Louise Bedford on getting the trading results you’ve always wanted.

When fear grips your heart, action is automatic. Either you rise to the occasion, fight with all your might and let adrenaline drive you to victory, or you roll over and offer your vulnerable belly to the world. That’s why being a mechanical trader is essential: you need to trade like a machine so your emotions don’t get in the way.
At the moment it’s as if the markets are holding up a giant mirror to each trader. Some traders simply don’t like what they see. Many cower, put in their ear plugs and refuse to act. A few brave souls are taking advantage of what they see and are taming the market.
The problem goes much deeper than what’s happening in the markets. Our society has insidiously stripped away our drive to succeed. Many of us are now numb. Let me explain.
Thomas Jefferson said: “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” Such an apt quote. If you’re like me, you’re shaking your head over the way large swathes of the population have relinquished responsibility. The difficulty in this current environment is that ‘fear’ has become muffled. There is a discord between people being financially harmed and helped. The government seems to be constantly saying: “I’m sorry I had to hurt you, but it’s for your own good.” They’re selling the ‘it’s for your own good’ part of the message pretty hard to those able to pay, and handing out lots of small goodies to everyone else.
Ironically, if you took away the social crutch of government support, you would be free to fly higher than you ever dreamed. We’re offered a soft landing when things don’t work out for us. A handout, when we would be better off accepting responsibility, learning from our mistakes and standing on our own two feet. And it’s not just big business that is the recipient of these handouts. They’re all around us. ‘Stimulus’ packages here, ‘eco’ loans there, and a good sprinkling of ‘compensation’ all round for good measure. Allowing people to remain dependent on the state messes with their heads. People continue to make poor daily decisions that affect the direction of their lives. UK riots anyone?..

Excerpted from an article originally published in the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of YourTradingEdge magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011, Your Media Edge Pty Ltd.
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