Category Archives: Belief

SUVs

Posted on by
Reply

Daily dealings are in…

…simple units of victory (SUVs), …

…for me.

When the SUV dawns, it brings happiness.

Contentment.

Fulfilment of purpose.

Motivation.

Recognition from the Universe.

Driving force.

What exactly is one SUV?

What shape does it take?

How does it…

…dawn?

Let’s break it down.

First…

…there’s struggle.

When anyone, anytime, anywhere, let’s say, is facing struggle, …

… and there’s even a mini-breakthrough, …

… the onset of a new concept, …

… a new understanding of things, …

… the simplest unit of progress in one’s situation, …

… that’s the one, that’s the SUV, dawning.

The SUV brings with it the realization that one is enjoying the journey. For struggle to turn into joy, the presence of SUV after SUV is a huge catalyst.

Recognizing the SUV is a state of mind. One needs to have evolved enough to acknowledge subtle victories.

Changes in behaviour.

Efficiency at doing a task.

Development of a mini-model.

A new system.

Eco-system.

Now the equation flips over to excess, owing to overflowing SUVs.

Challenges change. Dealing with enhancing recognition, and its superior cousin, outright fame, is extremely difficult. First up, privacy is gone. Then, these states of being don’t offer guarantees for joy and contentment. List is long. Long list lost me at one and two. In my opinion, …

… getting SUVs together and enjoying the journey in the process…

…is a better life.

Activation

Posted on by
Reply

Wrt success and happiness…

…what was your pick.

You said both, right?

There was a thing about that, though.

Thing was, success made one happy, sure, but how long did that particular happiness last?

It got boring after a point.

Taking any one thing, and succeeding at it again and again and again, gave no kick anymore, after a while.

Because everyone wished to succeed in life, and, also, because everyone strove to be happy, how would one go about making the happy condition regular, in worldly terms, apart from the spiritual angle?

Accumulation and activation of good fortune was a must here. How would one go about this?

By doing anything that helped the cause of another. By doing good deeds that helped something, or someone. This would then create a field of good fortune. On such very field, success could flow, towards one. No field meant no flow. Creating field after field, then moving on to create another – such behaviour would accumulate mountains of good fortune, which, upon breaching of critical mass, would get activated for fruition. Activation was important, since initial success motivated one to continue.

On this trajectory, success would eventually overflow. Perhaps there would be fame.

Hey, what had happened to one’s happiness?

Did it increase post activation? Upon fame? Or did it decline?

Down the line, the high would summon its buddy, the low.

Between highs and lows, there was a high chance of balance being lost. Happiness levels would start to decrease. There came a time when it was gone.

One started to ask. When was one happiest?

While creating field upon field, yes, that seemed correct, that’s when one was happiest.

Creation of good fortune, the sheer act, that was it.

One didn’t seem to bore of that particular kind of happiness emanating from creation.

That brought us back to the basic question.

What was worth striving for most in life?

To immerse repeatedly into the act? The act of creating good fortune?

That seemed to be the best answer.

2050?

Posted on by
Reply

Yes.

Why?

Why what?

Why 2050?

Growth trajectory.

Whose?

India’s.

What about it?

Spurts with bottlenecks. Not linear.

So?

Will take 2050 till fruition.

Meaning, for you?

Quest for multibagger accumulation will be successfully achieved.

By 2050?

Yeah.

Anything else?

My own trajectory.

Will you be around?

Not relevant.

Why?

I’ll leave the assets as my legacy.

To whom?

Family. Country. Charity.

Striving and then leaving it?

Doesn’t cause me any reaction.

Why?

It’s cost-free.

Meaning?

My principal is not invested. Pulled it out in profit. What remains in the markets is cost-free. I live and enjoy my life on my income, simultaneously creating a cost-free legacy. The cost-free-ness tricks my mind into an eternal hold. I stop jumping. Vicissitudes of price path have no meaning for me once something has become cost-free.

And why stop in 2050?

Growth culmination. India enters first-world territory. It becomes difficult to create multiples fast. Life is far more efficient, and so is price, then. Loopholes are filled in by artificial intelligence before an EoD chap like me can react. Info-flow is so fast and transparent, that everybody knows. Everyone is smart because they use the appropriate tools. Since all money is smart, there’s no edge anymore. But that’s 2050. Today, oh, there are edges. Inefficiency lasting longer than EoD. Sometimes lasting months. Loopholes. Pattern related. Operator related. Price related. AI is not fully there yet. Most market players are not smart, I think the official statistic reads 88%. Almost all tools look at the wrong stuff. By the time one reacts to indicators, which are a function of price, most of the edge is gone. Information-flow is not fast enough, and if you can read it in the numbers or the chart before it happens, the edge is huge. And, forget about transparency. It’s just not there. We’re sitting of big edges currently.

So, 2050, stop, and then what?

No idea. Let’s go with the flow. Right now the flow is leading up to 2050.

And what if there are world-shattering events before that?

We buy. We are almost always highly liquid. When we’re not, we start creating liquidity. We are never illiquid. 2050 is just a number. We have numbers to go on, like lamp-posts. It’s another lamp-post, like 1984, or Y2k, or what have you.

Do you want to be the person remembered for 2050?

That’s not even a question for me. I’m flowing with 2050 because that works for me. I don’t care about the rest. If you wish to think with that mindset, that’s on you.

Why rude?

Nothing rude or not rude about it. 2050 is part of my framework. Nothing more, nothing less.

I see.

News from the One-Off Corner

Posted on by
Reply

One-off runners emit a lure.

One don’t follow them.

However, one is dazzled by their move, and gets roped in.

What’s the out?

1). Emo-check.

2). Fundamental scrutiny.

Pass or fail.

If pass, go to 3). (if fail, move on in life).

3). Add to watch-list.

4). Watch.

Keep watching…

..till you can take a decision to make the one-off a static, or you just junk the idea of engaging with the one-off.

There’s that word again – static.

It’s possible that I’ll be laughed at for using this word in a market context.

I don’t mind being laughed at.

Others have been laughed at too.

Some of these are called pioneers today.

I’m not saying that I’m one.

However, I like to do things differently, exploring new avenues. It just sheer gives me a kick.

News from the one-off corner is their ability to showcase capability of movement.

You see, we’d like our statics to be able to move freely when the time comes.

When we see a one-off exhibiting free movement readily, we can explore whether this one can one day become part of our statics.

To build a house, one needs bricks.

As long as we desist from trading one-offs upon first movement and without proper fundamental and watch-list scrutiny, we should be safe.

When we convert the one-off into a static, news from the one-off corner translates for us into multiple wins over time.

Wishing you lucrative times in the markets!

🙂

Statics

Posted on by
Reply

What are your statics?

What do you follow …

… all the time?

More importantly,…

…why follow something…

…all the time?

There are always new runners on the block.

Changing pursuits regularly should keep one busy, right?

Right.

Busy.

Busy winning?

Not so sure on that one.

Statics allow you to win through them…

…again and again.

Why?

Because you have felt their pulse.

Your fluidity has blended into their being, and you are one with the underlying.

You flow with them.

That’s when you win with them.

Ya…

…that’s when you keep winning with them.

How did you choose your statics?

Choice needs to be fool-proof for you.

Why?

If not, doubt will creep in.

That’s a poisonous crack.

It doesn’t allow you to win with your static.

Replace the static in question, this time without a doubt clouding your mind.

Or, bury your doubt.

Then, go and win.

Statics, is that even a word?

No idea.

It feels right, and I’m using it to channel across a pivotal concept.

That’s all that counts.

🙂

Fearlessness

Posted on by
Reply

Hey, 

There’s no hype…

…on Magic Bull.

No business lunches.

Conferences.

Fees.

Advertising.

Liasoning.

Roadshows.

Magic Bull is a no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase space.

Why?

That’s how I like it.

A strategy that works under any market conditions, …

… is multi-faceted,…

…  adaptable, …

…  self-adjusting, …

… and comprehensive, …

… doesn’t require artificial crutches… 

… because, …

… it makes…

… money …

… on its own.  

Why is the Magic Bull approach successful in any market, under any conditions?

Because it is based on fearlessness. 

We are not born fearless.

Fear is a natural human instinct innate in us. 

It saves us, many a time. 

However, to make money in the markets, one needs to get rid of fear.

How?

Most of our planning revolves around creating circumstances around ourselves that take fear out of the equation. 

You’ll need to make the effort of going through the material in this space, to get a grip on how Magic Bull eliminates this emotion. 

You see, even if there’s a free lunch in life, it’s not that free that the spoon will lift itself and put the meal down another’s throat. 

A certain minimal effort will need to be made. 

Thing is, hardly anyone makes even that kind of effort. 

Result will be, that not more than a handful will actually read this stuff, and one or two might actually implement it.

Sure. 

Growing Magic Bull’s readership is not my objective.

What do I get from the entire exercise?

Evolution. Writing evolves. The strategy just gets better and better.

Blah blah blah. 

Oh, ya, what happens when a strategy gets it right?

I’ll leave you to figure that out, since that’s what I get. 

And why again?

Because of fearlessness.

One’s cycle of winning in the markets, under any conditions, starts with fearlessness.

Wishing you fearless trading and investing!

🙂

Is it just me?

Posted on by
Reply

“Is it just me or does anybody
feel the way that I feel?
they’re just not being real
tell me, is it just me or is anybody
thinking all the same shit?
they’re just not saying it
or is it just me?”
– Sasha Sloan (also quoted below)

Waiting for…

…the rock to fall…

…is tiring.

One moves beyond.

Things happening around…

…are enough

…to make one…

…throw up.

Is it just me…

…who’s becoming numb…

…to the apathy…

…prevailing?

Does such apathy…

…deserve investment adulation?

Are we…

…even worth it?

Do those coming in…

…with funds…

…feel the way…

…that I feel…

…and are not saying it…

…because they are…

…making money?

Tell me…

…you don’t know…

…that markets can stay over-inflated…

…long enough to bankrupt nay-sayers.

“Am I…

…just high…

…or am I…

…kinda right…

…?

Is it…

…just me? “

Sitting – III

Posted on by
Reply

Mood-swings…

…happen all the time…

…in the markets.

If we don’t get used to dealing with them, we’re pretty much gone.

When pessimism rules, it’s quite common for one to develop negative thoughts about a holding. 

Research – stands. 

There’s nothing really wrong with the stock. 

However, sentiment is king. 

When sentiment is down, not many underlyings withstand downward pressure.

Eventually, you start feeling otherwise about your stock that is just not performing, as it was supposed to, according to its stellar fundamentals. 

If your conviction is strong enough, this feeling will pass. 

Eventually, pessimism will be replaced by optimism. 

Upwards pressure…

…results in upticks. 

Finally, you say, the market is discovering what your research promised.

You feel vindicated, and your outlook about the stock changes, in the event that negativity had set in.

You’ve not ended up dumping this particular stock.

If your conviction had not been strong enough, you would have gotten swayed. 

Market-forces are very strong. 

They can sweep the rug from under one’s feet, and one can be left reeling. 

In such circumstances, solid due-diligence and solid experience are your pillars of strength, and they allow you footing to hold on to. 

However, if your research isn’t solid enough, you will start doubting it and yourself, soon (and if you’re not experienced enough, make the mistake, learn from it, it’s ok, because your mistake is going to be a small mistake just now, and you’ll never repeat it, which is better than making the same mistake on a larger scale at the peak of your career, right?! We are talking about the mistake of doing shoddy due-diligence and getting into a stock without the confidence needed to traverse downward pressure).

With that, your strategy has failed, because it is not allowing you to sit comfortably. 

Please remember, that the biggest money is made if first one has created circumstances which allow one to sit comfortably. 

Basic income. 

Emergency fund.

Excess liquidity.

Small entry quantum.

Rock solid research work, encompassing fundamentals and technicals both. 

Margin of safety.

Patience for good entries.

Exit strategy. Whichever one suits you. It should be in place, at least in your mind. 

Etc.

Fill in your blanks. 

Make yourself comfy enough to sit and allow compounding to work. 

Weed out what stops you from sitting, and finish it off forever, meaning that don’t go down that road ever again.

Very few know how to sit. 

Very few make good money in the markets.

Make sure that you do. 

Make sure that you learn to sit.

Stocks and the Art of Synthesis

Posted on by
Reply

A lot comes together.

This coming-together is called synthesis.

The word synthesis has now become universal.

It is applied in various fields, including Chemistry, manufacturing and the like.

It is also applied in areas where deep thought boils down facts to unity, to arrive at a conclusion.

What all are we looking at, with stocks?

No action.

Action.

Time-frames.

Market-level.

Selection.

Entry.

Management.

Exit.

One can list other stuff, but this list should do too.

One needs to synthesize the ingredients in such a manner, that the resultant matches one’s risk-profile. [[Why? Matching means successful market-play. Try it out.]]

That, my dear friends, is the art of synthesis, in a nutshell.

 

What are your Millions Worth?

Posted on by
Reply

Sure, today they’re worth…

…millions.

Nobody’s taking that away from you.

However, tomorrow is a different story.

What will be the shape of your wealth in the far future?

In what form will it be stored?

Identify that now.

Why?

Because you can start pickling away in that form, little by little, right away.

Moving a chunk in one shot is tricky.

You don’t do it unless you’re absolutely sure.

You don’t bet the farm – on anything – period.

You need to move things quantum by quantum, over decades perhaps.

Final destination needs to tally with your risk-profile.

If it doesn’t, you’ll end up being jumpy and uncomfortable, and you’ll make a mistake.

When it’s about your life-savings, there’s no margin for error.

Why has one taken such a large chunk of time into the equation?

You see, when time is expanded long enough, difficult problems becomes easy to solve, because one ends up actually taking time (read pressure) out of the equation. Time is quasi infinite, so one doesn’t worry about it anymore. One has TIME to think things over and decide at leisure.

Also, over the course of a large chunk of time, you might realize that your risk-profile has changed, and that you are not comfortable with the final destination anymore.

That’s fine.

Change the final destination.

You define the rules, remember.

The bottom-line is that in whatever shape and form your wealth is stored in the end, that shape and form needs to address everything you wish that wealth to do and be.

There’s a lot of thinking that needs to go into this.

Do that thinking now.

It pays to be financially literate.

Nobody really teaches you financial literacy in school or college. Bookish knowledge is not financial literacy. Field knowledge is.

You’ve got two options.

Get financially literate on your own by playing the field, making mistakes, and learning, or…

…find someone who is already financially literate, and learn from him or her, from his or her mistakes.

Whatever you do…

…do it now…

…to ensure that your wealth not only remains intact…

…but also continues to grow.

What do you Want?

Posted on by
Reply

Is this one easy?

What do you think?

If this one were easy, we’d probably have no wars.

We’d sail from one fulfillment to another, without squabbling.

Life would be a breeze.

However, things are different on the ground.

We don’t talk to ourselves.

That’s why, for the longest time, we don’t know what we want.

Open the intrinsic dialogue.

Why is it not opening?

We’re so busy addressing the outside world.

We don’t even know perhaps, that a much more meaningful world exists – inside.

That’s the one more worth discovering, actually.

It contains the information about what we want.

We need to extract this information.

How does one do that?

Everything starts with a first step.

So, open the dialogue, yeah, the intrinsic one.

See where it goes.

You like exploring conversation on the dinner table, right?

Why don’t you try exploring conversation here, inside of you?

Next step is hit and try.

You’re in a new world.

Paths have not been defined. Define them. See what works. Discard what doesn’t. From the inside, go outside. If internally you feel that something might work, try it externally.

Keep trying and discarding.

Eventually, something sticks.

That what sticks is what you want.

Once you’ve discovered the groove, you can keep using it to discover more and more of what you want, till the groove stops working.

Then you go about creating a new groove.

Happy Searching!

🙂

When it Rains Learning

Posted on by
Reply

Yeah, when does it…

…rain learning?

You probably might not like what you hear.

Are you used to solitude? Working on your own? Own decision-making?

Or…

…do you look for approval?

…all the time?

We spoonfeed our loved ones when they ask us for help. I’m guilty of this too.

However, in my solitude I did realize, that spoonfeeding is the sworn enemy of learning.

What is learning?

Inculcation to the extent of translation into DNA – that’s learning.

It’s an intrinsic process. Yes, everything about learning happens inside.

When does it rain learning?

When you’re dependent upon yourself for your decisions, that’s when.

One wrong step could break you, so you’re cautious.

Your system is working at full-stretch.

It’s an intense time.

That’s the melting-pot required for DNA translation.

A wrong decision causing loss is rich in learning.

It can also cause depression. However, you know better. You get up, learn, and move on.

A right decision causing profit boosts confidence.

It can also cause euphoria, which offers an entry door towards destruction.

However, you know better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trigger Vigour

Posted on by
Reply

Can you pull a trigger?

Or do you hesitate?

Are you afraid?

This is vital stuff, and you need to recognize this about yourself.

Why?

We’ll go into the why some other time, but let if suffice for now to say that trigger dynamics are part of basic risk-profiling, and if one’s market movement is not as per one’s risk-profile, things generally go wrong.

Back to triggers.

Cast aside pulling, are you able to recognize a trigger?

What comes before recognition?

Definition.

Have you defined market triggers?

Everyone has a different definition of when to act.

You need to know when you are going to act.

No ifs, no buts, just clear-cut action.

Your system will tell you that it’s time for action.

You do a double-check.

Are you recognizing what your system is telling you?

Is what it’s telling you recognized by your mind as a time to act?

Yes?

Then act.

What is the action, you ask?

Hmmm.

Why are you asking that?

You have to define the action too.

Just like you defined the conditions for action, you also define what exactly the action is going to be.

When you act, you pull a trigger. The quantum and style of your action is your follow-through after the trigger is pulled.

Make it mechanical.

As much as possible.

Boiling Down to Unity

Posted on by
Reply

What is unity?

Oneness.

The thing everything has boiled down to.

That, which emerges after all the dust of everything has settled.

Yes, that.

Not the one as in being united, not that unity.

The one-resultant-vector unity.

The equation-being-solved-unanimously unity.

The one big solution for everything that’s bothering you – that unity.

Why are we talking about unity?

Because it is the answer.

What is the question?

Or, what are the questions?

“It’s the question that drives you, doesn’t it, Neo?”

There are many questions.

Each has different questions.

Each strives for a unique unity.

Each must find his or her unique point of peace.

Till then, mind will be restless, something will always be missing, and peace will be elusive.

Are we even talking about money?

You bet.

We strive in a million ways to garner money and make it grow.

We try different methods. Lots of strategies. People. Planning.

What is it boiling down to?

Have we recognised it?

In what form do we wish to see our money ultimately?

Do we have that kind of vision?

Are we standing on the mountain with that bird-eye view?

If yes, our strategies start culminating towards the final goal.

Why?

Because we know where we are going.

How did we know where we were going?

We asked the question.

Then we followed our mind. It led us to the answer.

Took some time, didn’t it?

At least we got there.

That’s huge.

Chancing

Posted on by
Reply

How does one discover the missing ingredient?

By chancing it. 

One keeps trying different mixes…

…till something hits. 

The hit is then fine-tuned…

…such that it is reproduced again and again.

Once the hit can be reproduced at will, one has got the strategy all together. 

A successful strategy is then let loose. 

At first it is on manual.

Ultimately, it comes on auto, or semi-auto, whatever best is possible. 

There has come and passed a stage, when this same strategy has not been winning. 

Aha. 

What is the difference between the mix of that stage and the current – winning – mix?

It’s some kind of a twist you’ve discovered. 

Something you are adding, or doing differently. 

This something is making the strategy win. 

Congratulations!

You’ve kept trying. 

You’ve been in the field. 

You weren’t away from the field, ruminating. 

You were getting action. 

Losing action, but action. 

Losing action has huge educational value. 

It tells you how not to do it. 

You keep twisting, fitting, tuning, upon loss. 

You chance new stuff.

Eventually, something clicks. 

You develop that something further and take it to the nth. 

Where does that leave you?

You have to keep chancing it. 

There is no way around this. 

Make funds available for the R&D. 

Have the courage. 

Don’t be afraid of a hundred losses. 

Winning is around the corner. 

Auto is our Motto

Posted on by
Reply

What are you doing…

…that’s not on auto?

Next question is, why is it not on auto?

On purpose?

Sure, there’s some stuff that you’d like to reserve for manual. That’s absolutely fine. 

Not on purpose?

Meaning you want it to be on auto, but haven’t done so?

Right. 

Why not?

Meaning, why are you not using that one big benefit of the twenty-first century – to your benefit?

Lazy?

Couldn’t care less?

Too complicated?

In a rut?

Whatever. 

Bottomline is, you’re losing out. 

How?

You’re losing out on…

…time…

…growth…

…evolution…

…prosperity…

…sense of fulfilment…

…sense of purpose…

…and what have you.

You can also start figuring out for yourself how you are losing out on these things amongst other stuff. No spoon-feeding here. 

Automation is the minimal requirement of our times. 

Automation requires transcending an activation barrier. 

This is a one-time input, before the concerned process goes on auto. 

This is also the step which makes many lose interest in going auto. 

Well, from nothing comes nothing. 

You will have to put in that time and energy for the one-time input that pushes the process into auto-mode. 

There is no way around it. 

However, each time you’ve gone auto, you’ll get a huge sense of accomplishment. 

You’ll want to recreate that feeling again and again and again. 

You’ll want to put more and more stuff on auto. 

With so much of auto stuff adding to you from the background, your life will become fuller. More enjoyable. More time to pursue whatever you wish to pursue. More time to be…

…you.

Cheers. 

What remains …

Posted on by
Reply

… is the tough stuff. 

You’ve taken care of the easy stuff. 

It’s been taken to its logical conclusion. 

It’s either flowing with you in the background, enhancing you, or it’s been put permanently to rest by you, in a form that will also always add to you. 

You don’t notice it anymore. 

It was easy, right!?

Easy stuff doesn’t push you to the wall. 

It gives pleasure. 

One gets used to pleasure. 

After a while, one doesn’t notice the source anymore. At least, one doesn’t notice it too consciously. 

Situation is different with the hard stuff. 

It’s hard, as in difficult. 

It pains you. 

It pushes you to the wall. 

You are challenged.

You don’t forget something that challenges you. 

This something remains with you, before your eyes, all the time. 

You are trying to find a solution. 

Your system is working overtime to convert this hard stuff into easy stuff. 

For some hard stuff, you find the conversion. 

Taken care of…

…and gone. 

Other stuff refuses to convert. 

Yes. 

You have it here in a nutshell. 

What is this folder made of?

Folder?

Yeah, folder. 

What folder?

The folder containing the hard stuff that refuses to convert into easy stuff. 

Oh, that folder, right. 

Yeah, what does that folder contain?

Hard stuff that refuses to convert into easy stuff?

Yeah but in other and more understandable words now…?

The biggest tests in your life?

YES. 

Leading to the biggest lessons learnt if by chance you are able to push out even one hard-folder-component into the easy-stuff-folder?

Exactement.

Le Kicque

Posted on by
Reply

There’s probably no such word in the French language. 

Well, then, I just made it up. 

Why?

Meaning, why in the world would I concoct a French word, and that too something like le kicque?

The fact that I’m learning French plays a role. 

So does the constant questioning. 

I constantly question myself at every stage. 

Things come to a point, where I find myself asking the question : “Does this still give you le kicque?”

Or, “is this new activity giving you le kicque?”

Fine, then do it. 

If it’s not giving you a kick, don’t do it. 

Every formal thing is perhaps wrong about le kicque. 

It probably should have been la kicque. 

However, informally speaking, la kicque doesn’t feel or sound right to my mind. 

La kicque doesn’t suit my mind’s style and the way it wants to use le kicque. 

The full effect of the French accent is felt by my mind with le kicque.

When it’s putting the question forward, mind goes all French with intonation and accent. 

The question has full impact. 

I have to answer. 

Yes?

Do it. 

No?

Don’t. 

I’ve come to a stage where I find myself only pursuing activities which give me le kicque.

If I’m doing anything else, which does’t give me “the kick”, it’s because I have to do it and have no choice in the matter. 

If I find some optional activity which isn’t loaded with le kicque, I drop it immediately. 

Am I embarrassed that I’ve concocted an idiotic-sounding-grammatically-all wrong-word that would probably insult the French purists?

No. 

Why?

Because its not about the French. 

It’s about me. 

It’s about how I handle myself. 

It’s about guiding oneself through a yet undefined path. It’s about defining one’s path. 

Along the way, one builds bridges. 

Le kicque is one such bridge I’ve built for myself. 

I’m not ashamed of my bridge.

Nor am I embarrassed about it. 

I love my bridge. 

I share my bridge here so that it might help another person. 

If this bridge even helps one more person, the purpose of writing this piece will fulfil itself. 

Fancy schmanzy or just plain Vanilla?

Posted on by
Reply

There’s expenditure and there’s expenditure.

Meaning?

Let’s say you start some work. It can be market-related, for all I care. What do you do first?

Prep.

How do you prep?

Studying up. As long as I can manage.

And then?

Courses, workshops, the deal.

Local?

Naehhh. I try to keep it national though.

International?

Haven’t required it till now for market work.

Ok. What happens next?

I hit the market concerned. Low-key at first. 

Why?

That’s when you make the most mistakes. That’s why. 

I see. Motive?

I want to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them.

Rather than from an instructor?

Of course. This is the market, remember. This is about you. Not about the instructor. This is about knowing your own shortcomings related to a particular market, and about adjusting and fine-tuning yourself to the market to trade it optimally. This is about fitting the market concerned in a tailor-made fashion into your own life without disrupting your own life. 

Wow! Well, then, congratulations. You’re a prime candidate for doing it the plain vanilla way. 

Is there any other way to do it?

Oh, there’s the fancy schmanzy one. 

Kindly describe it. 

Well, it mostly entails unnecessary expenditure along with necessary expenditure. There’s more unnecessary expenditure though. 

I see. 

One is normally too lazy to study up. Or, one doesn’t have the get-go in oneself to approach the subject on one’s own. 

Sure, can happen. 

One flips from instructor to instructor in search of the holy grail. Expensive software, international trips, five-star hotels, the whole shebang. In the end one has spent a bomb. To end up trading the instructor’s perspective. Finally realising that the markets are about oneself, and unless one is trading one’s own perspective, one is sure to lose. Or not realising this (!) and continuing to flip instructors and instructions. Finally burning out and giving up on the markets. 

Sad though. All necessary software is available free of cost on the internet. One can do inexpensive internet courses to widen one’s horizon. These can involve one-on-one instruction too. Video-conferencing. File sharing. Threads. Assessments. The works. Live-market training. You name it. All travelling and extra expenses cut out. Few hundred dollars for the whole course. 

I already acknowledged your plain vanilla acumen. I’m just trying to tell you that most others prefer the fancy schmanzy way. 

I prefer to stay in the market and not burn out. I’m in the market to make a steady income. 

Well, that you will, my dear friend. The plain vanilla way doesn’t promise any hype, but it does promise income. 

Happening…or not happening?

Posted on by
Reply

Is that the question?

Hmmmm. 

Valid question. 

On any particular day, we are confronted with this question. Multiple times. 

Life itself throws this question at us often, at pivot-points or crossroads. 

Well, why should the markets be left behind? You guessed it. They portray this behaviour…also. 

Take the cmp of an underlying. 

Is it crossing resistance? Breaking support? Forming a pivot? Peaking? Bottoming? What have you. 

Is whatever’s happening happening or not happening?

What do you do?

Aha. Got you there. Who said anything about doing something? The question about doing something is a wrong question. 

However, it becomes a practical question, because, well, who has patience today?

Yeah, who’s willing to wait and watch, right?

So, in all practicality, what do you do?

First you try not to ask the question. You just observe. 

Then you get jumpy, and do ask the question, simultaneously answering it by telling yourself to wait and watch. 

Next you’re seen egging the markets on for an outcome. 

That’s not good. 

Markets are not going to behave as per your wishes. 

Ok, so here’s the game-changer. 

Change your activity. 

Yes, do something else. 

Put your system on auto-pilot, and engage your mind elsewhere. 

Like I’m writing this article here. 

What’s happening in the backdrop?

My USDINR trade is going nowhere. 

Couldn’t catch a decent portion of the move on the GBP breakout, and now I can’t seem to get a new trade triggered.

My stock-screener refuses to find me a stock in the agri-sector which is to my liking.

My iPad’s gone all wonky and is acting pricy about photo and music syncs. 

Family-health-insurance-premium due…

… got to get that nomination going on my demat…

… AC gas leak…

… document sorting overdue…

… and so on and so forth. 

Meanwhile, I write this article. 

I’m at peace. Writing relaxes me. It benefits the reader too. It’ll live on after me. It is positivity in action. It gives me a sense of purpose. I forget about all the things that are happening and / or not happening. 

That’s what you are going to do. You are going to find an activity that takes you away, to another plane, for just a while, while your other stuff is still undecided. 

There are some things, though, that one needs to make happen. Sometimes one needs to keep pushing. Non-pursuance would be like giving up. 

In this event, you keep banging your head against a wall. 

Two things are going to happen. 

Either you are going to get hurt and back off…

… or, the wall is going to break down.

Yes, I do admit, that there are some very select areas in life that where one decides to bang full-on. 

We’re not afraid. When push comes to shove, we’re all there and ready for some head-banging. 

However, wrt all the other not-so-drastic things, we’re conserving our energies and going to our happy-and-safe-place till these not-so-drastic things are yet undecided. 

Yeah, we’re happier and healthier that way.