Today I put on a trade in a company whose services I don’t agree with.
The company is in the sports gambling business—one of the biggest brands out there.
As the father of a sports-crazed eleven-year-old, what this company does bothers me. They spend heavily on advertising. They make gambling look “cool.”
I don’t care if adults want to blow through their paychecks betting on games—that’s their business, not mine. But when kids are constantly exposed to this mentality, I worry. I worry about what it teaches them sports are about. And worse, I worry we’re raising whole new generations vulnerable to gambling addiction.
But here’s the rub: none of that matters when it comes time to trade.
Not the product. Not the founders. Not the politics, or the culture, or the advertising strategy.
As a trader, my job is simple: find opportunities to capitalize on price movement. Period.
Long-term investors might weigh values and business models in their decisions. Maybe that makes sense. But as a short-term trader, the only thing that matters is supply and demand. Price action. The chart.
So this post is really just a reminder to myself: don’t get caught up in the story. Don’t get caught up in the feelings. At the end of the day, these are just ticker symbols with prices attached to them. Nothing more.
If you want access to all my detailed trading plans, including this trade I put on today in DraftKings $DKNG where I spell out risk management, adjustment levels, and potential profit targets so that you have everything you need BEFORE you put the trade on, join me and hundreds of other options traders at All Star Options.
Sean McLaughlin | Chief Options Strategist, All Star Charts
