Practice Giving Up

Sean McLaughlin
April 26, 2023

This week will be an opportunity for me to practice the art of giving up control. It will also be an incredible opportunity to practice acceptance and patience.

The market is open and I’m typing this piece while traveling 30,000 feet above Midwestern corn fields en route to New York City.

Thankfully, I’ve got internet access on the plane and can keep tabs on the market and my positions. But it’s not perfect. Anyone who’s tried to work with airplane WiFi knows it isn’t always as reliable as we’d like it to be.

I’m headed to NYC to reconnect with the All Star Charts team, celebrate our friend Brian Shannon in honor of his recent book release, and attend the Chartered Market Technician’s 50th Annual Symposium.

All week, I’ll be gathering with some of the smartest market minds, driven traders, and portfolio managers around. I’m hoping to sponge as much great content and smart ideas as I can possibly cram into my cranium.

The challenge for me will be in managing my open positions — particularly my highly active index options trading.

I’ve deliberately structured my directional and income options trading strategies in a way that doesn’t require me to watch every tick of the market. And with either defined risk or small individual position sizing, I can rest assured that everything will be just fine if I can only check on my portfolio every few hours during regular market hours.

However, my index options trading in short-dated expiration options is a little bit more of an attention hog. If I’m not mindful of my open risk and/or don’t take defensive action quickly when required, I risk getting hurt.

What will help me practice “giving up” any illusion of control is to be laser focused on what my open risk is at all times, accepting that I can possibly lose that entire amount in a worst-case scenario (and being ok with that), and patiently applying my strategy as best I can, when I can. Any outcome better than the worst-case scenario is a blessing.

Wish me luck. If you run into me this week and I have the look of serenity, then you know it’s going well. If I look frazzled, please slap me.

Trade 'em Well,

Sean McLaughlin
Chief Options Strategist
All Star Charts, Technical Analysis Research

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