The Inner Voice of Trading (Shanette Luellen's Library) by Michael Martin

Author:Michael Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FT Press
Published: 2012-06-15T16:00:00+00:00

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Investors don’t like the feelings of having to make lots of transactions without some level of certainty that it’s okay to do so. They also need emotional validation that it’s okay to take small losses to protect their capital.

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To get a sense of who you are and to develop your self-awareness, one approach is to begin meditation or a yoga practice. Yes, it sounds like a granola flower child speaking, but that’s how I did it, and I don’t know any other way. You can join a Trading Tribe, but that’s a hit-or-miss proposition, depending on the Tribe you join. I was lucky to have Ed Seykota sitting directly to my left. You also need a mentor to help you develop your trading model and style so that it fits with your emotional constitution. You can read all the “how to” books you want, but until you address this, you’re destined to repeat your bad trading habits.

Every trader I interviewed for this book told me that they had some form of spiritual practice, even the day traders. Mike Bellafiore likes to go for an early morning run. And I mean very early morning. It’s not uncommon for him to run in Central Park between 4 and 6 a.m. I asked him, “Mike, why so early?” He said, “Because I gotta get it in, and if I don’t make it a priority, it’s never going to happen.” On a side note, he chooses not to run with headphones on. Many of you might equate heading to the gym, the treadmill, or wherever with your MP3s blasting. Not for Mike. “I can’t possibly gain any clarity if I have to actively listen to someone singing.”

Bellafiore’s business partner, Steve Spencer, has his own approach to gaining inner wisdom. It’s much different that Bellafiore’s, but just like a trading system, it works for him. “I have been doing yoga for almost eight years now,” he says. “I started with my sister, but now I do it mostly on my own around New York City.”

My guess is, you’re not going to see anyone on Fast Money talking about yoga or “sitting in quiet conference with the infinite,” but you ought to. I have no doubt that everyone on that show does something to zone out and get their minds off the market and trading, even if it’s to go out and have a smoke. Maybe it’s not something the viewers of their great show are interested in for the short time they have together each night, but my guess is that if I got one of them on a podcast, we’d find out very quickly.

I was introspective to begin with, but once I hit the yoga mat, I lost myself in the process, which is exactly what you’re supposed to do. I took classes with five or six different teachers. I eventually studied with Erich Schiffmann and Jorgen Christiansenn once I had the insight to understand what they were talking about and to gain the wisdom to deepen my practice.

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