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Behavioral Sentiment: Sports and Trading a Key Correlation

by with No Comment AMT MarketsBehavioral SentimentFeatured Highlights

Behavioral Sentiment: Sports and Trading a Key Correlation

In order to be an effective day trader a speculator needs to be able to control their emotions. A person can have years of market knowledge, the best schooling, read the world’s greatest books, be able to quote the leading financial experts and still be a bad trader. While it is important to understand the complexities being generated via technical and fundamentals and the power of behavioral sentiment, again it doesn’t guarentee you profits.

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CBOE VIX Index six month chart as of 17th November 2023

When a day trader initiates pursuit of position, long or short, they can even be right about the eventual direction and still lose their money when the trade is complete. The missing link for many speculators while trading is their inability to control their emotions.

Many sports fans know that there are teams that have some of the highest paid athletes, but frequently have lackluster results because the team is not able to handle the bright lights of the stadium, they let crowds affect them. Some teams simply prove over time they are not prepared to really compete in the most important games; trading results frequently are similar when a speculator is not ready for the financial market they want to compete within.

Unless a market participant can handle their anxiousness, nervousness, frustration, assaults from value gyrations (reversals of price), doubts and the noise of the crowd (news being generated from the media that is mere hyberbole) and other challenges that can affect their emotional state – a trader is unlikely to have success.

Sports and trading are very similar sometimes. Professional athletic competitions between the world’s best are often a contest of ‘wills’. In many sports the top athletes are almost equally matched regarding their physical ability. In trading many speculators have the same perspectives regarding potential market directions, yet they produce different outcomes.

The difference maker in sports and trading when it comes to positive results – winning, is the ability to control their emotional state. Remaining calm and focused, knowing the goal and tasks that must be accomplished to achieve victory in sports and trading is often the result of keeping tranquil psychologically in the middle of battle.

You can have all the necessary trading skills needed to pursue a position within Forex, equity indices, commodities via the cash market, CFDs and futures, but if you do not have control of your emotions you are likely to lose.

Day traders also need to understand that one day of results, winning or losing, does not mean anything regarding future prospects. Like the best athletes, traders need to enter every trade as if it is a new game. Discipline, tactical objectives are important in trading. Being able to walk away from a losing position and leaving enough in your account to pursue the markets, for the next time you feel there is a potentially profitable objective that is attractive is also important.

You must know yourself to be a good trader, you must understand your own emotions and work on weaknesses. The ability to be profitable over a long time is not as simple as merely entering your online trading platform and opening a position which has been recommended or that you think is a winner.

It is one thing to understand the positive movement of a potential trade, but you must be ready for the negative possibilities when a trade is not going your way and the ability to navigate through the storm. Is your stop loss in place? Does the amount of leverage you are using allow you to walk away from a losing trade and still have enough ammunition (money) for other trades? Can you handle the volatility that is likely to ensue in potentially choppy conditions?

You need a solid gameplan. One of the greatest risks a trader is confronted by is their lack of emotional fortitude. Successful speculators embrace their trading positions because they are attractive, but they also manage their expectations and have a plan of attack in place before they enter every trade. Good traders can block out the noise of the crowd and enjoy the competitive nature of battling the financial markets.

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Optimism in Challenging Conditions and Time Considerations

by with No Comment AMT MarketsBehavioral SentimentFeatured Highlights

Optimism in Challenging Conditions and Time Considerations

Traders by nature are optimists, after all they are wagering on outcomes they believe are valid with targets regarding future results. Global market conditions for the moment have created expensive price action unfortunately, this as plenty of day traders wagering on their perceptions have found out while whipsaw movements and fast velocity have taken place and caused losses.

The USD continues to create turbulent higher values among many major currencies it is teamed against as financial institutions exhibit risk adverse tendencies. U.S Treasury yields may be going up because the U.S Federal Reserve continues to sound alarms regarding inflation, but the last two weeks of trading globally have seen an influx into U.S Treasuries as a safe haven move. Another signal that risk appetite is poor among global investors is because while the USD has gotten stronger, gold has also risen in value.

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Gold Five Year Chart as of 26th Oct. 2023

And importantly, global markets are trading in conditions which are not considered normal. Many inexperienced people within financial institutions have not dealt with markets like the ones being battled now. High interest rates combined with risk adverse conditions because of concerns regarding an escalation of war conditions in the Middle-East are causing a storm of volatility. U.S stock indices are trading at mid-term lows, and this may continue to be a theme over the next few weeks and beyond, but certainly there are those among us who look towards sunnier days.

So what does an optimist do if they are a day-trader? Perspective needs to be questioned at all times by speculators, and bias regarding all insights by individuals need to be given consideration. A trader must make sure they are not trading based on noise which is coming from the media and tainted with hyperbole. A trader must also question their personal instincts making sure they are free of preconceived notions. Behavioral sentiment gets affected from many angles when market noise becomes loud. Looking for a quiet place to think about market direction is vital for everyone.

Speculators need to remain calm and stick to risk management tactics that prove effective even during chaotic trading conditions. A variety of ways to be involved with the markets directly exists for all, Forex, equities and indices, commodities, bonds are only some of the avenues. Traders can go long or short on their chosen positions, they can participate in the ‘cash’ markets, but can also participate in futures and options trading via time related duration.

Famous investors are known for taking advantage of lower values when fear is high. They look for value via fundamentals within assets with long-term track records. It is not an accident the USD is strong, U.S Treasuries are being sought, gold is being bought currently.

Trends are there to be found and can be taken advantage of by day traders who are looking for quick hitting outcomes, but they must proceed carefully. Because it is also important to acknowledge that no matter how bad circumstances sometimes look in the short-term, that a positive quality among we as humans is to seek optimism. There are reasons to participate in trades with a perspective knowing more tranquil days will come and the markets will grow calm again, markets can reverse and suddenly display risk appetite.