December 2009 Trading

Fellow traders, December was an extremely slow, choppy month where at times it seemed like the market has stopped moving altogether. Unfortunately our results were in the red (although during the sim/no trading period, we would’ve had good trades that would’ve made total for the month a 1 point loss), but this is perfectly Okay with us. There is no strategy that will always make money and always be profitable. The important thing to remember during periods like this is to protect the account and not over trade. I received a few emails from our members saying the slow/choppiness of the markets made them over trade and lose more than they should have. This is the exact reason why you need to be extra careful during slow markets. Psychologically it is very tough to stop trading after a few straight losses and especially if the market gives and takes back or is very slow, but you have to do it. This is why we stop trading and do not call any more trades, to prevent us and our members from over trading. Almost all of our members stopped trading when we did, but the few that did not ended up giving back more than we did.

As a trader, you will have to constantly work on your emotions and controlling them and with our help you will be able to do this. Just listen to us and don’t question yourself and don’t over trade.  Think of it this way, if you are down $100 for the day and you stop trading, you still have made money compared to continuing to trade and make emotional/revenge trades and being down $250 for the day. The market does not owe you anything, if you get emotional and start revenge trading, it will take more from you. Guaranteed!

I want to conclude this post by saying anyone can make money during good markets. The best traders are revealed during these times when the markets are stuck in a tight range and there is no follow through anywhere. I know many other experienced traders who ended up negative in December as a result of these market conditions, but everyone is Okay with that because this is part of life as a trader. You keep your losses under control. The traders who are angry/upset at themselves are the ones that over traded and lost more than they should. Don’t be one of them. Lack of trading discipline will take you out of the game. Another guarantee.