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THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING |
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After all these years, I still make trading mistakes. Today was a prime example of an absolutely boneheaded and idiotic thing and I wanted to share it with you. I got up this morning feeling less than perky. For some reason, I had not slept well and my throat felt sore. Nevertheless, I showered, dressed and got ready to trade. The movement in the gold market was remarkable today and I had a great setup. That’s the good news. Over the weekend, I had become preoccupied with a friend who is very ill. For a variety of reasons, I felt helpless to do any more for her than I had already done over the past few weeks, and we were waiting for a biopsy report to come back today.
So- I was preoccupied,
hadn’t slept well and
made one more critical
error: I did not unplug
the telephone. I
always unplug the
telephone when I am
trading. Why didn’t I
do it today? Was there
something inside of me
that wanted to punish
myself for not being
able to care for my
friend the way I wanted
to? Did I have a
subconscious desire to
lose today? What was
going on that I broke a
cardinal rule of my
trading---to seal the
room and allow no one
and nothing else in?
What did I do? I was distracted, concerned about other things and not paying attention to what I was doing in this trade. Instead of selling to take profits, I hit “Buy.” That’s right. Instead of “Sell” I hit “Buy.” Almost immediately, half of my profits disappeared. I was still on the telephone, and told the person I had just broken a cardinal rule of trading by speaking with him, and I would have to get out of this trade and call him back.
I lost almost all the
profits, but managed to
end the trade in the
green. It could have
been a lot worse, of
course. But—it
certainly could have
been a lot better. Obviously, I still make mistakes. This mess today was my own doing. I broke my rules. I answered the telephone, thought I could get out of the trade and continue the conversation, made the most boneheaded mistake possible (substituted “Buy” for “Sell”) and then had to trade my way out of the mess. What are the lessons here: No matter how long you have been trading, you are going to make mistakes. The mistakes are almost always the result of breaking your rules. This is more than getting a plan and trading it. This is about absolute rigorous discipline. In a way, it’s like an addiction (I am not saying that trading is an addiction, although it certainly can be—rather making the comparison). All you need is one “slip,” to fall back into your addiction and lose your hard-earned sobriety. In trading, all you need to do is to make one mistake like I did today. Your profits will go almost instantly. Most people will then scramble and overtrade to try to get back what was “lost.” Of course, it wasn’t really lost because it wasn’t my money until I took it. It looked good, I was ready to sell, but I pressed the wrong button. I entered no other trades today, having been burned badly enough and not seeking revenge!
This was not my day,
despite a small profit.
I made several critical
errors. I will not
trade until the next
setup, maybe tomorrow or
the next day. That
money was not mine
because I didn’t earn it
and I didn’t deserve
it. I am responsible for this. No one did this to me and I blame no one but myself. I hope this has helped you today. It certainly has given me a special dose of reality therapy, and even more disdain for the telephone than I have had previously!
Lesson for the day (and
every second you are in
a trade):
Until Next Time,
Good No-Phone Trading
and Brain On!
Janice Dorn, M.D., Ph.D.
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You need coaching if you feel like
Personal/Group
Consultation, Speaking, Lectures, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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