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Nana's Notes
by SherylTrades
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I knit, I fish, I Nana. Retired microbiologist turned day trader, going on three decades with the markets.
This newsletter does not constitute financial advice, and reflects only the personal views of the author. Making money with day trading is notoriously difficult; please see MFT's earnings disclaimer here.
Feeling Lucky?
Dear Market Flow Trader Family,
Welcome to our seventh MFT newsletter. Seven is lucky, right? Well, I have mixed feelings about that. Sure, it’s lucky to find a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk, and you hope to find another, but planning to pay your mortgage with found twenties is a very bad plan!
“I’m a great(er) believer in luck, and I find the more I work, the more I have of it.” ~Thomas Jefferson
That’s the kind of quote you expect from me. Like Ben Franklin’s “Diligence is the mother of good luck,” it enforces the familiar message: trading, while simple, requires a lot of effort. But I’m heading in another direction with this letter. If you are a lover of quotes, and/or boating or fishing, today is your lucky day!
Living on Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, we say there are two kinds of boaters: those who have run aground and those who will run aground. The trick, if there is one, is to pay attention to the charts others have drawn while being mindful that the conditions above and below the surface are constantly changing. Looking back at Patrick Wieland’s career as a trader, he has run aground many times, tried different methodologies, failed, got up, and finally found his niche. In this video, he shows an account he opened this month, growing it from $3000 to $10,000 in less than three weeks, trading just two contracts, with thirty-five winners and not a single loss (as of this writing).
“The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.” ~Edward Gibbons
As you watched that video, did you note how Patrick’s trades are concentrated at the open? That’s where his breakout trade—his most consistent setup—is most likely to succeed. For you fishermen out there, let’s call the opening thirty minutes Patrick’s Honey Hole. Is he lucky? If luck is combining effort and experience to recognize and act decisively when opportunities arise, then yes, he’s lucky. I’ll tell you what Patrick does better than most (most of the time): he walks away. He knows where the fish are, when the fish are likely to bite, and the bait to use. There is no reason to cast good bait ($$$) into mud puddles. Fish the Honey Hole, bag your limit, and get back to the dock.
Your notes should have already identified your best setup(s), what time of day they work best, and how to execute your entries and exits. If they don’t, you are probably trading too much and profiting less than is possible. “That YouTube Guy” grew 3k to 10k in fifteen days. That is both the consistency and lifestyle most of us hope for.
“You can learn more from a guide in one day than you can in three months fishing alone.” ~Mario Lopez
One thing I cannot stress enough to newer traders is that you don’t know what you don’t know. This past week, at the Live Trading Desk, Reven (SageFT) shared that he went through Taylor S’s Consistency Accelerator Program and has incorporated some of the teachings into his trading plan. I love these coaches. Fifty-plus years of combined experience, yet always reading, sharing, and trying to get better at what they already do well.
“The teacher is…a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself.” ~Bruce Lee
My sincere hope for you, trader family, is that you find your niche—that setup that is your limit-catching Honey Hole, that perfect execution that lets you profit and walk away to enjoy your families. That winning swagger that will make others ask, “How’d that guy get so 'lucky'?”
A great first step on that path is finding a like-minded community, like Market Flow Trader. So I hope you’ll join me at the Live Trading Desk tomorrow, pre-market.
To Your Success,
SherylTrades.
