TRADING PSYCHOLOGY
The Volcanic Trader
by Adrienne Laris Toghraie
Your temper can torpedo your profitability. Find out if it's a problem and how to handle it.
When a trader buries his or her emotions because he does not know how to express himself appropriately, these emotions fester. Once the sum of these unexpressed feelings reaches a critical mass, a single, insignificant annoyance is enough to release them in an eruption of inappropriate anger. What is the occasional result from this? This volcanic eruption of anger creates the move that breaks the trader's account.
DOING THE DENTAL GRIND
The only indication that Ben, normally someone with a sweet disposition, was harboring unexpressed emotions was the grinding of his teeth. When Ben was a child, his parents did not allow him to display anger or negative feelings inside the home. Although he did not really enjoy participating in athletics, Ben used physical activity to release these negative feelings. As a result, he was often benched for aggressive behavior.
In college, Ben suffered a knee injury, providing him with an excuse for not exercising at all. Now, his sport of choice is playing armchair quarterback with the remote control. Without physical activities as an outlet for his anger, at times Ben exhibits an erratic, explosive personality. As a trader, he sabotages his account each fall and spring with major, weeklong eruptions, coinciding with the beginning of school and tax time when he is under the most stress. These pyroclastic blasts reduce what should be incredible annual profits to merely average ones. He manages to handle the small eruptions without too much damage to his trading account. However, the semiannual eruptions diminish his profits to roughly half of what they should be.
These eruptions are devastating on his relationships, too. Ben's wife and children take cover as soon as he begins to grind his teeth. Despite the emotional damage that these outbursts inflict upon the family, Ben's wife has no interest in leaving him; she and the children have come to see these eruptions as normal, the way things are. Of course, she has effectively cut off most intimacies with Ben because she cannot trust him emotionally. In addition, she rarely includes him in her social life for fear he will humiliate her publicly. Ben thinks that the demands of caring for their family is the reason his wife has little time or energy for him. In addition, he has been so absorbed in his work he does not miss the lack of a social life.
Adrienne Laris Toghraie is founder and head of both Trading on Target and Enriching Life Seminars. She may be reached at Trading on Target, 100 Lavewood Lane, Cary, NC 27511, 919 851-8288, fax 919 851-9979, via E-mail at adtoghraie@aol.com, or via her Website at http://tradingontarget.com.
Excerpted from an article originally published in the June 2000 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2000, Technical Analysis, Inc.
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