|
|
|
|
|
|
|
minute. Nice to have it when you want itbut also a built-in recipe for fixation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
An obsession with keeping score blocks finding ways to creatively play the gameways that might very well result in exactly what we're trying to accomplish. So, how is it possible to be surrounded by continually flashing numbers that represent real money being made and lost but not treat our actions as if real money is on the line? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I use the word game in the following senses: that there is an amusing, exciting, playlike aspect to electronic trading that encourages a lighter, rather than heavier, hand on the keyboard; that we are, despite all the discipline we can muster, still engaging in an activity of some chance to gain something of value; and in the sense of showing no fear when faced with something difficult, dangerous, or unknown. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is this last meaning of the word game that is most relevant to balancing greed and fear. To the degree we can think and act as if we're playing a game, fear and greed may be diminished and at least kept in check. How might you include an aspect of playfulness into your trading that would make it less of a grind? It will be different for everyone. What might it be for you? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Playing with the Paradox: Personal Examples |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sometimes to keep things from getting too heavy, I will watch the flashing quotes and make some guesses as to what's going to happen next in the movement of a stock or the market as a whole. Or I will guess what the effect of a piece of news hitting the market will have on the indices. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I do this without taking a position in the stock, only to play with my hunches as to the way things are moving. This keeps me interested, alert, and often leads to an inner chuckle when I predict correctly, and to a mental shrug of ''oh well" when I don't. It helps me stay balanced, keeping in mind that the impact of no one piece of news, economic report, analyst downgrade, or anything else is going to last forever. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Of course, there is something more going on here. I am playfully trying to understand the movement of the stock, learning broad rhythms of movement as I make my casual guesses. I begin to see daily cycles that certain stocks repeat at certain times of the session. |
|
|
|
|
|