{"id":1124,"date":"2009-06-18T14:03:41","date_gmt":"2009-06-18T19:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2009-06-18T16:18:58","modified_gmt":"2009-06-18T21:18:58","slug":"slowing-down-your-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/slowing-down-your-game","title":{"rendered":"Slowing Down Your Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I wrote a post yesterday about a memorable rip I took for my lack of focus. \u00a0I appreciate the posts by our readers which demonstrated that some good came out of my rip, a lesson shared. \u00a0 I was thinking of titling this post, “And then the Sun Came Up”, but as I tweeted today it has rained everyday in NYC for the past two weeks and this is to continue for another 9 days (by the way my friends on Twitter have shared that it has not rained in Seattle in 30 days). \u00a0So I changed my title. \u00a0But I would like to discuss my approach after a rip like yesterday.<\/p>\n

OK so you take a huge rip. \u00a0You confidence is naturally shaken. \u00a0Mine was. \u00a0And again let’s remember I have traded my own account professionally for over a decade. \u00a0This is not a sign of weakness. \u00a0In fact I have found a loss of confidence to be beneficial. \u00a0I have thoughts that maybe I don’t know what I am doing. \u00a0And this is all positive. \u00a0Let me explain.<\/p>\n

Mike how could it be helpful for a professional trader to doubt his ability? \u00a0Answer: because it makes me a better trader. \u00a0Perhaps I should not be motivated by fear, but I am. \u00a0I will let others much smarter than me concerning psychology dissect why this is. \u00a0But the fear that this may be the end of my career, that maybe I do not know what I am doing, that maybe I will have to resign and start practicing law (talk about motivation to start trading better), actually helps me.<\/p>\n

I start to think about all the things I need to do better. \u00a0I dissect my weaknesses. \u00a0And then I get rid of them. \u00a0I now have a plan to ensure that I will be focused before every open. \u00a0I will not deviate from this plan.<\/p>\n

And I slow down my game. \u00a0Great athletes talk about being in the zone. \u00a0When they are the game appears slow to them. \u00a0Baseball hitters talk about the ball looking like a softball. \u00a0For a basketball player the rim\u00a0looks like an ocean. \u00a0As traders after a rip, or after we struggle, we should slow down our game.<\/p>\n

How? \u00a0For me this entails, limiting my trading to only my best setups<\/a>. \u00a0Today I stuck with held bids for stocks in an uptrend. \u00a0Presently I am long CCL as an example from 25. \u00a0I first started a long position at 24 when 23.99 held the bid impressively, while the market was exceptionally weak. \u00a0This play is one of my best intraday trades.<\/p>\n

Next I chose a stock that is easy for me to trade. \u00a0I have traded CCL well in the past. \u00a0Before the open I confirmed this with Alexander, who sits to my right.<\/p>\n

Bella: Alexander I trade this CCL well right. \u00a0Didn’t I chop this up last time?<\/p>\n

Alexander: I don’t know about you Bella. \u00a0I know I did.<\/p>\n

Thanks Alexander. \u00a0Always ready to help me out. \u00a0When JToma went on CNBC for the first time Alexander exclaimed, “Jeff has a face for radio.” \u00a0As we say on our desk, there is no Alex in team.<\/p>\n

I lowered the stakes for my trading on the open. \u00a0Normally I trade with 1000 share lots. \u00a0This open I traded with 700 shares. \u00a0This is another way to make your game slower, lower your tier size.<\/p>\n

I restricted my trading to mainly the open since this is my most profitable trading period. \u00a0Again I slowed down my game by trading during my best time period.<\/p>\n

As traders we can slow down our game. \u00a0We can wait for our favorite pitch, for me a held bid in an uptrend. \u00a0We can even pick the pitcher, for me it is trading CCL. \u00a0 Mark\u00a0Texteria of the Yankees cannot hit in May. \u00a0So as a trader I can just save my ABs\u00a0for the middle of the summer, or with my trading just the open. \u00a0And I do not have to bat with runners on base, with two outs in the ninth, and behind in the game. \u00a0I can lower my tier size and make my trades less meaningful.<\/p>\n

For those who are struggling think about slowing down your game. \u00a0This will help you get back to the trader you ought to be.<\/p>\n

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"CCL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I wrote a post yesterday about a memorable rip I took for my lack of focus. \u00a0I appreciate the posts by our readers which demonstrated that some good came out of my rip, a lesson shared. \u00a0 I was thinking of titling this post, “And then the Sun Came Up”, but as I tweeted today it has rained everyday … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[317,4676,30,18],"class_list":["post-1124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-comments-2","category-mike-bellafiore-bellas-blogs","tag-ccl","tag-day-trading","tag-prop-trading","tag-smb-capital","no-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nSlowing Down Your Game | SMB Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/slowing-down-your-game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slowing Down Your Game | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So I wrote a post yesterday about a memorable rip I took for my lack of focus. \u00a0I appreciate the posts by our readers which demonstrated that some good came out of my rip, a lesson shared. \u00a0 I was thinking of titling this post, “And then the Sun Came Up”, but as I tweeted today it has rained everyday ... 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