Don't hunt for the perfect trade. You will be wasting your time

It is human nature to want to be in control, to create order, as we know it. We instinctively dislike unpredictability and feel more comfortable exerting order over our surroundings and our lives. Perhaps arguably it is a survival instinct evolved to protect us in an uncertain and dangerous world.

The reality, however, for most of us is that “life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans”, to quote John Lennon. Efforts to exert control and order can often seem fruitless.

As in life, it is volatility that we really need. A sterile and predictable environment is non-productive and simply not reality. That beautifully predictable trade that enables us to feel comfortably in control is a yearning figment of our imagination, and we can waste a great deal of time trying to hunt it down.

Markets thrive on volatility, that battle ground between the buyers and sellers. It is our job to recognise which one is temporarily gaining the upper hand, when that gain may start to swing in the opposite direction, and act on it. We need to be patient and thorough in waiting for the right opportunity to present itself, then quick to take advantage of it. We need to be canny. The right opportunity does not mean the ‘perfect’ trade. No trade is perfect. It may look a technically perfect set-up, but you must absolutely accept that it may turn round any moment and lose you money, or it may go a fraction of the distance you expected, or it may go much further than you expected. Such are the powers that be in the market place.

What we lack in our ability to control and impose order on we must make up for in other ways. Developing a back-tested strategy that recognises opportunities and puts us in a position to take advantage of high probability technical set-ups, which is then applied consistently and with discipline is the key to success. Not hunting around for the non-existent perfect trade that affords us the luxury of being in control.

Throw out the window any lingering desire to seek out a perfect trade and instead embrace the unpredictable nature of the daily market battleground. Arm yourself with the right tools and discipline and that battleground may well yield high rewards.