That Turncoat Feeling – Trading Psyche

We all remember our major triumphs with great pride while our failures lie buried in our dreams, playing back in our dark moments like a broken record to remind us of our vulnerabilities.

I am constantly revisited by the episode of 2003 when I caved in to market panic and lost my nerves, disregarded my views and made a life changing call on interest rates which changed the course of my career (in a good way on second thoughts) and life forever.

It wasn’t the last time I hit the wall of despair. Back in 2008, shorting the Hang Seng Index on Lehman which rose in initial defiance, catching me off guard in November before it finally crashed like a house of cards in Feb 2009.

Those are the days where you are tried and tested and you succumb, only to wallow in self pity, indulgence and regret. Yet forgetting the moment of relief when you decided to cut loss. Yes, that moment when your mind is lifted off its chains of anxiety, trading on a flicker of hope or rather, desperation.

This bout of reflection and reminiscence is mainly brought about by the moves of the past week and the ensuing Libor fixing scandal convictions. People have paid the price to get to where we are today. I have 2 more white hairs from the strain of my convictions that EUR/USD is target for 1.28, USD/JPY at 83.00 and Gold for 1,700. My spirit was dampened along the way, just like in 2003 and 2008 and the many times in between.

Yet thankfully, this weekend should be a happy one. When I saw the pretty impressive price of DIG US and my GLD US, even USDJPY is looking cheery. Somehow felt we have escaped the jaws of death for the time being, by just sticking to the call right before SURRENDERING.

You will love this picture below.

Happy Weekend and Happy July.

THIS PIECE WILL BE FOLLOWED SOON BY A CONTRIBUTION BY A TRADING ROBOT CALLED PERCY, which will teach us to disregard emotions in his trading system.