Trade Aptitude

Friday’s Best S&P Turning Points Results: Price chopped to a higher close without reaching the suggested levels (still look good). 

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

Short 4052.25 stop 4056.00. Buy 3916.25 stop 3911.75

The World Sentiment Index: (+100/-100) DROPS from +57 to +21 in a world of mixed sentiment.  Historically prices closes higher than the open 55% of the time. 

Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar. Scattered Fed-speak. 

Quick Tip: Drop the Ego

One of the hardest transitions to make as a trader is the reframing of your belief about winning and losing. We were raised defining winning as good and losing as bad. Now we must change that belief.

Mark Douglas, author of two books on trading psychology said, “When you really believe that trading is simply a probability game, concepts like right or wrong or win or lose no longer have the same significance.” 

Curtis Faith, one of the original Turtle Traders and author of Way of the Turtle, summed it up succinctly: “Winning traders think in the present time and avoid thinking too much about the future. Being right (winning) and being wrong (losing) is not the approach to use. Ignore outcome bias.”

One way to make this transition is to focus on your execution. In your documentation and review process note, maybe even with a “score”, how well you followed the rules. Grade yourself on execution, not result.

I find myself on occasion right after a losing trade, doing a quick review, then saying, “Nothing wrong with that trade, I would take it again.”

Trade Fearlessly,

Mike Siewruk

P.S. If your strategies have proven edge and your results are spotty then you need to change your behavior. Click to learn how.