After nine years as a trader, the most profound insight I've gained is 'waiting'

Having traded for over nine years, if someone were to ask me what I do best at the moment, I would say without hesitation that I excel at 'waiting'.

Perhaps some brothers may wonder: shouldn't a trader's core skill be precise market analysis? But in reality, market analysis plays a minimal role in the overall trading process. A seasoned trader spends the vast majority of their time on 'waiting'.

Amidst the daily market fluctuations, what exactly are we waiting for? To put it plainly, we are waiting for the moment when the trading advantage peaks and reveals itself in the market. During the ups and downs of the market, some signals indicate that buyers have the upper hand, while others suggest that sellers are more advantageous.

When the market signals favoring buyers significantly outnumber those favoring sellers, the market is likely to tilt toward buyers (and vice versa), which is our perfect opportunity to enter.

The aggregation of these market advantages we are waiting for is referred to as 'trading strategy' in trader terminology. A trading strategy generally consists of a combination of conditions that must be met in the market. Only when market conditions align with the trading strategy does our probability of winning in the market reach its highest.

In some people's view, trading means constantly analyzing market conditions, predicting the next market trends, and immediately participating. But I believe this is a misunderstanding of the market. The market itself is filled with randomness, and for the vast majority of the time, its fluctuations are entirely unpredictable. What we should aim for is not to try every possible way to win in every segment of the market, but to decisively enter when a high probability of winning presents itself. If we compare trading to hunting, what we should do is not to predict the prey's movement path (which is also difficult to anticipate), but to decisively pull the trigger when the prey comes within range.

When you have walked the path of trading long enough, you will find that the essence of trading ultimately comes down to 'waiting'. Learning to avoid chaotic markets and only diving into the market when you are most confident will naturally elevate your trading abilities to a new height.