Assessing your role in the markets

[Joe Ross]

This question was sent to me from one of our students:

“Hey Joe! Sometimes I absolutely dread sitting down to trade. I have had so many bad experiences that I’m not sure I can pull the trigger. Anything I can do about it?”

What happens to us as we trade colors the way we see things in the market and influences the way we approach them. We take a big hit in a particular market and we decide never to trade there again. Or, when we have a great trade in market, it produces pleasure, so we try to trade there again as soon as we can.

How do you envision the futures markets overall? More importantly, how do you conceive of your role in the market? Do you see the markets as potentially hazardous arenas in which you must be very, very careful? Do you see them as though everyone in it is out to take your money? Or do you view them as a place in which there is dynamic profit opportunity?

Each time you sit down to trade at your workspace, do you feel uncomfortable and wish you were somewhere else? Or are you really eager to jump into your work, look over your charts, and get down to trading? Does plowing through new material feel like a lot of hard work, or does it excite you to learn new information that will add to your ability as a trader?

The way you envision the markets will have a powerful influence on your actions! So it's absolutely necessary for you to be very much aware of just what your perception is and what past experiences colored your perception. You need to honestly assess your vision of-and feelings toward—the market and your role in it. It will surely be time well spent.

 

[Trader333]

“Hey Joe! Sometimes I absolutely dread sitting down to trade. I have had so many bad experiences that I’m not sure I can pull the trigger. Anything I can do about it?”

Quit trading would have been a more appropriate answer in my view. This person is obviously not suited to the requirements of trading and trying to make them fit something that isn't right is doing as great a disservice to them as is possible.


Paul

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Hey Joe! - have you ever had one of your 'students' say:

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Alright. I'm goin down to shoot my old lady,
you know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
Yeah,! I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady,
you know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
Huh! And that ain't too cool.


'cos that would be far cooler than the usual nonsense they come up with.

 

[TheBramble]

Do you know, I've always wanted to do that after one of Joe's posts...but out of respect to Jimi...

"Hey Jimi, where you going with that boilerplate question format in your post"
"Hey Jimi, I said where you going with that boilerplate question format in your post"
"Alright, I'm going down to t2w to post another fictitious question from one of my dumb students"
“You know, they all start the same ‘cause they all married their sisters”
“Yeah, I’m going down to t2w to post another fictitious question from one of my dumb students"
“But they're all in my head, and I took that question, and I asked it!”

{best guitar riff ever follows…}

 

[Splitlink]

Joe had better start praying that Socrates comes back or I can see who's image is going be stuck on the dartboard next.

Split

 

[jacinto]

i cant remember who posted this some time ago, but its hilarious. see how may pies you can hit on target


http://www.akuhost.com/StJames/images/games/games_clown.htm



edit: forgot to say that it actually helps to excercise your trigger finger for NFP days :cheesy:

 

[Joe Ross]

Dreads Trading

Quit trading would have been a more appropriate answer in my view. This person is obviously not suited to the requirements of trading and trying to make them fit something that isn't right is doing as great a disservice to them as is possible.


Paul

Hi Paul, I am not disagreeing with you, but telling the person to stop trading is not always the best advice.

I have been in contact with thousands of traders over a period of many years. And I have received more emails of the type I posted here. There are many cases such as the "dreader" that have turned out to be fine professional traders, once the "mystery" of the markets is made clear to them. The type of dread that causes a wannabe to no longer be able to pull the trigger, can be cured. I have dozens of cases like that in my files. Furthermore, the "mystery" of the markets is different for each one.

I once visited a Canadian trader who could no longer pull the trigger on a trade. He was confused and didn't understand what it was he was seeing when he looked at a chart.

I asked him if he really wanted to be a trader and he said yes.

I said are you willing to do whatever I tell you to do, as a matter of blind faith, and he said yes.

I said turn off your screen. He did ti. I said okay buy the S&P. He hesitated a second but he did it. Then I said sell the S&P, he did it. I said buy the S&P and he did and again I said sell it. We repeated this process for at least 1/2 hour, I'm not sure I remember how long it was. He was sweating puddles, but he did as i told him to do.

Finally I said turn on your screen. He did. I said check your account. He did. He had made $120.

Whatever it was that made him have such dread was cured. He never again feared to trade and I was able to spend additional hours with him to clear things up--things he really didn't understand.

Paul, that is one example out of many. There was only one other time I used that procedure, and it resulted in a cure, but had a small loss.

I feel it is my obligation that when someone asks me for help that I do the best i can to help them. Even if the result is a lot of smart-ass wise cracks from rascals in a forum.

That's just the way I am. I went through the same fears and problems that any other trader goes through. My trading now is easy and smooth. I wish it could be that way for everyone, and if I can help I will. I have taken what others would consider to be basket cases and turned them into profitable and sucessful traders.

 

[Spam Man]

Hi Joe, I am not disagreeing with you, but I am a part time instructor in the Green Cross Code. I teach people the correct protocol to follow when crossing the road.

I once visited a village idiot who could no longer cross the road. He was confused and didn't understand what he was seeing when he looked at his local high street.

I asked him if he really wanted to cross the road and he said yes.

I said are you willing to do whatever I tell you to do, as a matter of blind faith, and he said yes.

I said close your eyes. He did ti. I said okay cross the road. He hesitated a second but he did it. Then I said cross the road again, he did it. I said cross the road and he did and again I said cross back. We repeated this process for at least 1/2 hour, I'm not sure I remember how long it was. He was bleeding profusely, but he did as i told him to do.

Finally I said open your eyes. He did. I said check your extremities. He did. He had been run over five times by a variety of automobiles, had broken every bone in his body and his gonads were poking out of the bloody stump where his left leg used to be.

Whatever it was that made him have such dread was cured. He was never again able to even attempt crossing the road and I was able to spend additional hours with him to clear things up--because, try as he might, he could not escape due to no longer having any functioning limbs.

That's just the way I am. Have a good weekend all!

 

[TheBramble]

Hey Joe, what is really amazing is that you weren’t even trying to be spooky or weird.

Spam Man can be forgiven as he is a fairly low grade Green Cross Code Instructor (Blue Belt) and anyway, we suspect his documents were forged in Riga. His family have a history of involvement with traffic related erotica.

But buying and selling the S&P on a whim could not only result is a small loss – you could have wiped the poor bar steward out completely. Sure that would have cured his trigger pulling for a while. Last time I saw anything remotely as stupid as your imagination-made-real was from that asshole Aleph Sigma Chi. And he meant well…

Please stop. It’s not funny any more and you’re just encouraging Spam Man. (is he related?)

 

[jacinto]

http://www.akuhost.com/StJames/images/games/games_clown.htm

hey jo

just tell them to hit the clown with pies.......

cant pull that trigger, cant pull anything

im sure its cheaper for the poor guy.

 

[Splitlink]

hey jo

just tell them to hit the clown with pies.......

cant pull that trigger, cant pull anything

im sure its cheaper for the poor guy.

With all the big traders with whom I may be competing I, timidly, present a score of 32 first time.

None with beards, though.

Split