Trading and the Real World

We've spent a fair amount of time in this space over these past couple of weeks emphasizing that many of the issues that cause the markets to move are distinctly people problems--they impact us, those around us, and people we don't even know on the other side of the globe. Government shutdowns, recessions, high interest rates, inflation, and yes, even war. It can all lead to a bit of a moral dilemma. Is it okay to profit off of these distinctly not good world events?

When I look at it, and maybe this is rationalizing, I think about the bigger picture. As retail traders, our goal is to simply play the probabilities and try to figure out which way the markets will move at any given moment in time. We don't have the power or funds to move the markets ourselves. We look at the charts, plan our trades, and either make money or take a pre-defined loss and move on to the next trade. Depending on where you are in your trading journey, if you're making profit we are talking anywhere from perhaps a few dollars to a few thousand dollars per day. The proverbial "they" on the other end who has access to billions of dollars--they are the ones with the power to truly move the market to profit off of people problems.

As fighting breaks out in the Middle East, it's perfectly reasonable to have some existential angst or just question if it's okay to make money when things are not good. The ultimate goal is to treat trading like a job or a business, to provide for your family, and as such sometimes in your job you may have to do things that you don't really like to do. It's the same in trading. It can be difficult to block out the noise of real world events or just place them in the context of how those events will impact some candlesticks on your screen. Also never forget this--if the vibes are off, and you're not in a great mental space because of external factors, whether those are some of the aforementioned worldwide people problems or maybe just something in your own life--it's perfectly fine to not trade for a day or two. Protect both your mental capital and your monetary capital.

Here are today's NQ levels:

Current Price: 15005

Upside Targets: 15045, 15074, 15125, 15177

Downside Targets: 14955, 14905, 14865, 14818

Stretch Targets: 15226, 14782