No. of Recommendations: 4
From the May 9 email letter from Lund Group:
Straight-Up Markets Are Harder Than They Look
People assume the hardest markets are bear markets. Relentless selling. Panic. Fear. But markets that go straight up can be just as psychologically difficult.
In a bear market, at least your emotions line up with the tape. In a runaway bull market, everyone is uncomfortable for different reasons.
Shorts are getting squeezed. People who sold too early are stuck waiting for a pullback that never comes. And even longs who stayed in are struggling emotionally because the move feels unsustainable.
That’s what makes these environments so deceptive. Strength creates discomfort too.
Every day the market grinds higher, people feel increasing pressure to do something—hedge, trim, short, take profits, “be responsible.” The move starts to feel irrational simply because it continues.
But markets don’t care what feels reasonable. They care about positioning, psychology, and momentum.
Straight-up markets are difficult because they deny everyone relief at the same time.
also
Watch Less, Hold Longer
One of the hardest things about a runaway market is that every small pullback feels meaningful.
You start micro-watching every candle. Every dip feels like the beginning of the correction. Every pause feels like the moment to “finally” take profits.
And the more you watch it, the harder it becomes to stay with the trade.
That’s the dirty little secret nobody talks about: sometimes the best trading decision isn’t analytical—it’s environmental. You don’t need a new indicator. You need distance.
If your risk is defined, your stops are in, and your alerts are set, there are moments when the smartest thing you can do is physically remove yourself from the screen.
Go do something else. Work on a project. Organize your garage. Paint a room. Anything that interrupts the emotional feedback loop of watching every tick.
Because in strong trends, the danger often isn’t the market.
It’s your inability to stop staring at it—without doing something stupid.
