Chess game

There are mad men that think about the markets all day long. I guess I am one of those mad men. This blog is a release of that pent up thought that I want to get out of my system. I don't try to monetize my blog, sell subscriptions to a service, or have some grand plan to make money off this. I may write a book in the future, but it won't be for the money. It will be for the same reason that I write this blog. A release for my pent up thoughts.

What I write here is what I am thinking about the market. I am not thinking about charts or systems. I am thinking about the other "thinkers", or traders out there. I view the market as a game, a game in which a minority win and the majority lose. People are trying to beat each other's brains out with any edge that they can get. The key to the game is to realize how to get that edge and to push it when you really feel it. Most weeks, I don't have a strong feel for the market and I don't push it. This past week, my reads felt stronger so I traded more aggressively.

Like chess, traders need to think a few moves ahead and anticipate reactions to the news as well as trader's positioning ahead of the news. The recent case is earnings, and last week I was a bit early, and I realized this, so I stepped back off the pedal and focused on hitting the bulls in the mouth this week. I was going to sell the news, it was just a matter of when. Timing it.

In this game, you've always got to think a step ahead, but not 2 steps ahead. My problems in the past have been when I have thought 2 steps ahead and have sold too early or bought too soon. I still have this problem, but measuring foot steps and timing are tricky things that one gets better at with experience. But I will say this. I have rarely had problems thinking 1 step behind.