Short Term Trading Weekend Lounge: 1-3 Sept, page-109

Hi Michael,

Biggest thing I can suggest is avoiding social media too much during the day. Everyone's got an opinion, I'd guess few are making consistent money and of those who are, only a small % will trade in a way that resonates with your own strengths and style. It's like trying to study for an exam while you've got a hundred people talking into your ear. You're just not going to be able to absorb information and think clearly.

You can help manage emotion with mechanical strategies, like stop-loss, knowing the max % you can lose on any given position is $x. Sounds like you already do a bit. Position sizing, as some have said. That's mandatory with pre-revenue specs in my view.

I'm one of those who believes that profit is all in the entry. Similar to folk like Forrest, Strauss and others, I'm happy to get set a little bit early and wear a smidgen of opportunity cost, as long as I know that there's reasonable newsflow on the way that should attract the market's interest. When you get set a little early (and not too far above directors and brokers) it's amazing how seldom you see your stocks dip far into the red. And I would argue, even a fairly emotional sort of trader can probably tolerate a 10% fall or so. Contrast this with those who chase stocks they've just seen mentioned on SM, or get onboard after they've already risen substantially and many are taking profits. It's a recipe for an emotional rollercoaster, unless you're an absolute gun trader or can behave mechanically, consistently. At a minimum, if not getting set early, I'd be waiting for a base to form after a decent move up and then either get set or wait for some volume to come in. I like this strategy, in particular, with higher mc stocks that trade with decent volume, as I've found you don't tend to get whip as much.

NCZ. Your story resonates. Ran away on me too. You just need to get to the point where it's water off a duck's back. So many other opportunities will come along. Move on immediately and resist the urge to plug the ticker into your platform for a couple of weeks. I looked at NCZ a couple of weeks after missing an entry and it was nearly trading at $1. I'd moved on by then and made money on other stocks. No big deal.

The other thing I do during a rough patch is trade less. Nobody's "in the zone" all of the time and that's completely normal. World class golfers start to miss putts, where usually they'd make them. Full forwards start shanking kicks for goal they'd usually nail. Take a few days, a week, to compose yourself. Regroup and get a bit of perspective; i.e. even though the cards haven't fallen so great of late, what you do tends to work in the long run.