If you asked me to search my e-mails and chats for the word most used to describe trading this month it would be: “frustrating”.

One trader wrote in an end-of-day review, “Very frustrating day for me due to finishing this red after most of the ideas were working in the AM.”

Another trader wrote in his Daily Report Card, “definitely feeling a bit frustrated and fatigued.”

A top trader gchatted, “this is pretty frustrating”.

Okay you get the point.

On our desk we have been trading market plays much more than the past.  Two days last week Trend Days were disrupted by breaking headline news (Syria and Trump), erasing the trend, and then only to regain its trend.  This caused stop outs for many in winning positions, that then those positions just ended up higher.

Trader Rob in his weekend review outlined the choppiness from last week:

But is frustration what we ought to take away from making market plays?

I say no.

Trading the overall market, with market plays, instead of Stocks In Play, helps us grow as traders.  They are harder.  Specifically they offer new trading opportunities to active traders.  They offer a venue for traders to trade larger, as you can put more size into a market plan than a Stock In Play.

Further, market plays help us trade large cap and high beta names better.  Thus, also expanding our PlayBook and trading skill.

This is a growth experience for these traders.  While their PnL will not skyrocket this month, it sets them up for much bigger days ahead.

That is not frustrating.  That is energizing.

So let’s lose the term “frustration” from these days of trading the overall market.  This is a challenging growth experience for these traders that will make them better traders.

* no relevant positions