Superstition

I'm going to come clean. I'm the most superstitious person in the whole world.

Years ago there was a black cat that would roam my neighborhood. Honest to gosh, every time I saw that cat, I'd lose $10 K at trading, in a day, at a minimum. Seriously. It was like clockwork. I'd go long and the market would tank. Or, I go short and the market would ramp. I even tried to balance the longs and shorts after seeing the cat. No good. I'd still get killed. That damn black cat almost sent me to the poor house one month. It showed up time and again, day after day. The thing was out to get me. I tried not looking out the window. I'd still wind up seeing the darn thing somehow. My accounts would tank.

On one particularly bad day in Feb 2004, I lost over $40 K in my accounts after seeing the black cat in the morning. I contemplated killing the cat. I reasoned that I could locate its owner and offer up a brand new Lexus and a dozen white cats as replacement. It would have been a cheaper alternative for my wallet. But, my heart's too big to take the life of any animal. And my research told me that killing a black cat would bring a life-long curse. It wasn't a viable alternative.

My wife and children constantly laughed about me and the cat. I'd see the black cat in the morning and then freak out. It would ruin my day and I'd lose money. They couldn't believe I took superstition so seriously. It got to the point though that if my children saw the cat, they'd run around the house closing the blinds, so I wouldn't see it. That helped.

Superstition rules my trading in other ways too. If I get on a roll and am having a great stretch, I won't shave, or change clothes. And there's another thing I simply won't do. I won't trade, or even watch my trading screens, on Friday the 13th. That's tomorrow. I won't be around. I'm especially in trouble if I see the black cat on Friday the 13th. That would make me dead man walking. My accounts would go to zero. I'd have to find another line of work. So, I'll be locked in my bedroom all day, with the blinds closed.

Superstition. Good traders respect it. Losers don't.

I'll post again on Saturday.