Monthly Archives: February 2012

The worst thing that can happen to a trader….

There are obviously things that are more important than money.  Family, friends, your health, your dog, maybe even your cat (that is pushing it).  But the worst thing a trader can do is forget their objective, to take what the market gives you in money and learning.  In other words, make money today or tomorrow.Continue Reading

Cure for revenge trading.

Robert Sinn has a good post out today. You can read it here. He makes a point about always having the opportunity to control your destiny. We refer to it as being able to trade tomorrow. I was talking to a friend about a potential career move.  It is a higher risk/higher reward move.  TheContinue Reading

Killed trading cliche of the day. Elevators and stairs.

One of the frustrating cliche that is making it’s way around is that the market goes up the stairs and down an elevator. If you have looked at the market over the past year or more you can see it is quite the opposite.  Longs have paid you much more quickly than the shorts. AsContinue Reading

Getting out from underneath your trading losses.

You just had a bad day or a series of bad days.  You broke your limit rules and are now looking up from a big hole.  You are in a horrible position, the worst kind.  You are carrying the weight of your past losses and it is effecting every trade. How you got there.  ChancesContinue Reading

5 Trading Myths that will steepen the learning curve.

Trading has a steep learning curve this is in part because people try to guess what trading is without, I am certain at times, talking to anyone that has ever traded.  Below is a good start to get you thinking in the right direction or a good reminder. Risk/reward is set in concrete. Nothing inContinue Reading

Explanation of single ticks.

Single ticks are from Market Profile. Market Profile is a vertical chart with a new letter created every half hour.  Each letter is called a TPO (time price opportunity). Futures markets have a way of producing bell curves in both TPO and volume.  Markets tend to go back and fill in low areas of volumeContinue Reading

Futures returns math and how you might be taking too much risk.

Futures is one of the last business opportunities where the good are rewarded more than the bad are punished.  This is because of leverage and how much discipline is required. I was talking to trader who trades 1′s and 2′s.  They were not happy with making $200 a day. First, I think it is importantContinue Reading

How patience held me back today.

Patience with a reason pays. Doing anything with a reason pays. Yesterday, there was not much to do. I traded 7 a side.  I never got a chance to get a full position.  I made a little money but it was not in a repeatable way.  Meaning it could have gone either way. I saveContinue Reading

More on the difference between strategy and process.

Nothing is more beneficial to a writer than to get thoughtful response from a reader.  It stretches your brain and helps to cover up any holes in your explanation.  This is from the comment section of The difference between strategy and process.  (Italics are the reader) Well, I almost agree, but just almost.  Or, I thinkContinue Reading

NFP and the epidemic that has plagued finance.

People seem to get data wrong, they assume it happens in a vacuum.  They confuse causation with correlation.  They discount living through the experience. It is the difference between watching the movie and reading the critique.  As a market participant your goal is to determine what the market thinks is most important and apply risk management to it.Continue Reading

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