Another movie about Jane Austen. Why can’t movies be more realistic? Jane is played by Anne Hataway ( ” The devil wears Prada”) who’s far too cute to be Jane Austen. Anyone who has a doubt go and check what Austen looked like – and you will have a clue why she remained a spinster. Now if the actress had been closer to reality and as spirited as Jane was, you would have had a very interesting movie. But sadly, the director stuck to the cliches. As he couldn’t possibly give a happy ending that never took place, he gave Jane the illusion that she ended up saving her family from poverty and misfortune through the talent of her pen. As far as I know, her survival and her family’s were due to her brother Henry.
So what? The movie shouldn’t have been called Jane…? I don’t know. One good nice point was that the complexity of the matter of the the heart and the rigidity of the morals of the time were well exposed, but there again, it is only worth it if you have absolutely no clue what those days were like.
I read somewhere ( Wikipedia I believe) that when reading her biography you might be shocked by the fact that marriages were usually arranged, mostly according to the finances of the parties involved. Ha, somebody could please tell me what is so different today?. if you marry someone richer, you are classified by many as a gold digger. Someone from another ethnicity…don’t get me started. I trust that all these facts are unconscious but still the customs are ingrained in our minds and most of the time we marry accordingly.
So the movie was worth being seen. Sure. Anne Hathaway is real cute and McAvoy too. I prefer him in “Shameless” though. But I am looking forward to see him more on the big screen.
my diet progress
So far I have nothing to say. My weight has stabilized and I eat like a pig at the moment. I suspect that if I do this for much longer I might head for trouble but it turns out this weekend that I am not tha hungry anymore again. I blame my hormones. I snacked on sugar mainly.
I need exercise – which is complicated at the moment as I am staying with my in-laws while our house is getting fixed/ rebuilt/ redone/redecorated by my darling and truly wonderful husband. I have to sort this out.
I am being told though that I am lucky as I don’t look bad and I am already above 40 for god’s sake. I am thinking of ageing gracefully- i.e. ignoring it fully. My kids keep me busy anyway. By the time the last one will be out of the house I will have grand children from the eldest so someone will love me anyway, wrinkles and all.
Now I want my husband to keep thinking that I have the greatest bum in the world- among a few other things.
This is going to be fun.
I keep trading and exploring this very lonely world
I have read again and again that only a trader can understand what another trader goes through. Most people have no idea what we are going through day by day and how much self control is required. But the truth is, as long as you’re learning, you will find people around you giving you ( even unwelcomed) advice and people with whom you can exchange ideas. But once you’re starting to hit it and you’re getting better, your only choice is to find someone who does as well as you do and progresses in the same direction – or you end up with a bunch of guys and gals who try to get tips from you and even skype you at 4 am in the morning as long as you leave your computer on to ask silly questions.
So I’ve kept trading every day. And I have learned something new – in this business you should do every day. I learned that once you basically have some knowledge and practice, that you have some form of strategy you can apply with eyes closed because you have backtested it enough, once you have understood that blaming your broker/ politics/ the economy/ heaven/ (…put your own personal regular Nemesis here) is not going to get you anywhere you enter one more phase – I hope the last one. You discover that your are your own enemy.
That’s right. Stick with me because that’s the whole point of this business. It is about money – and money in our society tells a lot about who you are and where you come from. What you get when you become a trader is some insight about your true personality. You discover that you have impulses. Or maybe I should say- I discovered that I can be quite impulsive.
So far I was proud of my attitude. I am learning from my mistakes. I don’t cheat with my money management, I don’t fiddle with my stop losses, I don’t panic on the news and I generally have more than one reason to get in a trade. I am even able to sit on my hands on “those” days- when the markets takes back what it has given you, and probably even more. Then I thought all I need is to refine my strategies , establish some golden rules, and start piling on the pounds ( on my bank account, silly. I am losing the others).
Then I did what I said. I sat on my hands when I thought I should. And after a few days (2 if my memory is good) I started being frustrated so I got in – and got killed. But this is virtual, so I got back in, made a few more mistakes, dropped the idea of making my money back -right-now and things just started to adjust themselves. My confidence was still there so it became a smooth ride.
But I have my own traits of character. And there is one thing I don’t deal very well with at all levels in my life – anger. I don’t need anger management. But I have strong destructive reactions when I am angry. Being well behaved I don’t turn them against the outside world. I know it is very fashionable nowadays, especially if holding a glass of fuel in your hand such as alcohol. But at the end most people end up the same way I do: the greatest violence you commit is against yourself. That’s where the damage is done. Because even though you might be punching someone else, ( something I have never done. I do walls) at the end, what you do is taking a very bad habit that you are going to pay for, one day or another. Trust me on this one, it is a dangerous route and you always find a nasty cul-de-sac at the other side of it. Or someone who punches faster.
So back to the trading world, I became aware that if I miss an opportunity, I am alright with it. Two, I think I am slow today. Three, what’s wrong with me. And the next alarm that fires, I am in, for whatever’s sake. And of course I am wrong. And I get more irritated, and I get into another one. I was so angry the other day that I actually ended up in 8 trades in one day, all of this because the day before I had missed a great day and the morning after, missed two opportunities.
3 of my trades were rotten so it took the 5 others to make things even. And in the process I decided to try to limit the degree of my stupidity if this was at all possible and hang in there until I was done and over with. One of these trades was MGCR- and it made my day the next morning. So I learned 2 things this week. If you get angry, think twice instead of not thinking at all. And if you don’t think, and you get into trades impulsively, start thinking – it is never too late. What I did on that unfortunate day was to cut my losses at the worst trades and let the others run. It did the trick and save my ( 9 lives) neck . But it is not something that I should be stupid enough to do twice. I hope.
Now my next step is anger management.
“Music & lyrics” with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant
I have to stressed that I am not a groupie of Mr Grant despite having probably seen more than half of all the movies he has played in for the last 15 years. Like many people I enjoyed ” 4 weddings and a funeral” and I thought that ” About a boy” was very decent indeed. ” American Dreamz” gave me some hope about his future in his chosen career. But plots like ” Notting Hill” and ” 15 days notice” have virtually been erased from my mind.
Now I had to see ” Music & lyrics”. Watching Grant cast as an 80’s pop star has-been was an irrestible idea. So I went and dragged there my poor mother-in-law who must love me very much and whom despite appearances I love very much too. I also promised her we would go and see the next Jane Austen movie together.
So, yes, here you go. Grant is very convincing in his new role, especially so as he looks much older now that he really is. Drew Barrymore is as delicious to the eye as usual – great body for the guys, very interesting combination of clothes and make up for the girls. The plot is very cliche- you have a ex-pop idol who is looking for a come back, money and true love and manages to strike all three before the end of the movie. So far you can yawn. But it turned out that the lines were quick and witty, there was very little self pity from Mr Grant part ( something that can’t be said about Drew Barrymore’s character) and you end up with a nice forgivable ( and probably forgettable) chick flick. I laughed a bit and didn’t see the time pass, so I’d give that an average mark.
Now I am curious to see what kind of role can be devoted to Grant. You need imagination on this one, although I trust he has what he takes to pull it off if given half the chance.
“Hot Fuzz” with Simon Pegg
I had seen ” Shaun of the dead” by Simon Pegg and Edgard Wright a few years ago. Although I am no huge fan of gory movies I had to reckon that this one was worth seeing. That why when I heard that ” Hot Fuzz” was coming out, I was definitely committed to watch it as soon as it was out.
Now Simon Pegg has some similiraties with Adam Sandler. His movies includes his pals ( Nick Frost) who play…his pals and there is an undertone of kindness throughout the whole story that shows the intimacy of the protagonists. But unlike Sandler, Pegg is funny.
This new movie is about a supercop who makes all his colleagues look bad as he’s so efficcient. So his superiors decide to send him in the quietest town of England where things turn out to be quite different from his expectations. May I say more? The intelligence of Pegg and Wright is such that you have plenty of little twists in the story – including the end- that makes it all worthwhile – even though some of them are truly expected. But the lines are quick and funny, the story is very English and it is an enjoyable experience.
Now there is obviously someone in this team who displays some interest in gory, bloody movies. If you have a teenager or two in the house, they will enjoy it as much as you do. But if you have a sissy in the house, beware. Some scene may haunt them back at night.
I have high hopes for the next movie that Pegg & Wright will commit. I’d be curious to see what is the next genre they will explore; action? More or less done. Romantic comedy? How are the gory bits going to be included?
“Bets and the city” by Sally Nicoll
I had received an ad in my mailbox about this one. Described as better than Bridget Jones for spreadbetters, I decided it might have been worth a read. I was disapointed.
Ms Nicoll needs a boyfriend and a good deal for a novel. In the meantime while she was busy trying for both she decided to venture into spreadbetting. Why not?. The only thing I can say is that she didn’t learn much within the year and a bit she started trading. She basically punted- quite erratically- for quite a while and went to meet a few traders who were professionals thanks to her broker. One thing I do admire though is her honesty about the whole matter- she makes a fool of herself and I believe she knows it. She ends up going to a Greg Secker course- that doesn’t seem to change anything to her capacities- and that’s where the book ends. If you’re more curious than I am, she has a blog on the net about her exploits.
So basically this a book about what NOT to do when you’re trading. Does this help? I don’t think so. I hope that her love life is a little bit less clueless and that her novel makes more sense. I wish her all the best though- she needs it.
moving..and going back to trading
So we are moving. It explains why I have been silent for so long, but we were too busy packing, cleaning and searching for new materials for our new home to then have the energy to do anything else but fall asleep at night. We have been trading too – my worst month since last February. I made all the mistakes I had so patiently learned to avoid. I overtraded, searched for opportunities that were not there, changed strategy, moved my stop losses, entered the trades too late…Shall I continue?. It was a disaster. To make things worse ( yes, it is always possible) I also decided to follow the advice of my ex trading coach and went back to trading according to the strategies I had learned during a cousre. It was a disaster.
There is this myth among traders that you have to let your profits run and cut your losses. By all means I am not saying that you shouldn’t cut your losses- but taking your profits? It’s up to you really. We all like to say things like:” Have you seen that share today? It rocketed 30 points and I was in it!”. Great, good for you. So we all want to ride the wave until the wave ends up on the shore. But what most people forget is that the waves goes back to the sea, sooner or later. It is extremely rare to be able to get out at the highest point of a movement- especially if you look at the spread. You can never sell higher than the offer, can you? So whatever you do, you always lose a little bit. And what most traders do is wait for the price to hit their stop loss, that they have hopefully tightly trailed.
But here you go, I am not greedy enough. I am happy with making smaller benefits if they are constant. Sadly they were not after mid January and I lost it playing someone I am not.
February has now started and I am ready in my starting blocks. I’ve cleaned my act, re done my plan, double check my trades and gotten rid of bad habits. The market is good, news are not too unsettling and it works for me again. But what I am more and more aware of is that we all trade differently. As for me, I ignore indicators such as RSI, MACD and even Fib levels most of the time. But I use volume, listen to the news and I compare sectors in case of doubts. I also have a few tricks to estimate if a strategy seems good- but I am quite sure that they work only for me. Most of the good traders I know fully ignore the news and trade only according to technicals. I find this irrationnal as when the news come up in the morning that such and such company is being upgraded/downgraded/bought back – whatever- it gives you a good clue about what is going to happen next and I don’t want to waste my time with a share that might reverse on me within the next 4 hours. Obviously I am being very cautious – so maybe I am in the wrong job. I also don’t want to trade the news if I don’t have a good strategy to support my act.
Lately I also have been asking my fellows traders how they are doing. Was I the only one to be down? Had they the results they were hoping for? I had interesting answers. The first one, the most common, was that the people who were still hanging on live purely on the hope that they are going to make it, sooner or later. They come up with all sorts of excuses; they haven’t been trading like they should, they are only playing small sums of money but when they will do this seriously it will be much better, they have been procrastinating, they have missed opportunities…I shall pass the list if you ask me. The truth is that trading is all about discipline. You do not trade better – but you can do worse- because you’re playing with more money. Discipline is a master key in this business and if you are not up to it, if you’re not working hard at it, you never will. You have to correct your mistakes when you make them – and you should never repeat them . ( I have a quote about this one: ” I learned so much from my mistakes. I should make more”. Sadly I don’t know the author of this one). Hope is a wonderful thing- but when you trade, you have to keep learning, doing and discipling yourself.
I also learned a lot from people who are telling you/ selling you their strategy. I usually ask them a lot of questions and listen carefully to what they say. I also ask for examples. My favorite part is when they tell me about how much % they can achieve- it is usually a high number. Have they made it yet? nope, because that was when they back tested it. I am still waiting for someone who show me real results – and marvellous ones. So if you do know him/her, let me know…As for me, in my experience, I get 2 out of 5 potential good trades in a day. The 3 I miss usually appear while I am in the shower, changing nappies or as for today, busy buying a bathroom. And of course, it happens every day. So I don’t believe in the back testing thing, although I’ve been known to not miss any trades as I was able to take my laptop to the loo. When I did, trust me, the market was as quiet as a dead mouse.
So I’ve made my mistakes, I have cleaned my act – I hope- and I haven’t lost all faith in the process. Will this be enough?I’ll keep you posted.
“The squid and the whale”
This is a story about a divorce. The interest lies in the fact that you get, for once, the point of view of the children. It is suttle, loveable and very clever. A good lesson to be learned- and a warning for all future separated parents: whatever your lies, you will not get away with it.
The kids play beautifully. The parents are just right: you like them and you love them. At the end of the day, you realize that a divorce fucks up everybody. Is it comforting? I am not sure. But it is an interesting story that leaves you wondering what happens next. If there is a part 2, I’d watch it.
“Thank you for smoking”
If you want to see a great cynical movie, get this one. It is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. The bottom of the story is about the way that the public & governement & leagues get manipulated by Tobacco companies and other villains. The hero of the story is a man who knows the difference between right and wrong but can’t resist his ability to use rethoric. He’s so good at it that you can’t help liking him. The strength of the scenario is that it includes the personal life and fights of the main protagonist that renders the picture realistic – although still funny. I don’t want to spoil the discovery but this is in my top list of the year.
Watch it. You will stop smoking…
How my New Year’s good resolution works
I believe I already narrated the fact that I think we should get prepared for our New Year’s resolutions- in order for them not to fail , or at least, not to fail too quickly. One of my resolutions was to lose some weight, if possible without a specific diet. I used Paul McKenna cd – that promises you to get you there without pain and/or effort. Too good to be true, yes, but I was willing to give it a go.
So far, so good. Really? Yes. I’ve listen to the cd before Christmas and didn’t put on any weight during the festivities. I listen to it again before the New Year, and I started losing weight. So far, we are talking 2kgs – or 4 pounds- which is almost half of what I’d like to lose. I noticed that I am sometimes slightly hungry and conscious of it, which I find alright. I’ve stop snacking and I touched chocolate only once – without guilt. I certainly eat less but it doesn’t seem to bother me. So I am satisfied. We shall see how it all continues. From experience I do know that when you use NLP you have to repeat the exercises- or in this case the listening of the cd- regularly and several times for it to work. So I shall listen to it again this weekend.
I am still testing the method, but if it goes on lke this, I may not have to test another and I shall be done by the end of the month with my weight loss resolution!
Now there is no magic- you still have to have some discipline. But there is definitely no pain involved, and no frustration. And I am eating anything I like- less of it, but I don’t miss the part I am not having, so….
Good start of the year.
Sacha Jenkyn 