PipStop

Thanks to the diligent efforts of Ray, we now have one of the hidden resource gems of the trading world fully available.

The Mind of a Trader podcasts have developed an extremely loyal and devoted following over the course of the past year and a half.

Steven Croft is one of the best presentation communicators I have come across in my life, and indeed he does a great job on a weekly basis of delivering these wonderful podcasts.

We started posting them on the Trading Post website a number of months back, but now Ray has archived all sessions (so now you have ready access to all 70 episodes!).

This is a MUST for all traders. It is in the mind where the majority of traders fail, and the Mind of a Trader (MOT) does a great job of helping put you in the right mindset.

Have a great weekend everyone!

... and there are two guys talking trading. An older man is teaching a younger man the very basics - what a candlestick is, time horizons - now they're talking about short selling - and it's all Forex.

They're sitting beside me, and I'm just an interested observer. I'll bug them when I'm finished.

I'm more convinced that foundational information gathering needs to be done on ones own time. It's rather cumbersome for someone to go over the full 101's. There are just too many little details to go over.

There is a time and a place for clarification, but you've got to do your own work first. Show some initiative.

Forex traders know that there is free Forex education available throughout the World Wide Web.

Just go over to Babypips (although it really is more style than substance - but valuable nonetheless), Interbank FX has one of the better broker offered education sections, and Trading Post has its own free resources as well (printable color manual, multimedia walkthrough) - if you create your own free user account.

I'm just here minding my own business, getting caught up on email, on my way home from the office. Usually I commute into the office once a week on Fridays, which I now am thinking of changing because traffic on Fridays is horrible!

-----

I just talked to the trader, Kush is originally from India and started working with currencies in 1979. Really interesting guy and he has some war stories.

We exchanged info and we'll see about getting him into the OTRs.

The U.S. Thanksgiving isn't just for those who live in the United States. Indeed it is a wonderful time, not just to watch (or play) football, but to be with loved ones as well.

We have so much that goes on in the world around us, that consumes us right now. We just have to turn on the television to be saturated, to the point of being overwhelmed with news.

It's important to spend some time away from it all. Take a step back and enjoy the blessings you have in life. There will always be times where one things or another (trading seems to be a common thread amongst us all) consumes us. Don't let it be during this time.

For my part, trading for the week was done yesterday, and I'm taking it easy.

I've just confirmed that we will have a special guest trading coach in the Online Trading Rooms on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 11 a.m. PT; 2 p.m. ET, for a one-hour session.

Marius Alexe, CEO of Phincorp Capital Markets will lead "Marius on the Markets" and you'll see how a seasoned professional approaches his craft.

Some of you may be familiar with Marius from his Elliott Wave Applied sessions on TP Tuesday. All OTR subscribers will have an opportunity to see how Marius applies his technique in trading the Forex market.

I've got to give more credit to Marius because he is not just a Forex trader - his proficiency spans multiple markets. It's definitely something to look forward to!

I can't believe the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday is upon us.

Many of you know that I say the year has zipped by way too much, but it has.

To allow all of our Trading Coaches, many of whom are based in the United States a chance to spend time away from their computers and with those they love, we're closing the Trading Post Online Trading Rooms for Thursday and Friday (Nov. 27-28).

Enjoy your time at this special time of year - I know it's my favorite.

Our last OTR for the week will be Nikhil Patel's room on Wednesday night (which starts at 7 p.m. PT). We'll reconvene next Sunday at 7 p.m. PT with Pierre Charlebois kicking things off post-holiday.

-----

We're also working on fleshing out the Trading Coach profiles on our website. The first is Tanya Harrison's. Kudos to Karen on the TP team for putting this together.

-----

We'll be out with our Christmas schedule soon, and hopefully we can have a special guest or two make an appearance.

I'm sure many of you are like me. Heavily reliant on your mobile devices - especially cell phones.

I lost mine last Wednesday and figured I'd give it a number of days (estimated remaining battery life) before I looked up the phone history to see if anyone had it.

Usually, I MISPLACE things, but find it a day or two later. This was not one of those cases, and looking through my cell phone usage since I lost it last week, there were over 20 calls placed to about 4 different numbers.

I just called all four, and all were taken aback. One was outright militant. But I want my phone back. Actually I want the numbers in it back - that's what I care about the most.

Shame on me for not backing my numbers up on a regular basis. It was a little bit of an exercise talking to each of these guys telling them ever so nicely that I want my phone back from their buddy.

Now I need to take many deep breaths. I wonder, what else I should do ...

Every time I look at the charts on the screen to my right, I want to put my fist through it. Not great trading psychology - and definitely one of those times to step away from trading.

It's a good thing that I did my homework earlier, when my mind was in a happier state, and I have a pending long on the USD/JPY in.

We'll see what happens with the phone.

I'm asked everyday. I explain it everyday. Finally we've created an overview for the website that better encapsulates what we are and where we are going.

We embrace traders and the path to trading successfully. It requires commitment and discipline in heaping amounts. But I'm not here to sell you on the vision - just to let everyone know that we just put a new About Us up.

Does it make sense? Do you understand it? Is it realistic?

Let me know what you think.

I'm not a big fan of "self-help" as much as I am about a different way of thinking.

(Self annointed self-help gurus, by their very natures, are those who just help themselves to book profits, tv shows, paid seminars and speaking engagements).

Malcolm Gladwell is different. The author of The Tipping Point and Blink, which I both enjoyed, and a staff writer at New York Magazine, Gladwell is not an empty thinker - thinking just to think.

He writes a lot about behavior and the psychology behind our actions. As traders the mind and how it makes trading decisions is the most important tool you can employ. Newbies make the mistake of constantly reading one "trading book" after another. In reality you have to be a little more well rounded - or in this case well read.

Gladwell recently released his newest book, Outliers. I'm looking forward to having a read and suggest you consider it too.