How can you get up from your screens, grab a workout or run errands or worse yet….go to bed?!
It is simple – but let me ask you a question first.
Why can’t you get up from your screens?
The answer I most often hear is as follows:
- I need to make sure I protect my profits
- I was looking at some trading blogs and I saw another viewpoint
- My trading style demands me to watch the price action very closely
Allow me to respectfully dispel these ideas:
- Protect your profits – this is nothing more than I was up 50 ticks on this trade, now I am only up 23 – I need to get out. Who says the trend has changed – rarely does a trade go linear, it ebbs and flows.
- Trading blogs – why do you need to get an opinion on your trade AFTER it has been placed – do you not trust your thesis?
- Unless you are scalping 1-minute charts, staring at your screens adds no value – each tick against you actually triggers your brain to start thinking about what can go wrong – it plays on you and gets you to abandon your reason for getting into the trade.
- These answers relegate the trader to be a prisoner of their screens, as it clearly indicates that the trader is not operating from a robust trading plan or as I call it – a framework.
If you do not have a framework you are compelled to manage and watch every change in prices thinking that that somehow puts you in control.
Nobody can control the market – you are kidding yourself!
Having a framework accomplishes the following:
- Increases your confidence in placing and staying with trades
- Provides an objective rule based approach
- Allows for freedom – get away from the screens – do other activities that actually get your brain ready to come back later refreshed and recharged
- Enhances your ability to stick with trends and capture the big dollars.
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD flirts with weekly lows near 1.1770
EUR/USD now comes under further selling pressure, breaking below the 1.1800 support to challenge the area of weekly throughs near 1.1770 on Thursday. The pair’s decline comes in response to marked gains in the US Dollar amid steady geopolitical tensions. Ealier in the day, the ECB’s Lagarde delivered cautious remarks, although the currency remained apathetic.
GBP/USD makes a U-turn, challenges 1.3500
GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, putting the 1.3500 support to the test on Thursday. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.
Gold sticks to the bid bias, flirts with $5,200
Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The precious metal adds to Wednesday’s optimism despite the Greenback trades in a firm fashion, although geopolitical tensions in the Middle East keep the yellow metal bid for now.
Stellar: Relief bounce fades as bearish undertone persists
Stellar is trading around $0.16 at the time of writing on Thursday after rebounding more than 8% in the previous day. Derivatives data paints a negative picture as XLM’s short bets hit a monthly high while Open Interest continues to decline.
Changing the game: International implications of recent tariff developments
The Supreme Court ruling on International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs provides limited relief for the rest of the world, with weighted average tariff rates modestly lower.
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