Rande Howell

This is the observer you bring to "see" opportunity. And the "nopes" bring an observer to the situation that "sees" no opportunity. Same event, two different observers seeing different possibililites. It is the emotion, rooted in the management of uncertainty, that creates the observer of the event. The accepted norm in neuro-biology is that all thought is emotional state dependent. It's not the only way of understanding how we go about understanding and interpreting phenomena, it is just the one I base my assumptions upon. Rande Howell

The flak is understandable from a particular mindset. My work is very self selectiing. It's like in any public performance, there will always be detractors. My work is currently being incorporated into several methodology teachers programming. They have seen the benefit first hand and now are applying it to their students. I have degree in chemistry which is truly not in alainment with my passions. I learned to not force myself into a direction that I don't resonate with particularly to prove to someone else something about me. Rande Howell

With committed work, about 3 to 4 months. And you come to realize that you have to be vigilant. Rande Howell

SIUYA Self deception is inherent to the human condition. What is often confused with thinking is the biogical thrownness to generate an explanation after the emotional brain has triggered to habitual pattern. That pattern is often self serving. It takes enormous rigor to redirect fear and greed direction into life affirming diections. Gandhi and Mandela came to point that they were able to manage the impulses of our biological nature. fasting, meditation, and self knowledge are historically tools used to create the internal discipline to maintain attunement to our higher nature. Christ meditated and fasted for 40days before he was able to get a bead on the deception that lived within him. You can bet most traders will insist in staying in self deception. Should be good news for a competent trader. I have actually had people say to me that they didn't have to change their beliefs to become better traders. The telling me this had lost his house in the process of trading and never told his wife. Self honesty is really important for change to occurred. Rande Howell

Of course the emotional management you bring to the Now is what determines what you see.

No BS. Actual client. Not deadwood. Many good salespeople (and a host of other kinds) have lost jobs in the pharmaceutical industry (and other industries). Particularly if you are over 50. They are forced to retool and retrain for new opportunities. The emphasis is on the energy state associated with his goal of success. Typically sales and marketing and executive-type people are taught from this perspective. And it simply does not translate well to trading mind. Rande

After a career in sales and a downsizing, Jack decides to take control of his future by focusing his considerable energy on developing a new career in trading. He is highly disciplined, motivated, goal-oriented, and has a winning attitude – traits that served him well as a professional salesman. After studying trading and becoming proficient in his platform and methodology, he is still a break-even trader, at best. And he does not know why. What confounds him is that he is not consistently following his own trading rules regarding entry points (getting in late or too early) and exits (getting out early after small profits). In hindsight, while he is reviewing his trading day, Jack recognizes (after doing some research on trader psychology) that he is trading from a mindset rooted in fear. But it does not make sense to him and he cannot see why he keeps losing. In a consult with me he explains, “I know how to deal with the fear of rejection. To be successful, you get over that in sales. You know it’s a numbers game. When you lose one, you just get yourself cranked back up for the next one. You’ve got to get back to that winning attitude. That is what attracts success.” I ask Jack to explain how he produces a winning attitude in trading. He responds, “The same way I did in sales. I use a visualization technique where I see and feel what it would be like to make $1,000,000. It really pumps me up. I can taste the victory. I then take that energy and focus it on my next sales opportunity or my next trade. I have photographs of what that success would provide me. I’ve built a sales career out of being able to create these high-energy states and to attract success.” I ask Jack, “How is that skill translating to success in trading?” His answer, “Something’s not working. I’m sure it should be working. But it’s not working. And I don’t know what I’m missing.” Why Jack Can’t Trade On the surface Jack’s training in visualization and the law of attraction seems applicable to trading. This training has worked in other domains of experience, why not in trading? Jack's visualization creates a high energy and the chemistry of euphoria to build a desire for the goal. That is a problem in trading, where a very calm, assertive state of mind is needed to manage the tasks of trading. This is a very different feeling state than high energy and euphoric states he called forward to conquer fear of rejection in sales. When in the grips of euphoria (you might call this state a highly positive energetic mood where you feel like you can do anything), you feel sure that the good times are going to roll and continue forever. The trader “feels” certain that he is going to win. You are positive that you are going to make the next sale by the sheer force of will. From that feeling, rooted in euphoria, the thinking, perceptual mind believes in the certainty of winning. This is a sought-after state of mind in high-energy sports such as American football (and in business) where dominating an opponent and winning is part of a peak performance state of mind. In that high-energy, euphoric state, the trader’s mind (deeply connected to his emotional state) is no longer in an impartial and clear mindset. It is highly biased to see only the good that is shaping up. This leads to over-trading and over-trading leads to losses. Those losses lead to pattern-recognition and reaction-formation by the emotional brain of the trader. No amount of willpower or having a positive attitude will force the emotional brain not to hijack the thinking brain once a reactive pattern has been formed. The brain associates these high-energy states with losses and, quite naturally, triggers to avoid them. By experience, the intentional generation of a euphoric emotional cocktail has now been associated with the fear of loss. Suddenly the euphoric feeling (not the performance) of being able to dominate the markets and create a positive future becomes counter-productive. It is now associated with the fear of loss. This is where Jack is stuck. The State of Mind That You Bring to Trading To become consistently successful in his new career, Jack is going to have to relearn how to create the mindset that he brings to trading. The old mindset, so successful in sales and business, became a liability in trading. Why? Highly cognitive endeavors such as chess, bridge, and trading require low levels of emotional arousal for peak performance. You are not trying to produce high-energy feeling states for trading. You are working to produce low levels of emotional arousal so that your trading mind does not get influenced by euphoria or fear (which require high energy states). Getting “cranked up” in a winning attitude produced disastrous trading results for Jack. Low arousal states are required for the methodical, impartial-thinking emotional states of a mindset built for trading. Self-described adrenaline junkie that Jack is, this was a difficult retraining exercise. What he had to do was develop a calm, assertive, impartial state of mind from which to trade. In this state of mind, while in the act of trading, he was not trying to win or lose the trade. Instead he was focused on playing the trade so that he performed it flawlessly according to his trading plan. At this moment probability was on his side. He now “felt” certain that when he traded his plan, he had an edge in his trading. The difference is that he learned to become an emotional manager of what feeling-state was influencing the certainty of beliefs that he brought to trading. The "feeling" element of emotion will always do this. In fear, there is a feeling-state that creates a mindset that believes that it is certain that doom is coming if you do not escape. Hesitating to get in at your planned entry points without massive confirmation is often the resulting behavior. In euphoric emotional states, the feeling contaminates your thinking with a certainty of belief that the good times are going to continue to roll. Calm, assertive and impartial emotional states produce a feeling of being certain that you can take advantage of whatever the market is willing to give you. Low arousal states help keep you in this feeling-state where clear, calm thinking occurs. Jack Learns to Trade Jack is still an adrenaline junkie – outside of trading. When he finishes trading for the day, he now rewards himself by directing his energy into other domains where high energy states are useful to performance (tennis in this case). When he is trading though, Jack now calls forward the state of mind rooted in calm, impartial, assertiveness. In this state of mind, he sees the information on his screens, biased by impartiality rather than biased by the certainty of being worth a $1,000,000.

Why would I do that? I do not have the necessary passion to drive the engine of trading. I do have passion for teaching people how to reconstruct their belief systems that trade though. One I have come to understand about satisfaction in life. You create it by finding your passion and living it. That is what attracts me to working with traders. They are a passionate group about their endeavor. And the measuring stick is black and white -- trading account. When I worked entirely with peak performance with other populations (particularly sales and corporate business folks), there was much grey area in interpreting what constitued peak performance. Trading is like any other endeavor where performance is measured by result. You isolate the conditions that create peak performance, you find what beliefs stops the performer from achieving higher performance, you teach how to manage the emotions (and their meaning) regarding the uncertainty of performance, and you help them build the mind that enters the performance. I take great pleasure in seeing people learn how to do that. It is working with the mind of a trader that interests me. And there is really nothing partially special about trading that makes it different from other endeavors, except that self deception costs money much quicker. Kinda like instant karma. That's the part I like. Rande Howell

SUIYA So funny, as my side hurts. Live to trade another day. Rande

Whether it's trading football, basketball, population growth and decline, or love interests -- playing the game opens the possibility of winners and losers. I'm personally looking forward to a great game this weekend. That's the dance of life in what ever form it takes. If the loser learns from his mistakes, then the loss is the price to learn competence. If you don't learn (adapt) from your losses, then you end up in extinction. But no one robbed anyone, unless you happen to be an ex-GoldmanSachs guy running MF Global. Rande Howell

SUIYA My condolences regrading MF Global. I know it's "just" money and its a money conversation that we participate in, but I never anticipated a shark in that area of the trading ocean. Fully expect it in the markets. And I'm wondering how can that much money just disappear. Good luck, and good use of that money narrative of yours. Rande Howell

[quoteTo a large extent you should be getting some good feedback for your teachings, and for possible responses to sceptics, to help hone your own teachings, and this should help maybe spruik those more interested in seeing you....maybe you should be thanking us for helping you market and for those of us that trade it might give some extra insight into things....but thats fine - its a free internet forum for discussions. SUIJA This is why I participate here. I test out ideas here. And when a lot of stuff happens, it gives me the opportunity to observe and think. And there are some I enjoy the rigor of the conversation -- of which you are one. The offer still stands. Rande Howell

SUIJA I don't see this stuff as "deep analysis". I have a clinical practice and a personal development practice. In the personal development side, the question is always about what stops the performer from performing at a higher level. And how do you develop the internal skills sets that bring forth higher levels of performance. If you are at a level that you are satisfied in your performance, then there is no need to get to the bottom of it and solve that problem. The way that would look in trading is that you look at numbers, correlate them into a system of methodology that gives you an edge, and you do the trade. Emotional baggage does not show up because emotional baggage is not attached to your perception of money. For most, this is not true. If you are not performing on that level and are highly motivated to get past that obstacle, then inquiry into why becomes necessary. Or you can continue to push through the problem and maybe it will resolve itself. I see both ways work for diffenent people. There are a large number of people who have some significant issues that must be worked through -- here clinical and personal development run parallel. Regarding testimonials. Why on earth would anyone show up on TL in this group and give a testimonial? It is not anything I would ever encourage. And I've never asked anyone to do so because I see it as irrelevant. However, for you if you contact me through my website, I will be happy to give you a reference list of traders I have worked with. The understanding would be that the list would be for you and you only. You, I would trust to honor that. Then you can report back to the doubting brethren on TL. From what I can tell a chunk of the folks who participate in TL hold a belief that learning should be free, both method and psychology, and are quite scrappy about that position. People who believe in investing capital into training are going to self select out of participation. Call it segregation. They may view, but not participate. When I have made presentations to the OIC, MetaStocks, PGFBest, methodology training groups, or Traders Expo -- they have never heard of TL. They value and learn from different sources. And these constitute my marketing direction. Is there a lot of snake oil? Of course there is. There is also a lot of seasoned traders taking less experienced trader's money. It works that way. You really need to be a smart consumer in this industry. Rande Howell

Rande - if I may - trying to translate this into English for those of us who only use one syllable words like, buy and sell, long and short.....is what you are saying basically.....? our sense of identity is shaped by our past memories, and in order to change in built patterns of behaviour that stem from our past we need to view ourselves from a third persons point of view and that third person (which of course is us) must view our past patterns of behavior in a compassionate way? If so - and for continuing the discussion without getting sidetracked - why is there the assumption that this is discomforting or that our beliefs are discomforting.....what if I quite like myself already? This does sound a little like the religious dogma of some groups that - you are flawed and the only way to salvation is through us..... ....additionally i thought it was well recognised that our memories are flawed, and therefore wouldn't our perceptions of ourselves be flawed as well to an extra degree (maybe two negatives make a positive ) To take this into a trading context - only really evidence based real time recordings - ie; via a journal would be required and appropriate to actually view what happens when we trade. Then to change this behavior that is unprofitable would not require all the self analysis and mindfulness. Rather it takes a simple more methodical approach of it "if hurts dont do it." SUIJA When I watch a Zen Master do calligraphy, I marvel at how simple it appears to be. When I try it myself, the simplicity vanishes like mist in a barren desert. A lot of growth goes into making that moment happen. Same with trading. I shoulda sent that privately to zdo since I believe it was specific to him. Mindfulness, or generating an Observer, is not like seeing things in third person. It is a sense of stepping back and recognizing that you (your awareness) are not your thoughts and beliefs. They simply occupy space as narratives in the mind that have taken over your life. It is in the freeing ourselves from our identification with them that memory and and self belief become fluid and malleable. And we can begin to influence what beliefs take hold and grow our futures. If you like yourself already while in the midst of performing in uncertainty, then most certainly don't change. It is for those traders who don't like who they become as they embrace ambiguity and uncertainty of outcome that beliefs systems need to be examined and changed. Most traders have to really change perceptual maps before learning to trade well. Whether we like it or not, we trade our beliefs about our capacity to manage uncertainty. And if you likem, don't change them. Some traders, either though natural affinity or desensitation over time look at charts, indicators, etc and "see" a world that leads them to trade effectively. It becomes habituated for them to see this way and they can't understand why other just don't see what is right in front of their eyes (remember our Zen Master). The Observer the trader is, in this case, as become fused with this way of seeing that it becomes the "correct" way of seeing. Truth is, it is only one way of seeing, albeit an effective one. Other less experienced traders, seeing from a different Observer, interprets the same information very differently. Changing beliefs is not like changing the clothes you wear. It is more like changing the life you live. When I work with traders,they do keep journals of thoughts, emotions, breathing style, tension, and feeling states (I call them SMART logs) -- as they make trading decisions. Initially these are usually happening so fast that they are not noticed. But they are important treads of information. These become the indicators that lead to the belief system embedded in the body and brain (and from which the mind emerges). It is the belief system about their ability to manage uncertainty that is brought into play. When triggered to uncertainty, the human brain is wired to go to fear. Discomfort, or disruption to standard familiar sensorial pattern, happens at the moments leading up to entry and as a trader manages the flux of the trade once he is in it. This is uncertainty. And many traders simply never had the psychological skills modeled to them to manage uncertainty. And to move to the next level, they are going to have to learn. Discomfort is not pain to be avoided. It is information to be managed. The brain does not distinguish between psychologial discomfort and biological threat, and often biological interpretation of the brain overwhelms the mind's capacity to discern. Water boarding is a case in point. So, "if if hurts, don't do it" is not a good measure. Any action that takes the brain out of the comfort zone is going to produce discomfort or perceived pain. But to grow to new levels, you have to push through the discomfort (think about walking across a bed of live coals and not burning your feet or a neural psychologist teaching a chronic pain patient to interpret the neural signals differently so that it is not perceived as pain). Distinguishing between psychological discomfort and biological threat is what the trader learns to distinguish and manage. At the core is the belief system that has become embedded into emtional response. And compassion has been found to be the salve that heals and transforms beliefs. From Jesus' healing through compassionate response to Buddhist's use of loving kindness to modern researchers, compassion has been found to be a powerful part of change. In trading, it might not be called compassion. It might be called the voice of encouragement or self soothing. It calms the fear so that a new way of acting in the face of fear of uncertainty becomes possible. In my work I teach traders to talk to themselves during moments of confusion in self soothing and encouraging ways -- rather than the beating self up way that is so common in an untrained mind. If you are happy with yourself in the midst of trading, why in the world are you doing on a forum exploring trader psychology? I get alot of mail to my website regarding my posts on TL. They thank me for giving them a way of understanding their problems. When I ask them why they write me instead of posting on TL, they answer -- Why would I do that? A forum built for such people does not encourage them to participate. They explore here, but they don't find the conditions right for growth here. Why is this? Rande Howell

[quote PS ...btw re "Your brain, unless you significantly redevelop it..." What does that mean? It was a serious question :helloooo: Brain adapts "us" in the form of pattern based beliefs into creatures who anticipate the future based on experience in the past. This becomes familiar pattern and shapes our sense of identity. When we "redevelop" the brain, we are sitting in the discomfort of old memories that generated historical pattern, and bringing into the discomfort self compassion for the arrested development (the historical dialog) that arose out of that adaptation. It is this self compassion that actually teases the old meaning of self associated with the adaptation so that it can be reformed into new, more life affirming, beliefs. This happens simultaneously on a biological, emotional, cognitive, (and I would say spiritual) basis. As we develop the capacity of the observer to become witness to our beliefs, we also devleop the capacity to embed new beliefs into the very substrate of the brain. This is actually the basis of the reactive attachment theories that I practiced in the 90's. Is that far enough from Denise -- just feel the emotion and not act from it? Rande Howell

Recently a trader asked me if you had to have a "robber" mentality to be a successful trader because it seemed, to him at least, that good trader takes money from less competent traders. My observation to him was that, for sure, this is one particular way to look at trading. I asked to look at the natural world and tell me if the wolf "robs" the deer in the preditor/prey dance they live in. Both actually need each other to survive. This is simply the dance they exist in. It is our perspective that characterizes the situation. It is simply the cycle of life and death in the natural world. George Seros used this anology to describe trading. He observes for the bubbles and exits before their collapse. The naive and ignorant get sucked into a bubble of their own doing and the seasoned trader plays the game of trading. The question is what do you observe about your self in relationship to others. In the natural world preditors consume the vast majority of the young (the naive) before they reach maturity. They do not attack the healthy (that's high risk). The same goes with trading. Trading is just taken to an order that is beyond the biology of the natural world. I would seek a mentor to learn the ropes before I ventured out into the world unprepared. Of course, that's opens up a whole new can of worms. Rande Howell

I call this waking up from self deception. Trading is a great place to force the issue. The struggle is within the self rather than outside the self. Rande

Please understand the ADD/ADHD condition is real and is organically based. If you have seen a motor that won't stop until medicated, you will know ADHD. It will show up as 1-2% of a population though, so it's rare. Anxiety is adaptive based often with a predisposition toward avoidance and is common. Social, attachment, and medical histories need to be part of dx when distraction is the major element. Understanding the source of the distraction is much more through then. Of course, you're looking at a guy who got out of the mental health business because I did not see the level of hope in the system to bring about change. When you are looking at the dx criterion that drug manufacturers use to spot the symptoms (they hand them out to anyone who will take them), it is no small wonder so many of our kids are medicated inappropriately. Most school systems have a built in bias toward the use of medication to manage impulsivity and distraction. Pretty much, boys, by their very nature, get dx'ed and medicated to force them into an educational system much better suited to educate girls. That's what we have here in Charlotte, NC. My adult son was very active and I can't tell you how many footballs I threw him (go long son) to regulate his level of activity. He didn't get to watch TV and eat junk -- and form those habits. He still has distraction problems but has the training and habits to manage. And he has produced a satisfying adult life. Rande Howell

I'm not really sure of what your asking, but I'll take a stab. The short answer is yes. Habituation is what the brain learns to survive. I spent a number of years working with high risk youth and adult populations where medical management was an essential element of their treatment and where dx and treatment were DSM IV centered. I don't like that orientation, but that was my job. And I saw a lot of distraction treated with adderal that was better treated with an SSRI (hence anxiety) and some form of talk theapy. The building of pattern, or habituation, is simply the way the brain responds to its mandate to adapt to environmental pressures. Whether it's an impulsive high risk kid or a personality disordered incarcerated adult really isn't the issue once you get past the constraints of modern medically centered treatement of mental health. What matters is the recognition of emotionally based reactive pattern governing the perception of a person. This is what opens and closes their sense of possibility in the world and how they act to challenges in their environment. Trading is simply an environment that presents challenge to the habituated patterns of response and perception. And it is jarring for most traders because the old patterns of habituation don't work due to the shorter time frames in trading. It is the adaptation to early formative environment that you see played out when a trader engages the uncertainty found in trading. This is pattern or habit. And the old way most often needs to change for higher functioning. The change is usually about the brain's organization around the emotion of fear. Most stay stuck here. This is habit or pattern, and if you're work with change, you are working to change the habits of perception -- particularly around the engagement of uncertainty. Rande Howell

ADD and ADHD is a massively over dx'ed condition. The distraction factor is actually co-morbid with anxiety and is often misdx'ed. When I was managing populations of youth and adolesence, very few of the clients actually were organically based ADHD, though they were dx'ed. Most were anxiety where distraction was the common factor. Most school systems and mental health organizations jump on the diagnostic criterion of ADHD, particularly with boys, because it is easy. If you take a form of speed and it slows your sensation of time down, you can be sure you are dealing with organic ADHD. If you take a form of speed and it accelerates your sense of time, you are most likely looking at anxiety and distraction as a way of dealing with the stressor. All grown up, it shows up in trading still misunderstood. This is common. See it everyday. Rande Howell

This is copy of a guy who is going through the process of discerning whether a psychological performance coach who has never traded before could help him become a better trader. He has written and spoken to some of the references I have him. Included is one of those replies. I include this one because it is from a trader who has worked with me personally and did the Developing Traders State of Mind Course that zdo took as part of a TL experiment zdo and I did together. So zdo would also know this guy. No only does he talk about the impact this work has had on his performance, but also his brother's performance. To my knowledge, I have never had a client that came out of TL that is an active user of the Psychology Forum here. A number have discovered my work here though. Many have mentioned that they have read the Psychology Forums, but do not find them a useful source of information or a place to enter dialog about psychologcial performance because of the lack of rigor in the conversations. After awhile, they lose interest and seek elsewhere. About my participation.... I only have limited time for this forum. Reading a long winded diatribe and responding to it is simply not something I have time for nor concern for. There are plenty of traders striving to learn how to build a psychology that allows them to use their methodology and platform in more effective fashion. These folks seem to find the time to attend free webinars, see me speak, read articles on my website, read my book, really ask themselves what is holding them back, and schedule a free consult with me. This is something that is offered as a gift. Whether you accept and/or move forward in the conservation is really up to you. No one is coersing. It is an act of discovery. Some don't like the premises of my work, some can't afford it, some simply apply what they learn to their trading. But I've no one who has not appreciated what was extended toward them. Most have experienced enough pain in their trading that they are willing to question and examine their beliefs. Until the trader becomes open to new ways of understanding themselves and their performances, any energy I invest with them is simply nonconstructive. What people end up "getting" as they engage my work is that it is really not about just trading. It is about who shows up to create the life your living. Trading becomes the context of the struggle for this striving toward internal mastery. Trading is simply life on steriods. Matt, Rande Howell used you as a reference for his coaching work so I am inquiring as to your satisfaction with his service. How long have you been working with him? Have you seen measurable results in your trading? Your experience with his various techniques? Or any other comments you might have to help me decide on whether to use him or not. Thanks in advance for any comments you might give, Jeff Hi Jeff, Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I was out of town for the weekend. I started working with Rande last summer, so it's been almost 8 months now. I previously tried several other methods to deal with the psychology of trading without much luck. Some made sense, some didn't. I believe the difference in Rande's work is that he covers in depth what is happening with the mind during trading, some of which believe it or not is biological, and he also provides you with practical tools to use. It's not one of those deals though, where you sign in to a webinar, and suddenly everything is going to be great. It is a process, and a very necessary one. It takes some time and effort on your part to not only understand the work, but buy into it. You can't just go through the motions, you have to believe it the techniques. If you do this, you should see outstanding results. I sure did. After about 2 months with Rande I not only was able to have my best trade day ever, I had my best month ever and it was absolutely due to his coaching because I could look back and say, wow, before doing this, I would have exited here, or I would have bailed on this trade prematurely etc, so there were definitely tangible results for me. As far as various techniques, that would probably be a little to difficult to explain in an email, but if you need any further information you are welcome to call me to discuss. I believe his work is very effective, if I didn't I wouldn't still be using him. FYI, my brother is a trader as well and has been full time for over 10 years and uses Rande too. He would tell you that Rande's work has had a bigger impact on his results than any other training he has had. Hope this helps and good luck to you. Regards, Matt I hope this helps. Rande Howell

What does "redevelop it" mean? Reorganization of the set of beliefs (and the assumptions) that have become embedded as meaning within an emotion and the pattern recognition and triggering that are triggered automatically into perception when the emotion is active. A perceptual map wired historically to "trade not to lose" because the assumption it is built around is "the world is a dangerous place (markets also) would have to be deconstructed and reorganized to assume another belief (I am a manager of uncertainty and have an edge toward positive probability). Beliefs are wired based on adaptation and developmental moments and fortunately can be examined and changed over time with the advent of emotional regulation and mindfulness. Rande Howell

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUd8XA-5HEk]Laurie Santos - YouTube[/ame] This is so funny and so accurate. Laurie Santos is demonstrating the power of the mammalian brain to influence the high order thinking of the neo-cortex. In trading, not only do you have to overcome the biases built into the emotional brain, but also the learning (adaptation) as the brain is shaped in its formalative period (fear of making a mistake). Learning to unravel the greed (fear of missing out) and fear (fear of loss) embedded in our evolutionary past is about re-inventing the fused relationship between uncertainty, fear, and risk. I think I'm going to start asking that traders put a picture of a monkey near their screens so they can remind themselves that they are biased to percieve from their monkey brain. A little humbleness could be a good thing. Rande Howell

I learned awhile back that communicating with highly biased people really is not a good investment of my time. However, To anyone who exploring how to build an effective mindset for trading, I invite them to begin evaluation by attending one of our free webinars to start with. One of our affiliates is having one later this month. From there, if you are interested further, you can sign up for a free consult with me. As part of that you are also given references of traders who have gone through my training. This would allow a trader actually looking for answers to ground their assessments in real experience. It costs no money to go through the evaluation process and it opens you to exploring how to develop your potential as a trader. By the way, I'm curious, have you ever had a problem with revenge, over, or impulsive trading? You sure have the markers for the behaviors demonstrated in other domains. Just wondering if the tendency generalized to other areas of your life. Rande Howell Index of /

Emotions are biological. They take over mind and perception. Fear is triggered when a threat to the continuance of life is threaten. It arouses as chemistry an provokes the feeling of impending doom. It is at this moment that thinking and perception is contaminated. Once the feeing of certainty of the fear is present in the body, the mind of the trader is toast. Rande Howell