Harmony

Harmony, a core ingredient.

You are familiar with my technical analysis principle of the beauty principle.

One of the reasons why I rely so heavily on this TA tool that I developed over the last 30 years is because it is intuitive.

Anything you can do to integrate your intuitive side as a trader in a counterintuitive environment is significantly helpful to your trading success.

Harmony, like beauty, is another tool that can be judged from the gut.

Yes, we live in a world of opposites and struggle with dichotomies, but in the end, everything harmonizes as a whole.

In trading, one finds oneself quickly uneasy, especially after a string of losing trades.

It is essential to take a rule-based approach to reestablish harmony and approach the markets in a neutral fashion from a mental perspective.

As humans, we have various mental make-ups and, as such, need different tools and rules to cope, so two things need to be done.

You need to identify in real time when you are out of balance and develop rules-based solutions to re-balance your overall state.

One such methodology that seems to work for all types of traders is taking a break.

We might not like taking a break. Quite the contrary, typically, after a string of losers, we overtrade and have FOMO of missing out on the next winning trade.

This fear of missing out creates nothing but more poorly evaluated and poorly executed trades.

It is best to implement a rule to walk away for two consecutive intraday sessions, meaning if you quantify a trading day in :

the open(first 90 minutes of the trading day (NY session 9:30 to 11:00 EST)

the doldrums (NY session 11:00 to 14:30 EST)

the close (NY session 14:30 to 16:00 EST)

If, for example, you had three losing trades in a row ending in the doldrum session, you would be dismissed from trading for the day and the opening session of the next day.

Use these two free sessions to reflect upon your plays, losing trades, and possible faulty behaviors. Improve your methodology if needed, and regain confidence now that you know what to do next.

Apply practices that balance you, such as walks, yoga, meditation, and similar activities, to get in the appropriate state and restart trading, either on paper or on very small size.

Do this religiously since throwing good money after bad is no solution to breaking bad habits and coming closer to consistency or improved results.

Be an investigator when it comes to identifying your or your market approach (market edge system) shortcomings and get addicted to a never-ending quest to improve yourself and your market approach.