Staff Is NOT Immune
It all started last Saturday morning; after I got up and
walked the dog I started to feel progressively worse for wear. By Sunday
afternoon I was a basket case of aches, chills, fever, and a head overflowing
with the runny stuff. I called the staff together [-vegas Jr., Chief of Staff
Milton Waddums, and Cousin It] and informed them they would collectively be
trading my account [Replitrader] until the walls stopped moving and I could
actually perform something resembling human movement.
My instructions were simple; follow the rules of the “Long
Term –vegas Big Bang Algorithm” and pick the most active times to be together
and watch the market for trading signals. The KISS method had been invoked
[Keep It Simple Stupid], meaning no multiple lot trading, just 1 lots.
When the Mrs. finally tucked me in I told her, “They’ll
screw this up beyond belief”, and then proceeded to zonk-out into
Nyquil-Afrin-Advil-Sudafed never-never land. I really don’t remember much of
Monday through Thursday; only that the dog came in when chicken noodle soup was
delivered. Everything was pretty fuzzy. On Friday I felt much better, but the
Mrs. wasn’t buying it and refused to let the staff in for consultation, and
ordered me to either sleep or watch some TV.
It was this morning I got clued in to what went on during
the week and what action was made in the account. Long story short: We’re
hedged up from Monday with a 10 pip loss on a 1 lot.
I “consulted” with each member of the team this morning, and
the end result was that they were pretty despondent about the results for last
week. I then brought them all together for lunch today [along with the Mrs. and
some of her friends] at our hangout seafood restaurant and really tried to
inspire them.
My staff members are very intelligent people, with many
College degrees, that can think creatively, and last but not least are very
fine people. They hang around me, can bounce ideas and other market thoughts
off me, have been with me at speaking engagements, and have been able to learn
how to trade first hand. Each and every one of them has a burning desire to
succeed, be successful, and ultimately mange funds some day.
Yet, they failed.
Some of you probably think I really got after them and gave
them a floor-trader tongue lashing that they wouldn’t soon forget. You
would be wrong!
What I heard from them was 1) “I thought [or we thought]
….”, 2) I [we] weren’t quite sure …, 3) “This can’t be happening” ….., 4) This
market isn’t behaving like I [we] thought” … Anybody see a pattern here
besides me?
Where in the algorithm is there a section on what you [or any
trader] think? Where does the algo require thought? Thought has already been
done; I did that outside the framework of trading.
There, but for the grace of God, go I.
It was so long ago [sometime around March 1981], but I am
pretty sure it was somewhere around the 100th day of my trading
after I created [after months of weekend and free time analysis] my original
algo when I was a floor trader.
I spent over a thousand hours of research developing the
original algo, and was absolutely convinced it was my key to floor trading
success.
I would get to the floor, trading would start, and the algo
would give a signal. Okey dokey fancy pants, what’s it like to be in your skin
now?
Maybe The Circus Is Hiring
Doubt, indecision, and thinking followed by intense regret
and anger. On the train rides back home [about 1 hour out to the suburbs] I
would just beat myself up unmercifully.
“Algo wins, you lose;
what a dumb-ass! Why can’t I follow
it?”
“I rack my brains
everyday to no avail; no real money. The
algo is killing it! What is wrong with me?
Then came a day where my brains cost me about $400, and the
algo nailed it for an approximate $1,700 win in just under 2 hours. Seriously, you
could have fried eggs on the back of my neck.
The next day, on the train ride in, I just let everything go.
“I can’t take this; no matter what I do,
no matter what I think is the right trade based on the charts or somebody
buying or selling in the pit, it’s almost always wrong. The mental pressure
here… my parents …. my family …. paying the bills … being free from corporate
Amerika … everything is at stake here for me.”
Yet, here is the algo churning out great profit each and
every day.
I GIVE UP!!!!!
And with that admission, a great weight is lifted off my
shoulders, as I immediately realize the algo has done the work and all
I have to do is follow it!
I know in my heart that if I don’t follow the algo today,
I’m out of the trading biz and asking people, “Would you like a hot apple pie with that combo meal?”
That first day I made about $350 [if my memory serves me
correctly] and I was happy. On the second day I made over $1,000, and I have
never looked back.
I gave up caring about money; I gave up thinking [i.e. trying to be
an analyst]; I gave up listening to others; but most importantly I devoted
myself to following the algorithm like a Kool-Aid drinker in a religious cult.
It’s the HARDEST EASIEST money you will ever
make.
Now, I absolutely know with certainty, that if it can happen
to me on the trading floor, to my staff now, that it is affecting a great many
of you as well.
Here is my advice: been there, done that – GIVE IT UP!
Will it be hard? Hell yes, especially for veteran traders
who have bad habits to break to begin with. For you newbie traders, let this be
a blessing in disguise.
All can be right with your trading universe because you have
in your possession something more valuable than money; you have within your
grasp the ability to escape government and corporate tyranny. What
can possibly be more important than that?
Have a great day everyone.
-vegas
P.S. And yes, I’m fine now. I have a backlog of emails from the week to get at, and I will get to them tomorrow [Sunday]. So, if you have sent me your comments/questions during the week, my answer is on the way.
