Detachment & Trading
I’m convinced that the harder someone tries to grab and hold on to something, the more likely it is that they will lose it. It’s one of those universal paradoxes. So if you find you are one of these people that has a burning desire to be a succesful trader, but have not gotten there yet, relax, please. I’ve seen it all too often in this game where the quiet, laid back individual is the one that finds success, while the tense, talkative type gets wound up tighter and tighter…before dissappearing. I think it has everything to do with being relaxed enuf to let your intuition contribute to the process. Being tense, or in anticipation shows excitement, but it also shows fear. Fear is there to keep you alive, not to help you make money with a few clicks of the mouse.
The key to teaching someone to trade, in my humble opinion, is teaching them to view markets from a detached state. In order to do that you have to take down the risk and fear, and show them that more times than not they are NOT going to be pointing the mouse and getting ready to click on “buy” or “sell”. More times than not they are going to be viewing counter-trend movement and signals, and passing on them. Once you know you are passing on a signal/trigger, you naturally become detached from the market, and rather then considering your self a participant, and feeling all the excitement and ego and angst that goes with that, you find yourself an observer. That is where I need to take you before we can tallk about the what, where and when of execution.
From there it’s just four steps:
- Overview
- Set-up
- Signal
- Trade Management
Jay Norris is the author of Mastering the Currency Market, McGraw-Hill, 2009, and a trading instructor at Trading-U.com
DISCLAIMER: Forex (off-exchange foreign currency futures and options or FX) trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Risks include the potential that changing political/economic conditions may substantially affect the price/liquidity of a currency. Investors may lose all or more than their original investments.