Second day this week that something caught my eye at another site and liked it enough to reprint it. Joe at http://www.upsidetrader.com/ has a funny, entertaining post about the various traders that come and go (and stay). I have been reading him for many months and love his insight as well as the high quality of his writing.
I picked out a couple that are PERFECTLY me, which is why I don't yet trade real cash. Yesterday, especially on that last TNA trade, I was "Bob" and "Brittmeister" at the same time. Like his "Bob," I am also of Irish descent (partly), which makes me laugh a little more.
Posted by UpsideTrader on November 17th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
We see ‘traders’ raked in on CNBC everyday, they wear cute suits, sweet ties, and pocket hankies. There hair is always parted on the left and they all have a great head of hair. They shaved for the interview, but when it’s over, they probably asked their town car driver why they were asked to be on an interview about trading. You see, they aren’t traders at all, they are pundits disguised as traders. Noah Blackstein was on CNBC today, he was, and is a perma- bull that disappeared throughout the crash, but now he’s back. He was wrong forever, but given the slowness of the news cycle (ex GM IPO..please gut me) he got some play. He’s not a trader, good traders don’t have time to show up on CNBC. Ever see Steve Cohen or Paul Tudor Jone just stop on by? David Tepper stopped by recently because he is obscenely rich and probably owed someone a favor. The market rocked because he is good and never shows up in the media, so people thought Christ came off the cross and bought.
The real world isn’t CNBC or Bloomberg TV, it’s guys we all know that trade, that’s really what makes the market. So I figured I’d talk about some traders I know that have massive failures and mind boggling successes, sometimes on the same day. These are all friends of mine.
Bob- Only trades the opposite of momentum, if AMZN is up $8 he MUST short it, even though it’s going 20 points higher soon (and he knows it), he thinks “it’s up too much”. I attribute this to Irish guilt, and stocks, just like Bob, don’t deserve any modicum of success whatsoever.
Scooter- Only trades massive sell offs in stocks, a professional falling knife catcher and does well at it most of the time. He believes in the underdog and swears to God those stocks are overly misunderstood.
Brittmeister-chases breakouts when he should wait for the pullback, he knows the stock is going higher, but feels he is the only one on Wall Street that saw the breakout, even though everyone on Gods green earth sees it and waits for the pullback.
Kidder Peabody Guy-kind of a value guy, lost almost everything in the crash, but still swears INTC, MSFT and CSCO are a screaming buy and going back to $5o. He has a comforter at the office for when it gets chilly.
Shark-he thinks he sees what no one else sees and pounces on every downtick, he usually makes money, but needs to be more patient.
Shorty-we call him perma bear, he finds death in everything and cried at his wedding.
Happy Pants-every pullback is a buy no matter what, even if the World Trade Center gets hit or the Straits of Hormuz gets blocked, although he would short oil because everything will soon be fine. It end poorly.
OEX Boy-trades $10,000 in commissions even though the SPY that day had a 4 point range, broker loves him.
Couldabeen-never trades his heart, at the bar, talks about what he was gonna do
Becky Quick-still thinks he may get an edge from CNBC.
Nostop- loves his shit and analysis so much that he must be right, small losses turn into short sales on his house.
Penny-has the cheap one that will be MSFT, doesn’t trade anymore.
Steady Eddy-fights the fight everyday, respects Mr. Market and learns from his mistakes. Tries never to make the same mistake twice. Puts his mind away every morning, and lets the markets mind take over his mind and envelope him, as it doesn’t matter what he thinks at all. Toughest thing in the world to do , but the best traders have mastered it and he aspires to that.He welcomes mistakes as he knows that will make him a better trader. Trades small or not at all when he is having a challenge. Steady Eddy will be the guy that always makes money. He knows it’s the greatest living in the world when he is at peace with his trading.
Don’t quit.
