thetradingdoctor

Thank you, James. Your honesty and open attitude are wonderful! There is a lot here to think about, but one thing stands out and I would like to know more about it. That incident where you were in role play and had an idiot judge. You walked out and something happened. You motivation went and has never been the same. I am trying to understand what happened at that time. Right now, I am coaching a couple of traders who are relating similar situations to me--one involving sports and the other with a job interview. Both of these people have said the same thing to me, i.e., it was an idiot coach and an idiot boss. They still feel that thing deep inside of them, and it is holding them back from doing what they need to do with trading. Please let me know as I think what is going on with you is a large part of that experience plus the whole thing with the divorce of your parents. You are very courageous for sharing this, James, and I thank you! Doctor Janice

Here is an interesting take on elimination of the short selling tick rule and present market volatility: http://www.thefreshtrader.com/stock-investing-basics/how-shorts-may-be-causing-increased-volatility/ Thanks! Doctor Janice

Hi James, Thank you for stepping up and asking for help and guidance. If you don't mind sharing in total anonymity ( except for your screen name), please tell me something about your living situation, your work schedule and your trading schedule? This will really help me understand better what is going on with you. My concern, like others on this list, is that you might be trying to push yourself in too many directions at one time. Often when this happens, our brain and body become very confused, don't know what to do and shut down ( so as to do nothing). I see this in certain types of behaviors related to depression, attention-deficit or obsessive-compulsive traits. It is possible that you are just too busy to do any one thing and do it so well that you actuallly enjoy it. Why is it that you do not get home until 10PM? How can you possibly expect to be functional at anything ( let alone get up at 5:30 or 6 in the morning, when you go to bed at 3 AM? Everyone needs adequate rest, down time, thinking time and time to be human BE-ings rather than human DO-ings. Please let me hear from you about what is going on, James and thanks! Also, James---I adore you, but I am totally concerned about the amount of caffeine you are taking in. Caffeine in moderation actually has beneficial effects, but if you are using it as a crutch to stay alert, you are risking dependence on caffeine and possible deleterious effects on your health as you get older. I realize you are young now, and probably lots of people in your office are living on coffee and maybe cigarettes and maybe other substances. Please do what you can to begin detoxing your physical system. Your body and your trading will love you for it in the years to come. If anyone on this thread has questions about diet, exercise and how to get and stay strong and healthy so as to be alive to trade for many years, please do not hesitate to ask me? Thanks! Doctor Janice

This is great stuff, james gsx, and my heart goes out to you? It is one thing to read such fantastic motivational quotes, much the same as traders go from book to book looking for the Holy Grail and end up with tons of books and maybe a pearl or two. You appear to be doing the same thing now as you were in February. What do you think is holding you back from doing what you seem to think you should be doing? Are you sad, depressed, going through some awful time with a relationship? Or, are have you been losing more than winning lately? What do you believe is the reason or reasons that you are sleeping in and procrastinating? How many others on this forum have had similar experiences or insights to share with james? Thanks! Doctor Janice

One of my colleagues who is a trader and ocean surfer just sent this to me. Talk about the course of true love, the trials and tribulations, the waves of adoration and despair as we try to find balance,equilibrium and perfect symmetry. Wow! http://www.charthub.com/images/2007/08/06/Jim_ES.png Perfect Symmetry from Friday to Monday's mirror reverse image down and up form such a terrifyingly beautiful form of symmetry and aesthetic beauty. Some of the most terrifying forms of nature, Hurricane Katrina, huge storm swell waves, atomic bombs, tornadoes create nature's most terrifyingly beautiful and perfect forms. Large and powerful forces are at work here. It is only possible to ride big waves with respect and with fear firmly in control, but with an aggressive stance or be crushed and tossed in the maelstrom. This kind of 20 plus big wave up and big up close has not occurred for over six years and after such a big down for over 7 years since prior historic highs and only 2 times in the last 10 years

Thank you! There are so many analogies between trading and our lives outside the market, and this is just one of them. This topic is related to fear of loss and fear of success. From a behavioral neurofinance point of view, we are dealing with a core tenant of Kahneman and Twersky's nobel winning economic thesis on Prospect Theory. Why do we cling to what is not working? Why are we risk averse in the realm of profits and risk taking in the realm of losses? In other words, why do we hold loser and let winners run? Thanks! Doctor Janice

Thanks OAC. Yours is a really great response. Because you have this knowledge and experience, it would be wonderful if you would share with us the following as regards behavioral trading: How do you know when people are trading emotionally or when they are addicted? What do you look for on your screens to find them? How do you know when they are trading so that you can take the other side of the trade? Thanks for your great input! Doctor Janice

Great insight, NoTouch. Are we marrying our positions, or dating them? Are they one or two night stands and "Next" or are we forming an attachment to them because they belong to us? Relationships with positions bear strong resemblance to relationships with people. Either we get positive energy/reinforcement from them, or they sap our energy like vultures and leave us feeling sad, along, abandoned, disappointed, let down and just plain sick of it all. Why do we cling to what is not working and forget about what IS working? Why do we want to come to the emotional rescue of those stocks/bonds/futures/currencies positions that drain our financial, emotional and physical energy? In life, it is more than likely that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Who needs help? What is wrong with so and so? What can we do to "fix" them? Why do we stay in relationships in life which are not working? Are we addicted to fixing? Do we think that, with some kind of magical whatever, that the next day will be different and our partner will change and everything will be just fine the way it was ( or we thought it was) when the relationship started? Why do we hold and hope when positions are going against us day after day? The addict is addicted to the feeling he or she had when he or she took that first hit. Those who are chasing the dragon are trying to get back that very first high, while sinking deeper and deeper into addiction. In what ways does addiction to trading resemble addiction to hope in relationships that are not working? Thanks! Doctor Janice

Several times in my writing and perhaps on this board, I have referred to the market as a demanding mistress. There are correlates between trading and falling in love. According to the following recent report from the L.A. Times, falling in intense love is often based on potent threat, fear, worry or shared anxiety. While people can and do fall in love for a variety of reasons, the spark that ignites powerful, tempestuous love can often occur as a direct result of shared danger, threat or perceived fear. The body ‘translates’ the anxiety felt in the perilous place and “gloms†onto the nearest love object in the vicinity at the time of the anxiety. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-attraction30jul30,1,6896546.story?coll=la-headlines-health Examples are obvious. People who experienced the anguish of searching for relatives following 9/11 sometimes connected passionately when they would never have looked at the other in balmier circumstances. Ex-pats often hook up when they are living in strenuously difficult new surroundings. Victims of disasters often bond. Holocaust survivors met and married in record time, brought together by inconceivable sorrow and grief, and bound by the urgency of living into tomorrow. In my personal life, I experienced something similar in the mid-70’s. At that time I was traveling the world for a multinational pharmaceutical company ( ARRGH!! – nonetheless, it was a nine year gig that took me around the world way too many times for a total of some 1.5 million miles). On an approach to the Rome airport, something happened to the plane. I am not sure exactly what it was, but we thought that perhaps the tail of the plane had been damaged. There were people praying and chanting as we thought it was a crash and everyone was going to die. I looked at the man next to me who was a Finnish scientist of some kind. I had never seen him before we boarded that plane. We put our arms around each other and professed our love for each other. We held each other very tightly and I was in love with this man at the time I knew I was crashing to my death. How silly I felt afterward( as did he), but I will never forget his face, the way he held me and how much I loved him during those frightening moments, which seemed an eternity. In these situations, the body pours out a variety neurochemicals and neurohormones ( dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, phenylethylamine and others) that bond people to each other in certain ways. If what the researchers have found to be true, men faced with attractive women in the middle of a rickety bridge will much more likely fall in love than those who meet those same attractive females on a ‘safe’ bridge without the ostensible threat of falling to their deaths. The Market Mistress has the nasty habit of putting traders and investors into states of mini-panic---the threat of considerable loss, the anxiety of seeing the a position go against them, and the rush of seeing profits from buying or selling at the time when others are losing. There is an ever-increasing body of evidence that the same biological substrates for falling in love ( or at the extreme, addictive love) are in play for those dancing on the bridge with stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, etc. The primitive brain areas ( rat brain, limbic brain) take over completely, leaving the newer cortical areas shaking their heads and powerless to do anything. The electrical and chemical impulses from the limbic rat brain overpower the new brain completely. Please re-read my article : This Is Your Brain On Trading to get a basic overview of how the brain responds to visual stimuli. That inability to eat or sleep, the obsession with the beloved trades( especially those with high beta), the strange feeling of ennui which creeps in when the markets are not open, the search for excitement and something to do, going a little bit nutso or doing something wild and crazy just for “kicks†second, sneaking a peak at the markets while working at another job, trading in the car at lunch hour, constant preoccupation with the markets and trading to the exclusion of family and friends, etc. might be more than just normal curiosity about the beloved. Are we having an affair with the market mistress? Is this true love? Is it addiction? Are we being seduced, teased, abandoned embraced? Are we in a large neurohormonal sink where dopamine begets more dopamine and the chemistry of love turns to the chemistry of addiction? What do you think? How do you relate to this from your personal experiences? What effects has this had on your mind, body, family, friends, money and spirit? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0U5JfGYx4c&mode=related&search= Thanks! Doctor Janice

Hello All, I am here listening to this. It is a totally individual decision re: helping others to trade. I love helping others with the psychological aspects of their trading and seeing them improve on a steady basis. However, I limit myself to trading one market and do not coach traders in that market. I coach a lot of people, but no gold traders. This is my way of staying out of my way and not putting myself in a position to second guess what I am doing. Could I make more money trading several markets? Most likely I could, but it is my choice at this time to trade less, write more and help as many people as I can to take themselves to trading excellent. It has taken me 14 years of trading to get to this point, but I came to trading from a profession which was very good to me financially and I did everything possible to save and invest for passive income. This behavior comes from my personal history which many of you already know, and if you wonder and don't know, please ask and I will tell you? We are talking about individual preferences here. No one is right and no one is wrong. It is totally up to each individual to make his or her own choice about how to help or not help another trader, how much to help or not help another trader, etc. In order for free flow of discussion on this thread, we are in a situation of unconditional positive regard for each other. This is always principles before personalities. That means that everyone is free to speak his or her mind and share the many thoughts and feelings you have. We are here to share experience, strength and hope with each other. In this world where there is so much anger, hostility, hatred, retribution and pain inflicted upon us by others, it is a refuge to find a space place where we know we can speak openly and without fear of retribution. In the process, we remember that, depspite differences in opinions, we respect each other and send kindness as the greatest gift we give to each other. It is up to each of you to take things personally or not take them personally. I say let's band together to make this thread a safe place for everyone and refrain from any personal attacks. We are all in the same boat. We are all learning something every day, and learning is best with free exchange of ideas, data, information and knowledge. I hold every one of you in unconditional positive regard and I love interacting with you. That said, I am starting a new thread today on the Market Mistress. Thanks for being there and listening to me today! Doctor Janice

ANALYSIS PARALYSIS The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak…Hans Hofmann, Introduction to the Bootstrap, 1993 Emails from traders and investors of every ilk come to me on a daily basis. I am grateful, and urge you to keep them coming, as you inspire me, challenge me and force me to think. Everyone has a different way of being in the world and...as a logical corollary...in the markets. I get charts, graphs, opinions, links to articles, and more opinions. So much lately has been what the Fed will or will not do and how it will affect the precious metals and the dollar. I work hard every day to prevent my head from spinning, keep it attached firmly to the neck area and to attempt to filter out the signal:noise ratio." Did I mention that people send me charts? They range from the utterly and overly simplistic to something which might be considered a Rorschach test gone very badly. I respect those who can trade from intensely complicated (to me anyway), charts which contain 10 or more different technical indicators plus at least three colors. If that is what works for your particular brain structure, then that is what works. Over many years of trading and experimenting with more systems and indicators that I care to recall, I have come to the conclusion that, in trading, less is more. For my own purposes I like to see price, volume, a couple of moving averages and then draw trend lines. For me, the simpler the better. It helps me block out so much noise, obviates conflict when indicators are not in synch or are giving different messages, and allows me to be definitive in what I do. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication…Leonardo DaVinci Trader Alex (name changed to protect the innocent) sent me a batch of charts the other day. The charts were in several different time frames, and were loaded with indicators to the point where I was barely able to make out what Alex wished to trade. Worse than that, I could not figure out HOW Alex was trading. In this situation, one does the logical thing. One asks Alex. The response I got was quite revealing and, perhaps you can find a trading lesson here. Alex told me that he lived his life by making flow diagrams. Everything he did or planned to do, he diagrammed out beforehand in order for him to "be prepared" for any eventuality. For example, if he was invited to a party, he would do the following: starting a week before, he would map out (on paper) everything he had to do to prepare for the party, including selection of clothing, washing his car, telling selected people where he would be during those hours, finding out who would be at the party and how they would be dressed, how they would be arriving, how they would be mentally (good or bad moods), what they would be bringing to the host and hostess and so on and so on. Sometimes, he would wake up in the middle of the night to expand the flow diagram as new thoughts and possibilities crossed his mind. A day or two before the party, Alex began to be infused with doubt. Had he thought of everything? What could happen that he had not anticipated? Would be go into a state of social paresis if someone was at the party whom he had not expected or if someone said something to him for which he did not have an answer? If you think this sounds a bit whacko, you are likely correct. Nonetheless, to Alex, this was his modus operandi, beginning from early childhood when he felt that his life was careening out of control after the divorce of his parents. He took almost complete responsibility for the divorce and vowed from that day forward that he was going to do everything possible to ensure that he did not make the same mistake again. Alex's response to what he perceived to be HIS problem (the bitter divorce of his parents) was to develop OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). The manifestation of this was the development of increasingly complex flow charts and diagrams which he believed would allow him to control every aspect of his life through prediction. Now...take this one step further. Alex enters the financial markets and attempts to trade. Before he is able to place a trade, he makes the equivalent of a life pattern flow diagram. He adds technical indicators, one after the other and intersperses them with every possible news development or economic report that could or will impact the trading on any particular day. Alex is ready, so he thinks. Alex is prepared, so he thinks. Armed with a total overload of information and unable to sort out what is real and what is not, Alex is set to trade. Why is he writing to me? Because he is totally unable to execute. Alex suffers from trading paralysis. He has done all of this work, yet he feels that something is wrong. It is not the right time to make the trade, more news will come out which will affect the trade, he decides to wait for a "better entry," he thinks maybe he should do an option spread just in case. Every conceivable excuse is put forward by Alex for not trading: It's the wrong time. There is too much risk. Maybe if I just wait a little bit. Something just doesn't look right. Alex will not get through this situation easily, as it is a modus vivendi for him which is transferring to every aspect of his life, including trading. What can you do ? Learn from this. To risk means taking chances in the face of uncertainty. We cannot control what the markets will or will not do. We cannot map everything out on a neat flow diagram, expect things to go our way and then panic when they do not. The best traders are flexible, adaptable, embrace uncertainty and get out quickly when they are wrong. The best traders do not make excuses and do not blame others. The best traders do not get themselves into states of analysis paralysis. They keep it simple and remain fluid. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler…Albert Einstein Until Next Time, Good Trading and Brain On! Janice Dorn, M.D., Ph.D. www.thetradingdoctor.com Copyright ©2007 Janice Dorn, M.D., Ph.D. – Ocean Ivory LLC

You are most welcome re: "immense enlightenment", Torero, and I thank you in return for your kindness! Making money in the markets is a byprodut of doing the right thing at the right time. This means following a backtested successful trading plan and remaining disciplined. Among the first posts I put on this section of the message board was something to the extent that the markets are neither bullish nor bearish. They are neutal. The markets ebb and flow as millions of traders make decisions based on their beliefs. It is the trader who is the true variable in the markets. Each of us is a variable. I have written and spoken extensively on the topic of money as taboo and addiction. In my opinion, money is more addicting than any other legal substance and likely more addicting that heroin or crack cocaine. How do you break this addiction and put trading into perspective? You train your brain. You lay down synaptic strategies that modulate the emotions of fear, greed, disgust, anger, envy, euphoria, and every other emotion which springs from the limbic, rat brain by forcing it to "check in" with the logical, cortical new brain. If you have any questions about my most recent article "This Is Your Brain On Trading" please do not hesitate to ask me? This is my first attempt to actually show traders what goes on in their brains when they make decisions and the first time I have written in such detail about the concept of synaptic strategies. That said, and remembering all of the above, here is what I have learned: When you really, truly, deeply, madly and honestly believe that trading is simply a game of probability everything in your brain changes and you are on the road to "entraining" succcessful synaptic strategies. The reason for this is because concepts such as: right or wrong and losing or winning take on an entirely new significance. You will come to understand at the deepest levels of your brain that of the next 30 trades, something like 20 will have a positive outcome and 10 will have a negative outcome. You can test and backtest this with your system. What you do not know, and cannot know with any certainty is which of the trades will work and which will not work. You also cannot know with any certainty how much money the market mistress will be kind enough to give you through these positive trades. If you are able to think in probabilities, and to give up attachment to outcome, you will most likely come to the point where you realize that making money is nothing more than doing the right thing at the right time. I hope this helps a little bit? Thanks, Torero and all of the wonderful brains on this thread! Doctor Janice

This is a profund and stimulating thread and should be read by everyone who is trading or thinking about trading. Trading is among the most solitary of all professions. The majority of people simply do not understand the committment, devotion, amount of time and study and the extraordinary demands on mind, body and spirit that trading imposes. I believe that many are "called" to trading. They will do whatever it takes, to be sucessful, despite the naysayers, those that try to discourage them and put them down. This is a rough game, filled with deception. It takes both humility, compassion for self and a killer instinct. Most people do not have the courage or tenacity to rise above the ocean of mediocrity which surrrounds us in so many aspects of our lives. In order to be a successful trader, that is what must be done. For anyone reading this who has doubts, who is struggling, who feels that things are desparate and there is no where to turn, I encourage you to post here and let this group help you through it. Remember, in the final analysis, no matter how many bells, whistles, fancy charts, blinking lights, the guru du jour, expensive newsletters and software, seminars, webinars, books and everything else that we think ( for one bright shining moment) is the Holy Grail, every single answer to trading success is inside of you. Trading is a mental game and a game of matching wits against millions of other people who you will never meet or never see or never know. To compound this situation, this is a game where the only real rules are those you make for yourself. Of course, there are exchange rules, SEC rules, etc, but the real rules are those you make. You enter these rules into an open, adaptive and complex system which is always moving. There is no parallel in life outside the markets to the experience of trading the markets. Our brains are not hardwired for success in this type of situation since we are so used to haviing this rule or rule that is imposed upon us from without ( every profession has its own rules and regulating boards, etc). In the market, you are your own regulating board and your rules are your own. Additionally, we are in a completely different situation from most in life, i.e. we are in the realm of financial risk every time we put monies into the market. Money is the last great taboo of our culture. People willl tell you just about everything in their lives except how much money they have, how much money they want, what they really think about people who have more or less money than they do, etc. Money is the last great taboo. Additionally, money is the single most addicting of all legal substances. That means emotions ( the old, limbic, rat brain) goes into absolute short-circuit where money is involved. I will stop here, as I have gone on too long today. Please remember that this is your money, your time, your decisions, your rules and--most importantly--your mental, emotional, financial , physical and spiritual capital that you are putting into this amazing profession. Please remember to use them well, to take care and nurture them. The single most important element of your trading is YOU. Your true trading plan is every feeling, thought, action that you are afraid to face and for which you will not take personal responsibility. Until soon-- I thank you all for this fantastic exchange! Thanks! Doctor Janice

In response to something ( Bear hedge fund blowup, INTC, glitch or worst possible scenario which is no news), ES now down 8.5 on Globex. Thanks Doctor Janice

Thank you, GCB. That is very powerful. I believe that true traders and "called" to trading. It is a deep and powerful passion. Trading is really a enigma wrapped in mystery, wrapped in a puzzle, wrapped in an open adaptive and constantly-changing system. Traders are conflicted at a deep level because they want to make money, yet they realize that in order to do so, they must take money from others. I heard a very wise and very old ( 85 yoa) the other day who said that traders must be childlike, humble, grateful and have killer instincts. Now, that is asking a lot, I think! It requires one to be a chameleon, to deal in an environment of deception and yet be willing to believe and trust, to humble oneself at the feet of the market mistress, to be grateful for the gifts received from the mistress and to be ready to strike with the ferociousness of a wild animal. What a combination!! Thanks! Doctor Janice

HI Blowfish and All, I may have missed something here, so please step up and fill me in if I have? The inner game of trading IS about ego, validation, fear and every other aspect of mind and brain. I would be grateful if you would repeat the question, so that I can give a better answer? Please note that everything you do, feel, think, and say arises from your brain. The inner game of trading is, perhaps, what people are relating to when they talk about tools for centering, meditation, zen, yoga etc. I think there are a bunch of "Inner Game" books, but I have not read any of them. Now that I have likely confused everyone ( including myself) as to where we are on this thread---please be a sweetheart and restate the question? THANKS Doctor Janice

Fear of success is related to several aspects. It has to do with internal conflict. For example, if you have someone you know ( immediate family, friend, relative, someone in the media or film etc) who has lots of money and success, you might want that money and success, but something inside of you rebels against it because you don't like something about that person. Perhaps it is the manner in which the person has made money, perhaps there is something in the character, personality, value system or any number of other distinguishing factors, that repel you from that person. In this situation, conflict arises. You want to be like that person re: getting money and success but you don't want to be like that person because you don't like what they stand for. Subconsciously, you tell yourself that if you make that money and success you will be like the person you can't stand. As much as part of your brain wants to have it all, be the guy with the big car and house, you don't really deeply want it. That sets up a desire to lose. If you win, you might turn out to be like the person you can't tolerate. This is the basis of the subconscious desire to lose. The most common examples of this are those from wealthy families that end up "hating" their parents and deliberately rebeling against them. It is seen as rebellion, but it really is a desire to be a loser. I had a trader tell me a while ago that he hated his parents because they threw money at him all the time he was growing up. He didn't want the money, rather he wanted them to notice him, to look at him, to spend time with him and to show by small acts of kindness that they loved him. Every time they "threw money at me" I hated them more and I was determined "never to be like them." Then, he asked me why he was not able to make any money in the markets despite years of trying. "I paid for the best systems and seminars I could find, I spent tons of money on newsletters and hired programmers to get mechanical trading systems up and running for me. Still, I lose year after year. What the #@!^ is going on?" How would you respond to this trader? What would you ask him? Great topic and wonderful participation all, and thanks! Doctor Janice

Thank you all for these great comments. I did a video earlier this year about the Market Mistress and Getting Your Trading Brain Out Of The Cave. I think there is a short ( poor quality!) video clip on my site ( PLEASE ignore the promo material as I am not trying to sell anything to you). Let's see if I can find the link. Here is it: Video #2 is a clip about The Market Mistress: http://www.thetradingdoctor.com/video/jan07/ Thanks! Doctor Janice

My personal opinion on this has nothing to do with what I think about whether marijuana should be legalized or not, nor does it have to do with the long or short terms of smoking weed. It has to do with staying strong and clear in body and mind.I can only give you the benefit of my own personal experiences and of many hundreds of traders which whom I have associated over the years. Health is the most important factor in our lives. When we lose our health, we lose everything. Moderation in all things is a very good way to live and to think. Unfortunately, many cannot be moderate. They go to excesses in one way or the other. This can be particuarly true in professions such as trading where the stress level can get quite high. I think about Nick Leeson and many other stories where traders got so full of themselves that they took to excessive drinking, gambling, street drugs, etc. For a while, this will probably be OK, especially when a person is in their late teens or 20's. However, if continued, it will wear down the body through deterioration of the immune system. The mind will become less strong and health will suffer ( both mental, physical and spiritual). Trading success is a marathon, not a sprint. It is our job as traders to take personal responsibility for our capital- financial, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. I would never condemn anyone for his or her choices, because I don't want anyone to condem me. I have written a lot about my story and what happened to my health in 1990. I can tell you, it was a nightmare and it is a miracle that I survived. The answer to the question about weed is that you must make your own choices in life. If you want to live long and prosper so as to appreciate the hard-earned fruits of your labor, then it is your responsibility to take care of yourself and keep yourself in peak condition. If any of you is having challenges with addictions, including eating or drugs, or would like to know about the work I do with wellness and longevity, please do not hesitate to write to me and thanks! Doctor Janice

Thank you Dogpile, I am a real shrink by the way! However, I know what you mean about keeping stuff for private discussion. Cooter asked me to elaborate on why people have a subconscious desire to lose. There are a number of reasons, but one of them is contained in Dogpile's most recent post. Dogpile. Think about this quietly and radically honestly and let me know? The people who let you go---the bosses and the senior managers--- (1) What did you really think/feel about them as human beings? (2) What did you really think about them as financial people ( ? traders/investors? (3) What did you really think/feel about how they conducted their business? (4) What did you really think/feel about how they treated you? (5) What did you really think/feel about the amount of money they were making? (6) What did your parents, wife and family think/feel about those bosses and managers? Thanks for your answer, and please everyone bear with me as we go through this? Thanks! Doctor Janice

Thank you all so much for your encouraging comments. I appreciate the feedback very much! Please keep learning and studying. For those on my free mailing list, I just sent out "Finding Your Trading Edge" which gives an introduction to the behavioral ( cognitive) biases which underly the concepts of support and resistance. Thanks Again for your great comments and support. I am grateful! Doctor Janice

HI Dogpile, Thank you for sharing your situation with us. This is a great learning situation. You mention that you have had stress for the past 10 years with your financial job and now with your trading. Please tell me about the way in which this stress manifests? In other words, please be specific about how it is affecting you mentally, emotionally, physically and even spiritually? Thanks for being courageous enough to step up and ask for help, Dogpile! Doctor Janice

Thank you so much, James, for stepping up and sharing your experience, strength, hope and fears with us! These are all wonderful answers and suggestions for James. The harsh reality is that a large percentage of traders (some say 80-90%) fail. There are many reasons for this. The main reason is that they do not have a tested trading strategy and plan which they adhere to with rigorous discipline. They cut winners and let losers run. Right now, the markets are rallying like there is no tomorrow, so it's easy to hide. The true test of trading is not how much money you make, rather how much money you keep. Right now, we are in a global boom of unprecedented proportions. The markets are rallying like there is no tomorrow. A large number of fund managers today were not even trading in the 80's and 90's. They have not seen the devastation of the bear. This is where the rubber will hit the road. Right now, it's party time and it feels fantastic! It is when the cycles change that the true mettle of the trader will become apparent. Apologies for that mini-rant, because I actually forgot to say what I have learned. In my experience, some 50% of traders actually want to lose. I know that sounds hideous and horrible and difficult to believe, but I have seen it now for over 13 years. There are many reasons for this, most of them related to subconcious issues which are deep and difficult to dissect. That said, I believe that if one is truly "called" to trading, willing to put in the really hard work and long hours, and to stay true to discipline, that person can make it through any type of market atmosphere. Trading is a business, just like any other business. You are young, James and you have time to really look at what you are doing and why you are doing it. Always have a business plan. Learn discipline and stick with it. Most importantly, follow your own passion. Your life belongs to you and to no one else. What other people think of you is really none of your business unless you make it so. One of your greatest challenges will be the influence that others have over you and your need to belong and have people like you. The other challenge you will have is your tendency to be a bit contrary, stubborn and somewhat defiant of authority. That said, please don't ever be afraid to speak your own truth and stand in your own integrity. You are blessed with youth, drive and spirit. Please use it wisely as it is a gift and this time will never come again for you. A great trader needs self-compassion, humility and a killer instinct. If you think about those three qualities, you may see why so many do not make it. We get too soon old and too late smart. Start smart and get smarter. The future belongs to you, James, so please use it wisely. Thank you again for the opportunity to share with you. It is a privilege for me. Doctor Janice

Bear, How are you doing with your trading? What does your equity curve for the year to date look like? Thanks Doctor Janice

Thank you, Walter. I am thrilled to read your comments. They inspire me to write more and to give more to each of you. Thanks! Doctor Janice