Monthly Archives: December 2010

Mrs. Market goes to work

Posted on by
1

Ben Graham gave us Mr. Market.

I’m sure you remember the polite but schizophrenic-manic-depressive-to-overtly-optimistic fellow.

Then, over the years, Mr. Market had a sex-change.

Meet Mrs. Market, the suave, canniving, multiply schizophrenic, cold-blooded and “efficient” ((she thinks she’s efficient))  global phenomenon.

If there’s one thing she wants, it is respect. Yes, she wants your full attention. Either that, or she wants you to lay off. Or, she’ll just pull your pants down. Period.

Her quantum of movement and also her frequency of movement nowadays has become nerve-wracking. Not to forget her speed of movement – play her if you can take her speed and if you have a sound heart condition.

She rewards some of those who look at her all the time. First she wants undivided attention, and then she wants you to know her levels. If she crosses a level, she wants you to join her. Then she rewards you.

But, she’s canniving, remember. Sometimes, she back-tracks on you. So, whenever you’re on a date with her, just carry some insurance with you. This insurance is called a stop-loss.

And now for her weak-point. Wanna pin her down? Well, she thinks she’s efficient. To be fair, though she was a disaster at efficiency earlier, she has become a little efficient now, but only sometimes. At these times, you don’t want to go out with her, because she’ll block your every pick-up line and trick in the book.

You actually need to take her for a spin when she’s inefficient. Then you’ll get to any base with her. In fact, you might even hit a few home-runs.

But careful, you’re not traveling without your insurance. Because, at any given time, she might turn efficient, and God help you if you are caught unawares.

There will be times when she will pull your pants down despite your every precaution. At these times, you’ll need to pick yourself up and live for another day. What’ll have helped is the fact that you didn’t give your everything into your affair with Mrs. Market before she ditched you. What you saved up can be used for another, this time lucrative fling with her.

She’s a relentless worker. On weekends, though, she rests. You need to catch your breath too, to get ready for her next ride. Wish you luck!

System Addict & Mr. Cool

Posted on by
Reply

Mr. Cool starts his day.

He wants to know what other people are doing. To be more exact, what they are trading. He listens to tips. Actually, “listens” is an understatement. He’s hungry for tips. He shorts strong stocks, and goes long those that have corrected. He wants to be Mr. Johny-on-the spot where the action is.

Mr. Cool gets up late. Of course no preparation for the trading day is on the agenda. In fact, he has no agenda other than the format stated above. The day starts off with a call to the broker. What’s moving? What are the news projections? Any hot tips? What’s this analyst saying?

Mr. Cool doesn’t live long in the markets. His “strategy” of trading long into correcting stocks and shorting strong ones pays off 80% of the time, but when it goes wrong, it goes wrong big, in fact so big, that Mr. Cool doesn’t feel so cool anymore. He holds on to his losses. He’s scared of taking the hit. He hopes that prices will reverse to his entry price and then he wants to exit. This time around, it doesn’t happen, and his cheap options expire worthless, leaving him broke. By now the markets have scared him so much, that he nevers trades again.

Mr. System Addict is everything Mr. Cool is not. He has a system, and he sticks to it. No tips, no news, no rumours, no non-sense. If the system indicates a buy, he goes long. If it indicates a sell, he goes short. If an exit, he exits. No looking here and there. Belief in the system. Trade to trade system development and enhancement. Solid pre-market preparation and after-market analysis. The works.

Mr. System addict has been around in the markets and he’s going to stay. He’s doing well. Initially, he used to be Mr. Cool, but then he went bust. The only difference was, that he had the strength to lift himself up and become Mr. System Addict.