TRADING PSYCHOLOGY

Take Me Out To The Trading Game

It Ain't Over Till ... Well, You Know
by Adrienne Laris Toghraie

Are you looking for a way to revive your passion for trading after a long, hot, summer? A visit to the ballpark before baseball season is over may do the trick.

Baseball may be the greatest of all summer pastimes, and it may also be the perfect metaphor for trading. If you want to have a long and successful trading career, you can learn valuable lessons by following baseball. Here are some lessons I've learned about the game that can help you become a better trader.

EVERY MOVE COUNTS

Like trading, every pitch and every swing of the bat can mean the difference between winning and losing. To start with, all eyes are fixed on the pitcher as he focuses on propelling that baseball across the plate at 90 miles an hour. Just as suddenly, all eyes focus on the batter who has to make a split-second decision on whether to hit the ball. No one on either team can afford to get distracted. Games can be won or lost on a single catch or error.

Major league players are baseball's equivalent to master traders; there are so few of them compared to the tens of thousands of young men who are trying to break into the "show." Only a few, whether ballplayers or traders, have the combination of natural talent and dedication to make it to the top. What makes the difference between those who make it and those who don't?

WINNING IN THE MARKETS

The rules for winning at baseball are pretty much the same for winning in the markets:

Rule 1: In the immortal words of the great catcher, Yogi Berra: "It ain't over till it's over."
Berra's comment was in reference to the 1973 New York Mets when he was their manager. They marked the end of August that year in last place - but amazingly, 22 days later, had battled their way to first. They went to the World Series that year and ended up playing all seven games before finally falling to the Oakland Athletics.

 ...Continued in the October issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES

Excerpted from an article originally published in the October 2004 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2004, Technical Analysis, Inc.


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