ago Fear & Greed Day Trader: Prepare for the trading day 3 to get you thinking beyond the obvious statements and occasionally onto another plane. There are many ways to skin a cat and this is what works for me.

I am a consistent and competent trader

I have complete confidence in my abilities

I have complete trust in probabilities

All work toward a goal to instill supreme self confidence that is the bedrock of any successful trader.

I have no expectation of what a trade outcome will be.

Expectations will lead to disappointments. Disappointments will lead to your demise.

I successfully trade patterns based on probabilities and momentum

Probabilities work out to my advantage more often than not

I am able to make my winning trades far outweigh my losing trades

This is my bread and butter. It’s what I stick to. No need to get any more complicated.

I immerse myself into the market flow

I become one with the market, experiencing the moves without distraction

I am an excellent trader

Getting into the zone, the mindset to be able to absorb and react to the market opportunities. Having no distractions. Total focus on the now moment.

My trading plan has evolved over time into a system that fits me perfectly

This plan is my plan. I know it intimately. There are no questionable bits, no darkness. I can execute it automatically.

My edge gives me an unfair advantage over my competition

I follow my trading plan without deviation

My trading plan tells me when to enter a trade

My trading plan tells me when to take a profit

My trading plan tells me when to take a loss

I have only to trade my simple plan, unburdened by emotions, expectations and excessive information. Stripped down to bare bones, following my plan becomes easy. No pressure.My function has become a mere lever puller in the FNG trading factory where I punch the time clock and put my time in.

I never take big losing trades because it is not part of my plan

I know that I will have many small losing trades every day

I know that losing trades are one part of being a trader

Losing trades do not affect me as they are only probabilities in action

Acknowledging the cost of doing business upfront also known as ”the down side” is just a business axiom. Accepting losses and being wrong therefore becomes only a business expense. The market was also going to produce a loser out of my or anyone elses entry into the market at that very moment anyway. My trading decisions are insignificant to the total market picture.

Knowing that my plan backs up my edge gives me great confidence

I am an excellent trader

Self confidence is the root of skill.

I never have an emotional response to winning or losing trades

The results of my trades are merely outcomes of market opportunities I acted on

The markets will continue to move in the same fashion if I choose to trade or not

Since I have nothing of value riding on the outcomes of individual trades it becomes standard operating procedure to show no reaction to the conclusion of a trade. A winner gets the same treatment as a loser –nothing, now on to the next trade. I didn’t MAKE a winner or loser, the markets produced it, I only acted of the convergence of signals. If I didn’t act on the signals, the same opportunity was there for anyone else to see and deal with. It’s all only market information.

3 comments:

CN said...

Confidence is something I really need to work on. Specifically with my exits on winners. Time and time again I exit too soon, usually after a small drop in my profit. Take AIG on Wed. I went long and scalped it for 28, 19, and 40 cents just in the morning. But looking at the chart, AIG did nothing but go up. Why did I leave early? I saw a huge spike and thought "reverse must happen after such a run." It didn't.

How do you gauge your winners? If the stock is rising, but the markets are dropping (like AIG this morning) is that a signal to get out, as people are taking their profits? Or do you simply wait for a red candle to show on both the 5 min and 15 min charts? Obviously each trade is different, but is there any good signal that usually tells you to stay in vs take the profits (besides very large spikes)?

bluecollartrader said...

Continued thanks, Scott.

Scott said...

CN- Well first off there is nothing wrong with taking .87 off a stock so don't beat yourself up over nothing. Thinking about the coulda, shoulda, wouldas is counterproductive and may lead to be reckless the next time or just start gambling instead of trading your plan and edge. Please don't go there.
There is a difference in expecting a sharp reversal will happen or only preparing for a reversal or a continuation. Being prepared and playing the probabilities is the only way to trade, so you did nothing wrong.
I always ask myself who is in control, the buyers or sellers? If a stock doesn't make a reversal after a big spike then the buyers are the controlling group. The same thing happened to me yesterday (10/27) in PCX I had a couple of smaller gainers and the thin g just keep going up and up. Finally I just keep long and was rewarded with a large gain until it put a top in and then retraced the same amount.
Keep in your mind how a stock is reacting in relation with the overall market moves. Some march step in step with the markets some don't but you can usually gleam some clues as to the relative strength by seeing reactions to the moves.