Hope - Great To Have,
But It Won't Make You Money

We have written many times about fear and greed, the two deadliest emotions for investors and traders. But fear and greed are not the only enemies that market timers, traders, and in fact all investors, must deal with.

Hope

As described in "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre, "The speculator's deadly enemies are: Ignorance, Greed, Fear and Hope."

Each of us has a desire for success. That is why we use market timing to guide us to profitability. Market timing not only increases our gains in bull markets, but also protects our capital against loss in bear markets.

That same desire for success, however, can stand in the way of our ability to recognize reality, even if it is right before our eyes.

All of us have a survival instinct that typically causes us to focus on good news. Bad news is avoided, or at least put on the back burner.

When we take a position in the market, whether bullish or bearish, we "hope" it will be successful. Hope can be such a powerful emotion, that when the same trading plan that told us to enter a position originally, reverses and tell us to exit immediately, our emotions may very well focus on the possibility that if we just hold on a bit longer, any loss might be erased.

Just give it another day...  Just wait till it is back to break even...

The only way to avoid this is to recognize that hope can destroy our ability to effectively market time the markets.

Successful Market Timers Win Because...

Market timing cannot be successful without a "plan." Trading by emotion, by news events, or out of fear, is not very different than gambling. Successful market timers win because they follow a plan.

We all know that no person (trader or market timer) will be right all the time. Knowing this, we must accept that we will have losses.

"...recognize that hope can destroy our ability to effectively market time the markets."

What separates the winning traders, from the losing traders, is their ability to recognize that when a trade turns bad, there is no emotion that can fix it. The only correct decision, is not really a decision at all. Just follow the "plan." If the plan says reverse, then follow it. If the plan says to go to cash, then go to cash.

Simple? Not if you cannot accept a loss. Then hope springs eternal. You can find a hundred reasons not to execute a trade. Anything to delay so that "hope" can work miracles.

Winning market timers have their share of losses. But they keep the amount of those losses small. They follow their plan and "never" hold onto a losing position "hoping" it will break even or turn into a winner.

In Vegas The Odds Are Stacked Against You

When we go to las Vegas, we know that the odds are stacked in favor of the house. But we gamble anyway in "hopes" that we will leave a winner.

But market timing is not gambling. When you trade with a "plan" you have an edge that you know will win over time, as long as you use discipline and follow it. Just as "the house" knows it will win over time in Las Vegas, the trading plan provides the "edge" that makes us winners.

But once we lose that edge, and start hoping, we become like the gambler in Vegas.

And in Vegas, the house always wins.

Hope and Your Ego

Hope is also closely tied to ego. We do not want to admit that we have made a mistake. Our ego wants success, and wants it immediately.

Losses do not feel very successful. Our ego can cost us a great deal of money.

In order to make money, we need to keep losses small, while letting our winning positions run. Neither hope nor ego has any place in market timing.

Conclusion

When you trade with a "plan," it is in black and white. You know when to execute a buy or sell signal because the "plan" tells you when. A plan does not rely on hope. A plan has no ego. A plan gives us, as market timers, an "edge" over the market and other traders.

Each day we should examine ourselves. If we feel that hope is part of our trading plan, remember that hope is almost a guarantee of losses.

The only way we keep our "edge" over the stock market, is when we follow the plan.