Hey traders,
A while back, I was sitting out in front of my cabin in the Smoky Mountains, coffee in hand, when out of the corner of my eye I caught movement.
A black bear.
Not off in the distance — I’m talking maybe ten feet away. Big, quiet, and close enough that I could hear it breathing.
Now, here’s the thing. Your gut instinct when you see something like that is to bolt. Heart rate spikes, adrenaline kicks in, and every fiber of your body screams: run!
But that’s the worst possible move.
What I actually did was stay calm, stay put, and let the bear do its thing. Eventually it wandered off, and I went back to sipping my coffee.
Trading’s the Same Way
When you’re in the markets, you’re going to have “bear encounters” of your own.
A stock gaps against you.
An unexpected headline drops.
A position starts moving the wrong way faster than you’d like.
The natural human response is to panic — slam the sell button, dump the trade, or overreact to the noise.
But just like with that black bear, panic is usually the worst move.
Have a Plan, Stick to It
The only reason I was calm yesterday is because I already knew what to do. I’ve lived around bears long enough to have a plan.
Same thing with trading.
If you’ve sized your trades right, if you’ve picked your strikes logically, and if you’re sticking to your playbook — there’s no reason to panic.
Markets move. Stocks dip. Premiums inflate and decay. None of that is unusual.
When you’ve got a process, you don’t need to stress. You just let the market do its thing while you keep collecting.
The Takeaway
Bears — whether in the wild or in the market — can spook you if you’re unprepared.
But if you’ve got a plan, you don’t need to panic.
That’s one of the biggest differences between pros and amateurs. Pros don’t let fear run the show.
So the next time you feel the urge to overreact, remember: stay calm, stick to your plan, and let the “bear” pass by.
Trade well,
Jack Carter
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