In his guest post at MartinKronicle, Victor Sperandeo stated that he believes the market high is in for the year.
Maybe he's wrong - maybe he's right.
But if you trade the S&P 500, listen up. Trading rallies in a downtrending market is a different environment - and different trading style - than trading long in a bull market. It's a new dynamic that you have to get used to, mostly by doing it.
If you become frustrated, think about trading smaller or sitting on your hands until you learn how to short the market or find another vehicle that works for your trading style.
Michael Martin discusses the roles of luck and skill in your trading and offers a fool-proof way to create a greater amount of luck.
All you can hope for is that you use the frustration to motivate you to find another solution to decrease the frequency of what brings forth the frustration in the first place. That is of course, unless you want to continue feeling frustrated - then keep doing what you're doing because you already have a perfect system of generating frustration.
Has this every happened to you?
You're in a great trade, you have unrealized gains, and you're feeling good about your execution.
You're about to add to your winner, when the market craps the bed and takes the entire market down so that your gains are wiped out in less than an hour.
Worse, the market rebounds entirely over the next few days as you watch your former position rally to new highs.
Do you chase it? Not a good idea.
Getting back in because you're angry is another form of revenge trading.
If you don't have a bona fide rule for re-entering such a trade, consider looking at reversal patterns.
If your market sells off with the overall market, but rebounds, it might show up as a reversal pattern.
A good one to start with is Victor Sperandeo's "2B Reversal" as depicted in his book "Methods of a Wall St. Master."
You can trade this as a chart pattern or code it into your systematized rules.
You will get fired for trading in a way where you don't have a defined edge faster than you will for poor performance.
Your "leads" or potential clients are not going to understand some of the industry terms that you might use during your presentation, so they are not going to know what questions to ask.
They are not going to want to look stupid, so don't expect them to ask you what a certain word means.
Here's what I would do:
1) avoid jargon - don't use big words that the average person won't know
2) stay on message - answer every question in terms of how your system or trading rules would perform
3) take a breath and take your time - it's better to take a beat and put some thought into your answers, than be rapid-fire. It's not a race.
4) "I don't know" - you'll gain a lot of respect if you have to say "I don't know, but let me get back to you in X days." You might have to research something or double-check on an idea before you open your mouth. It also gives you a specific reason to follow up with them.
Don't let curveballs throw you and take you off on tangents. Focus on your trading rules while your trading, and when you're marketing.
This is a brief glimpse of some of what we cover in our courses.
No one wants to hear how great a trader or PM you are in a raging bull market. Everyone has it all figured out.
Then something bad happens and they're equity gets hit by 10%...
You enter the picture and show people how you can remain calm under pressure and capture the majority of the up moves and not capitulate at the market bottom.
Position yourself as a trusted advisor who the HNW individual will hire no differently than they would an estate planner or CPA.
Live instruction from Michael Martin who is joined by Peter Borish and Brynne Kelly.
Other lessons by Scott Kaminski and Tony Saliba.
Plus, special guests...
The more frequently you trade, the worse it is.
Peter Borish joins Michael Martin for his weekly visit.
Any group of unsophisticated investors or traders who are committing real capital can push the markets around based upon what they're reading in social media. You have to respect their collective power.
My job is still to protect capital despite or regardless who I trade against. A group of pikers acting in concert can run me over despite my methodology and 3 decades of experience.
Glaring at the screen isn't going to generate trade ideas. Volatility does not mean opportunity. Your trading plan has to be set before you take action.
Risk a fraction of what you're normally risking per trade. You will need to learn how the new component or strategy will work in concert with your existing rules.
Have a wish list and be prepared when things go on sale
Matt Dula is a former Marine having been honorably discharged from the USMC in 2014 after a 5-year commitment as am an infantry mortarman. He was on 5 different prescription meds when he returned home as a result of a tour in Afghanistan and an MEU in the Middle East. He is currently the CEO of CVRN - the Cannabis Virtual Reality Network.
He replaced all 5 of those prescription drugs through the use of MMJ. Dula feels the US can save billions of dollars a year if we allowed Veterans to use MMJ in lieu of prescribed medications.
To better understand the marijuana space, Dula advises that you focus on two things to start:
1) If you follow the money, you can see why it's slow going in getting marijuana off the Federal prohibited substance list. There are companies that have a vested interest in keeping it illegal for many years to come, or at least slow it down so they can play catch up and set themselves up to cash in by making private investments through private holding companies so they have the equity ownership in place once marijuana is taken off the list.
An example of this is Hawthorne Gardening Co, a subsidiary company of Scott's Miracle Gro (NYSE: SMG). Scott's has in fact shed its international businesses to focus on the MMJ space.
2) Marijuana contains over 400 medically beneficial phytochemicals, the most beneficial class known as phytocannabinoids. These mimic our own body's endocannabinoids that our bodies produce naturally. We produce over 80 but that list is growing with more research.
When we introduce phytocannabinoids into our bodies, they seek out "holes" to fill where our bodies might be lacking in the endocannabinoid space.
"Of the phytocannabinoids currently being studied the one that’s best known and most researched is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is a compound that carries sometimes less desirable psychoactive properties. However, there are more than 100 other cannabinoids that are less known like Cannabidiol (CBD), Cannabinol (CBN), and Cannabichromene (CBC). CBD, CBN, and CBC have all shown promise maintaining the mind and body while promoting everyday health and wellness without these aforementioned psychotropic effects."
You can read more about these here.
Read more about cannabinoids here.
A small allocation is a strategy. A large allocation is a business. How you handle yourself in market corrections instructs allocators how you will handle yourself with their money.
Have a game plan ahead of time. The market is always right - don't deflect blame. Really good traders understand themselves very well. They have ownership of their emotions and trading.
Pairs trading is a good way to have a hedge that you can actually make money on. Simultaneously long one name and short another. Both "legs" can profit, whereas if you have a married put with a long stock, you're bullish on the stock but if you make on the hedge, it's because you're losing on the stock.