If you have been watching the market over the past several weeks, you have seen lots of volatility. Not only has there been choppy and sloppy action from session to session, but also many moves that have been extended both ways. The closes have been erratic at best, and the intraday action has been just as unpredictable, with early buyers’ enthusiasm slowly surrendering to sellers to end the day.

I have talked to plenty of option traders and investors in my career at different stages of their success or lack thereof and under different market conditions. But I have found this current market to be universally a bit more difficult than most. For the most part, the traders I have talked to agree and ask me what they should do or consider. I tell them that not trading is always an option.

I find myself telling them that the market will always be there. But as a trader, particularly a full-time trader, you sometimes feel the need to trade every single day. You can’t make a lot of promises when it comes to trading. But in this case, I promise you that you do not have to trade every day. As traders, we try to always put the odds in our favor. If you do not feel the odds are in your favor, why trade?

Forcing trades or making trades that are more like guesses is not going to develop you into the trader you see yourself as. And let’s be honest, how many trades that you have forced, whether it be during uncertain market conditions or after a losing trade, have worked out? Although it is not glamorous and you won’t be able to increase your P&L, sitting on your hands and doing nothing at times can save you a lot of money and angst. That I can promise you!

John Kmiecik, Market Taker Mentoring