Forgive me for telling you the truth, but before you had that SLM trade, I was getting desperate of looking for a scapegoat who will make me feel a little bit better. Today was just not the type of day to get blown out on, it was the type of day that I normally excel on because both futures sensitive stocks and energy rallied, at different time frames, normally a golden opportunity for me. My trading buddy from another floor finished +1300, a $2600 swing, and he and I have never been that far apart before, ever. You can imagine no one else I knew was losing money, and as much as it hurted to see you losing a few week's profit in one trade, it was guilty pleasure and made me feel a little bit better. What completely amazed me was your composure, down 1K in one trade, at the dead zone, just missed a huge energy rally because you were stunned from the pain, facing a brutal Friday afternoon, you DID NOT give up. You cut the deficit down to 800 area a few times, only to see it dip back below 1000, psychologically because I was in exact same boat, I knew how frustrated you were, and I was extremely frustrated myself. However, you maintained an amazing poise, as everyone else in your shoes will usually either quit for the day or blow themself into a new hole. You took slow stocks, got great entries, and held them with patience. We had a lot of the same calls together, yet you held on to them, with poise, and I was frustrated and churned away and gave up on what could have been decent winners. When the smoke cleared, you made it an acceptable loss, and I finished a little bit UNDER my morning low. You kept on tapping, and I tapped out. That's the quality of a great trader, something you can't teach, you either have it, or you don't, hang in there and make full use of it, you will do great.
I guess it is very easy to question a non profitable trade specially after the fact. The biggest mistake here and you already realize this is that you had no exit strategy. If you looked at yesterday's chart you would of realized that once SLM breaks 79.00,yesterdays low, you may be in deep #$$%$. Without an exit strategy the only thing you have left is hope and prayer if you have to count on hoping and praying then get ready to make a charitable donation to your friendly specialist.
It was good, all I can say is, the man who came to our office today, the one I had a drink (actually I had a glass of water because I almost never drink) with, would be the best addition to our team this far. While he lacks actual intraday trading experience, if I have to choose between him and a trader who performs exactly like myself, I would take him in a heart beat (of course, having both is even better) even if my "mirror image" shows me my own trading record. Yes, that's how much I think of him. Because he has a chance to be a better trader than I will ever be, yet I or anyone else for that matter will probably never get the type of experience he has. The experience he has is something that you will rarely, if ever, see from someone who is new to this business, and unlike others with his unique skills, he is humble, conservative, and ego-less. Most importantly, he gave up a very high paying job even by my standard for an opportunity to do what he truly loves, that's a far cry from even my own motivation (those who read my journal know while it is not about money, I have said before that this is my only chance to make it top tier). Sector traders such as myself are a dime a dozen at Worldco, but his expertise is totally unique and he is very outgoing, combined with excellent work ethic (from his previous job) and defensive oriented mindset, it is literally impossible to find a better recruit not because of his stats, but the unique skills he can bring to the table, and awesome potential. He knows things about the market that people making quarter million a year don't know about. He is probably, one of the few guys I would listen to very carefully regardless of his P&L. If he is reading this, in him I see someone who can address one of my greatest weaknesses in trading (an ineffective morning research routine) and introduce me to some fresh new trading ideas (and he taught me something today I never even thought about, for someone who is exposed to so many different trading styles, that means something, especially if what he said makes sense to me more than say, some arcane indicators) which will give me a serious edge over my competitors if I can use it properly, and in me he will find someone who is completely honest, one of the few team leaders who would show him what his P&L looks like on a bad day, and perhaps even more importantly, someone who trades a simlar style and I can see us complement each other like Stockton & Malone That said, he will be a sizzling piece of commodity to fight for as a recruiter has to be stupid to not go after him, and he has a few more firms to visit. Ultimately I think it will come down to us versus Echo, whatever his decision is, he will have my 100%, PURE, best wishes. As pure as the glass of water I had. As he will make the best possible decision for himself
I must agree with Hitman on his comments about Stockk. Stockk is showing great psychological strength early on in his career... the focus and composure to keep playing after a hit is what separates the men from the boys... Stockk has shown himself to be a real man and this bodes well for his future as a trader. However, I would disagree with you Hitman, that it is something that you 'either have or don't' (as per your last paragraph)... with the right psychological training (for example working with real vigor through books like The Disciplined Trader, by Douglas) I believe that the right psychological attitudes can be developed in anyone's psyche.
Yeah candle, perhaps...but I'd like to see STOCK maintain his composure so well while losing HIS money. That's the real test.
Candle, I am having some problems loading .bmp onto geocities, is there a trick to it or am I doing something wrong? I can only upload .jpg or .gif files. Please advise.
Yes, there is certainly validity in your comment, Protrader... nevertheless, Stockk's pay packet (and his future at his firm) depends on his profitability... the psychological effects are likely to be somewhat more muted for Stockk - given he is trading Other People's Money - than for someone taking a hit with their own money. So I find myself in agreement with your comment, Protrader.