Bad Roll Day

For board game aficionados, there is what we call a “Bad Roll Day”. When the game gods and goddesses seem to have forsaken you as seen by how abysmal your die rolls are, especially when these rolls spell the difference between winning and losing, or more appropriately, between life and death.

Last weekend, I played a tabletop game with friends. Last weekend, I had a bad roll day. I tried to plan my every move according to the book. I took calculated risks and reasonable actions. But when it all comes down to rolling a die, ultimately, it is still a battle of luck. A die is the great equalizer in the game of cards and tabletops. And on that weekend, the dice were never in my favor.

Blank roll on three dice (green). Falcon taking the hits of the Imperial Tie Fighters.

Come the start of the trading week, I thought I have brushed off my bad roll day, left it on the weekend along with my sighs of frustration and occasional strings of expletives. But as it turns out, the market has another thing going for me. Some people have their winning streak, what I had was clearly the contrary.

Monday

I cut on a position I bought a week ago. It was supposedly for trend following. But the trend snapped before it had the chance to go any further.  *take 1 hit*

Tuesday

Quick trade on IMP. But on very little volume. Still, gain is gain so they say. *regain 1 shield*

Wednesday

Why did I ever think I could tsupit on BKR? I was one day late. Sold on -5% loss. *take 2 hits*

Thursday

ALT was on fire. Not the good kind. And it burnt my port along with it. *take 3 hits*

Friday

I stayed on the sidelines, watched two episodes of Sherlock and went back to the drawing board.

Three losing trades out of four. It was a little frustrating. I was waiting to board the emotional rollercoaster I knew would inevitably arrive along with the series of losses. But it didn’t come. Surprisingly, I was not as affected by them as I thought I would be. If anything, the losses motivated me to study harder, plan more thoroughly and execute better. Had it happened to me before, I knew my emotions would have gone berserk.  

Two things that have saved my life when the market tides tried to drown me:

1.  Discipline: Cut mercilessly. All ways, always.
2.  Risk management: The rule of thumb is to protect your capital. As Kap said it: Find a way to have an optimal position that will match the levels of risk at hand. Look for tolerable risks.

I was ready to accept that I had a bad roll week. But in a twist of fate, an unexpected message from a friend instantly negated all of my losing trades.

Six months ago, she stared at me blankly the first time I talked to her about the stock market, mutual funds and investing in general. I thought it was a hopeless case. But I went on babbling anyway. And look where we are now. 

I guess at the end of the day, it will never be about what we have. But what we do with what we have.