Mole Versus The Ukrainian

I trust you all had an enjoyable spring weekend. Over here in Valencia it’s starting to get pretty hot already and I saw some of the clocks with temperature signs flash 36 Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) when I was heading to the beach, where it was fortunately much cooler with a lovely breeze. During training with my crew some Ukranian dude versed in MMA suddenly showed up and started to criticize our training style. I wound up sparring around with him a little which was really interesting as he was desperately trying to get me into a typical sparring exchange (jab jab – dancing back/forth). Systema teaches us to remain loose/relaxed and to not let the other guy direct the pace or style of fighting. Heck, I didn’t even raise my hands and just waited, which confused the hell out of him. He was quite good actually – we both took some and dished out some and I really enjoyed it as it was a great test of what happens in real life when the gloves come off. In the end we shook hands and introduced each other to our wives, both having learned a little lesson. Mine was to always be prepared to be challenged and his was to not prematurely judge someone else’s approach/style.

The analogy to the world of trading for a living is that you can paper trade until the cows come home but until you actually use real capital and taste some of you own blood it’s all just a game. Operating under pressure and controlling your emotions is the aspect of self management most traders do not spend much thought or time on. And give it a few hits and a bad day and suddenly all your bad habits, your fears, and your instinctive responses are right back to bite you in the ass.

For some of you this may be a strange analogy, especially if you shy away from physical confrontations – most people probably haven’t been in a physical fight since high school and frankly it’s not something I encourage, just for the record. Neither do I enjoy being punched in the face – plus I’m way too handsome (under the right lighting conditions). However I draw many parallels from fighting as it forces me to a) relax and b) puts me into a situation which I cannot control and which potentially will cause injury. I truly believe that doing this on a recurrent basis keeps me more grounded, keeps me humble, and compels me to continue working on my skills. The more often I train with my guys the better I feel, the more relaxed and Zen I am. That in turn affects my personal life quite a bit – here at home dealing with the usual trials and tribulations that life and marriage throws at you, as well as maintaining this blog, supporting hundreds of subscribers, picking and maintaining campaigns, developing new tools, you get the ida.

Moral of the story: Find something that challenges you on a continuous basis – that puts you out of your comfort zone. If you like martial arts – great, any style is good, just make sure that there’s real contact and no shadow boxing. If you on the other hand enjoy sky diving, or sailing, or climbing, or scuba diving – whatever it is, make it a regular part of your life. Heck, if I was still in the U.S. I would partake in a sniper course right now. Not because I ever see myself taking out Columbian drug lords but because I have a hard time not moving for more than perhaps ten minutes. Without boasting, I’m an excellent shot actually – have been from the first day I picked up a firearm. However out in the field I would get found out quickly as I wouldn’t be able to just lay there for hours on end without moving, especially if some creepy crawler was making its way up my leg. And being a sniper is all about not being seen – taking your shot takes less than 0.1% of the time of your deployment. Not as glamorous as would imagine from watching the movies. So in a nutshell – expose yourself to the things you really hate, and especially the things you actively have avoided.

To lead by example I’m going to start taking cold showers in the next few weeks. I hate the cold but will begin finishing hot showers with cold rinses and then increase the period each day. I keep you posted on my progress 😉

Alright, our NQ campaign is proceeding nicely and I’m glad that I held it over the weekend. Not by grand foresight I may add but because I managed to snag a great entry on Friday morning – so did you I hope (it was in my morning briefing after all). Now we are just at a point where this thing either starts gaining traction or will fall apart. I’m keeping my stop at the break/even point for now.

EUR/USD – obligatory shake out after it touched the 100-day SMA. As a side note – we got a great target exit there and although I have no clue as to why the 100-day works so well for me I’ll continue using it as long as I keep nailing spike highs or lows like this 😉

Anyway, I’m not having high hopes of a big reversal. If you’re new here – I live in Spain and earn in Dollars, so you do the math – I would love to see the EUR drop back down. However what the lowly Mole wants and what the market gives him are two different pair of shoes. Which is why I’m long here with a stop a pip below 1.11 – 1/2R only as it’s a bit experimental.If you’re late for this one then don’t chase it – wait for a retest of the 100-hour SMA.

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You have been briefed – now have fun but keep it frosty. See you guys later this afternoon.

Cheers,