You’ll Never Get Revenge On The Market
Have you ever banged your fist on the table, cursing at the computer monitor after making a bad trading decision, asking yourself, "why did I make such a stupid trade? Instead of calmly taking a short walk, closing the trading platform for a while, or reading the headlines, instead you decide to
make it back. You take trades that don’t follow your own trading strategies. You increase the number of shares / contracts you are used to trading with, now far beyond your own comfort zone, only to burn through even more of your brokerage account becoming increasingly frustrated as the day wears on.
As investors, what do we all know...you’ll never get revenge on the Market. I ought to know. I am a professional day trader.
Hello. My name is Kaayla Halen. Not only do I trade full time, for the last 15 years, I have been a one on one trading coach for dozens and dozens of investors. As a trained psychologist, I have worked with all types of traders, from seniors trying to conserve their retirements, novice investors who bought some trading system and haven’t got a clue how to be profitable, even floor traders at the NYSE and CME who buy and sell with millions.
I have heard it all, every excuse for losing the trade that you can imagine, the kids were screaming, my phone rang, my foot itched, my boss yelled at me, I was hung over, I was hungry, I had too much coffee, I did not have enough coffee, I just came back from a long commute, my dog ate the homework, etc. etc. etc. Interestingly enough, the one thing, bar none, they all agree upon, is that, you can never get revenge on the Market. The more money you throw at the Market, the worse it gets. I know I’ve been there, done that. I’m sure you have too.
Here’s the problem: Investors are quick to admit that despite being familiar with profitable buy and sell strategies, hot trading systems, and even money management techniques (stop losses), trading success is still dependent upon your psychological state of mind, also known as trading psychology.
After years of coaching, I can assure you of this: intellect has little to do with your skill as a trader. Trading success is not measured by how smart you are or how many degrees you have from the university. That’s tough to swallow in a society that puts so much emphasis on higher education. Look, I have had clients with PhD’s who still could not invest profitably.
What I am about to reveal to you is based upon my clinical trials, real science. This won’t be your standard mumbo-jumbo, namely, to win you have to have a winning attitude, believe in yourself, tell yourself you can trade, be consistent, be resilient, be whatever. Here’s the science you need to know to be profitable, in one word "Dopamine".
What is Dopamine? Wikipedia defines Dopamine as "a neurotransmitter that controls the flow of information in the brain. Dopamine disorders can cause a decline in neurocognitive, especially memory, attention, and problem solving".
Functions of Dopamine (necessary for active traders):
make it back. You take trades that don’t follow your own trading strategies. You increase the number of shares / contracts you are used to trading with, now far beyond your own comfort zone, only to burn through even more of your brokerage account becoming increasingly frustrated as the day wears on.
As investors, what do we all know...you’ll never get revenge on the Market. I ought to know. I am a professional day trader.
Hello. My name is Kaayla Halen. Not only do I trade full time, for the last 15 years, I have been a one on one trading coach for dozens and dozens of investors. As a trained psychologist, I have worked with all types of traders, from seniors trying to conserve their retirements, novice investors who bought some trading system and haven’t got a clue how to be profitable, even floor traders at the NYSE and CME who buy and sell with millions.
I have heard it all, every excuse for losing the trade that you can imagine, the kids were screaming, my phone rang, my foot itched, my boss yelled at me, I was hung over, I was hungry, I had too much coffee, I did not have enough coffee, I just came back from a long commute, my dog ate the homework, etc. etc. etc. Interestingly enough, the one thing, bar none, they all agree upon, is that, you can never get revenge on the Market. The more money you throw at the Market, the worse it gets. I know I’ve been there, done that. I’m sure you have too.
Here’s the problem: Investors are quick to admit that despite being familiar with profitable buy and sell strategies, hot trading systems, and even money management techniques (stop losses), trading success is still dependent upon your psychological state of mind, also known as trading psychology.
After years of coaching, I can assure you of this: intellect has little to do with your skill as a trader. Trading success is not measured by how smart you are or how many degrees you have from the university. That’s tough to swallow in a society that puts so much emphasis on higher education. Look, I have had clients with PhD’s who still could not invest profitably.
What I am about to reveal to you is based upon my clinical trials, real science. This won’t be your standard mumbo-jumbo, namely, to win you have to have a winning attitude, believe in yourself, tell yourself you can trade, be consistent, be resilient, be whatever. Here’s the science you need to know to be profitable, in one word "Dopamine".
What is Dopamine? Wikipedia defines Dopamine as "a neurotransmitter that controls the flow of information in the brain. Dopamine disorders can cause a decline in neurocognitive, especially memory, attention, and problem solving".
Functions of Dopamine (necessary for active traders):
- Is critical to the way our brain controls our movements, arms, legs, etc.
- Plays a major role in rigid behaviors
- Affects self confidence
- Is responsible for problem solving
- Is required for healthy sleeping habits, good concentration, sharp memory, and new learning skills
- Plays a major role in cognition (thinking process)
Dopamine levels can be affected by stress, poor nutrition, excessive caffeine and sugar, alcohol abuse, daily life. Remember the trading day you had when you just couldn’t pull the trigger and afterward you beat yourself up for it? You saw the perfect technical analysis setup, but suddenly your concentration slipped, your confidence waned. Then you watched the price action do exactly what you expected it to. Every trading loss adds that much more stress to the brain, and over time, resulting in Dopamine deficiencies. To traders, deficiencies are directly responsible for:
- Reduced trading confidence, second guessing every investment
- Inability to make unemotional trading decisions
- Trading the same losing technical setups again and again
- Failure to learn new trading systems to replace losing ones
- Beating oneself up every time investments go south
- Trying to get even with the Market, overtrading or trading beyond one’s comfort zone
- Ultimately, fear of pulling the trigger altogether
While the brain does have the ability to heal itself to a certain degree, given the degree of negative stimuli the brain is exposed to each and every day, the potential for change from their already rigid trading behavior is limited at best. That is why even with expensive, profitable and proven trading systems, many traders fail.
How can we correct Dopamine deficiency? Surf the internet. There are a variety of treatments recommended to improve Dopamine levels: proper diet (remove sugar, caffeine and saturated fats such as potato chips, eat lots of fruit and vegetables, etc), medication (100 to 500 milligrams of dihydroxyphenylserine (DOPS)), vitamin supplements (C and E).
But after 15 years of working with active traders, and being a trained psychologist, I developed a more precise method of increasing Dopamine levels. Knowing the exact behavioral characteristics of traders, and with dozens and dozens of clinical trials under my belt, I have perfected a totally unique handling to restore your trading skills. I am not talking about improving your diet, taking drugs or spending thousands on expensive vitamin supplements. Nor do I suggest you purchase even more expensive trading systems. This is new science. It is NOT hypnosis.
In my next article, I will explain the new science, not diet and vitamins, but science, to improve Dopamine levels and help you master your own financial destiny. You won’t want to miss that article.
