What's Your Plan?

[View this email in your browser]( Over the past two weeks, I have received more emails from customers than I have at any other point in my now over four years as a trading educator. And if I could summarize those emails, they all fall into one of three groups: 1) Hey Steven, should I be buying stocks here or should I be selling stocks here? 2) Hey Steven, what do you think about this trade? 3) Hey Steven, why if the Fed took a 75 basis point rate hike off the table, why did the market sell off since then? Some of you know me better than others. Some of you have worked with me longer than others. But no matter how long you have been following or working with me, I am sure you know that the one thing you always get from me is honesty. I think based on the volume of emails I have gotten, today is a good day to provide some of those answers and my thoughts to all 45,000 of you. You see, at least in my opinion (and by the way, I am totally right), you can make the market as difficult or as easy as you like. For example, if you wanted to make the market difficult, which is a choice, but if you wanted to make the market difficult, here is what you would do. - You would trade this market the same as all other previous markets - You would see the market rally, buy stocks because you feel they will never come down again - You would see the market crash, sell stocks because you feel they will be a $0 tomorrow - When you lose on a trade, the next trade you find, whether it is a sound trade or not, you double down on size and take the next trade no matter what - You see Netflix had terrible earnings, still has a stupid high valuation after earnings, and buy the dip because you think it's "cheap" I think going about trading this way is making a conscious effort to make the market far more difficult than it has to be. Let me explain because that's the difficult way. That is consciously making the market way more difficult than it has to be, which, unfortunately, is the way the overwhelming majority of traders operate (which results in a less than 2% success rate for individual traders). It is a conscious decision that 98% of traders make 365 days of the year. But how about this. Let's say, for example, you spend some time going through your trading results from previous years. And after you spend just a little time going through your personal results and your track record, you notice something. Let's say you notice that 60% of your profits have come from buying stocks that are in a bull flag pattern. Let's say that is the case. The average trader, the 98%, they will go well, I'll do some bull flags, I'll do some shorts, I'll do some strangles, I'll do this, I'll do that. Monday they wake up and have one trading plan. It doesn't immediately work. Tuesday they wake up and have a different trading plan. And that one works, it just doesn't work "enough". So Wednesday they show up, boom, completely different plan. Do you see what I am getting at here? It's called guessing. But the best traders in the world, the ones who KNOW it is a choice to make the market be difficult or easy. They look at the exact same information and they go, "well, if 60% of my profits come from one type of trade, I am literally just going to do that and nothing else." Those two traders, the ones who are looking at the exact same information, but who have different outcomes... They are the same age. Have the same amount of money. Have the exact same goals. Have the exact same experience. Have the exact same amount of time. They are 99.99% the same person, except, the second trader made a choice to make the market easy instead of hard. If you are struggling in the market right now, make the choice right here and right now. Make the choice to make the market easy. Go through your results. You can access your statements in minutes. Or go through your trading journal, whatever it is. What trades give me the best results overall? Great, do them and do them only. Each of those trades should have a VERY CLEAR when to get in and a VERY CLEAR when to get out. And then guess what? You just do them. If buying calls on bull flags is responsible for 60% of your profits and let's say selling calls on overbought stocks is responsible for 80% of your profits... You can make the market difficult and say, "well, I'm playing the market. I'm playing Apple long. I don't know why. But my gut is telling me to play Apple." Or. "Shit. 80% of my profits come from two of my trades. I am just going to do them and them only." The first trader makes the choice to make the market difficult, to trade like they are in a hurricane. But the second trader, who is the exact same person, who looks at the exact same information, says well, I'd rather be trading like I am on a beach. So make a choice right here and right now. Make the choice to make the market easy. It is easy if you let it be. Go through your track record. Historically what works for you the best. Great, do that only. Become a master of doing whatever those things are. Buying, hoping, and praying is not a strategy, and while that may have worked on occasion in the past, the market is teaching everyone that valuable lesson here in 2022. So. The choice is yours. If you want to make the market difficult, go for it. If you want to make the market easy, go for it. Both take the exact same time. Both require the same amount of effort. But one leads to feeling in control, and the other leads to feeling out of control. You are one decision away from being that trader that you should be. The trader who has a plan each day. The trader who is okay not placing a trade. The trader who makes money consistently. The trader who makes the market easy. The trader who is in control. It comes down to one decision. Make it. And don't look back. Stay small and win more trades, Steven STONY BROOK SECURITIES LLC IS A PUBLISHER AND DOES NOT OFFER TRADING ADVICE OR RECOMMENDATIONS. ALL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT AN OFFER OR A RECOMMENDATION TO TRADE FUTURES CONTRACTS, STOCKS, OPTIONS OR FOREX. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS REQUIRE DISCLOSURE OF THE FACT THAT WHILE THE TRADING IDEAS AND TRADING METHODS SHOWN ON THIS WEBSITE MAY HAVE WORKED IN THE PAST; BUT PAST RESULTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. WHILE THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR PROFITS THERE IS ALSO A HUGE RISK OF LOSS. A LOSS INCURRED IN CONNECTION WITH TRADING FUTURES CONTRACTS, STOCKS, OPTIONS OR FOREX CAN BE SIGNIFICANT. YOU SHOULD THEREFORE CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHETHER SUCH TRADING IS SUITABLE FOR YOU IN LIGHT OF YOUR FINANCIAL CONDITION SINCE ALL SPECULATIVE TRADING IS INHERENTLY RISKY AND SHOULD ONLY BE UNDERTAKEN BY INDIVIDUALS WITH ADEQUATE RISK CAPITAL. 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