Power's out, kids are coming home, still trading
StatsEdgeTrading
Writing this from my phone. Entire town has lost power for reasons nobody can tell me. It’s a beautiful day. No storm, no weather, just gone. School called and said come get the kids because they have no power either.
And here is the thing that made me want to write this note.
I was not stressed for one second.
Not because I have some tactical bunker with a generator, triple redundant internet, and a Starlink dish on the roof. Because I am a systematic trader. Everything was already planned before the power went out.
My swing systems run on the close. If something triggers tonight, an alert hits my phone. I have my broker’s app installed. I can enter the trade at Tim Hortons if I have to. My day trading orders can be stacked in advance. My stops and time stops are already set on everything I am in. The market has no idea my fridge is currently warming up.
If I were a discretionary trader, today would be a disaster. Missed the open. Missed the news. Missed the tape. A whole trading day gone because the grid has a hiccup. Instead I got the call from the school, said “great, let’s go do something fun,” and we’re on our way.
That is the thing nobody tells you about systematic trading. It is not that we work less. I will still do all the same work tonight once the kids are asleep and the lights are back. The work just waits for me instead of the other way around.
Markets run on their schedule. My life runs on mine.
Systems do not need me watching. They need me having built them properly once and following the rules. That is a life that fits around a family, a job, a power outage, a Tuesday afternoon at the park. Not the other way around.
If you’re still chained to a six-screen setup, ask yourself how today would have gone.