Here is a video clip of Linda Raschke’s seminar. I thought it is good to refresh your mind. Same old trading wisdom, but do you practice it in your trading?
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One simple trade sample
Here is one simple trade I have made today. Nothing fancy here. In hourly chart of AUDUSD, a bearish candlestick reading was observed, and, in addition, previous swing high was taken out. These gave me a bearish view. Ignoring the hype of improving Aussie employment figures, and RBA rate hike news, these did not sound good to me. I went short. And here is the chart.
About managing trades
I came across Tim Morge's articles on MoneyShow.com which he talked about how successful traders manage their trades. Though he quoted median line trades in the articles, he did point out some important tips for trade management. I thought it might be helpful for my readers as well. Check it out.
The clearest thoughts you'll have about a potential trade is before you enter it; once you enter the trade, the clarity of your focus declines for many reasons:
- You have been staring at the screen for some time, stalking the trade (and of course, once you enter the trade, you are watching the screen even more intently, so the longer you are in the trade, the more focus you have spent).
- Once you enter the trade, you have a financial interest in the trade; in many traders, that heightens their interest, but at a cost of burning their available focus at a faster rate.
- Once you have a financial interest in the trade, you feel the weight to make money (some call this the fear and greed factor). You feel elated with each tick in your favor and you feel depressed by each tick that goes against you.
- As a trade progresses, you are pulled by the price action to intervene and change your original idea; with each ebb and flow of price, a new way to improve your original trading plan pops into your head.
- If a trade heads towards your stop loss, you become more and more certain you have taken a losing trade and the internal pressure to intervene and cut the loss quicker increases. Even if you have learned to hide your stop loss orders behind market structure, you feel the pressure from these urges to exit these trades earlier, at a smaller loss, even though many of your trades that travel into losing territory often would have survived by a few ticks (because of your use of market structure as protection).
- As prices move in your favor, you feel the urge to lock in profits at the slightest slowing of price in your favor. You need a win and the thought that this trade may back up and turn into a loser weighs on your mind, clouding your judgment.
My interview with TASC
Finally, after waited for weeks, I managed to grab a copy of Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities, June 2009 issue. Yes, it is a little difficult to get the latest U.S magazine in Melbourne, Australia. Well, that’s not the point of this post.
I was interviewed by Jayanthi from TASC. I shared about my experience, how did I start up, and some routine of my trading day. Here is the scanned version of my interview.
[gview file=”https://tradergav.com/wp-content/Photos/2009/06/TASC_Interview_TraderGav.pdf”]
9 life lessons from Rock Climbing
This is another great video from TED. Matthew Childs talked about 9 life lessons he learned from rock climbing. Good stuff for your weekend. Check it out.
Barista technique and Trading
A busy Monday, at the non-trading side, a tired Tuesday, and not so impressive Wednesday this sum up half of my week. I am not writing this post to tell you how were my days going, I don’t see a point of doing so. I have passed that stage.
Anyway, here is my infamous coffee thought of the day.
I start my day with a cup of coffee, every day. A cup of freshly ground, and brew Espresso or Long Black is essential. I am not a coffee expert, but I am a coffee lover. I have my grinder and Espresso machine at home. Here is a snippet from Home barista
Barista technique breaks down into three-time scales and skill levels:
The first is the minute or so spent grinding and making the shot. The key here is acquiring the skills to make shots consistently. One should be able to turn out four or five in a row with virtually the same timing, volume, color, crema, and taste. This skill is a physical thing, that is, it’s a matter of training and practice rather than learning.
The second is the time spent carefully tasting espresso or series of espressos, identifying the flavor balance and defects, and making adjustments to one’s pull or machines to correct them. The “dialing-in” process for a new blend usually requires a series of shots to get a satisfactory result and can proceed over several days to fine-tune it. To do this well, one needs to have experience in tasting and analyzing good espresso. One also needs to know how changes in extraction variables and machine settings affect the espresso’s taste.
The third is acquiring experience and informed preferences with a wide range of coffees, blends, espresso equipment, and alternative techniques. If you or someone you’re serving wants an espresso with a specific palette of flavors; you will know how to provide it. Home roasting and blending help in this. So does visit good cafes and roasteries, and talking with the knowledgeable people there.
I see a lot of similarities to trading. What do you think? Start making coffee…
