Trading Difficult Markets, feat. Kendra
Time for another weekly trading recap chat! For this episode, Market Mama Kendra speaks to her executions for the trading week of September 16-20, 2024, both in technical detail and in psychological impact. When we get into some of our technical systems regarding our day trading in a Market Mamas episode, we want to be very clear that we are not offering trading advice or technical support for traders at this time. But we will start to discuss how we see the markets and choose to execute as traders more and more with you all for the purpose that these real, data driven experiences are shaping us as traders in real time and hold tremendous value in hindsight analysis. We recorded the above episode on Sept. 22nd - the Sunday after this week when the trading sessions were still fresh and relevant in our minds. For blog purposes on the website, we will not detail much of Kendra’s executions and the jargon she speaks to. To gain that, you will definitely want to watch the full episode on YouTube or what ever your preferred podcast program that you utilize.
This week's recap from Kendra is going to be a lot more centered around trading mindset and psychology. Her last recap had a much bigger focus on her specific trading style and edge, so be sure to check that out if you haven't already (https://youtu.be/CrGIlhWhAJc?si=mwbuwhhZUCC7brFs). For Kendra, this week felt like a big test! Not much to write home about in terms of executing and P&L. She had some breakeven (BE) trades, some small wins, and some smaller losses, so she was cumulatively profitable for her week. But not one day did she really feel good or like she had performed well enough. Kendra reported feeling as if this was more of a maintenance week. No touchdowns were thrown, but she moved the ball and that counts in trading!
The Wednesday of this week was probably the worst of it for Kendra after having her best attempts to scalp in a tiny range miss her target barley and take her out at BE. After two of those, she questioned why she was even participating. In this moment, she was the most discouraged, expressing this to one of her trading partners that she felt torn between not trading under conditions that she was clearly confused and frustrated with, but then feeling also like she was just being weak and scared. Thankfully, that person injected logic that these ARE shit conditions and that helped her snap out of it and pivot. Her last journal entry for Wednesday’s session reflection notes sums it up pretty well too as she wrote, “The most frustrating morning, choppy, very draining, but held it together. This week is a lesson in DEFENSE and not forcing things. War in my mind!” So that really became the theme of her week, battle in my mind, not the charts. It also really helped that she was listening to the One Good Trade book again, as towards the end of the book, Bella really drives home the point about tough markets being a catalyst to what strengthens you as a trader. He states that, “Every different market will make you a better trader. What doesn’t blow up your account, will make you better.” It was an extreme amount of overcoming and reframing each day to remember the brick by brick foundation, the long game, and the next 100 trades.
In this episode, Kendra outlines an excellent tactical tool for prompting certain trade plan management choices with action cue cards used in real time. You want to check out the full video linked above to learn this performance technique that she gathered from a trading mindset coach!
To wrap the week up, Kendra did have a revelation that she wanted to share that came to her Friday after struggling to feel positive all week. Having not had her best trade yet or any huge battle day hole to climb out of, her feedback seemed flat. She almost categorized it as stagnant, but that’s not accurate or fair for the work that she did. Maintenance is a more fitting descriptor, as Kendra maintained her system, learning, showing up, and trying. Despite the slow momentum and no major growth in her accounts, Kendra grew her muscle to maintain and that’s actually a significant win!
When she thinks of Kendra even just a couple months ago, weeks like she just had were often big triggers that could of sometimes lead to sabotage. Kendra keeps it real in that she’s been one to seek that secondary gain of if I can’t move forward, then I guess I’ll go back. She does have to parent herself here and call that out for what it is, her own trader immaturity and insecurities are still fragile. She relates it to a child that acts out because bad attention is better than no attention. So none of that serves her and it’s her intention and goal to continue to build and not destroy progress. It can be easy to get in a cycle of build, destruct, start new, repeat. Let’s be honest, we have all been there. To be clear, that’s all part of building too and we will start over as many times as it takes. However, it is nice to hold steady, not let the demons steal her progress, and have a solid neutral place to start next week. That’s the energy she’s choosing to channel while still believing that NEXT WEEK COULD HOLD MY BEST TRADE YET!
Thank you to everyone who is subscribing to our podcast, reading our blogs, and providing us feedback! We are here to talk openly about everything that may help us all level up within our lives, be it day trading or otherwise. We wish you all the very best for your lives!