【Lantern Post-Trade Review】Thursday night, after 21 consecutive stop-outs, my account was down 30%.
After more than 15% in consecutive losses, you really can go crazy.
In that moment, every trading discipline and risk-management principle was torn to shreds by human nature.
I had long forgotten that I was just an ordinary person, utterly incapable of easily overcoming the greed, fear, and resentment etched into my DNA.
So I started increasing my position sizes and refusing to cut my losses.
After a false breakdown tricked me into hedging, my mindset completely collapsed.
That night, it was as if I could hear the voice of the abyss.
Suddenly, a conviction rose from deep within me:
You have to hold on!
You’re a man destined to reach the top of the pyramid!
You can lose. You can make mistakes. The market can leave you battered and bruised.
But you must never lose so much that you forfeit the chance to place another bet!
I picked up a cigarette butt from the ashtray, lit it, and took a long, hard drag.
Then I closed my short position.
That night, I didn’t defeat the market.
But I came to know myself anew.
As I finished reviewing the trades, I suddenly understood something:
Like all other living creatures, every true transformation requires a period of isolation.
Like a snake shedding its skin, like a cicada emerging from its shell.
The old self must die before the new self can be born.
That night, I didn’t reach the summit.
But I knew I had evolved once again.
After more than 15% in consecutive losses, you really can go crazy.
In that moment, every trading discipline and risk-management principle was torn to shreds by human nature.
I had long forgotten that I was just an ordinary person, utterly incapable of easily overcoming the greed, fear, and resentment etched into my DNA.
So I started increasing my position sizes and refusing to cut my losses.
After a false breakdown tricked me into hedging, my mindset completely collapsed.
That night, it was as if I could hear the voice of the abyss.
Suddenly, a conviction rose from deep within me:
You have to hold on!
You’re a man destined to reach the top of the pyramid!
You can lose. You can make mistakes. The market can leave you battered and bruised.
But you must never lose so much that you forfeit the chance to place another bet!
I picked up a cigarette butt from the ashtray, lit it, and took a long, hard drag.
Then I closed my short position.
That night, I didn’t defeat the market.
But I came to know myself anew.
As I finished reviewing the trades, I suddenly understood something:
Like all other living creatures, every true transformation requires a period of isolation.
Like a snake shedding its skin, like a cicada emerging from its shell.
The old self must die before the new self can be born.
That night, I didn’t reach the summit.
But I knew I had evolved once again.