DJIA is ready to test the support @ 8050 level.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
12:13 noon - How Do You Feel About Your Trading?
How Do You Feel About Your Trading?
by R.J. Hixson
The other day a friend told me she was having trouble signing a contract because she didn’t feel good about it. Her comments reminded me of how I felt about my trade entries that morning for one of my systems. I was still pulling the trigger but wasn’t feeling totally good about it. The system was performing well, but I’ve started to wonder if these unfamiliar market conditions might affect that system, and I’ve recognized some feelings of slight doubt at the entries.
Van stresses the critical importance of feelings, emotions, and mental states for traders. Those aren’t topics to which I paid much attention previously, especially relating to making money in the markets. By deepening my understanding of this area and following a simple process, my trading has seen a dramatic improvement.
How Do You Feel?
How do you feel right now? Moreover, how adept are you at identifying and describing how you feel? Good, fine, or OK? Those were the core of my emotional vocabulary before doing the Peak
Performance Home Study Course and other psychological courses since. Because we define reality through language, limited vocabulary can effectively limit options, a less than desirable condition when you have the ability to choose.
Quick test: write down as many descriptive emotional words as you can in one minute. How many emotions could you list? I thought I did pretty well coming up with 13 emotions by the one minute point—about the same time I was running out of words. Then, I turned the page in the book where I found this exercise to see over 300 words listed, and these were just positive emotions! I felt quite humbled (which, by the way, wasn’t one of my 13 words). Admittedly, I wasn’t highly conscious of my feelings or able to describe them very well.
To help traders with the common condition of being unconsciousness of their feelings, Van uses a bag of marbles to create a trading simulation game. It’s partly an emotional laboratory in his workshops. As the marbles get pulled, the teams respond and the drama ensues. He’s constantly prodding the players to “Notice your feelings.” It’s been enlightening to record how emotionally I can react in a simple game involving small amounts of money. Also watching my teammate’s wild-eyed excitement, frustrated aggravation, or occasional blank-faced despondence has been educational. Funny, I’ve felt each of those too the way I used to trade.
That’s the whole point of the game though—to generate emotions, to push your buttons in a controlled environment where you can notice what’s going on inside. In playing the game multiple times, I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions. It reminds me of the way I felt when I was trading several years ago.
The marble game is a powerful experience; ask anyone who’s played. From it, I’ve learned that clear objectives and preparing a thorough plan can make the game plain fun. On teams where we have taken these steps, I’ve felt calm, attentive and joyful.
An Emotionally Driven Process
My emotions used to be driven by what the market was doing. Volatility was good and smooth periods were bad (it meant waiting patiently or impatiently). By trying to call market turning points, I would be elated when I caught them or upset when I missed them. On top of that, my position sizing strategies (or lack thereof) provided another whole level of emotional reactions that compounded my responses to catching or missing the market turns. Gains engendered larger positions while losses produced seemingly more turning points to trade in my effort to make up some of the losses. For quite awhile, I actually thought this was working; I was only losing “some” money overall. When I was about halfway through the Peak Performance course, I started to recognize what was going on. I had been very lucky not to have blown up my entire account.
Process Driven Emotions
I was doing nearly nothing like what Van laid out in the Top Tasks of Trading, which were a host of new concepts. More important for me were some simple fundamentals for successful trading that I could follow:
1. Having a clear process.
2. Defining an effective emotional state for each part of the process.
3. Being able to get into those mental states to trade.
Wow, this was the most non-technical and radical trading advice I had read since I had decided to “get serious” about trading a few years back.
The Top Tasks of Trading provided a simple and effective structure to deal with a range of trading issues, including the emotional results of my trading. Rather than my variable trading results causing variable emotions, the Tasks could help me generate certain emotions in order to create stable trading results. Furthermore, the Tasks are simple steps that make it easy to identify and address individual trading issues that come up—like my entries last week.
Ken Long explains that he likes to feel professional when he trades. That’s an appealing idea for me, and I’ve adopted that as a mental state when I play the marble game as well as when I trade. The whole idea of picking how I would like to feel when trading was a new idea for me.
Prescription
To help improve my feelings about my recent entries, last weekend I checked a few things. Systems results—positive. Big picture—unchanged. The Top Tasks—a very fruitful review. Several tasks will play a supporting role with my entries this week including a review of my trading system, my ongoing self-analysis, and knowing I have an upcoming periodic review. One particular task, however, is where getting into a particular mental state will help me a great deal. It’s the action step where all of the “work” for a trade has been done already and the task is just to enter the position. I now remember to feel good when I have a valid setup and to enter the trade without thinking. The mental state for this step is to be totally committed to the entry. Remembering that little bit will help a lot this week.
Beyond Trading
Need I mention that if it’s possible to pick a particular mental state to get in to for trading, that it just might be a useful skill for life in general? It’s funny that working on a “trading skill” also has made my life better. I like to feel great. “Feel great” is simply a mental state that I can create now pretty easily instead of waiting for certain things to happen. Now, do I do that all the time? Well, no, but that’s called self-sabotage and a whole enchilada for another day.
How do you want to feel in your trading? How about a broader question: how do you want to feel in your life? Wayne Dyer said the plain statement “I want to feel good” can have a profound impact on your thinking.
Trade well and take care.
by R.J. Hixson
The other day a friend told me she was having trouble signing a contract because she didn’t feel good about it. Her comments reminded me of how I felt about my trade entries that morning for one of my systems. I was still pulling the trigger but wasn’t feeling totally good about it. The system was performing well, but I’ve started to wonder if these unfamiliar market conditions might affect that system, and I’ve recognized some feelings of slight doubt at the entries.
Van stresses the critical importance of feelings, emotions, and mental states for traders. Those aren’t topics to which I paid much attention previously, especially relating to making money in the markets. By deepening my understanding of this area and following a simple process, my trading has seen a dramatic improvement.
How Do You Feel?
How do you feel right now? Moreover, how adept are you at identifying and describing how you feel? Good, fine, or OK? Those were the core of my emotional vocabulary before doing the Peak
Performance Home Study Course and other psychological courses since. Because we define reality through language, limited vocabulary can effectively limit options, a less than desirable condition when you have the ability to choose.
Quick test: write down as many descriptive emotional words as you can in one minute. How many emotions could you list? I thought I did pretty well coming up with 13 emotions by the one minute point—about the same time I was running out of words. Then, I turned the page in the book where I found this exercise to see over 300 words listed, and these were just positive emotions! I felt quite humbled (which, by the way, wasn’t one of my 13 words). Admittedly, I wasn’t highly conscious of my feelings or able to describe them very well.
To help traders with the common condition of being unconsciousness of their feelings, Van uses a bag of marbles to create a trading simulation game. It’s partly an emotional laboratory in his workshops. As the marbles get pulled, the teams respond and the drama ensues. He’s constantly prodding the players to “Notice your feelings.” It’s been enlightening to record how emotionally I can react in a simple game involving small amounts of money. Also watching my teammate’s wild-eyed excitement, frustrated aggravation, or occasional blank-faced despondence has been educational. Funny, I’ve felt each of those too the way I used to trade.
That’s the whole point of the game though—to generate emotions, to push your buttons in a controlled environment where you can notice what’s going on inside. In playing the game multiple times, I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions. It reminds me of the way I felt when I was trading several years ago.
The marble game is a powerful experience; ask anyone who’s played. From it, I’ve learned that clear objectives and preparing a thorough plan can make the game plain fun. On teams where we have taken these steps, I’ve felt calm, attentive and joyful.
An Emotionally Driven Process
My emotions used to be driven by what the market was doing. Volatility was good and smooth periods were bad (it meant waiting patiently or impatiently). By trying to call market turning points, I would be elated when I caught them or upset when I missed them. On top of that, my position sizing strategies (or lack thereof) provided another whole level of emotional reactions that compounded my responses to catching or missing the market turns. Gains engendered larger positions while losses produced seemingly more turning points to trade in my effort to make up some of the losses. For quite awhile, I actually thought this was working; I was only losing “some” money overall. When I was about halfway through the Peak Performance course, I started to recognize what was going on. I had been very lucky not to have blown up my entire account.
Process Driven Emotions
I was doing nearly nothing like what Van laid out in the Top Tasks of Trading, which were a host of new concepts. More important for me were some simple fundamentals for successful trading that I could follow:
1. Having a clear process.
2. Defining an effective emotional state for each part of the process.
3. Being able to get into those mental states to trade.
Wow, this was the most non-technical and radical trading advice I had read since I had decided to “get serious” about trading a few years back.
The Top Tasks of Trading provided a simple and effective structure to deal with a range of trading issues, including the emotional results of my trading. Rather than my variable trading results causing variable emotions, the Tasks could help me generate certain emotions in order to create stable trading results. Furthermore, the Tasks are simple steps that make it easy to identify and address individual trading issues that come up—like my entries last week.
Ken Long explains that he likes to feel professional when he trades. That’s an appealing idea for me, and I’ve adopted that as a mental state when I play the marble game as well as when I trade. The whole idea of picking how I would like to feel when trading was a new idea for me.
Prescription
To help improve my feelings about my recent entries, last weekend I checked a few things. Systems results—positive. Big picture—unchanged. The Top Tasks—a very fruitful review. Several tasks will play a supporting role with my entries this week including a review of my trading system, my ongoing self-analysis, and knowing I have an upcoming periodic review. One particular task, however, is where getting into a particular mental state will help me a great deal. It’s the action step where all of the “work” for a trade has been done already and the task is just to enter the position. I now remember to feel good when I have a valid setup and to enter the trade without thinking. The mental state for this step is to be totally committed to the entry. Remembering that little bit will help a lot this week.
Beyond Trading
Need I mention that if it’s possible to pick a particular mental state to get in to for trading, that it just might be a useful skill for life in general? It’s funny that working on a “trading skill” also has made my life better. I like to feel great. “Feel great” is simply a mental state that I can create now pretty easily instead of waiting for certain things to happen. Now, do I do that all the time? Well, no, but that’s called self-sabotage and a whole enchilada for another day.
How do you want to feel in your trading? How about a broader question: how do you want to feel in your life? Wayne Dyer said the plain statement “I want to feel good” can have a profound impact on your thinking.
Trade well and take care.
9:23 am - FKLI gap up slightly. FKLI looks to move sideway to downward !
Regional market is retreating from its opening high this morning !
Saturday, January 24, 2009
1:45 pm - US STOCKS-Banks lift S&P, GE hits Dow; Nasdaq up with Google
US STOCKS-Banks lift S&P, GE hits Dow; Nasdaq up with Google By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended a difficult week with the broad S&P 500 closing higher on Friday as investors bought beaten-up financials on hopes of further aid from Washington, offsetting a disappointing outlook from General Electric that kept the Dow under water. GE's stock dropped almost 11 percent after the economic bellwether reported earnings that met Wall Street's expectations, but warned of an "extremely difficult" 2009. News that President Barack Obama and his economic advisers will meet on Saturday fueled hopes that the new administration will put together another rescue package for the ailing financial sector. The S&P Financial Index rose 3.4 percent. "Financials are getting a lift in anticipation of more creative federal involvement from the Obama White House next week," said Peter Kenney, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey. "People are expecting the financials to get significant help." The Dow Jones industrial average shed 45.24 points, or 0.56 percent, to 8,077.56. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.45 points, or 0.54 percent, to 831.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 11.80 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,477.29. For the week, the Dow dropped 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 slipped 2 percent and the Nasdaq fell 3.4 percent. The Nasdaq was the best-performing index, led higher on Friday by large technology companies, including Google Inc , whose shares rose5.9 percent to $324.70 after the Silicon Valley company's quarterly earnings beat estimates. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America were among the top-performing financial stocks. Some analysts cited market talk of further government cash injections to banks, while others said investors were tempted by stocks whose prices were slashed in this week's sell-off. JPMorgan Chase, gained 5.1 percent to $24.28 and gave the greatest support to the Dow, while Bank of America's stock shot up 9.3 percent to $6.24, while Citigroup jumped nearly 12 percent to $3.47, all in NYSE trading. Chevron ranked among the Dow's best performers as March crude oil futures rose more than 6 percent to settle above $46 a barrel, aided by expectations of a cold snap in the U.S. Northeast. Chevron gained 1.2 percent to $70.82. During the session, the Dow briefly turned positive, but it couldn't overcome the drag of GE and investors' concerns about the weak business outlook in 2009 for some major industrial companies. Investors also fretted about a possible dividend cut at General Electric despite reassuring comments by the company's chief executive. GE's stock lost 10.8 percent to $12.03. Fellow Dow component United Technologies Corp, which was downgraded to "market perform" by Bernstein Research, lost 3.2 percent to $47.41. Also weighing on the Dow was Caterpillar, which dropped 4.2 percent to $35.66 after rival Komatsu Ltd lowered its profit forecast for the year, citing a sharp decline in global demand. Trading volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.42 billion shares changing hands, slightly below last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 2.19 billion shares traded, slightly below last year's daily average of 2.28 billion. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of about 8 to 7. But on the Nasdaq, the trend was the opposite, with about seven stocks falling for every six that rose. (Editing by Jan Paschal) Keywords: MARKETS STOCKS
COPYRIGHT
COPYRIGHT
Friday, January 23, 2009
4:32 pm - Happy CNY !
Wishing you a Happy CNY and we will be back on 28 Jan 2009.
Wishing you a Bullish Year !
Wishing you a Bullish Year !
Thursday, January 22, 2009
9:19 am - DJIA doing a reversal last nite !
Support at 7950-8000 level. The resistance to break is now 8400.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
2:10 pm - Special Offers !
Dear Traders,
In the interest of serving you below is an unusual offer to upgrade your knowledge and skills from my friend Azizi Ali who is a famous writer, motivator and financial consultant . This is a one time deal for you to upgrade yourself at a very reasonable price. Please read the below message from Azizi:
RegardsBill and Martin
Happy new year!
A good friend of mine, The Millionaires Coach Azizi Ali, has just launched a new online bookstore www.BookPlanet.com.my. I’ve logged onto the site and find it very useful. More importantly, most of the books are selling at discounts ranging from 10% all the way up to 40%. Of course, some of the books are packaged together and selling at fantastic discounts. Further, you can also get free copies of his latest eBook on wealth creation How I Made Millions From Lessons Learnt From Tun Daim if you purchase his Omnibus.
The best news is that I’ve managed to convince him to give you a Special Deal for the new year. If you make a purchase from the store between 20th Jan 2009 to 2nd Feb 2009, you will get an additional 10% off the prices of the books. That’s right – you will get an additional 10% off from whatever discount is listed on the website! For example, The Millionaire Chronicles by Azizi is selling for RM31.92 on the online store, which is 20% off from the retail price of RM39.90. You, however will pay only RM27.93, or 30% off the retail price! As this is a super super deal, I urge you to take advantage of this offer, particularly as it is a limited time deal.
The following are the terms and conditions of the offer:
§ The offer is only valid for purchase of books from www.BookPlanet.com.my.
§ The purchase must be made between 20th Jan 2009 to 2nd Feb 2009.
§ The offer is only valid for individual book purchase and not for Powerpacks and Omnibus.
§ You must pay the price stated on the invoice first and BookPlanet will refund you the additional 10% discount. They will include a cheque for that amount together with your order. § The next step is very important. Please include “Bill” when entering your order details so
that the crew will know that you are entitled for this special deal. There will be a box where you can enter this detail when you are making the order. If you do not enter this detail, the staff will be unable to differentiate your order from the other orders, which means that you will not get that additional discount.
I personally think this is a great and fabulous deal as it offers you an opportunity to increase your financial knowledge at a fraction of the usual price. So take advantage of this offer, log on to www.BookPlanet.com.my and make your order now.
All the best for 2009.
BookPlanet/Joint Ventures/Bill Pax
In the interest of serving you below is an unusual offer to upgrade your knowledge and skills from my friend Azizi Ali who is a famous writer, motivator and financial consultant . This is a one time deal for you to upgrade yourself at a very reasonable price. Please read the below message from Azizi:
RegardsBill and Martin
Happy new year!
A good friend of mine, The Millionaires Coach Azizi Ali, has just launched a new online bookstore www.BookPlanet.com.my. I’ve logged onto the site and find it very useful. More importantly, most of the books are selling at discounts ranging from 10% all the way up to 40%. Of course, some of the books are packaged together and selling at fantastic discounts. Further, you can also get free copies of his latest eBook on wealth creation How I Made Millions From Lessons Learnt From Tun Daim if you purchase his Omnibus.
The best news is that I’ve managed to convince him to give you a Special Deal for the new year. If you make a purchase from the store between 20th Jan 2009 to 2nd Feb 2009, you will get an additional 10% off the prices of the books. That’s right – you will get an additional 10% off from whatever discount is listed on the website! For example, The Millionaire Chronicles by Azizi is selling for RM31.92 on the online store, which is 20% off from the retail price of RM39.90. You, however will pay only RM27.93, or 30% off the retail price! As this is a super super deal, I urge you to take advantage of this offer, particularly as it is a limited time deal.
The following are the terms and conditions of the offer:
§ The offer is only valid for purchase of books from www.BookPlanet.com.my.
§ The purchase must be made between 20th Jan 2009 to 2nd Feb 2009.
§ The offer is only valid for individual book purchase and not for Powerpacks and Omnibus.
§ You must pay the price stated on the invoice first and BookPlanet will refund you the additional 10% discount. They will include a cheque for that amount together with your order. § The next step is very important. Please include “Bill” when entering your order details so
that the crew will know that you are entitled for this special deal. There will be a box where you can enter this detail when you are making the order. If you do not enter this detail, the staff will be unable to differentiate your order from the other orders, which means that you will not get that additional discount.
I personally think this is a great and fabulous deal as it offers you an opportunity to increase your financial knowledge at a fraction of the usual price. So take advantage of this offer, log on to www.BookPlanet.com.my and make your order now.
All the best for 2009.
BookPlanet/Joint Ventures/Bill Pax
11:20 am - FKLI gap down due to DJIA - 4 pct loss !
Regional markets are recovering their ground now !
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
11:24 am - The Habit of Mindfulness by Brett N.Steenbarger
The Habit of Mindfulness
By Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D. "Our joy, our peace, our happiness depend very much on our practice of recognizing and transforming our habit energies. There are positive habit energies that we have to cultivate, there are negative habit energies that we have to recognize, embrace and transform. The energy with which we do these things is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a kind of energy that helps us to be aware of what is going on. Therefore, when the habit energy shows itself, we know right away. "Hello, my little habit energy, I know you are there. I will take good care of you." In recognizing it as it is, you are in control of the situation. You don't have to fight it; in fact the Buddha does not recommend that you fight it, because that habit energy is you, and you should not fight against yourself.
You have to generate the energy of mindfulness, which is also you, and that positive energy will do the work of recognizing and embracing. Every time you embrace your habit energy, you can help it to transform a little bit. The habit energy is a kind of seed within your consciousness, and when it becomes a source of energy, you have to recognize it. You have to bring your mindfulness into the present moment, and you just embrace that negative energy: "Hello, my negative habit energy. I know you are there. I am here for you." After maybe one or two or three minutes, that energy will go back into the form of a seed, in order to re-manifest itself later on. You have to be very alert."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Transforming Negative Habit Energies
There is more to ourselves than our selves.When I am trading poorly, I stop observing the market. I become convinced of a scenario, locked in a bullish or bearish stance. Though I am not psychotic, there is an important sense in which I am out of touch with reality. I convince myself there is opportunity when there is none. I feel impelled to pick a bottom in a falling market. At those points, I am driven by emotional needs that are outside my conscious awareness.
The Russian philosopher and mystic G. I. Gurdjieff described people as sleeping: they walk, talk, eat, love, and work the automatic patterns and routines that we identify as our selves. That is how I trade when I trade poorly. I am operating mechanically, in a kind of sleep, impelled by forces that I do not control. I trade with my habitual self, not myself.
When I am trading normally, I closely observe the market. I watch volume at each price level to see if the market is facilitating trade or rejecting that level. I observe the proportion of volume hitting bids and the proportion lifting offers, catching swings in the short-term sentiment of large traders. I study the most recent market regimes and closely scan the correlated markets that lead my market: interest rates, oil prices, and various sectors. Throughout these observations, I am formulating hypotheses, and sometimes I test these hypotheses with trades. When I am trading normally, I behave like a scientist, using the outcomes of trades to inform me about the market and aid the reformulation of my hypotheses.
When I am trading well, I observe myself observing the market. I am aware of market action, but I am also conscious of my own reactions. My Internal Observer knows that, if I feel boredom or panic, other traders probably feel the same way. The Observer also knows my habits: that I will be tempted to pile on during breakout moves or place a trade shortly after a loser to get my money back. The Observer doesn't fight these tendencies. Instead, it dispassionately observes them even as I observe the market. I know I'm trading well when I say to myself, "Here is a place where I used to take that impulsive trade." I perceive my robotic tendencies, but they no longer control me. It is difficult to identify with a pattern and simultaneously stand apart from it as an observer. In the observing mode, I am more myself; my self recedes to the background.
Charles Tart, in his excellent book Living the Mindful Life, cited the patriot Patrick Henry as a source of spiritual wisdom for his words: "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." We only have free will when we activate the vigilance of self-awareness. We rarely think of trading as a spiritual discipline, but Zen Buddhists know better. Every task in life, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches, can be performed with or without awareness, from gardening to the pouring of tea. Like muscles, free will is strengthened with use. Gurdjieff used to call out to students to "Stop!" at random intervals, so that they could take the time to step outside themselves and activate self-awareness. Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village community in France used the ringing of bells for the same purpose.
These are alarm clocks that rouse us from sleep. It is not so difficult to remember ourselves--our goals and trading plans--but it is very difficult to remember to remember. At its best, trading teaches us to awaken; it rewards consciousness and punishes habit. It beckons us to replace our selves with ourselves.
By Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D. "Our joy, our peace, our happiness depend very much on our practice of recognizing and transforming our habit energies. There are positive habit energies that we have to cultivate, there are negative habit energies that we have to recognize, embrace and transform. The energy with which we do these things is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a kind of energy that helps us to be aware of what is going on. Therefore, when the habit energy shows itself, we know right away. "Hello, my little habit energy, I know you are there. I will take good care of you." In recognizing it as it is, you are in control of the situation. You don't have to fight it; in fact the Buddha does not recommend that you fight it, because that habit energy is you, and you should not fight against yourself.
You have to generate the energy of mindfulness, which is also you, and that positive energy will do the work of recognizing and embracing. Every time you embrace your habit energy, you can help it to transform a little bit. The habit energy is a kind of seed within your consciousness, and when it becomes a source of energy, you have to recognize it. You have to bring your mindfulness into the present moment, and you just embrace that negative energy: "Hello, my negative habit energy. I know you are there. I am here for you." After maybe one or two or three minutes, that energy will go back into the form of a seed, in order to re-manifest itself later on. You have to be very alert."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Transforming Negative Habit Energies
There is more to ourselves than our selves.When I am trading poorly, I stop observing the market. I become convinced of a scenario, locked in a bullish or bearish stance. Though I am not psychotic, there is an important sense in which I am out of touch with reality. I convince myself there is opportunity when there is none. I feel impelled to pick a bottom in a falling market. At those points, I am driven by emotional needs that are outside my conscious awareness.
The Russian philosopher and mystic G. I. Gurdjieff described people as sleeping: they walk, talk, eat, love, and work the automatic patterns and routines that we identify as our selves. That is how I trade when I trade poorly. I am operating mechanically, in a kind of sleep, impelled by forces that I do not control. I trade with my habitual self, not myself.
When I am trading normally, I closely observe the market. I watch volume at each price level to see if the market is facilitating trade or rejecting that level. I observe the proportion of volume hitting bids and the proportion lifting offers, catching swings in the short-term sentiment of large traders. I study the most recent market regimes and closely scan the correlated markets that lead my market: interest rates, oil prices, and various sectors. Throughout these observations, I am formulating hypotheses, and sometimes I test these hypotheses with trades. When I am trading normally, I behave like a scientist, using the outcomes of trades to inform me about the market and aid the reformulation of my hypotheses.
When I am trading well, I observe myself observing the market. I am aware of market action, but I am also conscious of my own reactions. My Internal Observer knows that, if I feel boredom or panic, other traders probably feel the same way. The Observer also knows my habits: that I will be tempted to pile on during breakout moves or place a trade shortly after a loser to get my money back. The Observer doesn't fight these tendencies. Instead, it dispassionately observes them even as I observe the market. I know I'm trading well when I say to myself, "Here is a place where I used to take that impulsive trade." I perceive my robotic tendencies, but they no longer control me. It is difficult to identify with a pattern and simultaneously stand apart from it as an observer. In the observing mode, I am more myself; my self recedes to the background.
Charles Tart, in his excellent book Living the Mindful Life, cited the patriot Patrick Henry as a source of spiritual wisdom for his words: "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." We only have free will when we activate the vigilance of self-awareness. We rarely think of trading as a spiritual discipline, but Zen Buddhists know better. Every task in life, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches, can be performed with or without awareness, from gardening to the pouring of tea. Like muscles, free will is strengthened with use. Gurdjieff used to call out to students to "Stop!" at random intervals, so that they could take the time to step outside themselves and activate self-awareness. Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village community in France used the ringing of bells for the same purpose.
These are alarm clocks that rouse us from sleep. It is not so difficult to remember ourselves--our goals and trading plans--but it is very difficult to remember to remember. At its best, trading teaches us to awaken; it rewards consciousness and punishes habit. It beckons us to replace our selves with ourselves.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
9:34 am - US STOCKS-Wall St rises on energy gain, financials cut losses
US STOCKS-Wall St rises on energy gain, financials cut losses By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday on strength in theenergy sector and companies that hold up well in recessions, while reassuringcomments from Britain's Barclays late in the day helped financials cut lossesthat had driven the market lower earlier. The banking sector was in the spotlight throughout the session after afresh $20 billion government capital injection for Bank of America revivedworries about the fate of the sector. "For better or for ill, we have to at least keep the banks going," saidPaul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates in Hinsdale Illinois."Investors are struggling with what is happening and that's why we're seeing thevolatility." The S&P financial index pared steep declines to end down 2.4 percentafter Barclays said it expected next month to report pretax profit for 2008"well ahead" of analysts' estimates. Barclays comments came a few hours afterits shares had plummeted by 25 percent in European trade. Energy shares rose along with a rebound in the price of oil, whileMcDonald's was the Dow's biggest lift, offsetting the drag from Bank of Americaand JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.73 points, or 0.84 percent, to8,281.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 6.38 points, or 0.76 percent,to 850.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17.49 points, or 1.16 percent, at1,529.33. Markets will be closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Dayholiday, a day before the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Friday marked an end to the stock market's run under the administrationof President George W. Bush. The S&P 500 lost more than 35 percent of its valuesince the day Bush took office in 2001, wiping out more than $4.6 trillion ofinvestor wealth during his eight-year presidency. By contrast, under his predecessor, William Clinton, the S&P tripled,gaining more than $9 trillion. On the heels of the financial lifeline for Bank of America, the bankposted its first quarterly loss in 17 years, while Citigroup also reported ahefty quarterly loss and said it plans to split into two units. For moredetails, see . Citigroup fell 8.6 percent to $3.50. Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co were the Dow's biggest drags,falling 13.7 percent to $7.18 and 6.2 percent to $22.82, respectively. AlthoughJPMorgan is viewed as being healthier than Bank of America and Citigroup, itposted a hefty decline in quarterly profit on Thursday. Despite the maneuvers surrounding the financial sector, analysts saidworries persisted over the health of the group and whether banks will need toraise more capital as they struggle to deal with the credit crunch and globaleconomic slowdown. McDonald's gained 2.9 percent to $59.67 after its chief executive toldCNBC television the company expected to continue paying dividends.. Energy shares, including Exxon Mobil, rose along with oil prices as shortcovering overshadowed a gloomy demand outlook. U.S. crude was up $1.11 to $36.51a barrel, while Exxon gained 1.9 percent to $78.10. Highlighting the deteriorating economy, there was no let up in companiesannouncing job cuts. Advanced Micro Devices Inc said it would cut 1,100 jobs,while The Wall Street Journal reported that drugmaker Pfizer Inc plans to layoff as many as 2,400 sales staff.
Friday, January 16, 2009
9:51 am - FKLI gap up indicating stronger regional market opening !
However, it is started to weaken now !
9:44 am - DJIA formed a doji - cud this a balance for it to rebound ???
Volume last nite is high - a good indication DJIA to rebound tonite !
Thursday, January 15, 2009
10:03 am - DJIA has broken down the support level 8400
Remember DJIA has been down 6 days consecutively. Ready for the rebound ! Support for DJIA is at 8,100 level.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
5:05 am - FKLI looking toppish from a daily chart !
If DJIA closed lower, FKLI is set to be bearish tomorrow !
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