There seems to be at least 4 ways trading stocks is like relationships.

Honeymooners Ed Norton quote “Just lay on your back, and float”

There’s the Buy and Hold, till death do us part, investment trade, where you really aren’t planning on trading, at all. once you’ve made the commitment to tie the knot , and get married to the investment. You’ve done your background check, your due diligence, you really feel you know the investment well. You know the investments close relations, and its investment family. You like the investments parents, the persons who have managed the investments life before you met it, and will continue to manage its life through your marriage to it. And you’re OK with that. Marrying into a good family has its own rewards.  You might eventually break up, but starting out, you’re in it for the long term, or until you’ve gone as far as you can together,  or the marriage has put you into the poor house.

Then you have the non-relationship status, where you don’t trade, or invest, at all. Too much work, too much confusion, too much rejection, too much bother. Who needs it? Trading and investing? That’s for suckers. Or, you can’t afford to. But, someday…..

There’s the wild and crazy, one day only, I never said I loved you, and if I did, I was only joking day trading relationship. You know what you want. You know everything about what your perfect trading candidate would be, and you keep watching for it , all the time. But, you’re fickle. If that perfect trading candidate doesn’t appear, you’ll trade something else, because what’s a person to do? Sit on the sidelines, and not trade? That’s no fun. You need action, and you need it every day. So you chase after trading partners that fit your profile, and a lot that don’t, and by the end of the day, if you’ve had a great trading experience, and might even play with that trading partner the next day. Or, you’ve had the worst trading experience of your life, and are sadder, and poorer for it. At least it was over quickly, so you got that going for you. And, like Willie Nelson sings in his song On  the Road Again, “tomorrow starts the same old thing again.”

“To fly from blossom to blossom, a honey bee must be free”

Which brings me to the 4th type of trading relationship. The I just want to date for a while, I don’t want to fall in love, or get married swing trade. It’s not as long term as the buy and hold investment that you get married to. But it’s also not the incredibly stressful, go for the gusto, live for today, for tomorrow we may die, day trading setup. The swing trade isn’t like the sitting on the sidelines, watching the world pass by, non-trade. No. The swing trader is a little more deliberate in what they want out of a relationship, while at the same time, staying non-committed to marrying an investment, but wanting a bit more out of their trades than what most day traders can experience. So the swing trader decides to be with the trade for a few days, weeks, or even a few months, if the trade has really been rewarding, and continues to be so. But, no way will they settle down, and get married to their investments. No thank you, when there are so many other quality trading candidates to get to know better, and spend some time with.  Quoting the King of Siam,  from Rogers and Hammersteins The King and I, “to fly from blossom to blossom, a honey bee must be free”

What kind of relationship are you in with your trades?