Attack and Retreat; Attack and Retreat

In my mind, part of being a trader means not feeling the internal pressure you create or allow from peers to try to catch every single move, in every single market. Case in point: I have captured some strong winners to begin 2015, namely with select shorts in equities and leveraged longs in the precious metals and miners complex. My losses have been small, few, and far between.

And, yet, I am not feeling one way or the other about this morning's sharp rally in equites after a sloppy open (pop, then fade, then chop, then rally). I do not need to chase this rally. Sure, I want profits, just like we all do. But if you liberate yourself from the destructive ego in trying to chase every single fluctuation in the market, I think you will find that your trading will improve as you become more lucid and focus on waiting for proper trading setups, in any given market.

As it stands now, stocks are in bounce mode. The S&P 500 Index finally made it back up to its 20/50 day moving average confluence, a target for a bounce I have been discussing on my video recaps as a first stop to assess whether the S&P will put in another lower swing high before rolling back over. If bulls continue on higher in the coming days, it will almost assuredly throw a wrench in the bear thesis for this to be an intermediate-term topping pattern.

Either way, I will keep attacking when appropriate, then retreating and setting up for the next attack, then retreating...and so forth. Those who attack every day, all day, soon find themselves deplete of resources of all kinds, be it capital, emotional strength, or mental energy.