I just found my way to Ruth Barrons Roosevelt's site thanks to a post that Ron Sen made which quoted her thoughts on egotizing trading. Her article about metaphors for trading is very interesting. I've always heard people using the "trading is war" metaphor and I never thought too much about looking at trading in another way. After reading Ruth's article I'm gonna adopt a new metaphor. I especially like her 'business partner' and 'river of opportunities' metaphors. Here are some key points:
A metaphor can bring instant beneficial power and can also bring nagging and persistent limitation. A limiting metaphor can be toxic to your life or trading. On the other hand, an enabling metaphor can work wonders for you even while you sleep. Metaphors are subtle and as such, they can have a profound effect upon how we view ourselves, our lives, our trading, our work, and our relationships with others.[SNIP]
If you are at war, who is the enemy? Are you at war with other traders? Are you fighting the market? Is the enemy yourself? Or is it a nameless, faceless enemy? If you are at war with the market, you have an unequal contest. The market is much bigger than you are. The market has more battle intelligence in the sense of information and certainly more forces. No matter how big a trader you are, you're puny compared to the market. Even if you're George Soros! Same thing if the enemy is the other traders. You against all the other traders? I hope not.
[SNIP]
I tell my clients to think of the market as a river of opportunities, constantly flowing. Also I tell them to think of trading itself as an arena as abundant with wealth as the ocean is with water. Sure there are waves and tides and you can ride these, but you always know the low tide will be followed by the high tide and back again, and that there will continue to be wave after wave after wave. I also say the ocean doesn't care whether you go to it with a bucket or a teaspoon. There's just so much.
"Try thinking of the market as a friend or a business partner." I say. If the market is your partner, you can work together. You can want what the market wants. You are in a win-win situation with the market. If the market is your partner, it will show you what it's doing. It will tell you what it's doing. You'll feel it's direction. You'll have agreements on how to succeed. Clients tell me it's much easier to trade thinking of the market this way.
The other articles on Ruth's site are also very good:
I've been around long enough to have read all kinds of bromides from all kinds of people WHO HAVE NEVER MADE A DIME in the markets. Trading while serene is more crap from a non-trader. Serenity on the trading floor? What a joke.
I once attended a seminar at the CBOT put on by four of the biggest traders on the exchanges. They all said that the biggest enemy is themselves. Peter Stedlmeyer (sic) said that he spent thirty percent of his day dealing with himself, an observation applauded by the other participants. There are two kinds of market participants: the long term and the short term. The short termers are mostly degenerate traders, in much the same way as most gamblers are degenerate gamblers. Guys have to be in action every day no matter the trend. Shorting, buying puts, strangles, spreading, you name it and the degenerate short term trader does it.
What the rest of us have to do is invest in spite of these guys who can move markets; the energy bubble being a sterling example. So there are investment rules and trading rules and being in lala land ain't one of them.