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Bullshit Free Guide to Iron Condors - Options trading IQ

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SETTING UP A SYSTEM FOR SUCCESS<br />

One thing I encourage all my students <strong>to</strong> do is set up good systems and develop consistent actions. There is a lot of information <strong>to</strong> digest and keep on <strong>to</strong>p of<br />

such as GDP releases, jobs data and earnings reports. At times, this will all feel overwhelming which is why it’s important <strong>to</strong> have a good system in place for<br />

reviewing all potentially market moving events / data.<br />

So how can you apply this <strong>to</strong> your <strong>trading</strong>?<br />

Start working on your <strong>trading</strong> journal. Set aside a specific time each week and spend 30 minutes each week <strong>to</strong> fill this in with all your trades from the previous<br />

week. Also write down how the market behaved and how that affected you positions AND your emotions.<br />

For me, I do this on Sunday evening as I am usually home at this time. During my routine, I check the following and note down all my thoughts:<br />

• Charts of the major market indices including performance over the past week, also noting relevant support and resistance and moving average lines.<br />

• Chart of the VIX – Very important!<br />

• Charts of the major commodities – e.g. Gold, Silver and Oil.<br />

• Charts of important companies who have the potential <strong>to</strong> lead the market – e.g. AAPL, XOM, FCX, GS, BAC, CAT<br />

• Charts of various ETF’s – e.g. XLF, XLK, SMH, EEM<br />

• Charts of any other s<strong>to</strong>cks that are on my watchlist<br />

• Economic calendar for the week ahead<br />

Reasons for creating rituals:<br />

• It gets you in<strong>to</strong> the habit of knowing what’s going on in the market and increases your analytical skills<br />

• Creates a reference library for you <strong>to</strong> refer back <strong>to</strong><br />

• Allows you <strong>to</strong> formulate an opinion of where the market might go.<br />

• Allows you <strong>to</strong> devise <strong>trading</strong> strategies based on you market opinion.<br />

Keep in mind that consistency leads <strong>to</strong> habits. Habits form the actions we take every day. Action leads <strong>to</strong> success.<br />

Homework Assignment: What systems could you set up <strong>to</strong> make your life easier?<br />

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