What You Can, Manage What You Cannot

Traders who are unsuccessful in the markets do not understand their roles in relation to the market's perspective. Traders are small players in the context of the market's overall existence. Not only must they recognize this fact, but they also must never think otherwise. No matter how much money the trader has to invest in the market, the market is the market. Which aspects of investing and speculating do the trader control, and what does he have no say in? When does a trader switch from a leader to a follower? How important is it to a trader's success to knowing when and how

to follow or lead?

The following are items that the trader can, and 

must, control:

• The amount of money put into the markets.
• The number of markets to follow.
• When to enter a trade.
• How to enter a trade.
• When to exit a trade.
• How to exit a trade.
• How to spend one's time.

There is no need to determine probabilities that a trader has a certain amount of capital to put into the market or when he enters into a trade. There is 100% certainty that the trader can put X amount into the markets and can put in a trade on, say, Monday morning 5 minutes and 30 seconds after the first trade in soybeans. The following are items over which the trader has absolutely no control:

• The direction markets will move.

• The duration of the markets' movements.

Failure to recognize these aspects of the markets early will result in failure at trading. And the irony is that a trader will end his career without knowing why he failed. Problems occur, and failures materialize when the trader starts to believe that the power which comes with controlling what he can control can be exercised in situations over which he has no control. The market moves whenever and however it wants to. If the trader believes he can dictate to the market when and how he wants it to move, surprises occur. The mere act of buying or selling a futures contract or a stock implies that you want that particular instrument to move up or down. When you buy, you want it to go up. When you sell, you want it to go down. What is mistaken is the fact that when you buy and it goes up, you are really buying something that is already strong. Your buying does not make it stronger. One act of buying or selling has no extended impact on the market. Except for the extreme case where individual buying or selling can actually move the market. when others follow in concerted action, it is impossible to buy and have the market go up immediately afterward,

or sell and have the market go down immediately. You were there at the right time and the right place. In the worst scenario of timing, you merely followed the market, and in the best scenario, you anticipated the market's move. In either case, you had no control over it. If you weren't the one who bought the lows or sold the highs, it would have been some other person. And if the market didn't move after you bought or sold, it would have eventually, independent of your actions.

What You Can, Manage What You Cannot

Traders who are unsuccessful in the markets do not understand their roles in relation to the market's perspective. Traders are small players in the context of the market's overall existence. Not only must they recognize this fact, but they also must never think otherwise. No matter how much money the trader has to invest in the market, the market is the market. Which aspects of investing and speculating do the trader control, and what does he have no say in? When does a trader switch from a leader to a follower? How important is it to a trader's success to knowing when and how

to follow or lead?

The following are items that the trader can, and must, control:

• The amount of money put into the markets.
• The number of markets to follow.
• When to enter a trade.
• How to enter a trade.
• When to exit a trade.
• How to exit a trade.
• How to spend one's time.

There is no need to determine probabilities that a trader has a certain amount of capital to put into the market or when he enters into a trade. There is 100% certainty that the trader can put X amount into the markets and can put in a trade on, say, Monday morning 5 minutes and 30 seconds after the first trade in soybeans. The following are items over which the trader has absolutely no control:

• The direction markets will move.

• The duration of the markets' movements.

Failure to recognize these aspects of the markets early will result in failure at trading. And the irony is that a trader will end his career without knowing why he failed. Problems occur, and failures materialize when the trader starts to believe that the power which comes with controlling what he can control can be exercised in situations over which he has no control. The market moves whenever and however it wants to. If the trader believes he can dictate to the market when and how he wants it to move, surprises occur. The mere act of buying or selling a futures contract or a stock implies that you want that particular instrument to move up or down. When you buy, you want it to go up. When you sell, you want it to go down. What is mistaken is the fact that when you buy and it goes up, you are really buying something that is already strong. Your buying does not make it stronger. One act of buying or selling has no extended impact on the market. Except for the extreme case where individual buying or selling can actually move the market. when others follow in concerted action, it is impossible to buy and have the market go up immediately afterward, or sell and have the market go down immediately. You were there at the right time and the right place. In the worst scenario of timing, you merely followed the market, and in the best scenario, you anticipated the market's move. In either case, you had no control over it. If you weren't the one who bought the lows or sold the highs, it would have been some other person. And if the market didn't move after you bought or sold, it would have eventually, independent of your actions.