Greed Kills

Trailing Stops Help Solve That Problem

Quickly, if that is possible for me, the timely purchase of the “Widow Maker” then it’s increase in price by more than 10% in a few days told me I was lucky. OK, I listened. In the wee hours of this morning all of the January $3.25 calls were sold and half of the January 2024 futures were stopped out. What’s next, I don’t know but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Buy when they sell and sell when irrational exuberance buys. I got lucky but had a plan and stuck to it.

“Greed” From “The Ticker’s Bible”

Amazing, isn’t it? I abide by my own rules. You should too. Here’s an excerpt from my first of five books entitled “The Ticker’s Bible”:

Greed

Ask any billionaire and they’ll tell you that “greed” is not a negative emotion. Perhaps not to them but to the other 99.99% of us greed manifests itself in ways that destroy your well-being.

Greed is an intense, selfish desire for more “wealth, power or possessions” that any one person needs. Quite often this excessive desire for additional material wealth or gain drives unethical, illegal behaviors in its pursuit, leading to financial ruin, social isolation even legal problems. It’s accompanied by a lack of empathy, compassion and the complete disregard for the well-being of others. In short, it’s better to spend your time developing healthier personal values. Here’s a couple types of greed:

·      Financial Greed: A strong desire for money and material possession through hoarding, overspending or taking advantage of others.

·      Power Greed: A strong desire for power and control often characterized, then obtained by manipulating and exploiting, lacking empathy and compassion.

·      Possessive Greed: A very strong desire to acquire and keep all possessions while simultaneously being unwilling to share anything with others.

Confidence is a good thing but too much often leads to greed. Lessons to be learned encompass investing or trading only what you are comfortable losing. The economic markets are schizophrenic; no one knows what the next direction is. Risk / reward is an ever-present element that must be controlled. Avoid this emotional roller coaster; it will bring out the worst negative emotions inside of you. Experience is the greatest teacher; learn from your past and remember “greed kills”. It is best to realize you are human. Invincibility traits are best left for superheroes. Most successful investors and traders are happiest just being human.

Book is with the publisher and hopefully, the hard cover and electronic version will be available soon. I’ll keep everyone posted. Signed, dust covered first editions are being sent off to Ingram Spark today. I’m developing a “deal” with Substack to provide them together with enhanced subscriptions for free. Again, stay tuned.

Let’s close with a Rolling Stones tune, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. Greed kills, satisfaction rules. I’ll be back in Natural Gas as it makes sense, supplies are less and less worldwide and technical tools, shorter term trading will rule this monster. It always does.