you will feel pain. The traders who go with the tide are more free and
easy. They don't like the pain. They like themselves. They know there is
no point in fighting the force of the market. They let go of their egos
and admit that the market is greater than they are.
Eight Questions for Truthful Traders :
1. Are you willing to face your failures without recrimination?
2. Do you delude yourself with notions and rationalizations that
you are limited by the nature of the marketplace or the tape?
3. Are you willing to acknowledge your successes, or are you
afraid that others will be disappointed or hurt if you tell them I
you have succeeded?
4. Do you hold back from succeeding because of some childhood
notion about not deserving to win?
5. Do you hold back in your trading because of a reluctance to let
it be as good as it can be?
6. Are you held back by imagined restrictions placed on you by
other obligations?
7. How much do you distort reality because of fear of the conse-
quences?
8. How willing are you to commit 100 percent to being in the
game?
For some traders, this is difficult to do. Take Leo, who like many
short sellers has a high tolerance for pain. He likes to trade against the
tide. He doesn't want to admit fear and doesn't want to put a tremendous
premium on cutting risks by making a trade with a higher upside
potential and lower downside risk. Sometimes this happens after he has
had a good month and wants to "give something back." Feeling good
and having money in his pocket, he slips into a gambler's mentality and
"bets it up."
The best traders, though, are patient. They can wait for the right
moment—when a stock turns—and then trade to win. This is important,
since the result may take twice as long as they anticipated if they're
holding while a stock is rising. Yet they're not so patient that they waste
opportunities, nor so anxious to take a profit that they nibble at it and
lose upside opportunities. They may trade to test the market, but they
don't ride it just to ride. They have the drive to stay with trades that are
working, and the ability to sit tight and wait for the trade to be completed.
They know they can go broke by taking small profits, since the
slippage and brokerage costs are so high.
Read More : Being Comfortable, Being Right
