Trade Aptitude

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 4510.25 stopped out in the Globex session last night. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 4439.50 stop 4436.00. Short 4543.75 stop 4548.25.

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) drops from -21 to -64 with all major world markets except Tokyo very Bearish on rising volatility. 

Catalysts: Retail Sales, Empire State MFG Index, Import Prices @ 8:30. Chinese economy/debt issues. 

Quick Tip: Resilience 

Baseball great Harmon Killebrew said, “The most important athletic ability is the talent to comeback from behind.” True in sports, true in business, true in trading. 

The great come-back athletes were different than their peers. They knew there would be setbacks. They thought in advance how to handle them. They didn’t get emotional. They snapped to attention and executed their plan. 

Traders have losing streaks. Can’t avoid them. 

Are you reactive or proactive? What’s your comeback plan? 

Here’s what works for me: Let’s say I have three losers in a row day trading. I take a vigorous walk not thinking at all about trading. This simple action is like an eraser in my head. I come back in 45 minutes motivated and disciplined. 

My plan for an extended losing streak, a drawdown over a few days, is different. With this I carefully review the entire history of the strategy results off-market hours. I look for similar results, how long they lasted, how much was lost. With this data you can adjust your risk, size, and/or frequency. You can also have  “halt strategy” and "restart" rules. 

Everyone is different so develop and practice your own plan. 

 Trade Fearlessly,

Mike Siewruk

P.S. Did you know there are MANY techniques and formulas you can use to change your personal psychology about trading to improve your results? Learn how to change your unwanted behavior here.