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Don't Stare at the Monitor: Great Traders Do Not

Michael Covel (March 29, 2005)

Staring at your Bloomberg all day is counterproductive. A useful anecdote from Schwager's interview with Seykota:

Jack Schwager: I notice there is no quote machine on your desk.

Ed Seykota: Having a quote machine is like having a slot machine on your desk - you end up feeding it all day long. I get my price data after the close each day.

Here is Richard Donchian's timeless view from over 30 years ago:

If you trade on a definite trend following loss limiting-method, you can [trade] without taking a great deal of time from your regular business day. Since action is taken only when certain evidence is registered, you can spend a minute or two per [market] in the evening checking up on whether action-taking evidence is apparent, and then in one telephone call in the morning place or change any orders in accord with what is indicated. [Furthermore] a definite method, which at all times includes precise criteria for closing out one's losing trades promptly, avoids...emotionally unnerving indecision.
Richard Donchian

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