Stalk your stocks like a lion stalks its prey. A lion only pounces when it’s time – and a trader should only put on risk when it’s the optimal time to do so. You work so hard, putting in the hours to generate…
great trade ideas and build a solid watch list. Only to forget about them if/when the trade idea doesn’t pan out the way you’d expected.
Why?
Shouldn’t you get something for the time you put in? Well, trading doesn’t work that way. Just because you put time into work, doesn’t mean you’ll get rewarded; monetarily anyway. Actually the reward can come in different forms, like experience. Experience won’t pay a bill today, but it can pay them all tomorrow.
But what about staying with a trade idea long after the initial entry/exit plan didn’t pan out as expected?
It’s unbelievably common for traders to jump aboard the ‘next big stock’ and completely forget about their original trade ideas that didn’t work. This mindset will cause you to miss out on some ‘low hanging fruit.’
You may have forgotten about a trade idea, but you better believe the market makers fulfilling their LT’s orders continue orchestrating their plan to unload if dumping or load up if building a position.
As always, Trading Psychology plays another vital role here. Patience rewards those who wait. By stalking a stock to get back into a trade when the market tells your its time, will not only build up your PnL but your mental capital as well.
Test this out. Next time your trade idea doesn’t unfold as expected, keep an eye on the stock and original idea, then watch how your trading smooths out.
