Face your fears

To clear your mind of the fears you have picked up from the world around you, you will need to go back to a simpler time of your life when you had none and examine the source. When we were younger and carefree we didn't have many fears at all. Over time other peoples fears were instilled in you rightly or wrongly. You can work through your fears so that they are now longer affect you and become the person you want to be.

Anything that is holding you back is a boundary like a prison fence, a barrier to you becoming all what your dreams can imagine. Facing these fears down can produce a quantum leap in you as a person. Confidence, freedom, excellence.

Fears are future projections of something that might happen. Might. Is it ever so bad as you imagined when it does happen? Not usually. Our puny minds amplify and give us negative feedback that tricks us into not living our life as we should and this is not a way to go through life. You have to keep running towards these fear barriers and burst into the limitless expanse of possibilities of your life. You can choose how to live your life and seeing as it is the only one you're got, it makes sense to live it in a way that makes you happy. One of the greatest regrets a person can ever have is getting to the end of their life and realizing they did not follow their dreams or take the golden opportunity. Don't be a timid soul, don't have a failure to try something that scares you. This is where the essence of life comes from. These moments are where you as a person can grow, learn and can feel truly happy.

The picture here is one of my favourites from this past season. It shows me in perfect form about to drop into a fucking seriously steep section. It's not one of those "you fall, you die" chutes but it has to be a sustained 65 degree angle. The effort to ski 2 hours into here, camp out overnight, and kick steps up the steep face are all like they never even happened they are so far buried by the 100% focus I feel in these moments. This is living for me. I never feel more alive than at times like this. Senses are heightened yet in the background. Total joy is the outcome. Sublime.

In trading the common fears of losing money and being wrong can be conquered by using the same techniques. Question what you want to do, what things you will no longer tolerate and what standards of excellence you will hold yourself to, on a go forward basis. Staying with your plan and staying true to yourself even if it means not trading and simply observing the markets until you absorb the necessary skills will get you there. The markets are a limitless space filled with unlimited opportunities. Prepare yourself to operate without boundaries. When you have the attitude and calmness that fears are nothing really but wisps of misguided imagination, the courage to overcome can be easily found. Mark Twain said- "Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it.

Observations from yesterday in QQQQ

Yesterday was a nice down day for the markets and provided good action for short sellers.

The QQQQ trend to me was quite obvious...down. When you see candles like this they provide great opportunities to initiate new shorts or add size to current positions.

If you are wrong and get stopped out, the losses will be small. If you are right , your position is never threatened and you have a jump on the herd.

Later in the day you can see what happened to the QQQQ. The trend continued down.

2nd yellow line marked big volume coming in which is another place to add size as it moves under mid day support.

Use this data from the overall markets in concert to show you the way to trade indivdual stocks.

PCLN bounce

and after covering I bot what turned out to be a nice bounce.

sold now.

presently waiting.

PCLN

Woke up early this morning and covered PCLN after a week.

1st chart is the entry which I posted on Tuesday "The fake out"

Basically waiting for an pop opportunity to gain an advantageous entry point.

2nd chart shows added size on another pop, another day...

Last chart shows taking advantage of the many sellers to buy and cover and...

Can't seems to fix this text location.

Daily Movitator

Great post on the power of positive thought from the link I have on the right side of this page. I like Ralphs writing style and the points he puts across.

Adopt this mindset in your everyday moments and it will change your life for the better. Problems become opportunities and a source of learning. Accomplishments are celebrated. Believe in yourself, hard.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Imagine intensely

Imagine yourself filled with energy and enthusiasm. The more vividly you imagine it, the more real that energy and enthusiasm become.

See yourself working with purpose, focus and discipline. Imagine yourself being positive, decisive, and eager to take whatever action is necessary.

Imagine yourself being the person you've always wanted to be. Imagine, in rich and glorious detail, living the life you've always dreamed of living.

Imagine a positive and fulfilling image of yourself, doing what you know is right for you, giving your very best to life. Imagine living each day with positive purpose, love, compassion and effectiveness.

Imagine yourself surrounded by beauty, experiencing true joy and fulfillment. Imagine yourself always finding a way to make a valuable contribution to each and every moment.

Imagine yourself at your absolute best, and hold that image firmly in your mind, day after day and moment by moment. Imagine intensely and persistently, and you will make it be.

-- Ralph Marston

Read more:http://greatday.com/motivate/index.html#ixzz0xmZfL735

ARST

Playing the probabilities

ARST short

ARST cover

ARST

bot and sold ARST rocketship

its shortable too....

AAPL

AAPL short was a straight breakdown play

AAPL entry

AAPL cover

BTU

Same story on BTU, got stopped out for a small loss then waited to short again as the pop exhausts itself and the true trend shows up again.

low volume on pop suggested it wasn't the buyers who were control

BTU short

BTU cover, taking profits

SNDK short

After getting stopped out for a small loss when it reversed higher, I waited for a pop to short it.

SNDK short

added size.

sat on my hands.

now covered, taking profits

15 minute doji on SNDK tells me its probably through its big move today.

it's also on its 200 day EMA.

classic exit signal if you are paying attention instead of watching CNBC

The fake out.

A reoccurring theme here is to buy green candles and short red candles especially when they are making new highs or lows. But after a while you get be pretty good at spotting the false moves. This chart presents the case.

At the time (and I had been watching and waiting) the candles happened I thought it smacked of desperation. A move that had all the hallways of a genuine move with a big candle and lots of volume. The thing was, it was in the wrong direction to the general sentiment of the markets which is down. This is the thing to key in on. And although I can't tell you why because I don't know myself, it just screamed "short opportunity" to me. It just seemed obvious.

Chart is PCLN swing short entry. PCLN quickly moved lower and stop was never threatened.Its $12+ lower today. PCLN is an internet travel company with a $300 stock. The words irrational exuberance come to mind. Anything can happen but I am betting it goes lower. If I get stopped out I would be looking for another good entry point to short it as I think discretionary travel #s will drop.

I remember a few years ago when CROX shares were not far off twice as expensive as GE. Yeah, plastic shoes, thats it. The future economic engine. I'll trade the hype with the best of them but eventually reality set in and I want to short it.

Musings

If BHP really want POT why don't they take control of the two railroads CP, CNI up here that move the product? When your production location is in the middle of nowhere, the transportation options are limited.

Just a thought.

Swing Trading

First off let me say that I am not an expert in swing trading so take whats contained in this post from that point of view.

Exactly opposite from day trading where there is no expectations of where it's going to go, I have to have some conviction when it comes to swing trading.

Basically I think the markets are going to get pummeled in the worst(best) way and we'll be back to fall '08 style declines. Well, I can hope can't I. That was such a glorious time to trade.

With that in mind, I placed some bets earlier this month in SRS, SKF , TZA the inverse ETFs. All have tremendous upside potential in times of crisis(or reality).

They are all showing me a profit and that my thesis is correct, at least for now. Anything can happen and the Fed has all sorts of trickery to keep the market up but I believe market downward pressure will not be stopped until a true bottom is reached. Way down there. I have no time frame for that or price targets.

Chart shows SRS swing long entry August 2.

Not dead yet

Guys, Thanks for the flowers but I'm not dead yet, just slowing down on posting the mundane. When I have something worthwhile I'll post it.

I think I've about run out of things to say and posting the same TNA trades over and over is boring.

I started this blog for me and if it has turned into something else that benefited you then I'm happy to have helped you, but I don't care if people visit this site or not. I've never had links to bring in traffic or allowed myself to be prostituted by advertisements. If you find this approach refreshing, then follow my lead and start something similar.

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I'm still not interested in being involved in your hedge fund. You are sort of the enemy.

However I will be interested in watching your movie about the daytrader who becomes a bankrobber to feed his losing habit.

** Had to change the blog template as there was too many glitches with the old one 8/21/10

15 minute signals

Using the 15 minute chart pays significant benefits.

Here we have TZA TNA and NFLX.

I use the 15s as a form of confirmation, another clue to use to make a compelling case for a trade or to add size.

Notice how TZA and TNA both made doji or doji like candles before this and then ran, down and up.

Using these signals I bot TZA and sold and shorted TNA and NFLX.

Into the close we see what happened...

I had the option of taking a quick profit on the initial jump or wait and see if this was an actual trend change. I choose to wait.

Although they did make a reaction back towards the original entry, it never really threatened to turn into a losing trade by taking out the original stops. Another trade would have been to take the 1st profits then wait for them to exhaust themselves and trend again.

Many ways to skin a cat depending on your trading style. These signals are available to anyone and are easy to see if you pay attention.

another NFLX short

cover NFLX

POT short

pot cover

NFLX short

nice short on NFLX

entry

cover NFLX

Let your brain breathe.

See how my post 2 months ago http://bankrobbertrades.blogspot.com/2010/06/keep-your-eye-on-ball.html

ties into this

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

A winners mindset

Positive mental attitude. Pre-performance visualizations. Unrelenting application of my system.

These are some of the areas that I constantly practice. These are what make me what I am.

Not trying to be an egotist but I believe that in my realm of momentum trading, nobody in the world is better than I am. I believe in me. It puts me to bed at night, it wakes me up in the morning. This positive thinking prepares me and gives me confidence. Everyday is a new day. Every trade is a new trade and I am only as good as my last one. Forget about it, be it good or bad. I don't project forward fears or joys from the past, I'm not anxious about the future. The now moment is where I do my work. Here and now is the only thing that matters. I never give up. I adapt to changing conditions quickly. I've seen most everything but still have a burning desire to learn more.

During my visualizations, I see what the markets will do today although I don't know exactly when those moves will come. I practice in my minds eye exactly what my responses to those moves will be. Move, counter-move, check , check mate. I am prepared for what comes my way and have a clearly thought out plan ready to implement. I am not surprised at anything the market does because anything is possible. I don't limit myself.

I know my myself, system, edge and platform inside out. Long, short, pullbacks, pops, I know what to do. I am ceaseless in the application of my system. I know this is where success comes from. I have done the same things over and over again 1000's of times.

Human nature predicts probability. I study it. I apply it myself through my system.

I monitor myself and make adjustments in the areas of concentration and alertness. I admit when I need to take a step back and fall back to "the zone". I can put "the zone" on like an overcoat. Nothing but driven focused results follow.

All this I can do and you know what? Anybody who is reading this can do the same. There is nothing different about me physically than you. I choose to be this way and you can too. Hard work, realizations and application can bring you to your top level performance.

First you have to want to do this. With a burning desire you have to what to be the best. You have to want it more than anything you've ever wanted before.

Second you must be willing to pay the price to achieve it. Long hours, hard mental work. Learning about yourself and admitting it may be a real eye opener for some of you. The price you pay for anything great is high. When you don't think like most others you will have to enjoy that feeling that makes you different. Revel in it. Seek it out. You're an individual not a clone.

But also you have to remain humble and grounded. Your real goal here is freedom. Freedom to do what you want, when you want to do it, on your terms. Chew on that for a while. Dream about it. Think about what it would be like to be the successful you in the future. Place yourself there, now. What's stopping you? What obstacles need to be overcome? Develop a plan to put you on that track. Practice with unwavering commitment to move forward everyday. Grow with your little successes. Feed on them. All suffering is caused by desire or attachments. Pare these down and simplify everything in your life. Everything.

Be thankful for what you have and who you are. You can do this. There is not a single reason why you can't if you believe in yourself and choose commitment over slacking off . Erase the words,"I can't" from your vocabulary. Don't say it, don't think it. Replace them with I can, I will.

You have freewill. It's up to you to decide. What's it going to be? Leave me a comment about it...

CREE short

CREE cover

VECO short

VECO cover

bot LFL

sold LFL

bot TAM

sold TAM

short CREE

cover CREE

not a prediction, but my gut tells me quite strongly markets are in for a crash soon. I'm short now but prepared with stops and to go long if the conditions change.... lets see how things play out, maybe we'll just float around here a while

DV wasn't a drama queen like ESI and APOL were

DV short

DV cover

bot CAM

sold CAM

short VECO

cover VECO

volume has dried up in APOL ESI better to cover for now with a small loss

APOL short

APOL cover

Classic dead cat bounces

A couple of classic dead cat bounces on ESI and APOL

both steep decliners earlier

bot near the lows and they pop up

ESI entry

ESI exit

APOL entry

APOL exit