Hey friend,
Today brought more weakness in housing.
September housing starts came in at an annual pace of about 1.2 million, below the 1.3 million forecast.
Pending home sales fell 7.3%, far worse than the 0.4% decline expected.
Let’s see how the markets have been moving.
The Daily Direction
Note: Indexes closed higher yesterday and have been moving higher today as well – sending all directions of the Dow back upward.
The Daily Nugget
Knowing what would make you buy makes waiting easier.
“Be patient” is some of the most common advice in trading.
But it leaves out a useful question: What are you waiting for?
If your answer is “a good opportunity,” every small move can tempt you to act.
The stock ticks higher, and you worry it’s getting away. It dips, and suddenly the lower price looks tempting.
You can spend hours watching without getting any closer to a decision.
It helps to decide beforehand what would make the stock ready for a trade.
Suppose you’re watching a stock ahead of earnings. You like the business, but you don’t want to take a position before the report.
Write that down: “I’ll reassess after earnings, once I can see the results and the market’s reaction.”
Now a rally the afternoon before the announcement doesn’t require a fresh debate. The condition you’re waiting for hasn’t happened.
Or perhaps your strategy calls for a stock to close above a particular price. An intraday jump through that level isn’t the same signal.
You know when to check again, instead of letting every tick pull you back to the screen.
That condition doesn’t have to be complicated. It does have to be specific enough that you can tell whether it has been met.
Try finishing this sentence for each stock on your watchlist:
“I’ll consider buying when…”
If you can’t finish it without saying something vague like “when it looks stronger,” you still have some planning to do.
And meeting the condition is a reason to evaluate the trade, not an obligation to take it. The entry price and potential loss still need to make sense.
Patience gets easier when you know what you’re waiting for.
You can let the stock move without treating every move as a decision you need to make.
The Traders Agency Team
P.S. $1,000 to $1.16 million by buying just one stock a year? This is how.
