Wednesday Brief: 5 Things Traders Need to Know Today

Quote of the Day

“I have rules in place to protect myself from myself.”

- Hubert Senters

5 Things You Need to Know Today

What You Can Learn about Trading from Pop Stars: Comping. That’s the practice of recording a track over and over in the studio. And then your nund engineer stitches together the song, cherry-picking the best vocals - even the best syllables. And then putting it back together as a song.

[NOTE: As a trader, consider that you can’t get “trading perfect” on the first take, or the first trade. Consider build a trading position out of many small trades, built on top of each other, to create something beautiful. Whoops, I mean profitable.]

Speaking of Pop Stars …

The “Candlesticks Man” Says No to Stocks. Steve Nison, my old friend who brought Candlesticks to the West, says that multiple bearish engulfing patterns on the S&P 500 show too much uncertainty in the market right now. The guy is a celebrity in the world of trading educators. He’s so hyper focused on Candlesticks, that I just think of him as one giant hammoji. (That’s the result when a “hammer” candle does the boom-boom with a “doji” candle).

Speaking of focus …

Your Odds of Investing Success Go up When You Focus. It’s the old Warren Buffett “20-Slot” Rule. By doing less, and doing it better, you make more money. I think it’s a great way to reduce overtrading. You could give yourself a certain number of trades per week, or month, or year. Or in your entire life. Although that sounds kind of dumb.

Speaking of dumb …

Mark Zuckerberg Wrote a Letter to a Baby. In the letter to his newborn daughter, Zuck spends 99% of the words talking to a baby about how he and mommy are going to fight for a better world. This is apparently a giant ruse to distract the child (who, by the way, is a baby and does not know how to read) from the last paragraph, where Zuck drops this bomb: He and mom are giving 99% of their wealth away to charity. Haha, sucker!

[NOTE: I realize it’s not dumb to give away your fortune. But on the other hand, it’s stupid to write a letter to your baby and then publish it to the world. Just write the damn letter to the world and show a copy to your son when he’s 16 and asks for a car. “We gave your money to a museum, buy your own damn car.”]

And last of all …

Your Creativity Spikes When Your Productivity Falls. I think I already knew that, but it’s still interesting.

Chart of the Day

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