Today is rollover for Futures contracts, moving into the December contract month, and often presents an especially tricky market environment. I have learned, from trial and error, to not trade futures on rollover day. Hence, today’s blog entry.

In any competitive arena, whether it is trading, sports, poker, or others, waiting is often a very potent form of power. Waiting can come in many forms: waiting for the right opportunity; recognizing that the right conditions may not be present and not taking action; waiting for the other side to make a mistake; waiting for the other side to display weakness or show fear; missing an opportunity and waiting for the next one rather than pressing or chasing, and so on.

Anyone who has achieved a certain level of proficiency in martial arts will recognize the following saying  –  ‘Only a warrior chooses pacifism; others are condemned to it’. Of course, pacifism is not necessarily a good idea in trading, so I have modified it a bit in my consultation practice and instead use the concept of vigilance or sustained attention that may or may not lead to action.

I used to get frustrated when stuck in heavy traffic, although I still dislike it, I’ve learned to accept the fact that pressing the gas pedal in a traffic jam is not a good idea and instead use the time to do some thinking, listen to music or an audio book, or just nothing at all. As a trader I have had to do many things to increase my patience.  Among them was that I taught myself how to play guitar while waiting for my set-ups to appear or while riding a strong trend and scaling out.

One aspect of patience and trading that I talk about with my clients is how to eliminate marginal trades and not getting caught up in the feeling of ‘needing to trade’.   This is important for several reasons, including being ready for the fat pitch. It may not come today, but when it does come, you want to be able to take full advantage of it. Traders often enter and exit trades as a way to manage their own feelings such as boredom, fear, anxiety, etc. But what they should do is manage their feelings first and then make the trading decision. Once in the trade one must  continue to manage feelings, but be cognizant of the message coming from those feelings. Unfortunately, most traders do just the opposite.

In trading, patience must become a central part of your strategy if you want to succeed over time, whether or not you are a frequent in/out trader or take fewer trades.  As I learn to become more patient in my trading, other areas of my life benefit as well.

Developing patience as a trader is associated with true self-confidence and real internal power.