That’s how the SF 49ers got to the Super Bowl. So what’s the connection to trading?
There was a link between what a 49er said after the NFC championship and what one of the SF Giants said after they won the World Series a few months ago that got my attention (ok, I’m bragging a bit, being a SF resident!).
Both, the 49er’s player and the Giant’s player said their team wasn’t expected to ‘go all the way’, and each one felt that the sports pundits and analysts had missed a major variable at work that the stats can’t account for, team chemistry.
It’s often those ‘little’ things, the stuff that can’t be measured, that will not fit into a model, which is so influential on performance. We see this in sports, trading, and elsewhere.
The same can be said for the market itself. Who would of thought the market would be where it is today?
Back to the title of this piece; one of the 49ers said, “we got hot at the right time”; and I believe he may have been referring to both the mixed start to the season as well as taking a quarter or two to put some points on the board that led to key wins.
Getting hot at the right time is very similar to being ‘in the zone’, and how some very successful traders describe recognizing a key pattern, having the confidence to trust what they’re seeing, and acting quickly to take advantage of it before the opportunity is gone. This is how some successful momentum or trend following traders describe their experience…. recognizing which side is dominating and going with it. It also applies to successful faders too; they trust their ability to recognize a change in momentum or trend.
A good discretionary trader is like a good QB, both can read the competition well. (Predict people to predict markets). The 49ers capitalize on this with an athletic QB who keeps the other team guessing and can read the field and take advantage of lapses in defense. Good discretionary traders are nimble and can sense when the momentum is still strong or when the market is too long/short and they can alter their trading on the fly to take advantage.
Andrew: Great thoughts, you’ve hit the nail on the head ! It reminds of a book called Flow, Mihaly Csikzentmihali, ( we could award a small prize for the correct pronunciation! ) Anyway this book is brilliantly written to help explain what flow is, how it’s used, and in my world I came to see it as one of the crucial factors to being a successful trader.
GDR,
Too many good books to read and not enough time!
Most traders are looking for certainty to satisfy their need to be right; but the search for and a strong need for certainty can be an obstacle to the conditions conducive to ‘flow’.
Andrew
GDR,
Too many good books to read and not enough time!
Most traders are looking for certainty to satisfy their need to be right; but the search for and a strong need for certainty can be an obstacle to the conditions conducive to ‘flow’.
Andrew