Good morning traders
At Friday's close my Lilly trade was up 1.47R (1R is what I risk on a trade), and the company reports on 29 October. Every instinct I have said to do something with it. I'd already written down what I'd do, in Sunday's letter, so I left it alone. On Tuesday it got paid, at about 2.2R.
① Why the winner is harder than the loser
A loser has its answer built in. The stop is there, the price touches it or it doesn't, and nobody has to decide anything.
A winner hands you choices. Take some off now. Move the stop up. Add more. Wait for another leg.
Each one feels like skill. Most of them are nerves with a plan's name on.
② The Sunday habit
In Sunday's letter I wrote one sentence about the trade:
Lilly either gets paid before the 29th, or I manage it through the number by hand.
→ Friday's close: 1.47R, and the plan said nothing had changed.
→ What I did: left it alone.
→ Tuesday: it closed at about 2.2R.
One trade proves nothing. What it showed me is that I didn't have to decide under pressure on Tuesday, because I'd decided on Sunday.
③ What I do before every big number
For each trade I'm holding into an earnings report, a rate decision or a jobs print, I write two lines the Sunday before:
If it runs: what I do.
If it gaps against me: what I do.
Then I leave them alone until the number is out.
Try it on one trade this week. Two lines, written on a day when nothing is moving.
→ If you want to see where your own habits leak when a trade is working, the Investing quiz ends in a personal report and it's free: Take the Investing quiz
Education, not financial advice or a recommendation. R is a multiple of the risk on each trade, not an account return. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results.