Edition 614 - March 18, 2016

Here's some trading humor: A few days ago I booked a lot of money on a trade with a water development company. Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool. I gave him a glass of water. Now, I’m wondering if I did the right thing.

Trade What You See

Trading Educators teaches traders to trade what they see, not what they think. But as a trader, you will never see anything if you fail to first look!

Fairly often a trade comes along that is extremely obvious. I'm wondering right now how many traders missed the absolutely easy-money Intermarket spread. The spread calls for going long the E-mini Nasdaq 100 and short the Mini Dow.

Simple observation was all that was needed to make the trading decision. The CBOT gives a 90% margin credit if you will trade the spread as a ratio spread. To obtain the credit, the CBOT called for entering 3 Mini Dow contracts vs 5 E-mini Nasdaq contracts (Note: The ratio can change).

As you can see below, The Law of Charts is at work in spreads as well as in outright futures or stocks. In fact, The Law of Charts works with any kind of chart you want to use. It works with bar charts, line charts, point and figure charts, and candlestick charts. As long as a chart has a horizontal axis and a variable vertical axis, you can see The Law of Charts in action. The Law of Charts™ states that a 1-2-3 low occurs only at the end of a trend or swing. Since the low of the swing on the chart moved lower than the low of the previous retracement, the line I have drawn indicates a downswing. If you will take a look at your own charting software, you will see that the Nasdaq futures are moving sideways, while at the same time the Dow futures are moving down. This gives the reason for the spread to work.

Realistic Optimism

by Master Trader Joe Ross
Author, Trader, Trading Mentor, and Founder of Trading Educators, Inc.

Jack and John have just started a small trading business. Jack says, "I can feel it. We're going to make a fortune. By this time next year, we'll be rolling in money."

John counters, "I doubt it. That would take a miracle."

Jack says, "You're such a pessimist. Why are you so bleak?"

John argues, "I think we'll be successful. But I don't think it's going to happen overnight. It's going to take some time, and a lot of hard work!"

John is a realist. He knows they will make huge profits eventually, but he does not falsely believe that a miracle will happen. Becoming a winning trader will require that you overcome endless setbacks. It's important to be optimistic, but it is more important to be realistic. If you are overly optimistic, like Jack, you are setting yourself up for failure. You may take unnecessary risks, or be especially disappointed when you encounter the endless setbacks that are commonplace in trading.

If you want to beat the odds and become a winning trader, then you must doggedly make trade after trade, even when you face endless setbacks. It takes a rare person to be able to pick oneself up after a fall and be ready to face each setback with enthusiasm.

Optimists do better in school, win more elections, and succeed more at work than pessimists. A study of several occupational groups from top notch winning athletes to traders on the floor of the exchange, found that optimists do better. What's their secret? It is in how they explain setbacks or failures. They don't blame themselves. They don't believe that success or failure is a matter of enduring personality traits. Instead, they explain setbacks as the result of minor, controllable situations that have nothing to do with them personally. They believe that, with enough persistence, they will have a good outcome.

On the other hand, pessimism has its virtues. Pessimists may feel badly most of the time, but research studies have shown that they more accurately judge how much control they have over situational circumstances. Pessimists are more realistic in their judgments, and thus it may be beneficial to think pessimistically on occasion. Optimism may make you feel good, but pessimism helps you evaluate the feasibility of your plans, goals, or ideas. Traders, especially novices, are notoriously overly confident. Novice traders tend to over-trade, and are unrealistically optimistic. It's vital for survival to have realistic expectations when it comes to trading. Optimism helps you persist in the face of a setback, but a healthy sense of skepticism will keep you based in reality.