A must read(3): How important patience in the trading?

Jim Rogers says, “I won’t do any trade until there is money lying in the corner of the room and all I have to do is walk over and pick it up.” Until a situation comes along that\'s that obvious, he just doesn\'t trade. I don\'t care whether your trading horizon is two years, two months two weeks, or even two days, the idea of not putting on a trade until the return/risk is compelling is good advice. The attitude of letting the pitches pass you by until you get one that looks really good applies no matter what your time frame of trading is or whether you are an investor or a trader.

The other element of patience applies to the exit side. Again, it doesn\'t make a difference on what time horizon you are trading. Regardless of the length of your trades, you need to have the patience to stay with the position as long as there is no reason other than wanting to grab a quick profit to get out of it. There is a quote from Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, says, It was not my thinking that made me the money, it was my sitting.” What he is saying is that his success in the markets was not a matter of his being smarter than other people or being able to see things others did not, but rather his patience to stay with trades that were working. No matter what your approach is, no matter what your time horizon is, the idea of being able to resist taking profits when the right thing to do is staying with a good position is an important element to trading success. That\'s where patience comes in.

- Jack Schwager