Making the Trade

I am a bull. I like to buy. I like to be long.

I long to see the market go up and my profits roll in.

Marked to the markets, my gut churns up and down with the market.

Rising markets and Tums make my stomach feel better.

I like being right. I like when the market goes my way.

I don’t like to be wrong.

Catching the trend, the uptrend, is my friend.

Getting slammed and closing limit down is my greatest fear.

Getting in is easy. Getting out is hard.

Selling at the high is great, until the markets moves higher.

Then I want back in, but I know better.

I wait for the dip. I wait for the pullback.

I catch the falling knife, but after it hits the table and finds some stability.

I like to add to winners, but then my average price doth rise.

I like to keep my stops away from being hit, unless I really need them to be so.

I fear selling on the low. I fear being stopped out, only to see the market return to its upward trend.

Market clearing prices are good for price discovery, but bad for my trading.

Those are the prices where my stops get filled.

Those are the prices were my gut turns out.

Those are the prices where my profits are realized, or maybe my loss.

I love bull markets.

I love a market that closes on the high and opens just a little lower the next day.

I love a market with more buyers than sellers, though I know that saying makes no sense.

I love a market that closes limit up.

I listen to the market.

The market is my friend.

It tells me when to get in and when to get out.

I listen to my friend the market.

Getting in is easy.

Just close your eyes and buy the market.

Or better yet, have a price you like and a time.

Time and price matter to me.

Getting out of the market is harder.

But if you listen, the market will tell you when the trade is over.

When the activity gets too big for you, step aside and let the big boys play.

Listen to the market. Listen to your gut. Get out. Stay out.

Before you trade, have a plan.

Once you are in a trade, rip up that plan.

As you trade, continue to manage your trade and make a new plan.

Trading never goes as planned.

Futures trading gives me a rush.

However, the best trades are boring.

Trading should be boring, I should not care.

I should never talk about my trades.

I like to tell the stories of my winners.

I have forgotten all about my losers.

My accountant knows all about my losers.

My accountant knows too much.

Trading is boring and fun.

It is fun and boring.

Trading is a game and a profession.

Applying game theory to trading makes too much sense.

I will go short. I will go long.

I go long more than short.

My longs take long, my shorts are short

My time in a trade lasts forever, it seems.

Being flat is a position too.

Being long is a pre-occupation or bias I do have.

Being short is an unlimited risk, but I must live with it.

Make the best trade, long or short, or stay flat.

Picking the best trade takes the most guts.

Doing the right thing in the midst of chaos is hard.

Knowing where and when to buy or sell is an art.

Today’s traders want trading to be a science.

I always wanted to trade beans in the teens

Never trade anything that “pro-creates,” Dennis said.

Know what are cheapest to deliver in the bonds.

Never take delivery unless it is part of the plan.

Spreads are a great way to trade.

The best traders are spreaders.

Spreading a loser is not a spread.

Mallers taught me spreads are a stick with a piece of “sh*t” on both ends.

I like to use the Market Profile.

I watch a point and figure chart

My moving averages are long, low and high

Reverting to the mean happens more than not.

Trading breakouts are the best,

When the market continues to go.

Trading breakouts is buying the high or selling the low.

Most people think that is dumb.

I love this thing called price.

I could watch it all day long.

I do watch it all day long.

I hope this thing called price moves soon.