traders should seek to “be in control while simultaneously being out of control a bit” and push one’s comfort zone to find greater success. As if they are a downhill skier picking up top speed yet, having all the confidence they will complete the run without crashing and breaking both collarbones.
Make no mistake, trading is stressful. Active intraday trading is the most stressful of all trading periods. One mistake can ruin your month. One missed print for 5k shares can ruin your week.
When you are frustrated, your brain is chemically altered, and the only way to exit this state of anger is to, well, make an effort to calm down.
perform visualization exercises to better control these emotions.
We all have mental weaknesses that we must conquer. Some of us insist in showing the market that we are correct. Some cannot hit stocks that trade against them. Some anxiously take profits when there is no reason to do so. Some are afraid to pull the trigger with an excellent risk/reward setup. The only way to get better is to work on your visualization exercises as they relate to these weaknesses.
MENTORING
A good mentor can make your trading career. This was not always true.
Mentors will shout out important technical levels in the market, and will share when the market may turn. A mentor demonstrates the professionalism required to be successful.
The market is testing whether you can adapt. You have the skills. Now we just have to work on when to be aggressive and when to be careful.
listen and then put in the work necessary to adapt successfully.
Never judge your trading based upon your results. If money is all you care about, go join the league of lesser firms.” And then I explain that their goal is to learn, to develop their trading skills, to gain experience trading live, and to get better every day.
A mentor can lead you to discover the talent inside of you. Sometimes you just need to be told that you can do it.
LEARNING FROM TRADERS ON THE DESK
A new trader will find that a well-executed play by a peer in their class is easily remembered compared to hearing about it from an experienced guy. Seriously, imagine watching a guy who just started with you explain how they chopped it up in a trade talking in detail what they saw. An explanation of their play can be much simpler than that of an experienced trader. The experienced guy may just have way too many if-then statements. I have tried to explain to a new trader how I buy into a pullback and I can just see their confused faces. But I have seen a new trader explain to another one what an unusual hold looks like and they remember this stuff.
No regrets. He admits that he was wrong and does nothing more than shrug. Good. Yelling and slamming things will get you nowhere. You were wrong, accept it, move on to the next stock—or stay with the same stock and wait for a similar setup. What does a new trader learn from Zi? He learns the value of being extremely patient.
Comments
Post a Comment