Breakthrough Strategies for Predicting Any Market: Charting Elliott Wave, Lucas, Fibonacci, Gann, and Time for Profit, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 13

Psychology

When we talk about psychology there are two aspects to it. There is you and then there’s the market. Right now we’ll talk about you. Trading is tough enough and believe it or not, some people aren’t even trying to make money in the market. Let me repeat that, some people treat the market as a way to get back at themselves as punishment for other things they’ve done in their life. This is called sabotage. Do you think it’s not true? It all gets down to your belief system and the values you’ve developed in life. Taking it one step further, some people don’t have a prosperity mindset and just when they get to the cusp of something good, they find a way to muddy the water.

Other people treat financial markets like their personal casinos. Why? Being in the action is more important than making money. I know this sounds strange, but there is a group of people out there who get the endorphins going only when they have a position in the market. It’s the same thing as going to Las Vegas or Belmont Park. Trading can be an elegant form of gambling without the stigma attached.

My job is to bring all of this to your attention. There’s not much I can personally do about it, but hopefully some of you who might be in this boat will take a personal inventory of yourself and become aware of any issues. Then again, if you are under extreme duress in your life you probably shouldn’t be trading because you won’t be thinking clearly. It is my belief that you can’t even get to the ...