How not to trade – S&P emini – 7th September
I’ve not been able to trade all week due to work constraints and I had some time today so eager and ready to get back into it!
And what a disaster it was! 95% of people attempting to trade fail, most will lose.. you’re always competing with the sharpest minds and if you’re not 100% then you should not trade.
Anyway, I had not traded the whole week and really wanted to get in on the action. This meant that I was already feeling hasty.. I just wanted to get in and make some money, I felt as though I’d missed a heap of opportunity the last week as I’d not been in the market.
Also, being away from the market means that one is not in tune with the market. There are days when the market is very volatile and choppy, there are times when trends are moving with very little pullback.. these vary on a day to day basis and you really need to be in touch with what the market is doing.
Then there is tiredness, I had had a very long week. I wasn’t thinking straight and mental lethargy had kicked in. My brain was feeling heavy but trading is about buying and selling.. how hard can it be? Well, you really need to be fresh and alert. A lethargic brain means that you cannot process the information as the market is moving.. you need to be nimble, you need to be quick to change your mind if the market moves the other way.
It’s like being a 100 metre athlete, you’re competing with those Carl Lewis, Linford Christie (in their hey days). If you have turned up tired, exhausted and in need of a toilet break, how on earth do you think you even have a chance?
Trading for me on Friday was extremely poor.. I didn’t stick to the plan, I didn’t enter at the safest levels and I didn’t gauge risk carefully. As a result, I got stung with -30 prices!! Ouch!!
