There’s an old story from the Civil War that is almost too ridiculous to be believed (but it’s real)…
General George McClellan, then the leader of the Army of the Potomac (the Union’s main fighting force), received a set of orders telling him exactly the battle plans of his opposing commander, Robert E. Lee.
The battle plans were verified and detailed, the greatest gift a military commander could be given. These orders told him exactly where the opposing force was planning to march and attack.
With these plans now in his possession, General McClellan could have cut the opposition off at a strategic weak point and done major damage to their forces.
But he didn’t…
McClellan sat on the orders for several days without taking any decisive action.
By the time he did move, he’d allowed Lee’s forces to push themselves along Antietam Creek, giving them a strong position to defend.
The ensuing Battle of Antietam became (and remains) the bloodiest day in American history.
Now, this isn’t just a macabre piece of trivia to start your Monday, there’s a point here.
General McClellan was viewed (incorrectly, it seems) as a brilliant military leader — the best the Union had at the time.
But even after he received the greatest gift a general could receive, he froze.
There’s something deep within the human subconscious, a bias towards inaction, a desire to “wait and see,” no matter the circumstances and opportunities before us.
Traders struggle with the exact same thing.
Sometimes, you can have all the evidence you could possibly hope for of a potential winning trade, and you still sit on it, refusing to take action.
We’ve all been there.
And worse yet, we’ve all been there a few days later, when the trade we knew we should have taken turns into a major win that we didn’t trade.
That’s a real punch in the gut, especially when we think about all the times we’ve rushed into a different trade without the same level of information.
Traders need to learn to overcome the bias towards inaction.
You should always trade with a certain amount of “healthy fear.” Everyone needs to realize that there’s a real risk of loss in trading, and that you should never trade more than you can afford to lose.
But that’s not an excuse for inaction.
When you’ve got all the information you could want in front of you, and you’ve got full confidence in the trade, it’s time to pull the trigger.
Because if you let too much time pass, the opportunity will be gone.
The markets are down so far today as the chaos in the economy and on Truth Social continues apace…
But there will still be plenty of opportunities out there.
If you find an undeniable setup, and you know in your gut that it’s the real deal, don’t let it pass you by. It might just be the chance you’ve been waiting for.
To your prosperity,
Stephen Ground
Editor-in-Chief, ProsperityPub
P.S. Jack Carter went live to reveal three stocks that could see a huge influx of capital this week… grab the tickers here!
