"BE YOURSELF. DON’T TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE."

BE YOURSELF. DON’T TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE.

"In all of my years as a trader I never traded more than a 50 lot on any individual trade. Sure, I would have liked to be able to trade like colleagues in the pit who were regularly trading 100 or 200 lots per trade. However, I didn’t possess the emotional or psychological skill set necessary to trade such big size. That’s OK. I knew that my comfort zone was somewhere between 10 and 20 lots per trade. Typically, if I traded more than 20 lots, I would “butcher” the trade. Emotionally I could not handle that size. The trade would inevitably turn into a loser because I could not trade with the same talent level that I possessed with a 10 lot."
Learn to accept your comfort zone as it relates to trade size. You are who you are. 

"THE FIRST LOSS IS THE BEST LOSS"

THE FIRST LOSS IS THE BEST LOSS Once you come to the realization that your trade is no good it’s best to exit immediately. “It’s never a loser until you get out” and “Not to worry, it’ll come back” are often said tongue in cheek, by traders in the pit. Once the phrase is stated, it is an affirmation that the trader realizes that the trade is no good, it is not coming back and it is time to exit

"YOUR BIGGEST LOSER CAN’T EXCEED YOUR BIGGEST WINNER."

YOUR BIGGEST LOSER CAN’T EXCEED YOUR BIGGEST WINNER.

Keep a trade log of all your trades throughout the session. If, for example, you know that, so far, your biggest winner on the day is five e‐Mini S&P points, then do not allow a losing trade to exceed those five points. If you do allow a loss to exceed your biggest gain then, effectively, what you have when you net out the biggest winner and biggest loss is a net loss on the two trades. Not good.

"NEVER TURN A WINNER INTO A LOSER."

NEVER TURN A WINNER INTO A LOSER.

We have all violated this rule. However, it should be our goal to try harder not to violate it in the future. What we are really talking about here is the greed factor. The market has rewarded you by moving in the direction of your position, however, you are not satisfied with a small winner. Thus you hold onto the trade in the hopes of a larger gain, only to watch the market turn and move against you. Of course, inevitably you now hesitate and the trade further deteriorates into a substantial loss.
There’s no need to be greedy. It’s only one trade. You’ll make many more trades throughout the session and many more throughout the next trading sessions. Opportunity exists in the marketplace all of the time. Remember: No one trade should make or break your performance or the day. Don’t be greedy. 

"ALWAYS LOWER YOUR TRADE SIZE WHEN YOU’RE TRADING POORLY."

ALWAYS LOWER YOUR TRADE SIZE WHEN YOU’RE TRADING POORLY.

All good traders follow this rule. Why continue to lose on five lots (contracts) per trade when you could save yourself a lot of money by lowering your trade size down to a one lot on your next trade? If I have two losing trades in a row, I always lower my trade size down to a one lot. If my next two trades are profitable, then I move my trade size back up to my original lot size.
It’s like a batter in baseball who has struck out his last two times at bat. The next time up he will choke up on the bat, shorten his swing and try to make contact. Trading is the same: lower your trade size, try to make a tick or two ‐ or even scratch the trade ‐ and then raise your trade size after two consecutive winning trades. 

"BE DISCIPLINED EVERY DAY, IN EVERY TRADE, AND THE MARKET WILL REWARD YOU. BUT DON’T CLAIM TO BE DISCIPLINED IF YOU ARE NOT 100 PERCENT OF THE TIME."

BE DISCIPLINED EVERY DAY, IN EVERY TRADE, AND THE MARKET WILL REWARD YOU. BUT DON’T CLAIM TO BE DISCIPLINED IF YOU ARE NOT 100 PERCENT OF THE TIME.. Being disciplined is of the utmost importance, but It’s not a sometimes thing, like claiming you quit a bad habit, such as smoking. If you claim to quit smoking but you sneak a cigarette every once in a while, then you clearly have not quit smoking. If you trade with discipline nine out of ten trades, then you can’t claim to be a disciplined trader. It is the one undisciplined trade that will really hurt your overall performance for the day, Discipline must be practiced on every trade.

"THE MARKET PAYS YOU TO BE DISCIPLINED"

THE MARKET PAYS YOU  TO BE  DISCIPLINED. Trading with discipline will put more money in your pocket and take less money out. The one constant truth concerning the markets is that discipline = increased profits.

"You are most likely to find success in markets if you can draw upon the best of who you are–your distinctive strengths–and find ever new ways to apply those to ever-changing markets."

       

? little bounce into Wednesday's FOMC announcement

He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
on his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

by Edgar A. Guest

itek

                               fail-safe below today's low

A basket of commodities as represented by the Commodity Research Bureau Index is in danger of hitting lows not seen since the early 1970s

follow up: TLT

tightening up

key market relationships

Light commitments are advisable when a market position is not certain.

Clearly defined moves are signalled frequently enough to make life interesting. Focusing on these moves to the virtual exclusion of others will prevent unprofitable whipsawing and improve overall performance.

? anything is possible...

seen: Bears living town

A chart and quote that explain it perfectly.

LIMIT LOSSES, ride profits ~ regardless of all other rules.

Beware of acting immediately on general public opinion. Even if correct, it will usually delay the move.

S&P cash

weekly view

not there yet, patience

The US markets have had two major corrections since 2009,

it took the markets a number of months of retesting lows before they resumed their uptrends:

2010 = 3 months of backing-and-filling after the correction

2011 = 4 months of retesting/backing-and-filling after the correction

2015 = We are currently at the end of the second month since the end of the last correction was where the market found its low on August 24

The Nine Rules of the Ned Davis Research Group

1. Don’t Fight the [Ticker] Tape The tape provides a stop-loss for “should-be” beliefs. The trend is your friend. Go with Mo (momentum, breadth thrusts, signs of churning). Listen to the cold, bloodless verdict of the market. (Pay special notice to indicators on the leading edge of the market like volume, new highs or lows, the Dow utilities, bonds, relative strength.) Moves with a lot of confirmation are the healthiest, and huge moves are often global in nature.
2. Don’t Fight the Fed Remain in harmony with interest-rate trends (rates dropping is good; rates rising is bad). Money moves markets. Stay in line with monetary trends (money [minus] economic demands equals liquidity left over for financial markets). Economic strains: Inflationary pressures lead to Fed tightness (up commodities, up gold, down dollar, rising real interest rates). Economic ease: disinflation leads to Fed ease.
3. Beware of the Crowd at Extremes Go with the flow until it reaches a psychological extreme. At that point, it pays to take a contrary approach. Liquidity and psychology are inversely related. Extreme optimism equals low cash. Extreme fear equals high cash.
4. Rely on Objective Indicators Rather than using gut emotions to determine the supply and demand balance, use the weight-of-the-evidence approach (computer-derived mathematical measurements).
5. Be Disciplined Our mandate is to follow our models, forcing us to be disciplined. Our benchmark or anchor composite model determines core invested position.
6. Practice Risk Management We are in the business of making mistakes. Winners make small mistakes; losers make big mistakes. We focus on a risk management strategy to keep mistakes small.
7. Remain Flexible Indicators change and data is revised. Scenarios change. Review models on an objective and timely basis.
8. Money Management Rules We are more interested in making money than being right. Be humble and flexible (be ready to turn emotions upside down and thus be open-minded). Let profits run, cut losses short. Think in terms of risks, including the risk of missing a bull market. Buy on the rumor, sell on the news.
9. Those Who Do Not Study History Are Condemned to Repeat Its Mistakes Go back as far as possible. Use bull, bear, and neutral cycles.

LXK ~ possible first cross trade

fail-safe below last week's low, first target around close of the gap down bar

Some stocks are creating some very nice looking bases and with earnings coming up soon...

BE READY

FED day ~ 11am pst

Possible.
 "The Fed may hike rates one time to keep up appearances as they are a political body, then relax rates once again. They did this in 1936 when the US was deleveraging a long term debt cycle. They hiked the discount rate by 0.5% in 1936 then eased until 1940. They could repeat this action again, hiking once, then easing by way of renewed QE, or QE4."

“a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

"The path to mastery passes through a window where the intermediate practitioner, getting their first taste of knowledge and experience, knows more than the beginner — but less than they think.

This creates a widening gap between “how much I think I know” and “how much I actually know.”
Awareness, know where you are!

“There’s a time to make money and a time not to lose money.”

Remember, extremes like one created today are often tested again after a relief rally and shorts are squeezed.

DJIA had record intraday swing today, from it's high to it's low it moved 1089 points

remembering

Overall Market Conditions: Extremely Choppy Behavior - Caution is Warranted

Remember, some of the best market bottoms have been formed in late September and early October.

“With better awareness come better choices. And with better choices you’ll see better results. Clarity breeds success.”

Get more sleep and rest.

A large body of evidence suggests that we need at least seven to eight hours of sleep to function optimally, yet more than one-third of us in North America are getting fewer than six hours of sleep each night. What’s more, our culture doesn’t value leisure and rest. Most of us run around like chickens with our heads cut off each day, rushing from one ( trade ) task to the next and rarely taking time to pause, reflect, or decompress.

Here’s the bottom line: if you don’t get enough sleep or rest, you’re not going to (trade) perform at your best or be as healthy as you can be. I know this might sound so obvious it’s not worth saying, but a large percentage of (traders) people simply aren’t sleeping or resting enough. Here are a few tips for addressing this problem:

• Allow at least eight hours for sleep each night
• Create an environment conducive to sleep, no distraction ( TV, laptop, you know it)
• Reduce your exposure to artificial light at night
• Schedule 30 minutes of rest into each day. This could be meditation, a relaxation technique, or simply taking a nap.
• Designate one day a week as a “technology sabbatical”: no email, social media, or web browsing. This can really help you to unwind. 

If you follow these tips for the next few weeks, I’m confident that you’ll see some positive changes in your (trading) performance and health.

What is Deliberate Practice?

Deliberate practice is a highly structured activity engaged in with the specific goal of improving performance.

Deliberate practice is different from work, play and simple repetition of a task. It requires effort, it has no monetary reward, and it is not inherently enjoyable.

When you engage in deliberate practice, improving your performance over time is your goal and motivation.

That’s not to say that deliberate practice can’t be designed to be fun, but it isn’t inherently enjoyable on it’s own.

If you want to gain skills rapidly or approach expert-level status at something, you must understand the importance of deliberate practice and learn how to incorporate it into your daily life.

The Four Essential Components of Deliberate Practice

Research into the history of education (dating back several thousand years), combined with more recent scientific experiments have uncovered a number of conditions for optimal learning and improvement. Again, from K. Anders Ericsson, here are the four essential components of deliberate practice.

When these conditions are met, practice improves accuracy and speed of performance on cognitive, perceptual, and motor tasks:

1. You must be motivated to attend to the task and exert effort to improve your performance.
2. The design of the task should take into account your pre-existing knowledge so that the task can be correctly understood after a brief period of instruction.
3. You should receive immediate informative feedback and knowledge of results of your performance.
4. You should repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks.

It’s important to note that without adequate feedback about your performance during practice, efficient learning is impossible and improvement is minimal.

Simple practice isn’t enough to rapidly gain skills.

Mere repetition of an activity won’t lead to improved performance.

Your practice must be: intentional, aimed at improving performance, designed for your current skill level, combined with immediate feedback and repetitious.

What Deliberate Practice Means for You

1. Natural ability is no excuse.
If you’re 5’5″, maybe you shouldn’t set your sites on becoming an NBA center. Some physical limits are obvious. Most other “limits” are cop-outs or relics of old misunderstandings about talent.
What’s cool is that even limits of brainpower can be overcome with deliberate practice. One-on-one tutoring has shown to greatly reduce the differences in achievement between students of different cognitive abilities.
2. How you practice matters most.
To benefit from practice and reach your potential, you have to constantly challenge yourself.
This doesn’t mean repeatedly doing what you already know how to do.
This means understanding your weaknesses and inventing specific tasks in your practice to address those deficiencies.
3. How long you persevere determines your limits.
Becoming an expert is a marathon, not a sprint.
You cannot reach your mental and physical limits in just a few weeks or months. To grow to the top of your game, you’ll have to persevere for years.
Your practice has to be deliberate and intense, but it also has to be carefully scheduled and limited in ways to avoid burnout and long-term fatigue (both mental and physical).
4. Motivation becomes the real constraint on expertise.
Practice isn’t always fun. It’s an investment into improving yourself, your skills and your future.
In order to practice with intention for long enough to become an expert or gain useful skills, you have to find the motivation to make the investment.
Where will you find that motivation? 

The market does what the market does, and that is the simple truth to the matter.

One of the great myths of the stock market is that you have to be in the market all the time in order to be successful. In my view, this is simply not true. There are times when it is appropriate to be heavily invested, and there will be times when the market direction is not so obvious ( like now ). During such an environment, being out of the market and in cash may be the wisest play.

One of the most important things you can do to manage stress is to bring more love, joy and peace into your life.

Obviously there are times when we just can’t avoid stress. Maybe we have a high-stress job like trading, or we’re caring for an ailing parent, or we’re having difficulty with our partner or spouse. In these situations it’s not about reducing stress itself, but about reducing its harmful effects. How do you do that? There are several different strategies: • Reframe the situation. We experience stress because of the meaning we assign to certain events or situations. Sometimes changing our perspective is enough to relieve the stress. For example, being stuck in a losing trade can be a “disaster” or it could be an opportunity for contemplation and learning. • Lower your standards. This is especially important for you perfectionists out there. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Let good enough be good enough. • Practise acceptance. One meditation teacher used to say “All suffering is caused by wishing the moment to be other than it is.” Many things in life are beyond our control. Learn to accept the things you can’t change. • Be grateful. Simply shifting your focus from what is not okay or not enough, to what you’re grateful for or appreciative of can completely change your perspective—and relieve stress. • Cultivate empathy. When you’re in a conflict with another person, make an effort to connect with their feelings and needs. If you understand where they’re coming from, you’ll be less likely to react and take it personally. • Manage your time. Poor time management is a major cause of stress. When you’re overwhelmed with commitments and stretched too thin, it’s difficult to stay present and relaxed. Careful planning and establishing boundaries with your time can help. In addition to everything I’ve listed above, one of the most important things you can do to manage stress is to bring more peace, joy and love into your life. 

Allow all your dreams of doing great work, being creative and making a difference in people's lives to happen today.

 It's fine to have big plans and dreams but wealth is created now. Right now. In this present moment. It was never created at any other time in history. It was always now.
Allow all your dreams of doing great work, being creative and making a difference in people's lives to happen today. Not in some far-off conditional future. Start where you are now.
Noted psychiatrist Stanislav Grof says in The Consciousness Revolution, "I have worked with people who had a major goal in life that required decades of intense and sustained effort to achieve. And when they finally succeeded, they became severely depressed, because they expected something that the achievement of the goal could not give them. Joseph Campbell called this situation, 'getting to the  top of the ladder and finding that it stands against the wrong wall.'"
Don't put off your fulfilment. Don't put your happiness at the top of some ladder you have to climb. Don't wait until you've "made it" to feel great about life. Wealth is attracted to people who feel great right now. People who know how to be and operate in this moment of ever changing NOW.

holding at support or no support, the question is now?

                               30 min. view

There is no rule that say you must be in the market.

"First, do not be invested in the market all the time. There are many times when I have been
completely in cash, especially when I was unsure of the direction of the market and waiting
for a confirmation of the next move." - Jesse Livermore

Remember that in 200 years, it's very likely that nobody alive will know that you ever existed. Most of our daily frustrations and triumphs will amount to nothing in the end. So: Don't spend your whole life doing things that make you feel crappy. Very soon we'll all be dead and none of this will matter. There's nothing simpler than that.

Until there is a strong breakout with good follow-through, there is no breakout.

Last week’s sell off was climactic and it will probably be followed by at least a couple of day’s up this week. If instead this week continues to sell off with big bear trend bars, the odds of a bear breakout will go up.

NOTE:  continue to position in agreement with the controlling price action, keeping risk in check, trading day by day, and be prepared for just about anything

NOTE: this Wednesday at 11am PST we have FOMC Meeting Announcement

Wednesday was one of the weirdest market days in years, not just due to price action, but the incredible stream of events behind the action.

'The S&P 500 threatened to breach its 200 DMA support this week… then violently reversed… then reversed again… and is now threatening to reverse back higher once again. Meanwhile the NYSE shut down for hours on Wednesday, even as United Airlines and the Wall Street Journal experienced troubling outages, against a backdrop of China market collapse where trillions of dollars worth of shares have been “frozen” i.e. seen trading completely halted (with ominous leverage in play via stock loans) and unprecedented government bans on share sales for large stakeholders (not even short selling, just bans on selling period!). Then adding to this madness you have the situation in Europe, which only seems to keep getting weirder as Greece itself heads toward chaos 

There is a strong temptation to “do something” in markets like this, but as long as exposure is contained (and risk management is in place) the best thing overall is often to just sit back and watch. Periods of high and rising volatility coupled with wild twists and turns based on political statements are better opportunities to preserve capital (by not getting caught up in the maelstrom) than to try and earn capital (by getting frantic or overly involved).'

Tenacity is needed for success...

'Tenacity is the ability to not give up in spite of difficulty and results from any activity that are not desired. It is the ability to persist with determination toward something tirelessly and with absolute perseverance to the point that failure is not an option. It is the ability to live through intense struggle, to see consistently poor results for long periods of time, and in spite of that, still keep learning and improving on working on your trading with tremendous enthusiasm in spite of those results.'

some quotes by my friend Ed

Technical analysis

1. In order of importance to me are: (1) the long-term trend, (2) the current chart pattern, and (3) picking a good spot to buy or sell. Those are the three primary components of my trading. Way down in very distant fourth place are my fundamental ideas and, quite likely, on balance, they have cost me money.

2. If I were buying, my point would be above the market. I try to identify a point at which I expect the market momentum to be strong in the direction of the trade, so as to reduce my probable risk.

3. If I am bullish, I neither buy on a reaction, nor wait for strength; I am already in. I turn bullish at the instant my buy stop is hit, and stay bullish until my sell stop is hit. Being bullish and not being long is illogical.

4. I set protective stops at the same time I enter a trade. I normally move these stops in to lock in a profit as the trend continues. Sometimes, I take profits when a market gets wild. This usually doesn’t get me out any better than waiting for my stops to close in, but it does cut down on the volatility of the portfolio, which helps calm my nerves. Losing a position is aggravating, whereas losing your nerve is devastating.

5. Before I enter a trade, I set stops at a point at which the chart sours.

6. Getting back in is an essential part of trend following.

7. I don’t implement momentum, I notice it and align my trading with it.

8. The markets are the same now as they were five to ten years ago because they keep changing – just like they did then.

Risk management

9. Trading requires skill at reading the markets and at managing your own anxieties.

10. Risk is the uncertain possibility of loss. If you could quantify risk exactly, it would no longer be risk.

11. Risk control has to do with your willingness to allow your stop to do its job.

12. Speculate with less than 10% of your liquid net worth. Risk less than 1% of your speculative account on a trade. This tends to keep the fluctuations in the trading account small, relative to net worth.

13. Reliance on Fundamentals indicates lack of faith in trend following.

14. Risk no more that you can afford to lose, and also risk enough so that a win is meaningful.

15. I usually ignore advice from other traders, especially the ones who believe they are on to a “sure thing”. The old timers, who talk about “maybe there is a chance of so and so,” are often right and early.

16. Pyramiding instructions appear on dollar bills. Add smaller and smaller amounts on the way up. Keep your eye open at the top

Longer term trading

17. Having a quote machine is like having a slot machine on your desk— you end up feeding it all day long. I get my price data after the close each day.

18. Intraday trading is tough since the moves are not as big as for long-term trading and there is no comparable reduction in transaction cost.

19. In general, short-term trading systems succumb to transaction costs and execution friction.

20. Trend systems do not intend to pick tops or bottoms. They ride sides.

21. The shorter the term, the smaller the move. So profit potential decreases with trading frequency. Meanwhile, transaction costs stay the same. To compensate for profit roll-off, short-term traders have to be very good guessers. To improve guessing skills, you can practice dealing cards from a standard deck, one at a time. When you become very good at it you might be able to make money with short term trading.

Money management

22. The key to long-term survival and prosperity has a lot to do with the money management techniques incorporated into the technical system. There are old traders and there are bold traders, but there are very few old, bold traders.

23. The manager has to decide how much risk to accept, which markets to play, and how aggressively to increase and decrease the trading base as a function of equity change. These decisions are quite important—often more important than trade timing.

24. The profitability of trading systems seems to move in cycles. Periods during which trend-following systems are highly successful will lead to their increased popularity. As the number of system users increases, and the markets shift from trending to directionless price action, these systems become unprofitable, and under capitalized and inexperienced traders will get shaken out. Longevity is the key to success.

Trading a system that suits you

25. Systems don’t need to be changed. The trick is for a trader to develop a system with which he is compatible.

26. I don’t think traders can follow rules for very long unless they reflect their own trading style. Eventually, a breaking point is reached and the trader has to quit or change, or find a new set of rules he can follow. This seems to be part of the process of evolution and growth of a trader.

27. A trading system is an agreement you make between yourself and the markets.

28. Trading Systems don’t eliminate whipsaws. They just include them as part of the process.

29. A computer can follow a system and place orders without making predictions or feeling anticipation. Predictions and anticipations are objects you create. These objects may interfere with sticking to your system.

Rules to follow

30. The trading rules I live by are: (1) Cut losses. (2) Ride winners. (3) Keep bets small. (4) Follow the rules without question. (5) Know when to break the rules.

31. The elements of good trading are: (1) cutting losses, (2) cutting losses, and (3) cutting losses. If you can follow these three rules, you may have a chance.

Embrace losses

32. If you can’t take a small loss, sooner or later you will take the mother of all losses.

33. I handle losing streaks by trimming down my activity. I just wait it out. Trying to trade during a losing streak is emotionally devastating. Trying to play “catch up” is lethal.

34. (On losing streaks and over-trading) Acting out this drama could be exciting. However, it also seems terribly expensive. One alternative is to keep bets small and then to systematically keep reducing risk during equity draw downs. That way you have a gentle financial and emotional touchdown.

Mindset of a winner

35. A losing trader can do little to transform himself into a winning trader. A losing trader is not going to want to transform himself. That’s the kind of thing winning traders do.

36. The winning traders have usually been winning at whatever field they are in for years.

37. It is a happy circumstance that when nature gives us true burning desires, she also gives us the means to satisfy them. Those who want to win and lack skill can get someone with skill to help them.

38 The “doing” part of trading is simple. You just pick up the phone and place orders. The “being” part is a bit more subtle. It’s like being an athlete. It’s commitment arid mission. To the committed, a world of support appears. All manner of unforeseen assistance materializes to support and propel the committed to meet grand destiny.

39. In your recipe for success, don’t forget commitment – and a deep belief in the inevitability of your success.

cprx

                                weekly view

trading today........(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poXvMBhjSWk

follow up: BOX

note: June 10th after the close,  BOX will report earnings

The Trend Rider: 2015 #1 cmcm

The Trend Rider: 2015 #1 cmcm: 30min.~ change

Cheetah

The beauty of creation inspires me to live a life where I, too, can create.

#10: BETTER, NOT MORE "It is quality rather than quantity that matters."

"Cut the link between the number of trades and your trading profits. Ignore the link between the time you spend trading and your trading results. Your trade quality is what matters." 

#9: TIME OFF THE MARKET "Only time can heal what reason cannot."

“Order Rejected. Margin Exhausted”
"You realize that your trading account is ruined. You cannot trade anymore. You recall your unimaginable lack of discipline. You had no idea why you took that many rogue trades. A humbling experience. You keep searching for a reason to explain this disastrous outcome. You think that it will help you regain confidence. You should find the reasons so that you won’t ruin your account again. However, reason alone might not help you regain your confidence as a trader. In that case, taking time off the market is the best course of action. Rest and recover. Then, return to the market with the right mindset."

#8: LUCK IN TRADING "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

"Ever thought of why your trading buddy is always luckier than you? Perhaps he is just more prepared than you. Gamblers depend on pure luck. Traders prepare for an opportunity."

#7: KNOW YOUR GAME "If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable."

- Seneca


"A trader does not take random trades. A trader looks for specific market conditions that he is able to take advantage of. Do you know what you are looking for?  You cannot surf the market waves if you don’t."

#6: WITHDRAW FROM THE MARKET "It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own."

"Traders think that they have to trade. After all, if they don’t trade, they are not traders.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
One of the most powerful weapons of a trader is the ability to stop trading.
To improve your trading, withdraw from the market under the following circumstances.
• You are mentally fatigued.
• You cannot find an edge in the current market.
• Your trading connection is unreliable. (For e.g. when travelling in less developed areas)
Withdrawing yourself from the market is not just an option. It is a powerful one that distinguishes the best traders."

#5: OPINION-LESS "You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone."

"If you think that a trader must always hold an opinion about the market, you are wrong. It’s okay to say that you have no opinion. In fact, having no opinion frees your mind to consider all opportunities. A less opinionated trader is one that will cut losses without hesitation When you find yourself trying too hard to defend your opinion, take a step back. Remember that you cannot control the market. Hence, there is no reason to get worked up over your opinion of the market."

#4: UNCERTAINTY IN MARKETS "How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life."

"Anything can happen in the market.
The largest trading blow-ups are always related to the words “…will never happen”.
The most notable example is Long-Term Capital Management’s (LTCM) collapse. This hedge fund excels in convergence trades, which assume price convergence of two assets over time.The fund had a sound strategy, as long as major market disruptions do not occur. It used huge leverage. It assumed that market disruptions that will affect the convergence relationship will never happen. Well, they did happen.A more recent case involves Marko Dimitrijevic, a hedge fund manager. He thought that the Swiss National Bank will never let the Franc float freely against the Euro.In a nutshell, anything can happen. Welcome to the markets."

#3: THE FUTURE MARKET "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason, which today arm you against the present."

"Traders worry constantly about the next price tick. This anxiety is prominent when you are in a trading position, or overly eager to trade.
The minds of anxious traders are filled with “what-ifs”.
What if the market goes up? What if it goes down? Should I exit now? Should I target further? These hypothetical questions will mess up your trading perspective.
You don’t need to worry about the future. You will simply interpret every incoming price tick with the same trading tools. Stay confident with your trading skills. Stop thinking about the future, and focus on the present market."

#2: PAIN OF TRADING LOSSES "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

"Feeling distressed because of a losing position or consecutive losses? Remember this quote. The losses are affecting you as much as you allow them to.
Revoke the pain, now."

#1: MIND OVER MARKET "You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength"

- Marcus Aurelius

"As a trader, you cannot be a control freak. A key aspect of learning how to trade is to recognize the parts you cannot control.
The best example is the market. You cannot control the market. You cannot control if your broker screws up. If you think deeply, you cannot even control how much you lose in most cases. This is because most stop-loss orders are not guaranteed.
Hence, as a trader, you can only control your mind. Realizing this is a big step forward. This is why you hear the common claim that trading is 90% psychology and 10% strategy."

MACK

MACK

                                 historical high 12.50

on the markets:
"We are in a unique environment with an optimistic yet dovishFederal Reserve regarding the US economy and any hints at a rate increase (as in doubtful for the time being). Simultaneously, we see Emerging Markets adding liquidity and China’s ETFs on new multi-year highs. Add to the mix, concerns in Iran, Yemen and Syria. Total all those factors together and what do you get? Warning Phases now confirmed in the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ and a Bullish Phase in the Russell 2000s"

wild horses

p://www.vevo.com/watch/the-rolling-stones/Wild-Horses-(Acoustic-Lyric-Video)/GBUV71500348?syndicationid=bb8a16ab-1279-4f17-969b-1dba5eb60eda&shortlink=uhy21e&country=CA&referralurl=http:%2F%2Ft.co%2FUCkrRhvQow

spy now

keep it tight, cash is king at this time

market conditions are harder to read than usual

The Trend Rider: trading

The Trend Rider: trading: keep in mind that most bull channels are bear flags 30min. chart

uso

remember oversold can become more oversold, but for you that can't stand not to play crude, it is very oversold here, and climatic volume gives us a clue for possible bottom