Sunday, 28 December 2014

What I have learned in 2014: The 3 P's

Process, Preparation, and Patience. My lesson (suggestion) for 2015 is to (continue to) follow these 3 Ps. 


Trading decisions must be governed by a process that generates signals. You must decide whether or not to take that signal. Prepare to make decisions based on the process. Without going into detail, my process is technical and the preparation involves marking charts with exact entry levels and stops. If/when the market trades to these prices, I'm prepared to make a decision. Since I trust the process, the decision is made quickly and confidently. Also, exercise patience when the process is not working. Nothing works all of the time….you will experience several months or longer where your process doesn’t work….which brings me to 2014.
 
My largest drawdown took place from February 24th to May 1st. As I look back now, this isn’t a surprise because markets need to move for my process to work and FX volatility was at record lows. At the time however, I battled self-doubt. Sticking with the process was a daily struggle and it took years of experience (and pep talks from my wife) for me to do so. If I’d abandoned the process at my lowest point in May, the rest of the year would have been a disaster. Instead, I stayed with the process and was prepared when volatility returned.

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