Tuesday, December 27, 2011

never trade without having lunch


when i learnt to play chess seriously around 20 yrs ago

one of the first things i learnt was

that a chess game can be broadly divided into three phases

1. opening game

= opening game generally lasts around 15-20 moves. as the name suggests, this is the opening phase when positions are taken and army is deployed. the first move previlege lies with the white camp. the black camp just responds to the opening moves of the white pieces. the white camp is the decider and attacker, black camp is the responder and defender. how the middle game will proceed, what colour the war will take depends on what shape the opening battle takes. since there are dozens (if not hundreds) of opening moves possible, there can be so many number of opening scenarios. the white camp tries to create a battlefield scenario of its choice. the purpose is to lure and trap the enemy in a situation decided by the first mover! it is rare to see the white to attack the black camp in the opening game or vice versa. particularly if the opponent is not a walkover. even kasparov didn't dare that (except rarely) against karpov. any attack without porperly unfolding and readying the defense can be suicidal especially against a strong opponent. so, all in all, opening game is to open and deploy the defence as well as offence.

2. middle game

= middle game takes over from opening game. it typically last for 20-30 moves after the opening game. once the army is deployed and the specific position-for-the-day has been taken, the real battle starts! all tactics, strategems and killings are made in this part. the real loss or gain or manoeuvring happens here. how well, the opponents had read each other and prepared in the opening game shows up here.

3. end game

= the game is all but over by the end of the middle game. though one opponent would have did a collateral damage to the other in the middle game, the game still needs to be won comprehensively. no battle is over till the king is captured or killed or check-mated. some smart warrior kings escape daringly even even from seemingly hopeless positions! an end game generally lasts 10-20 moves but much lesser time.

--

day-trading setup is also like a chess game.

one prominent difference = retail traders always play with black and can only react and respond to what the white camp, the operators do.

another difference = retail traders start attacking the white camp, the operators right in the opening game.

third difference = here the kasparovs or the karpovs or the anands play against novices!

a trading day can be divided into three phases

1. opening phase

=  opening phase is the one when the operators set the battlefield for the day. everyday, they come up with a different trap. everyday, the setting and situation is different. in the opening phase, operators butcher the retail traders who come charging without waiting.....just swept in the rush of blood. opening game is the phase which is often deceptively contra to the trend. this is the time when dreams are sold by the operators. mirages and expectations and desires of retail traders are treachorously fanned and fuelled by the white camp. and when the trapping is complete, the middle game is a one sided affair. when the operators just trap the early blind moths desperate to enter the fire!  

this opening phase of trading typically lasts till the midpoint of the session - the lunch time!

2. middle phase

= once the drama, the bluff, the trap, the volatility, the contra-dream, the lure is over in the morning session, the operators are left with no option but to do what sanity and trend and fundamentals allow. they swifty start doing what they should be doing.

3. end phase

= like a chess game, the trading end game is just a small tail.....more of a formality......sometimes to dress the wounds of the loser....sometimes to kill him decisively. mostly it happens after in the last half hour or so.

--

big moves happen mostly in the afternoon. what happens in the forenoon session are not big moves but bluffs and whipsaws.

you will rarely see direction changing (except once at most) in the afternoon session.

you will always see big move after lunch whereas you will notice that forenoons are mostly dull or indecisive or rangebound.

--

amateurs mostly trade in the opening phase, professionals mostly trade in the middle phase.

--


whipsaws are aplenty before lunch and rare after lunch.

avoid trading without lunch, before lunch.

No comments: