Now with Dave Landry
What I'm Reading
This week I finished Kluge by Gary Marcus-well, sort of. I started skimming about three-quarters of the way through. As mentioned last week, in his defense, Marcus covers a lot of the things that have already been covered in many other books that I have previously read such as Thinking Fast And Slow, which he references btw (I would recommend that one). I was a little put off by his academic holier-than-thou-I'm-smarter-than-you because I'm an atheist attitude. I used to think that I was smart when I was agnostic (at best) until I learned about Pascal's Wager (I also put a perfectly good car into a ditch right about the same time which helped that epiphany along a tad). Either Mr. Marcus is right for let's say his 100-years on earth or I'm right for infinity. That's a bet I'm willing to take!
I finally got around to finishing Tribe Of Mentors by Tim Ferriss. No, I'm not mentally challenged (no replies necessary!). It's just that his books are idea generators. I often find myself stopping while I start three other books. Anyway, this one is worth it. I have begun outlining it which led to my purchase of a half dozen more books. There's a lot of similarity between the successful people interviewed which is good to know. My biggest takeaway so far is the discussion of the micro vs. the macro. Whatever you want to accomplish in life all boils down the decisions that you make in the micro. If you want to diet, take a minute to make a better food choice. If you're trading, take less-than a minute to place an entry order, a stop/trailing stop, or take those partial profits when blessed. And sometimes, maybe just take a minute to turn off your screens when the Siren call of an unnecessary trade rears its ugly head. As I've mentioned in the Trading Psychology Micro Course, it only takes a few seconds to bypass your emotional amygdala to get to the rest of what's sloshing around up there. So, the next time you feel tempted to make that emotionally charged trade or violate your plan, take a breath. Practice this at home the next time your spouse pisses you off. Count to three, then reply. You're welcome!
What I'm Thinking About
I'm still thinking a lot about the aforementioned micro vs. macro. When my a.d.d. begins to kick in, I been asking myself: self, is what I'm doing right this minute moving me toward or away from my goal?
This Week's Content
I've been going through old content lately vs. reinventing the wheel. In the process, I found a Week In Charts from last year on traits of successful traders. This was the basis for this week's show. Given the dubious at best nature of the markets, I think now is a good time to make sure that you acquire these traits.
Around DaveLandry.com
I'm still doing a lot of work on the website back end. The ultimate goal is to enhance the user experience. I think a lot of the content could be organized into the learning management system or, at the least, something more user friendly.
The Holistic Trader
Accountability was one of the main themes in this week's chart show. If you want to accomplish something in life then hold yourself accountable. Me discussing the importance of being a holistic trader is forcing me to hold myself accountable. Dang, I guess I better go jump on the Peloton!
What I'm Trading
For the most part, it's "groundhog day:" Not much! In equities, with the market's erratic behavior, the database hasn't produced much lately. That's okay! Wait for your pitch (watch the week in charts). I continue to apply the "F-yeah" thinking when sifting through setups. This caused me to miss a winning trade in the hourly USD/JPY. Always ask yourself, can you walk away and be okay? Well, of course I'm aggravated that the market took off without me. However, looking back I decided that I really didn't have a clear setup and there was overhead supply. The secret to life, and trading, is making decisions and living with them! In the Model Portfolio, we are still short PHM and PENN. These two could turn into fodder for a "dead money report" (i.e. continuing to follow the plan even though the position is producing little or no returns).
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different outcome. Well, in trading, sometimes you have to do that. In the Cryptos, I took another stab at an hourly Bowtie in the ETH/XBT pair and once again, it failed miserably. Yes, it's frustrating, but that's we do. We put capital into harm's way when the opportunity appears. As mentioned last week, sometimes you have to be willing to take a couple of "stabs" when trading transitions like this.
Upcoming Appearences
I've been working to get back on schedule with appearances both here at DaveLandry.com and elsewhere. On Monday, I'll be a guest for the Crowd Forecast News program. Join us! On Thursday, I'll be the playing the role of Dave Landry in Dave Landry's The Week In Charts. In a few short weeks, I'll be presenting at the Wealth 365 Conference (online).
May the trend be with you!
Dave Landry
P.S. Now that you know what I've been up to, leave me a comment below to let me know what you've been doing.