Bella Responds

BellaMike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs6 Comments

1 ) Thank you for your posts.  I was very impressed with the advice given.  I am not sure what you all need me for anymore.  Great work!

2 ) Mentoring a developing trader, even if you are also a developing trader, makes your own trading better.  For those who shared their ideas I hope you recognize the value in doing so for your own trading.  Mentoring another trader ensures that you crystallize your trading theories.  It forces you to think thoughtfully about your own trading.  You do not want to be that guy who gives advice that doesn’t make sense.  And to give good advice you need to very carefully consider your own trading.  So I hope the responders enjoyed this exercise.

3 ) When I first began I was 8 months in and 36k in the hole.  It is 11 years later.  I am still here.

4 ) I did wonder if I could make it.  I do wonder if I can make it.  I will wonder if I can make it.  And this is true of all traders.  But then these thoughts disappear.  As I said on “Wall Street Warriors”, “You must believe that you will become the next great trader on the Street.”

5 ) Tom made a great point about overconfidence.  When I am hot, I tend to slip with my preparation, or take on a little more size than I had done before my hot streak.  And then the market smacks me down like a rag doll as I take a huge rip.  And I am reminded of the danger of overconfidence.

6 ) If you look at the work of all good day traders they are littered with many small losses as Georgie suggested.

7 ) When I am struggling I do what AJ suggested, which is to go back to the trades that work best for me.  And I make only these trades until I rebuild my confidence.

8 ) Rules, rules, rules as Andrew wrote.  You must have an intraday max loss limit.  You must adhere to this loss limit.

9 ) Some days you will just be off as Emre shared.   Learn to accept this.

10 ) Visualize your stock hitting your exit price and then hitting the stock.  Imagine in detail sitting at your trading station, your stock hitting your exit price, and then exiting.  The more detail about the feel of your chair, your visual stimuli, what the room sounds like, the better.  This is an excellent visualization exercise for you to incorporate.  Josh and Lavonne do a terrific job of offering you a technique that you can use to overcome this flaw in your trading.  For more on visualization techniques TraderFeed is an excellent resource.  Our desk reads Dr. Steenbarger religiously.

11 ) As Dlee and Jean wrote the market has presented you with an opportunity.  Thank the market for presenting this opportunity to learn.  Do not view this experience as a negative.  You did not blow up your account.  This was not a loss you took with real money.  Be grateful that this happened so early in your trading career and with an amount that you can afford to lose.

12 ) Trading is about skill development and discipline.  Until you develop the trading skills to become a consistently profitable trader your results are meaningless.  The data the market offers at this stage in your development tells you nothing about your potential.  All the market has taught you is how much you can lose, when you are overconfident, still developing, and not adhering to your loss limits.  Work on eliminating these flaws and this day will be profitable.

Maybe we should do this more often.  If you would like to have your trading dissected by SMB Blog readers you know where to find us.  Now if I could just get tickets to see this developing trader/accomplished musician play.

Best of luck with your trading! Don’t forget to follow us on twitter.

6 Comments on “Bella Responds”

  1. Where do the terms chop and rip come from? I’ve never heard these used before.

    thanks!

  2. Where do the terms chop and rip come from? I’ve never heard these used before.

    thanks!

  3. Gilbert,

    These are terms used on our prop trading desk. They originated on the desk I started with “back in the day”. A chop is a trade that results in a substantial profit. A rip is a trade that results in a substantial loss.

  4. Gilbert,

    These are terms used on our prop trading desk. They originated on the desk I started with “back in the day”. A chop is a trade that results in a substantial profit. A rip is a trade that results in a substantial loss.

Leave a Reply