Chapter 3 - The Market is Always Right W - “The market is never wrong in what it does; it just is.” A - Mark further down the paragraph explains that we are trading in an environment where the trader can only be wrong, not the other way around. The market only presents information from the active market participants, and we should not assign any negative or positive attributions to the market. A - This is a supremely important notion that I struggled to understand when I first started trading and it caused me a lot of emotional pain because I felt somebody was doing something to me when my trades failed. But once I understood that the market is neutral and accepted the naked truth that I was the problem, not the other way around, I was able to make progress in my trading journey. Chapter 4 - There is Unlimited Potential For Profit and Loss W - “From a psychological perspective this characteristic will allow you to indulge yourself in the illusion that each trade has the potential of fulfilling your wildest dream of financial independence.” A - The idea that the market has unlimited potential (mostly on the profit side because I think most traders don’t want to think of unlimited loss) though true can create a dangerous mindset of unrealistic expectations if boundaries and rules are not set by the trader. A - I had set up some truly unrealistic expectations and goals of being a consistently profitable trader by the second half of this year when I started PCT in January. What a joke! I was soon hit with the cold hard reality that this would be a lifetime process of refinement and that the best I could hope for is to gradually improve on this journey towards profitability. Once I accepted this fact and removed any time frames for daily, weekly, monthly profits, I was able to focus on the process and improve my trading without fear or anxiety. Chapter 5 - Prices Are In Perpetual Motion with No Defined Beginning or Ending W - “Your last trade obviously has nothing to do with the potential that exists in the market at any given moment. When you feel compelled to get back, it puts you in an adversary relationship with the market. The market becomes your opponent, it is you against it, instead of being in harmony with it. The market can’t take anything away from you that you don’t allow; if you lost money or lost more than you intended to risk, you gave your money to other traders. Ultimately, however, revenge creates an adversary relationship with yourself.” A - Simply put, when you fight with the market you lose. A - This past Tuesday I had one of the worst trading days from a performance perspective. I broke many of my rules and I started to fight with the market by overtrading in an act of revenge. It wasn’t a big red day from a P&L perspective, I’ve had bigger red days, but when the closing bell rang, I felt defeated as if I went into a boxing match and got my ass thoroughly beat. It was emotionally and mentally painful to have to sit for several hours journaling, reflecting, and creating an action plan to deal with the lack of focus and discipline I showed that day. But the time I spent in reflection helped me to reset and today I had a much better trading day from a performance perspective, even though it ended in a red day.

Chapter 3-5 What I found to write about was in chapter 5. W- There are moves that you can see and some that you want to see. Both must be dealt with when you exit your trade. A- Mark talks about how our mind can actively tell you that if we stay in longer, we will be on the right side of the trade. He also talks about how it is easy to convince yourself that there is an infinite number of combinations that can come up within 10-ticks. A- How I’m hoping that these thoughts help me to narrow down why I am in a trade and not taking profit. I’m hoping telling myself to be more logical then optimistic before entering a trade might help.

wish you all a nice meeting. I am sorry, I can not attend today. Chapter 3, 4 and 5 - Prices Are in Perpetual Motion with No Defined Beginning or Ending? W - The less meaning the money has, the less potential there is for your personal "how much is enough" issues to contamine your perception of market movement. A - The author says that if you feel greed or fear this will contaminate your decisions on market movement. But as the market is always moving and changing, also your decisions have to change with the market. You may not stay in a trade because of greed (How much is enough) - you have to decide if the market movement is over so you have to exit the trade. A - I trade with really low wager. So even if I lose or win it does not bothers me. And so I hope that I make the decisions up on the market and not on my feelings.

Chapters 3-5 There is so much in these short chapters - I really had to force myself to choose just one quote - as opposed to literally retyping them. W - Considering the unlimited potential for profit, entering the market will be much easier for most trader than will be getting out. This is because exiting the trade will require that you confront your beliefs about greed, loss, and failure in relationship to the constant temptation of the possibility for unlimited profits." A - Mark Douglas was undeniably a genius in his deep and profound understanding of the intricacies of how the market is really a mirror of our minds and emotions. He is also making clear the deep hidden challenges in the seemingly simple task of exiting a trade. A - I read his book a long while ago - but in this reading I'm finding that I've moved from intellectually understanding what he is saying to recognizing my experiences in his writings. And now as I read this it validates my experiences and also helps me to release the harsh self-judgement and unrealistic expectations I've set for myself. I'm sitting here shaking my head up and down feeling like Mark wrote this for me. LOL. But on a practical note, this passage has further affirmed the importance of having clear exit triggers.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & New Year Traders! Here is a calendar for the remainder of our book! Resume meeting 1/5 - review any additional comments from chapter 3 to 5 and chapter 6 1/12 - any additional comments from chapter 6 & chapter 7 1/19 - chapter 8 1/26 - share your best/worst trades 2/2 - chapter 9 2/9 - chapter 10 2/16 - chapter 11 2/23 - share your favorite pro trader's tips, how it affected your trading 3/2 - chapter 12 3/9 - chapter 13 3/16 - share your best/worst trades 3/23 - OFF THIS WEEK 3/30 - chapter 14 4/6 - chapter 15 4/13 - chapter 16 & 17 4/20 - share your best/worst trades and/or any new fav pro trading tips 4/27 - discuss what you have learned and how you will implement into your trading. Share new datasets, new journaling, new trading plans, etc

Miguel I can relate to each and every one of your quotes and how they relate to your trading. What I appreciate about Mark's book is that I thought for a long time that my experiences of struggle were unique - but he clearly reminds me that this is the process that most, if not all, successful traders must go through, in varying degrees, in order to become successful. And I really relate to how he says that the struggle with the market becomes a struggle with yourself - so true.