Zen and The Art of Trading

The complexity of a trading system has little to do with the markets . . . it has mostly to do with your emotions.

- Ed Seykota

I've been teaching meditation since the early 70s. You may find the following useful as a guide for cultivating clarity.

Being With Your Breath
and the Stillness of the Moment

The air that you breathe is nature, as is the
breathing process itself.

Bring your attention to your breathing and realize
that you are not doing it. It is the breath of nature.
If you had to remember to breathe, you would soon
die, and if you tried to stop breathing, nature would
prevail.


You reconnect with nature in the most intimate and
powerful way by becoming aware of your breathing
and learning to hold your attention there. This is a
healing and deeply empowering thing to do. It brings
about a shift in consciousness from the conceptual
world of thought to the inner realm of unconditioned
consciousness.

from Stillness Speaks

- Eckhart Tollee


The cherry blossoms having fallen,
Enjoji Temple
Is quiet once more.

- Onitsura


Meditating is a simple, natural way to revitalize every cell in your
body.

All that’s required is a place to sit undisturbed for 10-20 minutes,
once or twice a day.

You could meditate on the bus on the way to and from work but a better
place would be where it’s quiet.

Find a comfortable chair or cushion to sit on.

Sit comfortably.

Close your eyes and observe the natural flow of your mind . . .
thoughts of what you’re going to be doing that day . . . daydreams and
mind wanderings.

Now bring your attention to your breath. Breathe through your nose and
begin to observe your breath as you breathe in and breathe out.

Observe whatever your breath is doing. When you notice that you are
absorbed in your thoughts, bring your attention back to your breath in
a natural, easy way.

Your attention is moving inward.

The center of your meditation is the breath . . .

Without any effort, your breath will become finer and finer. Your body
will be deeper in rest. And your mind will awaken to the finest texture
of your breath. Awaken to the sound of your breath . . . to the
moisture of your breath.

Thoughts will come and go like clouds passing in the sky.

Bring your attention back to your breath.

Sit in the stillness of the moment.

Your body is in a state of deep rest, and your mind is awakening.

Softening . . . relaxing . . . focusing.

Just like when you’re reading a book at your favorite cafe, you’ll
sometimes be aware of your surroundings and sometimes will be
absorbed . . . lost in another story.

In meditation, you’ll sometimes be aware of a horn honking, a bird
chirping, or a child laughing. And sometimes you’ll be completely
absorbed in the joy of settling into a state of pure clarity . . .
experiencing the gap between your breath moving inward and moving
outward.

Pure awareness.

You could use a timer or your intuition to let you know when 10-20
minutes is up.

Before opening your eyes, let your attention flow from your breath to
your thoughts and outer surroundings. Sit or lie down for a few minutes
before opening your eyes. Then open your eyes and stretch before
getting up.

If you fall asleep . . .

If you fall asleep while meditating, that’s a good sign that you are
experiencing deeper relaxation and your body needs sleep. If you feel
like taking a nap after meditating, take a nap.

As your body returns to a natural balance, you’ll feel more energy and
more relaxation throughout the day as you continue to meditate.

The best times to meditate are before breakfast and dinner.

You should sit to meditate but, if you aren’t feeling well meditate
lying down.

As good as you might feel, you shouldn’t meditate longer than 30
minutes twice a day. As you continue to meditate, that good feeling
will become part of the fabric of your daily experience.

Your nervous system will begin to reflect a new state of restfulness
and alertness. You’ll begin to feel both more relaxed and more alert in
everything you do.

From the silence of your being . . . your mind and body will begin to
radiate with clarity and health.

Enjoy
 
"POKER RULE #86: Eliminate macho"

Fighting the trend and pressing the luck factor are the quickest ways to dig a hole. Eliminate marginal trades. Instead, use the money to cushion the losses from the qualified setups.
 
Quote from martys:

"POKER RULE #86: Eliminate macho"

Fighting the trend and pressing the luck factor are the quickest ways to dig a hole. Eliminate marginal trades. Instead, use the money to cushion the losses from the qualified setups.
Perfect example.. today I tried to get long the ES and had my ass handed to me..

and my Ass has gotten pretty big lately too.. not a pretty sight..
 
Quote from Flashboy:

Perfect example.. today I tried to get long the ES and had my ass handed to me..

and my Ass has gotten pretty big lately too.. not a pretty sight..


The exact same thing happens in poker. Things start going overly well and we start getting a little too "full of ourselves" and self-inflating our view of the way things are going to be, and our abilities, and there is usually something waiting around the next corner to bring us back to earth again.

--Larry Phillips
 
Quote from Flashboy:

Perfect example.. today I tried to get long the ES and had my ass handed to me..

and my Ass has gotten pretty big lately too.. not a pretty sight..

I only traded a bit the morning because I have to bring my wife to check up and I couldn't believe the drop when I came back. I did lost some money trying scalp long and did not manage my stop as well as I should. Now it doesn't look all that bad. This is payday for the ORB (open range breakout) trader. Feel some negative vibe for the year.

Live and fight another day! :)
 
Quote from Larry Phillips:

The exact same thing happens in poker. Things start going overly well and we start getting a little too "full of ourselves" and self-inflating our view of the way things are going to be, and our abilities, and there is usually something waiting around the next corner to bring us back to earth again.

--Larry Phillips

You think your ass was handed to you?! I was sodomized today trading the NQ!

And to think that I wanted to go short at 1621.50 (PP) but didn't get filled.

Would someone shoot me?....Please!:(
 
Quote from Larry Phillips:

The exact same thing happens in poker. Things start going overly well and we start getting a little too "full of ourselves" and self-inflating our view of the way things are going to be, and our abilities, and there is usually something waiting around the next corner to bring us back to earth again.

--Larry Phillips

Yes, overconfidence in anything is a warning sign of flying crap to come. :D
 
Quote from Larry Phillips:

The exact same thing happens in poker. Things start going overly well and we start getting a little too "full of ourselves" and self-inflating our view of the way things are going to be, and our abilities, and there is usually something waiting around the next corner to bring us back to earth again.

--Larry Phillips
You couldn't be more right Larry.. the reason this happened was overconfidence.. have been trading very well and earlier yesterday morning made two mediocre trades that I managed to exit with a small profit.. then the market went against the position I had on.. so I patted myself on the back.. thinking I could trade my way out of anything basically, I went on to totally screw up my day

Every big losing day I have had has come in this fashion.. resulting from overconfidence..
 
Hey Guys,

I'm staying out of the market today for both of the reasons mentioned previously. I got f--king nailed yesterday. When a day like yesterday happens I stop for a few days and analyze my mistakes.

It was pure overconfidence. I had all winning days in nov. and dec. and I just plain got cocky. I am an idiot not to remember past years where the end of the year will rally and then some craziness of the new year ensues...

In general I used overly liberal stops and larger than normal size and paid for it. Funny how the day I decide to increase my risk is the day I get burned. Funny how many times I've learned this lesson the hard way:)

Regards,

Mike
 
Quote from Mike805:

Hey Guys,

I'm staying out of the market today for both of the reasons mentioned previously. I got f--king nailed yesterday. When a day like yesterday happens I stop for a few days and analyze my mistakes.

It was pure overconfidence. I had all winning days in nov. and dec. and I just plain got cocky. I am an idiot not to remember past years where the end of the year will rally and then some craziness of the new year ensues...

In general I used overly liberal stops and larger than normal size and paid for it. Funny how the day I decide to increase my risk is the day I get burned. Funny how many times I've learned this lesson the hard way:)

Regards,

Mike


In the World Series of Poker main event this past year ($10,000 buy-in) there were 2600 entrants. A great percentage of this number (maybe 2,000) were amateurs, recreational players, semi-pros, and people who qualified by playing online. Many of the top pros went into this situation basically overly confident in much the same way, and (interviewed later) some said they may have "pushed a little too hard". Result: many of the top players in the world were gone after the first day. Moral of the story: they too needed to back off a little more than they were doing. It's an easy mistake to make-- as well as a fine line to walk-- being confident against being overconfident. For some reason this is a lesson all of us keep learning and re-learning.

Larry Phillips
 
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