Situational Awareness

I have found few better analogies for the arguments that take place in the trading community over such topics as Elliott Wave, Cycles, etc. than this news story. On Northwest Airlines the pilots lost “situational awareness” and overshot the airport by 150 miles. Why? Because they were apparently arguing about airline policy. Now given that’s probably a great topic to argue about. But it reminds me of the endless arguments that take place among some so-called traders about why the wave count is proving this or why this cycle will absolutely come in at this point or why the USD is dead…Whatever! Sure these can be interesting arguments, at least until we get to the “but you’re not part of the secret society that really understands these things stage.” But just as the pilots should have been doing their job, a trader should do his or her job. Trade the chart. Stop trying to call tops and bottoms. Maintain your situational awareness. The article can be read here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/23/northwest-pilots-argument-miss-runway

© Dianne Fecteau, 2009. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without the express written permission of the author.

My purpose in writing this blog is to show you how one trader, me, makes trading decisions and survives while trading Forex. One of the biggest problems I had when I first started trading was trying to apply the “rules” to actual trades. Another was the psychology—limiting losses and letting profits run. If you study my blog you’ll see how I deal with both those issues. So my writings are not trade recommendations but rather educational in purpose. You have to decide on your own approach to trading. Remember that trading is risky.