“We don’t rise to the standards we have when others are watching; we fall to the standards we have when no one is.”
I once heard someone talk about character as being who you are when no one is watching.
Strictly speaking, God is always watching, so there’s never a time when no one is watching. But the point remains.
Anyway, it’s easy-ish to let peer pressure push me forward. Not the classic peer pressure of middle school where your so-called friends would heckle you to try the latest drug or drink. No. I’m talking about the passive pressure of just being around your peers.
Performing better because people are watching you.
That kind of peer pressure.
Generally, it’s a good thing. Especially if it keeps people in society from doing bad -- or even illegal -- things. I’m a fan of people not doing illegal things.
But what do you do when the peers are gone?
Do you follow your plan when no one is around?
It’s hard to keep the willpower up when trading alone in your office. I get it. I’ve made many trading mistakes over the years by ignoring my rules and letting my emotions take over.
The biggest lesson I learned the hard way -- the same lesson that big, successful business-people learn -- is risk management. It’s really the difference between a successful trader and a failure.
Luck has virtually nothing to do with it.
All that to say, keep a close watch on yourself and your trading.
Today’s Macro Headlines (Source: Yahoo Finance)
President Trump has urged the EU to join the US in imposing new tariffs to pressure Russia over Ukraine.
Yahoo Finance
Why it matters …
This article has lots of tentacles. Russia seems to be acting like a 2-year old with nukes. Pushing the boundaries, now threatening Poland and the President wants to squeeze them economically.
Most of the article, however, talks about the fact that the Supreme Court is to decide if the President can act without congressional approval to enact tariffs. It’s an interesting economic “stick” which can be used instead of a military “stick” which means more people live when it is applied to rein in misbehavior.
I’m not a lawyer, so I will defer to those experts, but this has lots of possible economic repercussions. The court is to review the case in November.
Index Snapshot

See the Legend in the footer below
Comments: The opening looks to be slightly mixed, but green in general. This might be more Macro news, but …
“...a reading on wholesale inflation came in much cooler than expected, showing producer prices actually declined on a month-over-month basis.”
That is certainly good for the economy as it means inflation is in check. When you couple that with the jobs revision data, a rate cut is necessary and should not cause inflation … the best of all scenarios from a Fed perspective.
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