Pack It Up

It’s time you pack it up.

Don’t shoot the messenger. The message is much needed. Also, this is coming from a place of compassion and empathy. Pack it up, b.

I am fresh off a one-week trading hiatus. I found myself free from the necessary morning coffee(s), a gigabit network, and being glued to any kind of screens to monitor my investments.

To be completely candid, it’s not my favorite thing to be disconnected from the market. Being in a trading community where you establish relationships and everyone is hitting up that money printer for all its ink doesn’t make these breaks very fun. I wasn’t thrilled to land somewhere tropical where it was just my wife, kid, and I, with a plan to do absolutely nothing.

Until we were wheels down, I peeped the first palm tree (we don’t have those in NYC), and that beach water-filled air hit my nostrils.

I won’t talk much about the vacation, but I found myself looking at the market differently as a result of it.

When I packed my bags, I forgot to pack my emotions. I forgot about the bags I was holding. I forgot how to use every app on my phone that wasn’t the camera app.

And it felt fantastic.

Today is the first day that I am actively back in the market. I feel calm. I feel recharged. I am looking at this all with a new lens.

I'm not saying that I am about to extraordinarily outperform the S&P or whatever. All I’m saying is I took my much needed chill-pill, and I’m ready for the next round.

When I touched back down in my apartment and finally sat behind that screen, I looked at all the candlesticks with no emotional attachment whatsoever. I planned my week with upside and downside moves. I set all of my alerts, and chilled.

Obviously, we are going to take this day by day, but I’m claiming this chill energy for as long as I can run it. So far today my portfolio is thanking me for it. This relaxed, de-stressed, emotionally unavailable wave I have for the market is what I will be riding.

You should too.

— Hewy