A Matter of Trust (Part II)

As a moderator of a room for last few years, I have found it surprising how easily some give their trust ; equally I've found it surprising how some don't share anything at all.

Trading on the computer one meets and associates with many people from all walks of life with different, experiences, styles, and strategies which includes experts as well as beginners. We all have different reasons for associating with other traders; some for social, some for support, some for advice, some for suggestions, ideas and many for learning and guidance. When we decide to join a trading group, we give our trust over to the moderators of that group to a certain extent for in order to partake and learn about the style of that room we have to follow their agenda. It's through this observation and the constant checking its fit to ourselves that we decide to give our trust over more or less completely, thereby deciding to stay with or leave the group.

When I make a trading call, I in effect ask you to trust me and follow what I say. Yes, but how can you do it without some sort of proof? I can point to my track record, but that does not guarantee that this call will be successful, so the answer of proof is not with me but within yourself. Your own experience, style and ability is where your own trust comes from and the decision to follow my calls is the trust in that instant of recognition. It's not a blind trust that some new traders may try and unfortunately fail with more often than not. It's a developed trust that comes through experience which takes time and practice. Yes, time spent with the team you chose to be a member of.

I do not like to give a call I cannot explain, therefore I am not a "silent" moderator so I try to give guidance and welcome questions. I am constantly aware of the trust others put in my calls and it gives me distress when I don't feel at the top of my game. That is why it gives me greater satisfaction when your trades go well because I lived up to the trust placed in me, but more important, you lived up to the trust you placed in yourselves! LEH, IPI, POT, BIDU, BUCY, AAPL: Today was just one of those days WTG Team! (to be continued)

A Matter of Trust (Part I)

We are born very much dependent on our parents for our survival and therefore we learn to trust totally in those who take care of us; but as we grow we must also learn to distrust those who may cause us harm. We must slowly unlearn blind trust and replace it with judgement; in this way we learn to trust in ourselves and how to choose others to trust.

Trust is an intimate feeling it demands total faith and it demands giving as well as receiving. Who we choose to trust and when depends on experience as well as intuition, and how well we are able to use those in conjunction is important because usually we only have split seconds to decide.

I was just thrown into such a situation while sailing last Friday when strong winds, in an area aptly named hurricane gulch, decided to whip up giving us a strong challenge to stay on course. I was at the helm, the captain on the sails and it took quick maneuvering, jibing and total trust in each other. He only knew that I have sailed before not that I could handle such a situation, and I had better evidence of his abilities as he grew up sailing, so immediate trust had to play an important role. We were never really in danger, but we had to coordinate jibing well enough together in order to stay that way.

Much is the same in some calls, when one is at the helm of one, trust has to be a player. The progress of a call can seem on course when something comes to create a whip, do you keep at the helm, maneuver or let the storm take over. The answer depends on the trust you have in your call, the experience you have trading a stock and intuition to keep you from loss. Today I made a short call on MA below 308 late afternoon, experience told me it would need to close a gap down and against the days evidence, I was expecting between 304-302 and said as much. Yet it kept being whipped about by the battle of the short and longs until finally the bulls gave in and let it drop my desired points almost hitting 302. It gives one satisfaction when the trust placed in ourselves proves itself rightly guided. Yet I won't deny that it gives me greater satisfaction when I'm trusted by others, but it's not without peril. (to be continued)

The Bottom Line

What is the bottom line? Supposedly the ultimate truth for the declarer of such. If you, like me, prefer to know the truth, it's great to think that such is possible. However I find that oft the bottom line is more like a "do not cross" and when uttered to me, I feel boxed in, unable to maneuver even if there were an exit point other than the trap door. It's a "take it or leave it" challenge without the time for analysis; the ultimatum is in your face so it's a yes, no, do not pass go and there I am judged, locked up, throw away the key forgotten.


On the other hand there's the "no bottom line" where I don't get any clues, guidance or hint of a direction; bottom is up, up is down and sideways is everywhere. Confusion rules under the guise of being nice and accommodating, wearing a badge of a conformist. Having the least consideration of judgement, one that usually ends in being "bottom lined" painfully by an outside force; abrupt and final perhaps as in a twilight zone.


Bottom lines come to meet us in other ways as well. The kind I prefer gives me more time to make that ultimate decision to know when and where a smoother transition is possible. I feel that way I can have a conversation an impact and maybe some influence on the outcome, and the feeling of being in some control of that final decision; allowing me the line I've also chosen, not just chosen for me; more of an agreement than an ultimatum.

I've struggled with it all, sometimes being very lax in my manner and other times way too tight but I assure you that the ones I remember are the ones that were forced on me; those being the most difficult to swallow and the ones we should all learn from and never revisit. Alas, if only we could be so perfect, never needing a repeat lesson on anything.

So we've met them all, the abrupt, the obscure and the put off. None of them feel good really for you already know I'm speaking of stops. Not easy to set for by its very "definition" it means "loss" of some funds we've put at risk. Even when speaking of a trailing stop once gains have been made, it's not easy to say: OK I'm willing to give back ___ $ in order to make more gain.
Yet that is exactly what this game is about: willing to give in order to gain and to set that bottom line is perhaps it's most crucial though difficult step.

It may help you to think of it this way: bottom lines keep you from hitting bottom.