Do You Compare Your TradingTo Others?

September 21, 2004
Chris Curran

Stock
index futures opened Tuesday’s Fed session with upside gaps on the
heels of good earnings reports from the Tech and Broker sectors and encouraging
Housing Starts numbers.Â After giving an opening trade off the gap fade in the
first 30 minutes, with the YM offering the best reward/risk, a slow, choppy
grind set in ahead of the 2:15 announcement.Â While another .25 bp hike was a
given, market players were looking for a “glass is half full” scenario, with
some of the recent economic weakness slowing down the “rate hike every meeting”
pace.Â When the statement was released, the market seemed confused on the
wording, but overall, the Fed was more upbeat about the economy than in the
previous statement in August.

The
December SP 500 futures closed out Tuesdayâ€™s session with a gain of +5.00
points, while the Dow futures tacked on +24 points.Â Looking at the daily chart,
nothing has really changed as the ES bounced back up to, and backed off, the
upper end of its trading range at weekly and daily resistance.Â The YM was a
laggard as it posted an inside day to settle again under its 20-day MA. In the
small-caps, the ER2 continues to nudge up its uptrend line into overhead
downtrend line resistance.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

The Banking
Index (BKX) continues to hold both weekly and daily bearish Gartley patterns as
it pulls back into its 10-day and 20-day MA resistance.Â The SOX extended its
gains, but the range narrowed considerably to post an evening star.

The indigestion caused by the
Fed’s policy statement should set the tone for Wednesday’s session, but also
keep an eye on the weekly Oil inventory report, due to be released at 10:30 ET,
and is expected to show its 8th straight decline in supplies.Â The sharp VIX
reversal combined with the low closing Put/Call ratio could also apply some
pressure.

Comparing Yourself To
Others

There’s an
old saying that “if you want to compare your own trading against the best, you
need to play the same game they are playing by the same rules.”Â I share this
sentiment but I’m also wary of it. It’s all well and good to take on a challenge
for personal fulfillment, but if the challenge becomes an obsession, the element
of personal fulfillment can, in my opinion be lost.

I prefer to
measure my performance against my own capabilities rather than the achievements
of others.

In that sense, I’m slowly realizing “best” is more of an internal measure forÂ Â
me. I think that personal fulfillment is about finding and maintaining your
optimal challenge/skills balance. If that measure takes me to 10 million or 50
million, so be it.

The other interesting thing about life is how many different spheres of
excellence there are, and how it requires balance to address more than one. I
want to be a great trader, but I also want to be a great educator. Relationships
add yet another dimension to the equation. For example, a billionaire with 4
failed marriages is not a success in my book.

All that to say is, I appreciate a challenge as much as anyone but wonder if
putting such a high priority on one’s measure invites the risk of letting your
desires own you, instead of owning your desires.