Getting to my desk before 6:00 A.M. is a small win, but these little victories are what build confidence. It’s easy to get discouraged after a sick day or a late start, but in trading, confidence is your most valuable asset. Lose that, and even the best strategy won't save you. I’m focusing on stringing together a few well-prepared sessions to get back into my rhythm.
Some days are quieter than others in the market, and Monday was shaping up to be one of them. On days like these, I avoid chasing big moves in volatile zones and focus on clear, confirmed signals. It’s a core part of my approach to this —discipline over drama. Here’s a look at what popped up on my radar and how I handled it.
It's Sunday afternoon, and I’m feeling fantastic—probably the best I’ve felt since getting sick back in January. A little time out on the boat with the ocean air seems to be the perfect cure. But despite the great mood, my husband just caught me grumbling at my desk around 4:00 P.M., completely absorbed in my charts. It’s a common scene when you're ; the work never really stops.
It’s Friday morning, just before 7:30 A.M. EST, and I’m already watching the market. My main focus is a short position on the EUR/USD I’ve been managing since Wednesday. A big economic report, the Trade Balance number, is due at 8:30 A.M., which means things could get volatile. I’m preparing to use tight 60-second stops on any open trades to manage risk.
It’s early, and my overnight trade on the EUR/USD is slowly creeping lower, which is what I wanted. I used the Wave’s middle line as my protective stop, so I quickly check to see if that price needs adjusting. It’s only moved by a few pips, so I’ll leave my stop where it is for now.
You’ll hear me say this once in a while: some days are for taking it easy. I don’t go into every trading session with guns blazing. For one reason or another, there are days I’ll either step away completely or just dial it back. Today is one of those days.
The first thing I do every morning is check for the day’s economic releases, or what I call “hot zones.” For anyone running a trading operation as a , knowing when big news is scheduled to drop is non-negotiable. But there’s a common misconception here. I’m not looking for news to trade; I’m looking for moments of potential chaos to be aware of.
When you first start analyzing companies, it's easy to get bogged down in the details and feel a need for absolute certainty. To break free from that mindset, it helps to look at how Warren Buffett handles uncertainty—he’s a master at it. He often repeats the idea that it’s better to be “approximately right than precisely wrong.” This is a core lesson for anyone interested in .
Benjamin Graham, the man who would become known as the father of modern security analysis, was an intellectual at heart. He spoke seven languages and could quote classic authors in their native French, German, or ancient Greek. He was also famously absent-minded, known for inventing a new slide rule while also showing up to work in mismatched shoes. After graduating from Columbia in just two and a half years, he turned down teaching positions in math, English, and philosophy to support his family, choosing the one field with the highest earning potential: finance.