Category: Emotions & Decisions

In many ways, many traders end up shrugging their shoulders to the tune of “oh well I will do better next time”. The question becomes /what exactly/ will make them perceive, decide and act “better” the next time? I mean it isn’t like there aren’t tons of methods and tools to help a trader with [...]

By putting yourself into your potential future emotional contexts, you can make better “risk” judgments in the here and now.

Here are some of the things I’ve been thinking about: The two areas in trading that separate the men from the boys (so to speak) are: 1.) The ability to divide environmental perceptions in half and process them separately. First I ask myself what I am feeling and in doing so I acknowledge and honor [...]

All this suggests that emotions are key information providers when deciding under uncertainty. They make us tuned to our environment. Actually, in some contexts of fast and intuitive decision-making in the face of unstable (high vol) conditions, one expects that the stronger the emotional uncertainty signals of the day-trader, the higher the performance.

If you have tried reappraisal or what most call reframing or even reprogramming and it didn’t work for you, don’t waste one second wondering or worrying about why. The Darwinian nature of trading and the meaning of a red P&L is almost certainly a “bottom-up” emotion and behavioral & brain picture evidence says that strategy worsens the situation.

“I return from holiday rested and relaxed, to quote Ben Lichtenstein, “I have tasted the sweetest Mediterranean tomatoes brought to me by dusky maidens and washed down with oaky red wine in the shade of orange trees, I have felt real warmth from the sun on my skin again.” Pulling up a chart once more, [...]

I love the smell of blood in the morning. To wake at dawn and find your order filled, a steady stream of red staining your screen, and as the day progresses to the inevitable climax, when at five in the afternoon your first targets are filled, and you witness the dying dreams of the bull [...]

I have to start by declaring my genius. This is no place for false modesty. I am the bee’s knees. The caterpillar’s spats. I was long 30 year Bonds last Wednesday before the Fed spoke, from 124/13, and exited the second half of my trade at 131/16.5, lower than I intended, because my charts locked [...]

I have said it before and will say it again, FDR was wrong. It is not that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, the only thing we have to fear is no fear at all.

With apologies for being out of touch, I would like to make a couple of notes on psych cap. First, and I have said this before in different way, it really does appear that our brains have special “curcuits” for detecting imprecision or uncertainty. In other words, that feeling that someone or something is there [...]