I never thought that anything was irksome if it helped me to trade more intelligently.
JesseLivermore
Everyone gets good ideas.
Ideas are like viral colds. Nobody's immune. Some just get more than others.
I get some of my better ones out walking Taylor, my four-year-old,13-pound multi-phooh. I learn a lot from him, especially when it comes to investing and trading.
And judging from the conversations with my significant other it's mutual. She learns a lot from him too, though she doesn't trade or play the market outside of her retirement planning.
To begin with, he's a lot smarter than I am. He doesn't care much for walking in the rain. He always skirts around or jumps small puddles. He'll get his feet wet, but only on his terms. That's the way I like to view entering the market. If it isn't on my terms I probably don't have any business being in there. Some might call this timing.
He always does his homework, particularly when it comes time to relieve himself. On cool mornings and chilly nights it can get a little frustrating. But he refuses to rush. He's got to find just the right spot. Sort of like knowing the right time to enter or exit a trade or the market.
He's got the patience of 10 people. Sometimes when I am slaving away on the computer, he'll come to the doorway of my office and just stand there, staring at me like a statue in utter stillness. I never know if it's one of those bigger-fool stares or what.
Other times if you don't acknowledge him he'll sit up like dogs do when they want some of your food. It can be a real attention getter, a real killer, sort of like those gut market feelings we get from time to time but often fail to heed.
Especially when they turn out to be correct and we didn't make the trade. I think it means we all get weary and need a break, some fun. So come on, man, lighten up. It's time to play.
Taylor is extremely curious. And alert. No smell is an old smell. Because he's so small his survival instincts are keen. He gets engrossed but not so much that he loses his awareness, another good point for surviving in markets. Just when you think he's not paying attention, he'll pick his head up and look around.
In our neighborhood from dust to dawn coyotes often prowl. Sometimes at night he sees and hears things I don't hear and can't see. They're out there and he smells it. Good smellers, dogs and traders, sounds like a decent title for a good country tune about markets.
He never holds grudges. And he has no ego.
Around the house he doesn't miss much either, whether it's a faint noise outside or you're putting a coat or sweater on to go somewhere. In the car, short or long ride, he knows when you start to slow down it's close to getting-out time. I like to think about that when volume is starting to dry up and prices flatten.
For him the car is exciting to get in, but just as exciting and important to get out. You could say he has an exit strategy. When the movement stops it's time to move on. We humans call it a trend. He hasn't told me yet what he calls it. But I'd love to know.
As far as I've been able to tell, Taylor has only one bad habit. Every morning though he tries, he fails to fully wipe the sleepers out of his eyes.
But even there I learned something.
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