Yesterday we began 30 trading habits in 30 days to give you a sneak peak into the habits of a professional trader at a proprietary firm.
You can find Habit #1: The PlayBook here.
Today we will discuss a new habit, developing your Road Map for the trading day.
Our firm has developed many new traders to consistently profitable traders over the past ten years. A common trading problem based on our experience working with traders is them missing their best trades. Many carp and complain and stress about missing these setups. I am sure there are numerous readers who have concluded that if they just stop missing these setups their trading results would be substantially better. You are correct. They would be.
So what habit can we adopt to help us to stop missing our best trades?
We can create a Road Map before the open.
Before each open spend time rehearsing from where your best trades may come. What are your best shorts and at what prices? Where do you really want to get long? What is trade idea #1? Trade idea #2? Trade idea #3? Write them down in your notebook that sits next to your trading station. Map out your best trades and where you most want to spend your energy. In short, create a road map for your trading day.
For example a road map might look like this:
- If SPY trades above 195.25 I will swing it long.
- If AAPL trades above I will get long for a Trade2Hold.
- If VXX trades below 27 I will momentum trade it short.
You are organizing your trading brain for where to best focus. You are warming up like an athlete would as a trader. You are preparing for trades that work best for you. You are giving yourself a better chance to be in your favorite trading opportunities. Just taking some time before each open to write this out prepares you to perform better.
This habit will help you stop missing your best setups. Now it’s up to you to make creating a road map a habit.
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Creating a Road Map Helped this Trader
*no relevant positions
