Are Zebras A Good Trading Plan?

Sometimes life experiences provide important lessons that can be adapted to trading.

John Carter, founder of Simpler Trading, recently purchased some exotic animals for his ranch located outside Austin.

Adding exotic animals to ranch property is common in Texas.

Who wouldn’t want a few wildebeest, bison, or zebras running around their land to admire and enjoy?

Problem is, exotic animals tend to be more “free spirited.”

When John added a trio of zebras, well, they showed why they are wild animals.

As soon as he opened the gate of the transport trailer, they bolted, jumped the fence into the neighboring property, and were out of sight.

John purchased infrared binoculars and drones to track down the elusive beasts. A few weeks later they were spotted on the neighbor’s property.

But how to get them back? No attempts at herding or enticement worked. Nothing.

Then, this morning, there they were drinking from the pond in front of the ranch house. Back where they started and seemingly content to be in their new home.

It was a magical scene on many levels.

When you relate this to trading, you must understand that any trade setup is unpredictable. You do everything you can to find the setup, execute the trade, and manage the trade… but ultimately you have to let the trade go where it’s going to go.

This is where the psychology, patience, and mental strength all come into play when trading.

Often you just have to “sit on your hands” when you are in a good position.

The trade will work itself out, one way or the other.

And then it’s a new morning with new opportunities.

Magical moments.

We Saw: markets fending off fear for a positive session — 

• All three major indexes finish day on an upswing
• Rumblings of earnings concerns in big tech
• TSLA spikes above $1,500 for first time

We’re Watching: setups heading into next round of earnings —

• Big moves in the beasts of big tech
• How to streamline position sizing into next week
• Setups in: TSLA, NFLX, earnings

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