Trading When You Can't Trade

It’s the phone call you never want to get.  Funny thing is I already knew it.  For a couple of months, I hadn’t felt quite right.  I couldn’t put into words what it was.  I just knew something was a little off.  My problem is I couldn’t get anyone to listen.  I made an appointment with my doctor.  They pulled the usual samples of blood and urine and said they would get back to me.  I heard nothing back.  After a month I call again and the nurse practitioner said the test were all negative and not to worry.  But I knew something was off.  They said they would refer me to another doctor, an OB-GYN.  The PA actually told me that sometimes people my age just get anxious and need to talk.  She asked if I wanted a referral to a therapist.  I told her to move ahead with the OB-GYN doctor.   Again, silence - no one called.  Now I was starting to worry and I was getting pissed off.

So, my next step was calling a good friend who was a retired oncologist.  Shasha listened to my explanations of where and what I thought was off and said she would get back to me.  The very next day I had a new doctor – an oncologist, and a battery of scans scheduled.  Three days later I got the dreaded call.  The doctor started the conversation with “It isn’t great news.”  I replied, “It is cancer, so what is the next step?”  I even knew where and what it was which surprised the doctor.

The next step was another series of tests.  They needed all those tests even though I told them exactly where and what it was.  I could “feel” it.  By Monday 9/23/24, I was in surgery. By Tuesday afternoon I felt great and even went on a long walk with my sister.  She was there to control the dogs in case I couldn’t.  Most of the week has been spent in deep meditation to heal myself.  Thursday night I want to a great show starring Michael Feinstein.  It was a tribute to Tony Bennett.  If his show comes to your area, I highly recommend going.  Here is a picture with Michael backstage.  

What I have learned through this process:

THE WEEK

Obviously, I was not as focused on trading as usual.  Once I knew I was going to surgery, I started easing out of my current positions.  I did my usual AMMO Journal each morning before the Market.  The Market must have heard me because it was a very quiet week with no drama to cause panic trading.  Here’s the SPY for the past 10 days.

LOOKING AHEAD

This week expect a little Market “Crazy”.  Powell speaks again on Monday at 1pm Eastern.  I don’t expect too much trading drama at that time.  We all know what his thinking is.  I think the speech will just be a rehash of what has already been said.  

There might be some Market drama on Tuesday when the PMI figures are released for September.  The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is an indicator of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors. The indicator is compiled and released monthly by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).  It is a diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions are expanding, staying the same, or contracting, as viewed by purchasing managers. The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision-makers, analysts, and investors.

On Friday before the Market the September Unemployment Rate will be announced.  Expect some trading drama then.  I think that drama will be short lived.  There might be some price fluctuations as the political scene heats up.  It is only 37 days before the Presidential elections.  Who knows what nonsense will be spewing out from our candidates.

HOW AM I DOING?

I actually had a winning week of trading.  Good planning and luck made that happen.  Only have two trades in place right now so I will be gearing up over the next few weeks as we head into the earnings season.

This Thursday’s Webinar will be a discussion of what to do when you want to disconnect from trading for a while.

Think of all the reasons your attention can’t be on trading:

Vacation, Reunions, heavy job deadlines, a Cancer operation or just sick and tired of trading.  

You need a plan to withdraw for a while and a plan of how to get back into action.

I will be sharing my plan with you so you are prepared.

A Big Thanks to Tammy for stepping in last Thursday.