They also can push some of us to a scotch bottle, fine cigar, and great music; especially music made by people who have earned the songs they have written; those blues musicians whose pain drips from every note. You can tell they’ve been there at the bottom of the barrel and climbed back up to talk about it. They have a way of reaching out and connecting with us, reassuring us there is life beyond ourselves and our problems.

We sometimes need that assurance we’re not alone in our experience. That there’s not something fundamentally wrong with us. That our losses in trading represent, in microcosm, the inescapable human condition: a denial of hopes, a thwarting of desires, and a final end, at least on the physical plane of this planet.

Even the wise trader (who if you are not, you should become) who has a sound money management plan in place so he won’t be destroyed by any one event, still has the sting of not getting every trade just right or having events overtake them outside of their control.

That being said, I was digging around in an old trading computer today and re-discovered a musical gem that brought a smile to my face so I posted it for you below. It’s short, only a minute long. It’s not BB King, or Robert Johnson, or Stevie Ray Vaughn, but it captures to zeitgeist of the modern trader. It’s dedicated to anyone who’s ever been underwater, far from the shore.:-)

Trader’s Blues – by Mike Shannon.

Cheers!