This past Sunday morning I experienced one of the wildest Sunday mornings ever in my life. First thing, I woke up to a bus-size vehicle coming down the very narrow street right underneath my balcony. So, here’s the thing (a dear friend of mine says this a lot, and it is kind of growing on me).
On top of the vehicle were a bunch of kids dancing to music playing about 100 decibels above what even rock musicians would consider tolerable. This was about 7:30 in the morning. It was the beginning of El Carnaval right here in Sant Antoni, Spain. Later in the day, I experienced the same thing right under my balcony, except the numbers of vehicles, people, and loud music exceeded the morning number by a factor of, say, 1,000. The official El Carnaval parade came right underneath me, and let me tell you, those thousands of folks had fun with their festival …
I am not sure if the American news picked this up, but yesterday the two largest Spanish unions organized protests against the new conservative government’s austerity measures. It turned ugly, but the thing I noticed when watching the news is that all of the people getting baton-whacked and arrested were young people. So, I looked up some information and this is what I found.
Spain’s unemployment rate is nearly 23%, and its youth unemployment rate is nearly 50%.
Speaking from experience, when the young folk in a country get angry, their voices rise up and are heard, no matter the consequences. Now, add into that that they have no jobs, and you are looking at a powder keg waiting to blow. Just sayin’ …
TraderPlanet offers a lot of solid educational material, but I really like the Synergistic Trading newsletter(http://www.traderplanet.com/newsletter_articles/view/6933/distribution:8) and Dr. Janice Dorn in particular. Her insights are spot on and her writing is very accessible, which is not always the case with market writers. Here is an excerpt from her recent contribution that traders, especially new traders, should consider.
It is important for a trader to assess beliefs regularly, because at any given market moment, the trader is the composite of his or her beliefs. Fortunately (for some) and frustratingly (for others) beliefs about the markets are fungible and fluid. They can change from minute to minute and the successful trader is in the flexible flow with this and changes accordingly.
Her advice is particularly timely, as I just received this question from a wannabe trader.
Can a small private trader like me be successful and make money trading futures and options?
My direct answer – sure, anything is possible, but you have to understand trading requires you to believe in a market future. What Dr. Dorn is saying reaches right into the heart of trading expertise – one has to make a bet based on one’s belief, but one has to be nimble enough to change quickly if one’s belief is wrong. Within that is a more deep-seated psychological issue. In that is a question for you to answer – do you have the psychological makeup to be a trader in futures, option, or any other area?
Being nimble is just one aspect of a successful trading profile. Emotional control, patience, and confidence are three more examples, but they do not complete the picture. You need to investigate this aspect more deeply before you commit your mindset, time, and money to an endeavor that can waste all three, if you are not right for the job.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
