Do you have any advice, analogies, or even abuse that you can give me so that I dont exit my winning positions too early?
Do you have any advice, analogies, or even abuse that you can give me so that I dont exit my winn… by Laurent Bernut
Answer by Laurent Bernut:
Now, that is an excellent question. You have the right approach to solve it. Change your beliefs and your reality changes. The reason you cut your profits is because you have been burnt with losses and wan to protect some profit. The reason you procrastinate on stop losses is your ego taking over. Awesome question, let’s have fun
Tiger Moms math aptitude
Among the numerous studies on the “Tiger Mom” effect, one of the funniest and most interesting ones happened when they decided to test the mothers’ math aptitude. One university assembled a team of Asian mothers. They gave them a mathematical test. They were primed with dis-empowering stereotypes on females, mothers: “ladies, You may not like math. You probably don’t do a lot of calculus, algebra and trigonometry these days. Sorry about this…”. One month later, they gathered the same moms, administered the same level of test. This time, they primed them with empowering Asian stereotypes, emphasis on education“You are Asians, right? Asians are supposed to be good at math”. Voila, with simple priming, average score jumped 20%. Congratulations, Way to go Ladies!!!
Morales of the story:
- if You want to solve the Fermat theorem, something that has eluded mathematicians for centuries, round up a bunch of Tiger Moms. Remind them that if wasn’t for them balancing the family budget, looking after the education of kids, making sure future generations will be financially well off, they would all live under bridges and tunnels, courtesy of their drinking, gambling husbands. In addition, tell them that solving that simple problem will guaranty entrance to top schools for their children. Leave a stack of application forms to Harvard for inspiration and motivation. Come back before it is time to pick up the kids for their piano, math, and karate/ballet lessons. Problem solved. Anything else?
- Change your beliefs, they will change your reality. Impact goes as far as muscular mass and oxygen retention in muscles
You are facing a common problem: Cut your winners, ride your losers. (BTW, have You considered a position in the mutual fund industry? Popular skill set You have here)
How to reverse it? Re-parent the orphan
First, You need to know that abuse will not work. Part of your problem is ego fighting back. Ego, in the Jungian archetypes, is the orphan. In your brain, this is the amygdala, one of the most primitive defense mechanisms. Any attack will push the orphan deeper. Not a good idea. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. This will soothe the amygdala
Metaphors work
Have You ever wondered why we memorize stories instead of abstract concepts? So, using metaphors will definitely help You.
Time asymmetry
In a world where You want to ride your winners and cut your losers, the latter will come quicker than the former. That means your account will drop before it rises. This time difference is a feature You must accept. That is part of the game. It takes time for good trades to mature.
Exit plan and the geography of divorce
Exit is like divorce. No-one wants to but roughly half of the population divorces anyways. So, if You don’t think about it before getting married, it may get a lot more expensive than You think. There is a reason “divorced Barbie” is so much more expensive than all the other Barbie dolls out there. She comes with Ken’s house, cars, boats.
The point is You need to have a clear uniform exit plan. There is no such thing as customised exit plan for that particular stock or that particular case. This nonsense will confuse your inner idiot. Complexity is a form of laziness.
Switch from outcome to process orientation
May i suggest You read this piece on the psychology of stop loss. The psychology of stop loss: how You can be 100% right despite 60% failed trades by Laurent Bernut on Alpha Secure. Look at Bill Ackman and Valeant for a great counter-example. Ego took over and clouded his judgement. No-one is immune.
Your new metaphors must emphasize process over outcome
The way i did it: trap price in a box
I remember the day when i moved from semi-discretionary to 100% systematic. I remember it because the next day i was not stressing about all open positions.
That day, i made a commitment that until stop loss, partial exit, time exit were triggered i had nothing to do. After entry, there are only 3 ways stock can go: up, down or nowhere (x-axis: time). Price is boxed.
Of course, things did not always look good. But i thought of those exits as booby traps. until one of them gets tripped, no need for premature action.
I remember that day, because in the afternoon i started watching Shaolin flicks on Youtube to cut the boredom. While my colleagues waiting for announcement, my computer made some awesome Bruce Lee sounds. I was at peace following the exit plan.
Peaceful exit
Once you decide on an exit plan, commit to doing nothing until one of those booby traps gets triggered. It will bring immense peace.
Stock market is a highly competitive sport. Every hundredth of percentage point counts. If you put every single position in a their individual exit box, they will be no need to stress over them. The right exit will show up. This will save terabytes of mental bandwidth
