≈ Women in Trading live webinar: Tonight at 8:30 PM EST ≈

A few months back I got an alert from Facebook recommending things to do while in San Francisco and “Phil Collins is not dead yet” was at the top of the list. My good friend Silvia and I took a look at each other and the decision was written in both our faces! We were going! 

The next day we searched for tickets and bought them. Immediately after buying the tickets Silvia says “now let’s trade and make our money back”! Unfortunately, there were about 5 minutes left before the market closed so the trading part did not happen but we were super excited to go to the concert later that evening. 

Well, wouldn’t you know it, Phil was not dead but he was indeed older. He sat on a stool for most of the songs and gave his best effort to stand and walk around for the widely popular hits. His vocals were as great as I remember them when we’d be jamming with my mom cleaning the house on a Saturday morning. 

Silvia then noticed the young man playing the drums. It was obvious he was good and you could spot the passion this kid had with every beat. We watched him and talked about how talented he must be to make the cut and replace Phil on the drums. We wondered why a young man like that would want to go on tour with a bunch of old people. I was so impressed with this kid I decided to search “who plays drums on Phil Collins band” on Google. Well, it turned out it was his 18-year-old son Nicholas.

The concert was amazing! First off, the venue was at Chase Center the new home of the Golden State Warriors. The arena was brand spanking new! It was so clean, seats were comfy, great atmosphere all around. My eyes were fixated on Nicholas and my ears on Phil. Eventually, Phil let the cat out of the bag that Nicholas was his son as he was introducing the band and back up singers and the crowd went wild for this young man. He started touring at the age of 16 he was that good. Phil, quite the singer, and entertainer made fun of himself and also let us concert attendees know that his slow movements and why he no longer plays the drums were due to nerve damage and he really wasn’t as old as his body would lead you to believe.

No idea why this concert came to mind as I was thinking of tonight’s topic for Women in Trading but it got me thinking about Delta and Theta as it relates to trading.

Nicholas the beating drum phenomenon is like Delta (directional) trading. Learning pattern recognition with pre-determined entry and exit rules and proper position sizing will keep you beating those drums and make a great sound while at it. However, you are randomly buying calls and puts as a strategy for directional trading with no rules or systems in place, is like a kid who gets a new drum set and starts playing a drum solo and you quickly realize it needs to be a drum no-no until you get them some lessons.

Phil, once the drummer and singer, now the slow-moving singer is like Theta. The slow and steady consistent returns we get from selling options. Just like directional trading, one must also learn the skill set of selling options. Imagine how disappointed we would have been if Phil Collins could not only play the drums but also sounded horrible. Though there’s not much he can do to play drums again, he’s obviously over the years continued to work on his vocals. Most importantly still have the desire to go on the road and perform for thousands of people.

Trading is a skill set we learn and continue to perfect over time. Whether you are a directional trader or cash flow trader or both, or whether you are 16 or 60 it requires practice, patience, and passion to keep you coming back to trade the same pattern or system over and over again. As excited as I was to see Nicholas beat those drums as fast as he was, I also found pure joy in watching Phil Collins sit on a stool and serenade us with “Separate Lives” in the end, pure satisfaction and joy for Thursday night outing. 

So tonight ladies, at 8:30 PM EST, join me as we take on the art of Delta and Theta trading to make a perfect sound of what every trader wants to hear at the end of every day, ka-ching!

Emily Muiruri

Emily Muiruri was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya before her family moved to the US and settled in Maryland, Emily began her trading journey in January 2015 after 17 years of Property Management in the Self-Storage Industry. Like many new traders, Emily started off with directional trading strategies such as long calls, long puts and very little in cash flow strategies. Over time that has changed and now her core trading strategies are cash flow based such as are Covered Calls, Naked Puts, and Iron Condors. Though she is still a student learning and enhancing her trading skills, she has a strong desire to teach women to take control of their finances and become traders. Writing blogs is one of the ways she’s is looking to spread the word and get more women involved. Emily knows that with the right education and trading system women can be successful traders.

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