When I first started reading about successful daytraders through these forums and through books, one thing I noticed was that these folks do not like to wait around...in general.
Most of them get in and out fast, mostly within minutes if not seconds. Many of them claim that they do not have the PATIENCE to buy and hold for a while. Instead, these folks want instant gratification/excitement and quick $$$.
I certainly do not like to buy and hold. I find long-term swing/position trading to be rather boring as a result. That's one of the many reasons why I became a daytrader.
However, in these 4 months I've been trading, I found that the PATIENCE is one of the most important attributes any successful daytrader must have.
Once you develop your system, you need to be disciplined and patient enough to wait for the right moment when your system prompts you to buy and sell.
One of the key reasons most daytraders fail is partly because of their PATIENCE. They simply do not want to wait around and wait for the right moment to execute their system for high probability winning trades.
They think they can pick the top/bottom and make some quick bucks, and their "trigger happy" fingers gladly let them buy/sell short shares at ease. Of course, often times these "impulsive" trades turn out to be a bad choice.
Also, once the trader is in the position (either long or short), IMPATIENT daytrader often exit too quickly, minimizing their profit potential, even though their system may warrant them to stay in longer.
This obviously does not really apply to quick scalpers that trades hundres of times per day, but guys like me that trade only a handful a day, this has been a key component of my late success. I have dramatically cut down on the number of trades (I definitely think I was overtrading, just too much churning sometimes.), and my win rate has been over 85% lately.
Being patient enough to wait for the right setup and promptly executing my system when the moment arrives (this include promptly cutting my losses if the trade goes against my system) has been a valuable learning experience for me. I still have some ways to go to better control my emotions, but I'm on my way.
Most of them get in and out fast, mostly within minutes if not seconds. Many of them claim that they do not have the PATIENCE to buy and hold for a while. Instead, these folks want instant gratification/excitement and quick $$$.
I certainly do not like to buy and hold. I find long-term swing/position trading to be rather boring as a result. That's one of the many reasons why I became a daytrader.
However, in these 4 months I've been trading, I found that the PATIENCE is one of the most important attributes any successful daytrader must have.
Once you develop your system, you need to be disciplined and patient enough to wait for the right moment when your system prompts you to buy and sell.
One of the key reasons most daytraders fail is partly because of their PATIENCE. They simply do not want to wait around and wait for the right moment to execute their system for high probability winning trades.
They think they can pick the top/bottom and make some quick bucks, and their "trigger happy" fingers gladly let them buy/sell short shares at ease. Of course, often times these "impulsive" trades turn out to be a bad choice.
Also, once the trader is in the position (either long or short), IMPATIENT daytrader often exit too quickly, minimizing their profit potential, even though their system may warrant them to stay in longer.
This obviously does not really apply to quick scalpers that trades hundres of times per day, but guys like me that trade only a handful a day, this has been a key component of my late success. I have dramatically cut down on the number of trades (I definitely think I was overtrading, just too much churning sometimes.), and my win rate has been over 85% lately.
Being patient enough to wait for the right setup and promptly executing my system when the moment arrives (this include promptly cutting my losses if the trade goes against my system) has been a valuable learning experience for me. I still have some ways to go to better control my emotions, but I'm on my way.
