As of 03/28/2024
  Indus: 39,807 +47.29 +0.1%  
  Trans: 16,212 +183.07 +1.1%  
  Utils: 882 +7.51 +0.9%  
  Nasdaq: 16,379 -20.06 -0.1%  
  S&P 500: 5,254 +5.86 +0.1%  
YTD
 +5.6%  
 +2.0%  
 +0.1%  
 +9.1%  
 +10.2%  
  Targets    Overview: 03/13/2024  
  Up arrow40,000 or 38,500 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,300 or 15,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow885 or 830 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,600 or 15,200 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow5,350 or 5,100 by 04/01/2024
As of 03/28/2024
  Indus: 39,807 +47.29 +0.1%  
  Trans: 16,212 +183.07 +1.1%  
  Utils: 882 +7.51 +0.9%  
  Nasdaq: 16,379 -20.06 -0.1%  
  S&P 500: 5,254 +5.86 +0.1%  
YTD
 +5.6%  
 +2.0%  
 +0.1%  
 +9.1%  
 +10.2%  
  Targets    Overview: 03/13/2024  
  Up arrow40,000 or 38,500 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,300 or 15,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow885 or 830 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,600 or 15,200 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow5,350 or 5,100 by 04/01/2024

Bulkowski on Imagery In Trading

If you have watched the film Flatliners, you probably recall a scene where Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon are sitting outside a beer joint on the back of their vehicle just after Sutherland dies and recovers. Sutherland says something like, "You can hear the hum of the street lights." He is picking out one sound from the maze of noises around him. You can do the same with sounds and then visualize what is making those sounds.

A mother might close her eyes upon hearing her newborn giggle, and picture the baby with a wide smile on his face. The dad might imagine that the child is grasping his finger with tiny hands for the first time, hanging on.

You can think of positive images for your trading, helping bad thoughts fade and bringing alive those which picture a successful trade. In this way, you can zero in on happy thoughts and push aside those thoughts and images of price dropping off a cliff or another bill coming due in the mail.

Here's how to use imagery in your trading.

Problem? What Problem?

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Closing Position

From the myriad images and thoughts swirling around inside your head, visualize how you want the trade to proceed. Visualize success at the end of the trade. That will give you the confidence to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. By selecting a positive image of success, the other negative thoughts fade into the background. Like Sutherland did with the street lights, you do with your thoughts. Pick out the good ones and let the bad ones fade.

If you are trading a chart pattern, then visualize it completing and price breaking out in the direction you expect. Then imagine yourself jumping into the trade, watching price move in your favor and exiting the trade just before price reverses.

Focus not on how much money you are making or losing but on technique. If you are trading well, then the money will tumble in.

If you practice using images to visualize where you want your trades to go, over time (at least 3 weeks for the subconscious to believe what you are telling it), it will help you become a better trader, one that can push past fears, past the boundary of your comfort zone and into the realm of greater wealth.

This article is based on an idea from Kiev's November 1994 article titled, "Using Visual Imagery in Trading," as published in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine.

-- Thomas Bulkowski

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See Also

 

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