My Attempt with the Constance Smith Method
So, I heard about this Constance Smith person, right? Someone mentioned her name, maybe in some online forum or a chat, talking about her way of looking at market stuff. Didn’t know much, but the way they described it, sounded like it might actually work, you know? Simple rules, supposed to catch trends. I was looking for something extra at the time, things were a bit tight financially after my hours got cut last year, so I thought, why not give it a shot?
First thing, I tried finding solid info on her specific technique. Wasn’t easy. Lots of vague talk, but finding the actual step-by-step was a pain. Eventually pieced together something that looked like a consistent approach from different mentions. Seemed to involve watching certain price levels and maybe some kind of timing signal. Okay, fine.
Getting Started
I set up my charts just like I thought she suggested. Picked a couple of stocks I’d been watching anyway. The supposed rules were something like:
- Wait for the price to break above a specific moving average line.
- Confirm it with some volume increase – had to look real strong.
- Get in, but set a really tight stop-loss just below that line.
- Get out when it hits a certain profit target or if it drops back below the line.
Sounded straightforward enough on paper. Famous last words, right?
The Actual Process
So, I started watching. Day one, nothing. Day two, one of the stocks looked like it was getting close. Heart starts pounding a bit, you know? Thinking, is this it? Then, boom, it breaks the line. Volume looked okay, not amazing, but okay. I hesitated for a second, remembered the rules, and jumped in. Placed the order, set the stop-loss where I thought it should be.
Felt kinda good for about five minutes. Then the price just hovered. Didn’t rocket up like I hoped. Didn’t crash either, just… sat there. Most boring rollercoaster ever. The next day, same thing. It wiggle-waggled around, teasing me. I spent way too much time just staring at the screen, checking it constantly. Couldn’t focus on my actual work.
What Happened Next
Then, a few days later, some random news hit, market dipped, and guess what? My stock dropped just enough to hit my super-tight stop-loss. Kicked me right out. Took a small loss. Okay, annoying, but part of the game, I told myself. The funny thing? About an hour later, the price bounced right back up and ended the day higher than where I bought it. If I hadn’t used that tight stop… well, who knows.
Tried it again a week later on another stock. Same basic setup. This time, it actually moved up a bit. Made a tiny profit before it reversed and hit the stop-loss again on the way down. So, one small loss, one tiny win. Net result? Basically broke even, minus the trading fees and a whole lot of wasted time and stress.
Final Thoughts
Look, maybe Constance Smith is brilliant. Maybe her real method is way more complex than what I cobbled together. Maybe I just applied it wrong or had bad luck. Who knows? But for me, it was just another one of those systems that sounds good but doesn’t magically print money. It took focus away from stuff I actually needed to do, and the results were, well, meh.
It reminded me of that time I tried that “special” fertilizer mix my neighbor swore by for his roses. Followed his instructions to the letter. My roses ended up looking worse than before. Sometimes, stuff just doesn’t work out like you plan, no matter whose name is attached to it. Back to the drawing board, I guess. Just gotta keep plugging away at the real work.
