Happy Friday, Evolvers!

Yesterday, the major indexes were on pace for their third straight day of losses as traders digested the recent Fed reports, FOMC minutes, and rate increases.

All of these uncertain catalysts are contributing to an already-choppy market, posing certain difficulties for traders like you and me.

This week, I got a lot of questions from students who are struggling to trade their best in this environment…

SPOILER ALERT: A lot of it comes down to the timing of trades, entries and exits, and lucky winning streaks.

So, let’s get to our Friday Q&A. Keep reading to see my answers to your questions…

“I sold too early on both trades I made this week. How do you know when an options play is nearing its peak?”

First, let me ask YOU a question…

Did you make money on the trades? 

If the answer is yes, don’t fret over a couple of missed %.

In the options market, you must be cutthroat about protecting your profits. Everyone wants to nail the top, but the more common mistake is holding too long…

Don’t beat yourself up over missing the tip of the iceberg. Rather, pat yourself on the back for booking a win.

I had a similar situation on my recent Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) puts trade. I played it safe and got out around breakeven.

But had I held an extra day, I would’ve made 100%+…

Was it annoying to watch the chart tank right after I sold? Of course. But I wasn’t too hard on myself and I don’t want you to be either. 

Here’s the truth…

No one knows exactly when a trade is nearing its peak. As traders, we can only hope to catch the majority of the directional move. 

If you try to perfectly nail every dollar of every move, you’ll eventually get caught in a terrible trade by failing to sell when you should’ve. 

Think about it like this…

It’s impossible to lose money by selling a winner too early … But if you hold it for too long, it can quickly become a loser. 

“I started out trading with several big wins in a few weeks. But since then, it’s been nothing but losses. I’m mainly buying weekly put options. How can I turn my trading around?”

It sounds like you might be ‘winging it,’ so to speak…

My most important piece of advice for you is to develop a personal trading strategy that’s consistent and repeatable.

Anyone can have a lucky streak in the stock market. 

Even the most clueless of newbies could stumble into a concurrent series of big wins … accidentally. 

I’m not putting you in this category. I’m simply illustrating how easy it is to have a few trades go in your favor. 

With so many trades happening all the time, odds dictate that lucky wins happen more often than you might think.

All this to say, if you string a few solid trades together without a repeatable strategy … don’t get ahead of yourself, thinking you’ve got it all figured out. 

And this is why it’s crucial to stay humble as a trader, especially when you’re first starting in the market.

If you don’t, I promise that the market will eventually humble you in a much more financially devastating way.

When reflecting on my career, I think developing a repeatable strategy (that I could use over and over again) was the most important move I ever made.

I didn’t just win on a handful of trades and suddenly decide I was the next Warren Buffett…

I applied my game plan to thousands of different setups and won on the vast majority of them.

Here are three specific tips I suggest trying out…

• Hit Singles: Don’t go for home-run, 100%+ overnight wins. Focus on nailing small, manageable trades. Do this over and over again until you have confidence in your convictions.
• Size Down: If you put too much capital into any one play, it can mess with your emotions and add unnecessary stress to your trading. Make sure you’re using a position size that you’re comfortable with.
• Longer-Dated Contracts: If you’re trading weekly puts and losing, try buying contracts with longer-dated expirations. This gives you more time and margin of error in your trading. 

But if you really wanna level-up your trading ame, I’ve got an even better suggestion…

Are You Ready To Take The Next Step?

I’ll let you in on a little secret … I wouldn’t be a multi-millionaire if I hadn’t joined Tim Sykes’ Trading Challenge so many years ago.

And I want you armed with all of the tools necessary for success in the stock market.

So, if you’re passionate and dedicated, ready to take on anything the market throws at you, then I’ve got something for you…

My mentor, Tim Sykes, has helped traders learn to succeed for years. More than 30 of them (including me) are now millionaires.

Are you ready to take your trading game to the next level? Do you have what it takes to face the Trading Challenge?

Let’s find out…

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TODAY FOR ONE OF OUR FREE, LIVE TRAINING CLASSES!

I’m excited to see you there!