Waiting For the Right Time
Real traders execute trades all day, every day. Don’t they? There are times when it may be useful to stand aside, especially when you cannot cultivate the proper mental edge.
Many traders can’t stand the idea of missing out on trading opportunities. They feel they must always search for a winning trading opportunity and put on trade after trade all day long, regardless of the likelihood of the setups producing a win. There may be a few good reasons to stand aside, however. Market conditions may not be optimal for your style of trading. You may be in a slump and unable to trade in the zone. Or you may just feel like taking the day off. Trading isn’t the same as working on an assembly line. It’s not as if you can put on trade after trade as if you are bolting on wheel after wheel. Trading requires an intuitive feel for the markets. You must be in sync with the market action to the point that you perceive solid high probability setups. High probability setups are not always there, and even when they are there, you may not see them.
A proper mental edge is vital for trading success, and there are times when you just don’t have it. You may be tired and unable to concentrate fully. You may have just faced a series of setbacks and cannot seem to talk yourself out of a slump. You may feel so stressed because of a series of losses you have recently mounted that you have trouble coping with even a minor setback. When you are thrown off your game by these circumstances, it is necessary to stand aside and regain your composure. By taking a break from the markets, you can regain your confidence. Let’s consider a few ways that you can regain your mental edge.
First, make sure you are well rested. When we are tired, we have difficulty coming up with clever solutions to problems. In addition, coping with stress requires energy, and when you are tired, you just don’t have enough energy to cope. The best solution is to make sure that you get enough sleep at night. That may require that you get to bed early, especially if you live on the West coast. Early to bed, early to rise…the old adage is often apt for trading the markets.
Second, reduce your stress levels as much as possible. Entering the zone requires the proper match between your skills and the difficulty of your goals. When you have inadequate skills for the goals that you are trying to achieve, you feel stress, and don’t enter the zone. On the other hand, if you don’t feel challenged, you will feel bored, dull, and unmotivated. Developing realistic trading objectives that are challenging yet achievable will help you enter the zone. For example, don’t expect to make an unrealistic level of profit on each trade. Be realistic. When you try to achieve realistic goals, you will see how you can achieve them and naturally reward yourself as you make progress. If your goals are too difficult, however, you will choke under the pressure.
Third, patiently wait for the right time to trade. You have to go where the markets take you, and sometimes, market conditions are just not optimal. It is necessary to wait for market conditions that suit your trading style. When a host of factors match, from your mindset to market conditions, you will enter the zone and take home enormous profits.
Many traders can’t stand the idea of missing out on trading opportunities. They feel they must always search for a winning trading opportunity and put on trade after trade all day long, regardless of the likelihood of the setups producing a win. There may be a few good reasons to stand aside, however. Market conditions may not be optimal for your style of trading. You may be in a slump and unable to trade in the zone. Or you may just feel like taking the day off. Trading isn’t the same as working on an assembly line. It’s not as if you can put on trade after trade as if you are bolting on wheel after wheel. Trading requires an intuitive feel for the markets. You must be in sync with the market action to the point that you perceive solid high probability setups. High probability setups are not always there, and even when they are there, you may not see them.
A proper mental edge is vital for trading success, and there are times when you just don’t have it. You may be tired and unable to concentrate fully. You may have just faced a series of setbacks and cannot seem to talk yourself out of a slump. You may feel so stressed because of a series of losses you have recently mounted that you have trouble coping with even a minor setback. When you are thrown off your game by these circumstances, it is necessary to stand aside and regain your composure. By taking a break from the markets, you can regain your confidence. Let’s consider a few ways that you can regain your mental edge.
First, make sure you are well rested. When we are tired, we have difficulty coming up with clever solutions to problems. In addition, coping with stress requires energy, and when you are tired, you just don’t have enough energy to cope. The best solution is to make sure that you get enough sleep at night. That may require that you get to bed early, especially if you live on the West coast. Early to bed, early to rise…the old adage is often apt for trading the markets.
Second, reduce your stress levels as much as possible. Entering the zone requires the proper match between your skills and the difficulty of your goals. When you have inadequate skills for the goals that you are trying to achieve, you feel stress, and don’t enter the zone. On the other hand, if you don’t feel challenged, you will feel bored, dull, and unmotivated. Developing realistic trading objectives that are challenging yet achievable will help you enter the zone. For example, don’t expect to make an unrealistic level of profit on each trade. Be realistic. When you try to achieve realistic goals, you will see how you can achieve them and naturally reward yourself as you make progress. If your goals are too difficult, however, you will choke under the pressure.
Third, patiently wait for the right time to trade. You have to go where the markets take you, and sometimes, market conditions are just not optimal. It is necessary to wait for market conditions that suit your trading style. When a host of factors match, from your mindset to market conditions, you will enter the zone and take home enormous profits.
posted by nomadhunter at 6:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home