Panacea

It's time I had some time alone.

-- R.E.M.

More often than not, time spent away from the market is involuntary for the full-time trader, and typically yields nothing more than mild irritation and/or wistful regret at the opportunities missed. Yet for the independent trader, the ability to step away from the screen at will is an easily overlooked and underdeveloped skill that is vital for career longevity. Time off for a trader can be considered the ultimate panacea: it's simple to implement, exceedingly cost-effective, and unequaled in its ability to provide relief from a number of trading-related ailments we're all familiar with. But in order to truly benefit from this palliative, a trader must believe in time off as a consistently "good thing", with a corresponding disposition to use it whenever necessary, for it's the voluntary aspect of this self-serve medication which really empowers both pill and patient -- kinda turns the term placebo effect on its head, doesn't it? Employing time-off as remedy for suboptimal concentration or performance turns any respite into an active expression of patience not to be underestimated.

Trading axioms that apply to all traders on all occasions are few and far between, but the following I can posit without any reservations: Always trade with the belief that one can always walk away from the screen and return after a period of rest, whether it be the next hour, the next day, the next week, or the next month. Whatever one's time frame, there can be no such thing as time wasted on the sidelines. Beware the occasions when a series of setbacks will have us believe otherwise, luring us into that desperate corner where we start to fret anxiously over finding the next trade that in our minds must succeed-- and which by then, sadly, is already moot. The market is ever-patient when it comes to the taking of a trader's equity; he must be equally enduring if he is to stand a chance.