Attitude Trader

Flex the Muscles and Get An Attitude

2012-01-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

by YM Trader*

I studied hard over the Christmas andNew Year break with the idea of coming out of the blocks hard in2012. But it wasn't to be.

My attitude stunk. I got complacent. Complacency is the enemy of achievement….the enemy of

success. It's mental laziness. Makingexcuses. Bullshit. Complacency is the attitude of losers.

Instead of doing what I needed to do Idid "busy work" because I convinced myself I "neededto do this and that" in order to really be prepared forthe new year. What a joke.

My attitude stunk. You have to know howmy mind works to really understand this, but that's beside the point.I had convinced myself, that even after years of full-time effort, Istill "needed this and that" in order to really be readyto come out swinging.

What I really did was do a con job onmyself.

Attitude Trader has a great quote athis website that I've borrowed and put on my wall. I really need topay more attention to it, and writing all this out is a step in thatdirection. It goes …

"Is it hard?" "Notif you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitudethat's hard."**

Trading is really simple. I've beendoing this long enough to know that yes, trading is simple. Thebookstores, libraries, and internet are full of trading plans thathave proven records of success. Many are free. You can create oneyourself.

But we all find out that executing that"proven plan" is really the hard part. It all comes downto attitude.

We are either looking for solutions orwe are looking for excuses. It's all in your freakin' head. Youeither see the glass as half full (the right attitude) or half-empty(the wrong attitude).

Unless you are mentally crippled youhave no excuse for not being a successful trader. As the old sayinggoes, “if I can do it, you can too." I brought plenty of“baggage” to my trading career but I didn't let it stop me. OnlyI can stop myself. And sometimes I’m good at that too. Same foryou. My effort in this first week of the year was half-hearted,weak, and full of excuses.

My attitude stunk.

Why is something hard? Because we tellourselves that. Why is something easy? Because we tell ourselvesthat. It's all in our freakin’ head. Bullshit excuses.

I started following Attitude Trader'sblog as soon as I saw the name of it. I knew he had the right idea.Whether you become a successful trader or not has NOTHING to do withtraders you are supposedly competing against. It has NOTHING to dowith your trading plan. It has EVERYTHING to do with your attitudetoward work and effort. And that’s supposed to be the easy part!

You may think I'm a loser because I'mwriting this. No, I’m just a guy with written goals (serious goalsthat all need to be accomplished in due time) that falls shortat times. And that pisses me off (no apologies for poor grammarhere). Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I still don't knowenough even though I've been trading the same market, doing the sameprep work, and studying the same plan for over 5 years now. No, I don’t call it beingscared. I call it being stupid. And I have the facts to back thatup.

Like I said, you have to know how mymind works (writing this is therapy here) because knowing how yourown mind works is the key to all your dreams. It's not about themarket, your fellow “competitors,” or your trading plan. Heck,that's the EASY part!

If you (me) want to be a success thenget your attitude in gear. Quit the whining. You (me) are fullycapable of doing TWICE what you are accomplishing now. And I cancomfortably say that without even knowing you. I do know me and Iknow I'm falling down on the job.

It's all about attitude.

Think you can? YES YOU CAN !!

Think you can't. DAMN RIGHT YOU CAN'T!

Does it hurt? Why? ….Because youconvinced yourself it hurts.

Is it simple and easy? Why? …Becauseyou convinced yourself it was!

Trading, and life in general, is just amental game. You are the only player in the game. You makeall the rules yourself. So don't be bitching and complainingif you find yourself losing.

I’m a health and fitness nut (it'spart of my Type A personality that makes me feel like a loser when Ifall short on something). I have a little card taped to the bottomof my computer monitor where I see it all day long. "Flex theMUSCLES and get an ATTITUDE!"

Just like the physical act of smilingcan make a person feel better, so can flexing a muscle. I have

a rack of dumbells and every day (OK,only most days dammit) I go through a 10 minute routine (because Ihave no freakin’ excuse for not finding 10 minutes a day!). I likehow a flexed muscle feels. It’s powerful. It’s empowering. It’slike a little shot of endorphins. When the charts make me feelsleepy; when my attention seems to be lagging; I look at the card,flex a muscle, pound the desk, and get my attitude straightened out.

Trading is easy.

If you’re a daytrader looking at tickcharts like me, it can become very mentally tiring. Whine! Bitch!Complain! Moan! Flex the MUSCLES and get an ATTITUDE!! Trading iseasy. What excuse is next??

Trading is mostly WATCHING. It ismostly just watching, and thinking, and knowing (not guessing) what'sgoing on. I call it SEE-THINK-KNOW. It's a mental mantra to keepme mentally in the game.

We all do it, I just gave it a tag.

If you're not achieving the success youwant (or you CLAIM to want...there's a big difference) then yourattitude is the problem because (here I go again) trading is easy. If you are falling behind it’s not because of the market, it’sbecause you just aren’t willing to do the work...because trading iseasy.

If you are seeing ghosts, or bad thingsat every turn, then your attitude is wrong, not your trading plan. If you are afraid to pull the trigger then your attitude is wrong. Wealready know it’s not a fault of your trading plan.

Fix your head. Whatever it takes. Figure it out. You are your own best psychologist. Use whatevertricks and techniques you need to do to get yourself into the"glass half full" mode. Just do it. No bitching, whining,complaining, or moaning about "how the market is treating you".

The market is giving you winning setupsevery day. You just may be too _____ to act on them. It's yourattitude.

- YM Trader

Flexthe MUSCLES

andget an ATTITUDE!!

* See sidebar for links to more YM Trader posts.
** From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-09T09:47:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone is doing well so far in this new year.

I was enjoying time away from blogging, but YM Trader had written out some things he had on his mind and thought it might be helpful to share them in a post.

So I'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone here by making a post with some actual value while at the same time letting someone else do the work! Look for it in the next day or two.

And good luck in the new year!

Closed For The Holidays

2011-12-19T11:34:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Weekly Stats

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

12/16 Friday

2011-12-16T09:25:00.001-06:00

-11 ticks, -$65.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

12/15 Thursday

2011-12-15T14:48:00.001-06:00

-5 ticks, -$55.00, 6 trades, 6 cntrcts

12/14 Wednesday

2011-12-14T14:51:00.002-06:00

-14 ticks, -$80.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

12/13 Tuesday

2011-12-13T09:32:00.003-06:00

-10 ticks, -$70.00, 4 trades, 4 cntrcts

12/12 Monday

2011-12-12T15:21:00.000-06:00

+27 ticks, +$120.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

Quote 12/11/11

2011-12-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned." - Gautama Buddha

Weekly Stats

2011-12-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Controller - Episode 8 "Finale"

2011-12-09T18:00:00.000-06:00

Great final episode!

The Controller website

12/09 Friday

2011-12-09T17:09:00.001-06:00

+21 ticks, +$100.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

Photo 12/09/11

2011-12-09T12:42:00.000-06:00

12/08 Thursday

2011-12-08T16:00:00.000-06:00

+23 ticks, +$105.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

12/07 Wednesday

2011-12-07T16:16:00.000-06:00

-9 ticks, -$55.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

12/06 Tuesday

2011-12-06T16:53:00.000-06:00

+21 ticks, +$100.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

12/05 Monday

2011-12-05T16:57:00.000-06:00

+10 ticks, +$35.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

12/04 MW3 Current Stats & Classes

2011-12-04T21:00:00.003-06:00

Me in the Bakaara map using my favorite workhorse weapon system - the G36C with red dot sight and suppressor in Winter camo:

Weekly Stats

2011-12-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

The Controller - Episode 7 "Leave No Man Behind"

2011-12-02T21:30:00.001-06:00

The Controller website

12/02 Friday

2011-12-02T15:58:00.000-06:00

No trades today - doing other work.

12/01 Thursday

2011-12-01T15:59:00.001-06:00

-9 ticks, -$55.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

11/30 Wednesday

2011-11-30T15:19:00.001-06:00

-7 ticks, -$40.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

11/29 Tuesday

2011-11-29T15:26:00.000-06:00

-5 ticks, -$50.00, 5 trades, 5 cntrcts

11/28 Monday

2011-11-28T15:53:00.000-06:00

SIM: +21 ticks, +$100.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

11/27 MW3 Current Stats & Classes

2011-11-27T21:00:00.001-06:00

Here are a few "First Blood" screenshots (after Prestiging and using the M4A1):

Weekly Stats

2011-11-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

The Controller - Episode 6 "Wired"

2011-11-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

The Controller website

Putting In The Time

2011-11-25T09:11:00.000-06:00

In the time that I played Call of Duty: Black Ops, I accumulated about 80 hours of play time:

My nephew, who is quite good, has played twice as much as I have at about 160 hours:

Now, LW has told me that you need to “watch price until your eyes bleed,” and I would tend to think that the amount of time my nephew's friend has played is the gaming world's equivalent of that statement:

How good do you want to be? Just something to think about...

Quote 11/24/11

2011-11-24T06:00:00.002-06:00

Gratitude for the abundance you have received is the best insurance that the abundance will continue. - Mohammad

11/21 Monday

2011-11-21T16:51:00.001-06:00

SIM: +21 ticks, +$100.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

My daughter is home from college and I'm already in the holiday mood, so I won't be trading any more this week.

Quote 11/20/11

2011-11-20T06:00:00.002-06:00

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away. - Arthur Helps

Weekly Stats

2011-11-19T06:00:00.001-06:00

The Controller - Episode 5 "Buried Alive"

2011-11-18T16:45:00.000-06:00

The Controller website

11/18 Friday

2011-11-18T16:17:00.001-06:00

SIM: +27 ticks, +$110.00, 5 trades, 5 cntrcts

Short term ETH:

Short term RTH:

Long term ETH:

Long term RTH:

11/17 Thursday

2011-11-17T15:25:00.001-06:00

SIM: +48 ticks, +$185.00, 11 trades, 11 cntrcts

11/16 Wednesday

2011-11-16T15:34:00.001-06:00

-20 ticks, -$110.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

11/15 Tuesday

2011-11-15T15:23:00.000-06:00

+40 ticks, +$190.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

Photo 11/15/11

2011-11-15T10:09:00.000-06:00

Being a warm-weather person, one of the things I love about north-central Texas is that in the middle of November the current temperature is 72F and our honeysuckle is still blooming...

...it'll be cold soon though.

11/14 Monday

2011-11-14T15:33:00.001-06:00

SIM: +51 ticks, +$240.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

11/14 Black Ops Current Stats

2011-11-14T09:00:00.008-06:00

Weekly Stats

2011-11-12T08:00:00.002-06:00

The Controller - Episode 4 "Fire Fight"

2011-11-11T18:06:00.000-06:00

The Controller website

11/11 Friday

2011-11-11T16:30:00.000-06:00

SIM: +29 ticks, +$140.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

Being that today is a semi-holiday (banks closed but market open) I was fully prepared to not take any trades today, but right out of the gate price was charging up, so I entered on the first pullback of the RTH session and took profits just below the NPOC. I'm pretty busy with work lately (which is a good thing right now), so I only took the one trade, closed my charts down, and got to my other work.

11/10 Thursday

2011-11-10T16:41:00.000-06:00

SIM: +44 ticks, +$210.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

Quote 11/10/11

2011-11-10T07:30:00.000-06:00

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. - Charles Dickens

11/09 Wednesday

2011-11-09T17:32:00.000-06:00

No trades today - busy with work and other things.

Black Ops: There's A Soldier In All Of Us

2011-11-09T08:42:00.008-06:00

Because I'm new to this gaming thing I had never seen this commercial for Call of Duty: Black Ops (the game I'm currently playing) which features some celebrities like the new MW3 commercial does.

Starring Kobe "Mamba" Bryant, Thomas “SSG TRAN” Tran, and Jimmy "Proud n00b" Kimmel...and The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter makes this a great one too.

MW3: There's A Soldier In All Of Us

2011-11-09T07:38:00.005-06:00

Starring Sam Worthington, Jonah Hill, and Dwight Howard...and AC/DC's Shoot To Thrill makes everything more fun!

11/08 Tuesday

2011-11-08T15:59:00.001-06:00

SIM: +45 ticks, +$205.00, 4 trades, 4 cntrcts

11/07 Monday

2011-11-07T16:22:00.000-06:00

SIM: -36 ticks, -$200.00, 4 trades, 4 cntrcts

CoD: MW3 - Trailer 3

2011-11-06T08:00:00.009-06:00

The Controller - Episode 3 "Bombs Away"

2011-11-05T10:13:00.002-05:00

Behind the scenes: Duncan Fairley

The Controller website

Weekly Stats

2011-11-05T08:00:00.005-05:00

11/04 Friday

2011-11-04T17:09:00.004-05:00

SIM: +40 ticks, +$195.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

Trade 1: Short on pullback to ORL and RZ of down-leg, below falling ema's and VWAP. Initial target was a few ticks above 1/2 FE of the measured leg but price action made me feel that it was powering up for a stronger move than that, so I modified my target to a few ticks above FE of the measured leg and the round number of 11830. +40

Took half the day off.

11/03 Thursday

2011-11-03T15:44:00.001-05:00

SIM: +53 ticks, +$250.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

Trade 1: I didn't plan to take any trades prior to the ISM report at 9:00, but as price pushed up after the open it tested the overnight high and pierced a swing high subsequent to the overnight high, creating something of a triple-top. I shorted there and took profits just above the low of the morning's RTH session. Had I really been thinking, and watching the ETH chart, I would have taken profits at the local swing low on the ETH chart instead. +28

Trade 2: In long and stopped out quickly. I was waiting for a break below the last swing low before I entered, which occurred, but I was using s/r levels from recent price action for support and those were obviously not important. My rules are to wait for price to pull back to my Fib retracement zone which I should have done. -18

Trade 3: Long again after what appeared to be “three pushes down,” pullback to RZ in an apparent uptrend, and apparent support from ema's and VWAP. My target was a measured move of the amplitude (thanks go to Sandy for that) of the last up-swing from the low of the subsequent down-swing. When price neared my target, I trailed my stop aggressively and was taken out. Price came within 1 tick of my target on that move, but there's no point in being a “dick for a tick” (thanks go to YM-Trader for that :) ). I fully expected price to move back up and exceed my target making me look silly for exiting with that stop, but my rules/tactics allowed me to take profits prior to a down leg that would surely have had me exiting at a much less attractive price. +43

IGN Modern Warfare 3 Livestream: Part Three

2011-11-03T10:51:00.002-05:00

IGN Modern Warfare 3 Livestream: Part Two

2011-11-03T10:49:00.002-05:00

IGN Modern Warfare 3 Livestream: Part One

2011-11-03T10:47:00.002-05:00

11/02 Wednesday

2011-11-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

SIM: +37 ticks, +$170.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

Price played between the 2 naked closes (gaps) today.

11/01 Tuesday

2011-11-01T16:14:00.000-05:00

SIM: +28 ticks, +$115.00, 5 trades, 5 cntrcts

Trade 1: Standard pullback with the trend. Tight stop had me out before target. +9

Trade 2: Test/pierce of ORL against the trend. Aggressive with stop due to low R:R and counter trend trade. Out at target. +17

Trade 3: Long on pullback to ORH. No joy - full stop. -19

Trade 4: Long on pullback to ORH and break below previous swing low. Target filled at longer-term swing high. +40

Trade 5: Short with the trend. No joy - full stop. -19

Quote 11/01/11

2011-11-01T07:21:00.002-05:00

There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail. - Eric Hoffer

10/31 Monday

2011-10-31T20:29:00.000-05:00

SIM: +22 ticks, +$100.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

Trade 1: I considered this a risky trade because it was against the overall trend (as I saw it). However, the quick retest/pierce of the morning low / ORL created a fairly strong potential (again, as I saw it) for at least a short-lived move up. My initial target was a few ticks below the high of the day / ORH, but I was very flexible with my exit options since I was going against the trend. I also had my stop at b/e+1 once price had moved away from my entry point. Price moved up well, but when it pulled back and created a short-term swing high, I moved my target to the high of that swing because I've seen many times that price will retest a pivot like that before turning around. Additionally, price was running right into one of my moving averages. Turns out I got out 2 ticks below the high of that swing for +29 ticks, although price eventually reached my initial target about 20 minutes later.

Trade 2: Of course I considered this to be a lower risk trade because it was with the trend. However, I was still not overly confident because of the way price moved up to ORL, and the way it didn't really respect that level. I had 2 ticks of negative slippage on entry. I was aggressive with my stop on this one.

The Controller - Episode 2 "Blind Eye"

2011-10-29T11:35:00.015-05:00

Oh, the frustration! Maybe it's just a video game, but it's not nearly as easy as it looks.

Behind the scenes: Between Takes Episode 1, Blue Cloud Movie Ranch, Freddie Wong, Mrs Violence, Proofy, TSquared, Alex Farnham, Rene's Vehicles

The Controller website

The Controller - Episode 1 "Boot Camp"

2011-10-29T11:23:00.012-05:00

Jonny Moseley (Olympic and X-Games medalist) hosts a new reality show about, what else? An FPS video game!

Hmmmmm. $50K for playing Battlefield 3. Maybe video games aren't a waste of time after all...

Behind the scenes: Jonny Moseley

The Controller website

The Controller - Trailer

2011-10-29T10:00:00.003-05:00

The Controller website

Weekly Stats

2011-10-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

10/28 Friday

2011-10-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

SIM: +11 ticks, +$45.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

One of my written rules specifically describes a situation like today and prohibits me from taking any trades. I got lucky.

Quote 10/27/11

2011-10-27T23:59:00.003-05:00

To believe is to be happy; to doubt is to be wretched. To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power. Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can he act cheerfully, or do any thing that is worth the doing. - Frederick William Robertson

10/27 Thursday

2011-10-27T15:38:00.000-05:00

SIM: +29 ticks, +$130.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

CoD: MW3

2011-10-26T23:59:00.014-05:00

10/26 Wednesday

2011-10-26T16:11:00.001-05:00

SIM: +70 ticks, +$335.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

Price moved down to hit the naked close (gap) below, then moved up to hit the naked close above. Gap fill levels are gems.

10/25 Tuesday

2011-10-25T16:17:00.000-05:00

SIM: -54 ticks, -$285.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

10/24 Monday

2011-10-24T15:23:00.000-05:00

Didn't take any trades today.

Quote 10/24/11

2011-10-24T08:00:00.003-05:00

Believe and achieve; doubt and die. - YM-Trader ;)

CoD: MW3 - Trailer 2

2011-10-23T08:00:00.012-05:00

Weekly Stats

2011-10-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

10/21 Friday

2011-10-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

SIM: +40 ticks, +$190.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

Quote 10/21/11

2011-10-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life. - Billy Graham

10/20 Thursday

2011-10-20T15:17:00.001-05:00

SIM: +30 ticks, +$120.00, 6 trades, 6 cntrcts

CoD: MW3

2011-10-19T23:59:00.004-05:00

10/19 Wednesday

2011-10-19T15:52:00.000-05:00

SIM: -38 ticks, -$220.00, 6 trades, 6 cntrcts

10/18 Tuesday

2011-10-18T16:25:00.000-05:00

SIM: +112 ticks, +$540.00, 4 trades, 4 cntrcts

10/17 Monday

2011-10-17T15:59:00.000-05:00

Didn't change my trading concept, but tested using a different type of chart along with the 3-minute to get a different perspective. Not recording trades today but did mark a few that I took. Beautiful trend day.

CoD: MW3 - Trailer 1

2011-10-16T08:00:00.005-05:00

Weekly Stats

2011-10-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

10/14 Friday

2011-10-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

SIM: +21 ticks, +$80.00, 5 trades, 5 cntrcts

10/13 Thursday

2011-10-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

SIM: -10 ticks, -$55.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

10/12 Wednesday

2011-10-12T15:29:00.000-05:00

SIM: +6 ticks, +$25.00, 1 trade, 1 cntrct

10/11 Tuesday

2011-10-11T17:11:00.006-05:00

SIM: -59 ticks, -$320.00, 5 trades, 5 cntrcts

The good: I was wary coming into today being that it was the first day after a three-day weekend and that price was opening inside Monday's (holiday) range.

The bad: I took trades in the middle anyway with the expectation that price was going to break.

The good: I stopped after five losers in a row and didn't compound the errors any further.

The shoulda: I should have either faded the edges or waited for price to break out of the range.

CoD: MW3

2011-10-10T08:06:00.019-05:00

Quote 10/09/11

2011-10-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes. - Marcel Proust

Weekly Stats

2011-10-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

Better results this week.

10/07 Friday

2011-10-07T15:47:00.000-05:00

Didn't take any trades today.

10/06 Thursday

2011-10-06T16:58:00.000-05:00

SIM: +39 ticks, +$185.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

10/05 Wednesday

2011-10-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

SIM: +31 ticks, +$145.00, 2 trades, 2 cntrcts

10/04 Tuesday

2011-10-04T16:19:00.001-05:00

SIM: +102 ticks, +$495.00, 3 trades, 3 cntrcts

10/03 Monday

2011-10-03T16:21:00.000-05:00

Didn't trade today.

Weekly Stats

2011-10-01T09:39:00.000-05:00

Tough week, and I have to get clear about where I should be taking trades.