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John Chamberlin wrote:
>
> Realtraders,There was a few e-mails circulating
> around the forum last week with regard to trading
> being boring.
>
> I closed a short position Wed.(OEXXN) for which I
> lost exactly $500.00 with commission. I entered the
> trade on Dec 1 with an OEX print around 470. The
> option churned around, got ugly, and finally
> recovered with this weeks minor decline.
>
> I deleted all of the "Trading is Boring" threads
> mainly because I couldn't understand how trading
> could possibly be boring.
>
> After closing my trade, for which I considered a
> victory, I couldn't help but think trading can never
> be boring.
NW: I take full credit for the original quote. It is a paraphrase of
a famous Woody Allen quote, "Sex is dirty.... if it is done". I say that
trading is boring if it is done right. You omitted half the quote so you
didn't understand it.
>
> I did not originate any of the thoughts below I have,
> however, adopted them as my own.
>
> My trading is an extension of my personality, belief
> system, values, hopes, fears, and ambitions. The
> structure of my trading business is in short, my
> self-portrait, my autobiography, my signature.
NW: Your trading should not be an extension of personality, ego, etc.
It should be as objective and as unemotional as possible. The ideal, if
achievable, would be a robotic mechanical trading system where you need
not be present. Although I have not achieved that level of robotic
trading, I find myself often using market time to catch up on paper
work, e-mail, floating in the pool, or taking a nap. Today I exited my
long silver position. I last went long six weeks ago at equivalent basis
March at 4.81 and today exited at 5.84 based on a target I generated
shortly after entering this position. I could have entered a GTC order
and gone on vacation and made the same $5,150 per contract (minus the
transaction costs of rolling from my original December long contract to
March for a 7 cent spread). Sitting and watching the market is boring
and non-productive. Taking profits and depositing the money in the bank
is where the fun is. Based on your comments, I would guess that your
goal is to trade whereas my goal to make money trading. There is a big
difference between these two mind sets.
>
> Furthermore, trading offers the battleground for the
> ultimate test of self control, self discipline and
> wisdom. You can not consistently win in the markets
> unless you have mastered your own human nature.
NW: I agree that you have to master your own human nature but thinking
of the market as a battlegroud is not likely to do this. The way to
master your human emotions is thru have an objective game plan and
putting your emotions to the side. Reducing trading to a match of egos
is non-productive and likely to lead to financial self-destruction.
When the market opens, you should bring your wallet, your trading plan,
and leave your ego at home.
>
> Trading exposes your every weakness both to yourself
> and to others who may be watching.
NW: Who is watching? Unless you are on a trading floor, no one is
watching your trading and no one cares.
>
> You will be successful in so far as you can master
> wisdom and learn to cooperate with the markets you
> trade.
NW: This contradicts your previous statement about trading being a
battleground. Now rather than confrontational you are adaptive and
cooperative. I agree with this latter philosophy. I think trading is
like sailing where you get the most out of your boat by setting the
course and sails which best takes advantage of the natural forces. When
the conditions are just right and you are sailing just right, you become
one with the boat and with nature. This is the ideal model for trading
where you become one with the market. Other times it is too stormy and
then it is best to keep your boat docked.
You must learn to be an active observer,
> develop market sense, be tuned in, and capture the
> rhythm and the personalitry of the markets.
NW: I agree, but you don't have to watch every tick unless you are day
trading. After many years of watching the market, it begins to look like
re-runs.
>
> With all of that, I ask: How can trading ever
> beboring?
NW: It's boring if it is done right.
>
> Trading creates a situation that risks absolute
> failure for the potential of absolute success.
NW: Why must it be absolute failure or absolute success? On the
contrary,
trading is a process. Losing trades that follow one's winning trading
plan are not failures but rather part of the process and the cost of
doing business. There is alot of gray area and seldom is it a case of
black or white. A winning trade just means that you have made one step
forward. A losing trade only means that a winning trade is probably one
step closer. It is a process. It is not an end unto itself that can be
judged in absolute terms.
>
> For me, anybody who charaterizes trading as boring
> probably doesn't actually trade.
NW: May I please introduce myself to you? I trade and have an
independently monitored real time real money track record. I have been
earning my living from trading since 1972 and I have been a full time
professional trader since 1975. When my trading is going well, it is
really pretty boring. It is only when it is not going well that it gets
"exciting". With excitement like that, I would much prefer to be bored.
Sleepily,
Norman
Zzzzzz
> Prodesse Quam Conspici
>
> John Chamberlin
>
> ===
>
> Life is what happens to you when you're making other
> plans.
> --Betty Talmadge
>
> _________________________________________________________
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