Professionals know first of all that there is no need to push it. Getting frustrated mentally only hurts your own performance. The market could care less. The first step is to get smaller. Trade smaller share sizes to avoid being whipsawed. The second thing is to use a stock scanner to find tops of ranges for stocks and then fade the moves. When it is clear that the market is not following through use the power of analytical software to find those names that are at either the top or bottom of their 10 or 20 day range. Trade Ideas uses these filters to make such a task very easy.

Once you find the stocks the next thing to do is figure out which ones of those are statistically overdone. One great way to do that is to use daily Bollinger Bands this will find the really oversold issues at the bottom and the really overbought ones at the top. Having access to this information gives the trader an edge in an otherwise stale market that can “bleed” the inexperienced trader through frustration.

Finally understand the market is like the ocean: there’s more than one current in motion. There may be calm waters at the surface but tectonic, violent activity on the ocean floor. A stock scanner that can comb the depths of the market and ‘ping’ all the varied activity makes for a vital, essential tool with which to navigate. See our related articles on this very point:

• Frustrating Markets: Explanation and Your Edge

• Strategy Session: Take Your Stock Trading to New Depths