Paul Ekman: Outsmart Evolution and Master Your Emotions

Paul Ekman is the real life psychologist that the TV series Lie To Me is based on. This video is mainly not about the micro expression techniques he’s discovered (invented?) to catch liars. This video is about understanding yourself, especially the emotional state, through observations of your own physical expressions.

It is something very useful for those traders who find themselves easily snap into various extreme emotional states like anger, fear or greed.

Listen to the guy and see if you can pay more attention to your current state of mind.

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Margaret Heffernan: Dare To Disagree

TedTalk by Ms. Heffernan. It is not a talk on trading at all. It is a talk focus around people who have been labelled as whistleblowers and the conflict they face.

The message from the video is equally applicable to traders.

You have to find holes in your own analysis. You have to know when is the time to fold. You have to be able to that if you want to stay consistently profitable.

Unlike the people in the video who often focus on a single issue over many years, being a trader have the extra difficulty of resetting your mind the moment a trade is completed. The lookout for signs to support the closed position is no longer necessary. Your job is to seek for the next trade and conduct your analysis from a clean slate all over again.

It is hard. But that is the way trading is.

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Michael Shermer: The Pattern Behind Self-deception

I may not agree with Michael Shermer on everything he says but this video is something every newcomer to trading should watch and understand every word he says.

Notice in the middle of the video about the baseball players – when batting rate is so low even for professional players, they are also the most superstitious.

As Mr. Shermer pointed out, people like to believe in conspiracy. In trading, blaming something totally beyond control makes it easier to accept the loss you took. But that does not excuse you from failing to take proper measures and steps to avoid being victim in such situation. As a minimum, isn’t it sensible to minimize the potential losses?

In another words, if you believe the market you are trading is rigged, it is important to make sure that,

1. you never trade that market again, or

2. you do everything you can in your power to never become a victim of the scam in the future

You have a choice. It is totally irresponsible when you know you are likely going to lose money and you still bet against the likely potential outcome.

Trading is about making money – nothing else matters.

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