Trading requires patience!!

Trading requires patience we are told but to what and how should we apply this patience. Let me elaborate.

Imagine this scenario. The market has an upside break out. You decide not to chase the market and patiently wait for a pull back. The market keeps rising and rising while you are “patiently” waiting for that pull back. The pull back arrives eventually, you entre the market and get stopped out. Here your patience has not paid any dividends.

Second Scenario. You are in a trade which is not going anywhere. You wait and wait and wait until eventually you give up and close the trade with at break even. An hour later the market takes off and your trade would have been profitable had you been just a bit more patient. Here being more patient would have paid dividend.

My question is this. Do we need to be more patient with our open trades or do we need to be more patience for the market to pull back. Often the very good moves are those that never look back and when they do, they pull back much further than any predetermined retracement level Fibonacci or otherwise.

ET member’s views most welcome.

 

Patience is applicable until your Hypothesis (when you enetered) remains true.
Applies to both scenarios.

 

Does is it qpplicable equally to both scenarios. I ask this because as I am sure you have experienced it too, I have been left out of many good trades because I patiently waited for the pull back and when the pull back came the market had already done its bit and, at best, there was not much left on the table and at worst the trade lost money.

 

You sound like you trade futures?
Yes I have experience and I amended my strategy. I enter DURING the move with a market order, does not matter where, sooner the better and Add if it shows strength after pullbacks(if any). Close out if my EMA is violated or the tape starts to show big reactionary tickets.

 

You are correct, I do trade futures and I am inclinded to agree with you. Is it different with other market types?

 

Patience is a relative thing, and that thing is you. Remember every trade has a shelf life and the self life is determined by what you expect price to do over a period of time. If you find yourself in the position where you are agonizing your trades by 'patience', then you have been waiting for the trade for too long.

Remember patience is never an agonizing experience. Either adjust your disposition or adjust your trade. Patience is not agony.

This is of course, if you are capable of disciplining yourself already. e.g., You can't teach strict discipline to a 3 year old.

 

I only trade with a strategy. If I'm not sound enough in it to not have patience with it I wouldn't trade it.

 

Its not different for other instruments, really.
I guessed it coz, futures (such as Indexs) are averages and tend to oscillate alot in between moves and get the best of you.
I prefer to trade stocks, they tend to be alot directional when in action. I can size up on small moves and manage them better (close partially or add).

 

Start trading with real money, if you haven't already. And watch watch watch. Observe with intention of exploiting the market but keeping yourself focused and emotionally stable.

Then you'll find out for yourself when you should be patient. No one else can tell you when you should and shouldn't be patient. It depends on how YOU trade.