She was the first girl I thought I liked, or loved, or whatever. She sat next to me in a 7th grade class. I don’t remember much about the class, mostly because I was spending so much time concentrating on Carrie. Most of the time, she was my friend. Except when we were outside of class. Outside of class, she paid no attention to me. She ignored me. If she ever talked to me, she made fun of me, refused to spend time with me (or even admit I existed). Of course this only made matters worse. All of this only made me want her more.
Carrie moved away after the 7th grade. 5 years later I found myself standing behind her at the market. Every feeling I’d ever had for her returned instantly. I was so entranced that I watched her as she left the drugstore, got into her car, and pulled out of the parking lot. Just when I thought that she neither remembered me, or even noticed me, she turned around, rolled down her window, and blew me a kiss. My heart jumped into my throat and I felt weak. I never saw Carrie again.
You know what a pip is already. Do you know that most forex traders spend their careers chasing after pips in the same way I chased after Carrie’s attention? She never gave it to me, unless (at the end) it was to blow me a teasing goodbye kiss. She had received all the benefit from my attention and never gave anything back except a blow to my selfesteem. Gosh, that sounds a lot like when I first traded currency – and the pips teased me until they simply moved away in the end, with a good-bye kiss.
Have you ever watched the market and wondered why the harder you tried, the more quickly the pips distanced themselves from you? I remember when I first started trading that the market would move away from me and I would begin to think: it’s moving. Why is it moving away from me? Couldn’t it just as easily move in my direction?
For a while, I made money on gut decisions. I’d make some progress, a few pips or more a day, but never really understand the signals. For instance, I’d make a profit just barely, and watch in horror / relief as the market swung the opposite way right after I exited the trade. Or I’d enter a trade, lose a bunch of pips, and then exit the position at a loss – only to watch the market swing back in my favor. Only, of course, the position was closed and all I could do was sit there and watch, just like I had stood in the parking lot of the drugstore, watching Carrie blow that goodbye kiss.
WHAT I LEARNED
Until you’re no longer impressed with pips – no longer frightened by them, nor infatuated by them, not in love with them, no longer simply hating them – they won’t give you the time of day. The acquisition of pips is your only goal in the currency market. But pips are fickle and if you pursue them full of emotion, you’re going to get burned.
I learned in the drugstore that day 20 years ago that Carrie would have paid attention to me if I had simply ignored her every once in a while. If I had been able to get my feelings under control. If I’d been able to act cool instead of like a freak. If I’d been able to calmly make a plan, stick to it. But I could do none of those things. My emotions took hold of me and turned me into an idiot.
It’s the same for pips. We all want them. We all want as many of them as we can get. But some of us are willing to risk everything for just a few of them. We’ll chase after them like a 12-year old boy. And you know what? They don’t give a damn about you and me.
Your goal is:
1. Enter positions as soon as a particular signal is given.
2. Exit the position as soon as a particular signal is given.
The payoff will be:
1. The emotion should be gone from the trading.
2. You will enter and exit trades with discipline and focus.
ref: "Currency Trader's Handbook, Strategies For Forex Success - Rob Booker (2006) A8"
