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The poem below is not autobiographic, but any trader will be able to
identify with much. I published it today in my daily newsletter. It
is a look at the complexity and simplicity of being a trader. It
uses the metaphors and the language that traders know and the
absurdities they live.
I am a trader
A poem by John Lothian
I am a trader. I trade. I trade often. I trade infrequently. I
trade when I see opportunity. I trade when there is no opportunity.
I trade large. I trade small. I go long. I go short. I stay
flat. I reverse. I go with the flow. I hold fast. I flip them.
I cannon ball. I take long shots. I bite the bullet and get out. I
pull the trigger. I get gun-shy. I get the wrong way.
I scratch a lot. I scratch a little. I get bored. I scratch some
more. I get excited. I feel lucky to scratch. I control my
emotions. My emotions control me. I take a breather. I press the
market. I catch my breath. I am breathless. I am breath mint-
less.
I trade technically. I trade fundamentally. I don't believe in
fundamentals or technicals. I take risk based on technicals. I take
risk based on fundamentals. I believe in market action. The market
is boring. The market is ticking. The market is fickle. The market
is moving with no volume. The market is gaining volume.
I seek to discover value. I seek to buy below value. I seek to sell
above value. I seek to buy above value and go with the herd. I
seek to get on board the train when it is leaving the station. I
seek to sell above value because I know the train will return to the
station.
I try to read the market. I read the market. I am blind to the
market. I feel the market. I am in tune with the market. I trade.
I trade more. I get out of sync. I trade to get back in sync. I
trade small to trade big. I trade big to trade bigger. I trade
regularly to trade when I want. I risk little to make lots. I risk
lots and make little.
I lose well. I lose badly. I suffer. I enjoy. I win badly. I
crow. I keep my mouth shut. I win too much. I get superstitious.
I get lucky. I get unlucky. I make my own luck. I work hard. I
hardly work. I have no life. I know no other life. I CONNECT to
Liffe. iLink to Globex. I get flat on a/c/e overnight.
I read. I read more. I kill time. I lose focus. I refocus. I eat
well. I eat badly. I eat regularly. I eat irregularly. I trade.
I trade hungry. I am a trader.
My feet hurt. My eyes scan. My computer blinks. My coffee spills.
My keyboards get replaced. My account gets refunded. My account
gets drawn down. My account grows. I put money away. I put money
back in. I am ahead. I am behind. I never know where I am. I know
exactly where I am.
I trade stocks. I trade bonds. I hold nothing. I hold everything.
I am long the world. I am short out the wazoo. I am a big swinging
trader. I am a swing trader. I scalp. I get taken to the
cleaners. I still have the shirt on my back.
I go vertical. I go horizontal. I spread it across the calendar. I
do strips. I do packs. I trade bundles. I like butterflies. I
trade options. I trade futures. I have no long bias. I am always
long. I trade volatility. My trading is volatile. I am always in
control. I tell that to myself a lot.
I trade old crop. I trade new crop. I trade front month. I trade
in the back. I trade on the top step. I trade in the spot. I trade
in the center. I spread it. I leg it. I trade. I am a trader.
I trade with a mouse. I trade with a joystick. I point and click.
I trade the minis. I used to trade maxis. I do the arb. I layoff
the spiders. I day trade the diamonds. I market time. I trade
second by second. I trade the QQQs when I have the time.
I trade out in the open. I trade in my office. I trade from a
desk. I trade alone. I trade in a crowd. I get lonely when alone.
I get lonelier in a crowd. I am alone with my thoughts. I think for
myself. I read the crowd. I read the tape.
I am a fighter. I trade the FIT. I trade the NOB. I trade the
MOB. I trade Swaps. I trade the curve. I trade the crack. I trade
the crush. I take risk. I lay off risk. I hedge myself. I become
unglued. I am a trader.
I trade to win. I can smell victory. I know defeat. I beat the
odds. I know the odds. I trade with the odds on my side. I trade
lucky. I am a lucky trader. I beat the house. There is no house.
I am the house. My ex-wife lives in my house.
I know my limitations. I trade within myself. I keep my positions
small. I push the limits. I make markets. I trade with market
makers. I set the market. I look for trade set-ups.
I trade with much research. I trade from the seat of my pants. I go
with the gut. I use my brain. I read the other traders pain. I
make them hurt more. I get my time in the barrel.
I trade the products. I trade the underlying. I trade the
derivatives. I trade on exchange. I trade OTC. I trade EFP. I
trade EFR. I will exchange my risk. I will trade my position. I
will take a position. I will talk my position.
I will search for the stops. I will get stopped out. I will stop
trading. I trade again. I trade more. I trade less. I trade. I
am a trader.
I take it personally. I forget the last trade and go on to the
next. I am right. The market is always right. I am wrong. The
market makes sure I know I am wrong.
I get in on the mother of all moves. I will hold on till the
underworld or high water comes. I will get out and go home flat. I
will turn around on Tuesday. I will hold it over the weekend. I
will get out overnight.
I couldn't trade worse. I couldn't be luckier. A trade fell in my
lap. I cover my shorts. I can trade circles around the
competition. I can't trade my way out of a paper bag. I trade half
in the bag. I liquidate my positions.
I am out a trade. My positions get duped. I lost a card. I lost my
count. I can count on myself. I couldn't do it without my clerk.
Clerks are a dime a dozen. I married my clerk.
I trade in lots. I trade in shares. I trade by the carloads. I
trade one at a time. I trade in the millions. I trade contracts. I
take delivery. I put them back out. I roll them over. I roll them
forward. I roll them back. I back spread them. I bull spread
them. I trade them in and out.
I go delta long. I go long on Delta. I go short on UAL. I go delta
long on UAL. I wait for an up tick. I take a flier.
I take my time. I do it right. I mess it up. I do it backwards. I
am a man of my word. I know what I did. I replay the day's trading
in my head. I remember the winners. The losers haunt me. I almost
blow out. I take the money and run. I play it straight. I play by
the rules. I look the other way. I take exception. I make my point.
I love getting the edge. I give up a tick to get in. Just get me
out. If I could do it over again, I would still be a trader.
I win. I lose. I trade. I am a trader.
Regards,
John J. Lothian
Disclosure: Futures trading involves financial risk, lots of it!
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