Most traders are already dead money by the time Monday rolls around.

This morning many are scrolling through social posts or Reddit threads looking for conviction instead of building their own. 

You can’t afford to lose confidence as an options trader.

The best traders I know don’t show up on Monday morning looking for action. They show up ready for action, if it comes. 

The market doesn’t owe them anything and doesn’t care what they think. 

What matters most is how sharp they are when it’s time to act. 

You don’t need five trades queued up on a Monday, and you don’t need to force. 

Queue Up the Zen

So, what do you really need to kick off the week? 

Clarity.

And clarity comes from preparation, technical and mental. 

If you blow your focus on sloppy trades early in the week, you’re stuck digging yourself out before you even get to Wednesday. 

And digging out takes a hell of a lot more energy than stacking small wins from a clean slate.

You’ve got to start thinking like a sniper.

I don’t get excited unless my setup is screaming at me, and even then, I still ask, “Is this the best use of my capital this week?” 

Most of the time, it isn’t. 

Instead, I’m watching and waiting for the sheep to jump into garbage trades so I can spot where the real move is setting up.

Discipline looks boring to people who crave action. 

Fortune Favors the Patient

When I started out on Wall Street, I was lucky enough to learn not to mistake movement for opportunity. 

If you can stay patient when others get sloppy, you’ll clean up. It might not be today, but it’ll happen. 

And when it does, you’ll be capitalized, focused, and ready, not stuck in recovery mode from some impulsive play you knew better than to take.

Most people can’t handle the stillness. They mistake quiet for weakness. 

But the traders who learn to sit still, to watch, to stalk — that’s where the edge lives. 

So if you’re staring at the screens this morning feeling like you have to trade — stop! 

Take a breath and ask yourself: “What am I really trying to accomplish here?” 

If the answer isn’t clear, close your platform and go do something else for a while. 

You’ve got nothing to prove today, so let the setups come to you.

Stay Street Smart,
Jeff Zananiri