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TRADING PSYCHOLOGY
Trading In
The Moment
by Adrienne Laris Toghraie
You don't have choices regarding the past, but you do have choices regarding your future. Here are some ideas about how you can change your perception of the future.
When a trader lets his imagination take hold instead of concentrating on what the market is actually doing, it can affect his trading decisions. Trading in the moment, without wishful wishing about where the markets may go or negative thinking, is the only way a trader can get the support that he needs to follow his own rules.
You don't have a choice about the past. However, you do have choices about your perception of the past and what the future holds as well as the present.
You may be familiar with these mindsets, mindsets that assume an outcome because of some unfounded assumption or belief:
- Everything comes in threes. This has to be a good trade because two good things happened today.
- I'd better get out before the big boys hit my stop.
- I'm always in the opposite direction of the right move.
ALL IN THE FRAMING
I know a gifted picture framer who frames art pieces for major suppliers and buyers from all over the world. She can take a mediocre piece of art and it can look like a masterpiece when she is done with it. Conversely, she has shown me great works that were so badly framed that they appeared not to be worth a second look. The trick, she told me, is in how you see the work and what you choose to emphasize in your choice of frames and mats.
Photographers use a similar technique. In the darkroom, they can perform their own version of reframing reality. If they are working from a large negative, they can select only the most interesting part of the shot and print that. The finished photograph will be a beautiful scene taken from a larger scene with less to recommend it. The trick is to reframe your view of the scene in front of you.
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.
Excerpted from an article originally published in the April 1997 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine.
© Copyright 1997, Technical Analysis, Inc. All rights reserved.
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