In any competitive arena, the good players are constantly anticipating how the game might unfold.

With patient observation, they are always on the lookout for their opponents’ missteps. The moment an adversary makes a mistake, the pro player bursts into action and dives in to exploit the exposed vulnerability.

Often, the winning person (or team) is the one that makes the fewest mistakes.

Opportunity Baiting

In such competitive games, a tactic commonly used by professionals is opportunity baiting.

The professional sets things up such that the amateur thinks he has chanced upon an easy opportunity… and as the amateur moves in to take the bait, the professional swoops in and takes his lunch money.

In opportunity baiting, a carrot is dangled in front of the unsuspecting victim, leading him to make a poor decision. As he reaches for the carrot, the trap is sprung and he suddenly finds himself at the losing end.

This principle applies to practically every competitive arena. The savvy players are constantly offering “easy wins” to the amateurs who don’t realize they are being baited.

Baiting In The Market

In financial markets, we are usually not able to tell the baiter apart from the baited.

Regardless, the dynamics are such that players are regularly enticed to take actions they normally would not take.

For example, the market misses your entry order by two pips and you end up chasing the runaway price. Or, there’s a sudden news announcement and you try to make a “quick profit” off it. These are just two of the many missteps a trader can make… and there are a lot of them.

As you probably know (or soon will), such rash actions tend to lead to poor outcomes.

Forcing Trades

Good traders are alert, yet patient.

When a setup they’ve been waiting for shows up, they strike without hesitation.

But until that time comes, they are not moved by the price fluctuations that tempt other traders – they choose to conserve their energy for the setups they’ve prepared for, and ignore everything else.

They don’t chase the market; They let the market come to them.

The opposite of this is to force trades, which is the act of pushing into areas that are outside one’s comfort and skill zones.

When forcing a trade, traders unwittingly place themselves in a position of weakness, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

This is why, in every competitive game, the good players are always inciting their opponents to force things – they are trying to get them to compromise themselves.

This is why the market is always enticing you to force a trade.

Let The Market Come To You

The simple solution is to only take action when conditions are as you expect.

This is, however and of course, easier said than done.

Allowing the market come to you is a difficult but valuable skill to learn, and the only way to do it is with practice.