In most professions working more is what makes you more money. If you are paid for your time the more you work the more money you make. This does not transfer into trading. Over trading can be expensive in trading losses, losing in the bid/ask spread, and commission cost. The best trades come when you are patient and wait for the right entry signal and set up. More trading does not necessarily mean more profits, it is usually means the opposite, losses.
Here are 10 productive things that you can do to improve your trading when the market is too dull, too volatile, or you are waiting for your entry signal.
- Backtest new entry and exit parameters.
- Study charts of the best performing stocks in history.
- Study the charts of the worst market crashes.
- Study the charts of the strongest bull markets.
- Look at how your technical indicators perform on charts of indexes and stocks.
- Read trading books.
- Learn how to use all the functions in your charting platform.
- Read great trading blog articles.
- Listen to interviews with great traders.
- Chat with other traders.
These are better places to invest your time and energy than forcing trades that just aren’t there yet.