Let me take you back to my days of buying corn and soybeans and calling on a customer list of farmers.
I’d stop on the first farm of the day and I’d be almost immediately met with the following question, “So where’s this market headed?”
Once I’d finish my meeting, I’d leave that farm and call the next customer.
Over the phone I’d hear, “Wow, so what do you think of this market lately, it’s gotta go higher, don’t you think?”
I’d politely answer with a response about some of the current market influences, but I would rarely give a straight up opinion.
Why? Because let me ask you this…
Isn’t the most important thing what you are prepared either way, whether the market goes higher or lower?
Every day that you look at the markets, you should feel like your marketing plan is implemented in such a way that you’re prepared regardless of how it moves.
The problem with the original question isn’t the intent to understand the current market environment.
The problem with the original question is that it creates unnecessary emotional ties to market moves.
What I used to tell farmers is, of course you’re going to feel like you ‘regret’ a sale made on a day before a rally.
It’s inevitable.
It’s like buying a tractor for full price and then the dealership offering a discount the next day.
However, if the market falls, you’re also going to regret NOT making a sale the day before.
It’s a never ending cycle, right?
Oh, and did I mention you have a 50% chance of feeling “right” the day after you make that sale?
Those are not great odds…
What if you changed your selling mindset from making sales out of pure emotion to making sales driven by your profitability targets?
When I’ve seen farmers really focus on their targeted profitability and making sales based on THAT, I don’t see a lot of regret.
Rather, if the market starts going higher and they see it staying that way, they don’t regret the previous sale they made at a profitable level, because they’re still making money.
Rather, they implement a strategy to take advantage of a continued run up (like buying a call).
Or, they sell additional bushels with a forward sale with an even farther out delivery period.
Believe me, the minute you start thinking about sales based on your breakeven and profit goals, is the same time you stop feeling all the selling regret.
It also makes you more willing to pull the trigger on a sale and less likely to hesitate and miss an opportunity.
So I challenge you to really hone in on your breakeven and profit targets.
And when the price reaches those levels — SELL & DON’T HESITATE.