trendfollowing's Commentaries
Nov
3
2009
Trading 101: Ask Yourself Some Questions
by trendfollowing
Overall Rating:
Trading 101: ask yourself some questions:
- What can you win?
- What can you lose?
- What do you know?
- What don’t you know?
- Why are you making a given decision?
- Who are you? Are you, for example, the guy who needs to make $100,000 a year or your wife leaves you? Or are you the guy who wants to model the best and make huge money?
- Where are you in relation to you goals? Where do you need to be to achieve your goals?
- When will you start? Now or tomorrow or next year. Knowing ‘when’ affects the next steps you take.
The market doesn’t give a damn about you, me or anyone. The market doesn’t care what color you are, if you are short or tall, or if you live or die. The market doesn’t care whether you play or leave. Don’t like that blunt black and white world description? Many people don’t. The reasons for that dislike, in my opinion, can be found in the “wimpification” of society. Consider some cultural idiocy pulled from the papers:
- “Kids are growing up with soccer leagues and spelling bees where everyone gets a prize.”
- “Dodge ball has been deemed too traumatic by some parents.”
- “Other parents consider musical chairs dangerously exclusionary.”
- “Companies celebrate young employees by throwing confetti at them for coming to work on time.”
- “One preschool song goes ‘Frère Jacques: I am special/ I am special/ Look at me…’”
How are adults supposed to achieve anything when they are busy teaching kids such silliness? Keep those tidbits in mind when you wonder who you are competing against in the markets. Not everyone is so “smart”.
Tags: trading-101
