This article could have been named "Patience, A Trader's Lament" or Patience, The Key To Consistency" or any number of titles but I wanted to get your attention. And now that I have, you are probably saying isn't trading what I am supposed to do? I am a trader! The short answer is no, not necessarily. Some times the best trade is no trade at all. Cash is, after all, a position.
I just got off the phone with a trading friend of mine. We normally go over the previous trading day and let each other critique our perspective trading styles. As a side note, if you don't already have a "trading buddy," I strongly encourage you to find someone that you can bounce ideas off of and go over various strategies with. It is amazing how a different perspective will improve your trading results and give you insight into another way of looking at the market. Do we always agree? Nope, usually we don't. But it is still important to have a second opinion about what you are seeing in the market. Anyway, back to this morning's conversation. I was telling him that I was a little bit frustrated by the fact that I only had one trade yesterday and, even though that trade was a winner, I felt that I had left a lot of points on the table. His answer to me is really what trading is all about.
Did You Adhere To Your Trading Plan?
Did you adhere to your trading plan? That one simple question sums up, in a nutshell, if a trader is profitable or not. I am not talking about being profitable for a day or a week or even a month. I have seen traders go for a long time, "trading in the zone," without having any real set-ups or rules regarding how they took the trades that made them money. Once that lose that "zonal feeling," that lose the ability to make money and are frustrated when that can't figure out how to get back into the trading "grove."
My answer to my friend was that I had followed my trading plan to the letter and that the criteria for taking a trade just didn't set up. I went on to say that even though the strategies did make good money yesterday, today they just didn't work. His reply to me was that one of the reasons that he thought I was consistently profitable was the fact that I followed my trading rules to the letter.
Here Is The Lesson
As a seasoned trader, you have to find a system that you are comfortable with. One that fits your personality and mind set. You have to look at your trading results over time. Don't let one days trading determine if your strategy works or doesn't work. The worst thing for a trader to do it to get bored and feel like the market is working against them. It is at that time that the average trader makes mistakes. It is this mental toughness that will ultimately make you a success or a failure in the business of day trading. Read that sentence through one more time: It is the mental toughness that will ultimately make you a success or a failure in the business of day trading.
Thanks to my many trading friends who keep me level and focused on the keys to making a living in the day trading business. So to sum it up, find a system that fits your trading personality, adhere to your trading rules, find someone that you can bounce ideas off of, and most importantly, become mentally tough when it comes to trading. I hope that this article helps you to "catch a whopper"!
This is not a solicitation to buy or sell.
There is a risk in any investment.
Ron Lewis operates http://www.futuresinvestingmadeeasy.com an educational blog about investing and trading.
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