Originally if you wanted to learn how to trade futures you had to come to Chicago and try to get a job as a runner. Eventually as the floor has shifted to the screen you were a runner for food and coffee, like I was. I imagine it was similar with stocks in NYC too….
Tag Archive: trading
How you define an outcome (losing capital), changes future outcomes.
(From the archives) Redefining or changing a word in a sentence can provide the necessary psychological shift to see things in a different way. This different perspective can lead to different results (hopefully positive). Probably the most common redefined word in finance is “Loss” which is turned into “Investment in Education” or “Tuition”. I am…
The contradiction in trading rules and advice.
Teaching is hard. I look back on what I did to my parents, my teachers, and coaches, they had some serious patience. They must have used a bunch of energy trying to get their points across. And of course my personality and lack of experience got in the way. One of the hardest things for…
Don’t let data f@#% you.
Data and information are like air. It is everywhere and we need it to survive. Just like in every breathe we take we have a chance to do what we want with it, data is no different. Anyone can manipulate any data and make it say whatever they want. The tools we have today to…
What makes trading different.
My resilience and not taking no for an answer has allowed me to meet unique people. I managed to get one of the very first e-mini traders to be my mentor who learned from one of the best independent traders of all time. He probably wont like me telling this story but I remember him shaking getting…
Misplaced focus.
One of my best friends from high school thought he was Deion Sanders. After playing football together for many years our list of pre-game superstitious and rituals were lengthy. It was a production. Finally a coach stepped in and the madness came to an end. Habits can form for little or no reason but end for a…
Money is an imperfect feedback mechanism.
My first day of trading, I made about $670 gross. $450 net. I had been placing trades through my mentor and making some money. When I finally had the opportunity to place a trade for myself, I went crazy. I somehow made $450. I did not think about how I made the money. I knew…
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 important…
Flipping a position vs flipping a thesis.
We have all been stopped out and then flip (reverse) our position only to get stopped out again. Two things help me. One I need to separate myself immediately. If I am not at my screens I can’t trade. No one likes to get stopped out and that most certainly changes the way I view…
Price determines greed.
Today is one of those days where I am seeing the market well but timing is slightly off. It is a little harder for me to scratch a trade and work around a position, like yesterday. Yesterday spoiled me a little. Lesson learned. One of the mistakes that traders make is they see the market…
