Forgotten Profits Trade Setup Archive
Below you'll find Ian's setups stacked up and ordered chronologically. As this service once resided at another home, the alerts only go back to mid July. For a full track record, see the portfolio.Boredom In Trading Psychology
Boredom in Trading: Why Doing Nothing Is One of the Hardest (and Most Profitable) Skills
One of the least discussed — yet most destructive — forces in active trading is boredom in trading psychology.
Not fear. Not greed. Boredom.
Sitting in front of a screen, watching price tick back and forth, waiting for something to happen, creates a very real psychological discomfort. When traders don’t understand boredom in trading psychology, that discomfort often pushes them to manufacture trades instead of waiting for valid ones.
We saw a perfect example of this today in the War Room when Paul asked about a trade he put on in
SLV, the silver ETF.
A Real-Time Example of Boredom-Driven Trading
Paul’s thesis was simple and familiar: silver looked parabolically extended to the upside, and that extension meant it was “due” for a correction. Acting on that belief, he began shorting SLV.
The problem wasn’t just the initial idea — it was what followed.
As SLV continued to hold strength and grind higher, Paul added more short positions. Four or five legs in total. Each new entry wasn’t based on a fresh signal, a breakdown,
or a change in market structure — it was based on waiting.
Every pause. Every stall. Every moment where price failed to tick higher fast enough became justification to add risk. This is how boredom in trading psychology quietly
overrides discipline.
Key insight: The longer a trader stares at a screen without a plan-trigger, the easier it becomes to confuse hesitation with weakness.
When Screen Time Replaces Market Context
One of the most dangerous effects of boredom is how it narrows perception. Traders stop asking why a market is moving and start focusing on why it hasn’t done what they expect yet.
In this case, SLV’s extension higher likely reflected geopolitical uncertainty, including developments in Venezuela — a backdrop that often supports precious metals.
But boredom strips away context. The market stops being an information system and starts feeling like a debate you’re trying to win.
This mindset is closely related to what we explored in
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda: The Most Expensive Mindset in Trading,
where traders become emotionally attached to being right instead of being aligned.
Why Doing Nothing Feels So Uncomfortable
The brain is wired to resolve uncertainty. When nothing is happening, it looks for action as relief. In trading, that relief often shows up as impulse entries.
This is why boredom in trading psychology is so dangerous — it disguises discomfort as analysis.
- “It looks tired.”
- “It can’t keep going like this.”
- “I’ve watched this all day — I know it’s about to turn.”
These thoughts feel rational, but they usually have more to do with tension than with edge.
We’ve discussed this overlap between boredom and urgency in
How to Stop FOMO in Trading,
and again in
Patience: The Skill Every Trader Thinks They Have.
The Two Psychological Traps Boredom Creates
1. Getting Rewarded for Bad Behavior
When boredom-driven trades work, the brain learns the wrong lesson: that persistence or size can replace discipline.
2. Getting Punished and Questioning Yourself
When those trades fail, traders don’t just doubt the idea — they doubt their competence.
This erosion of confidence is something we address in
Trading Discipline and Execution: Why the Plan Always Wins
and
The Perils of Holiday Trading,
where inactivity and low-quality environments magnify psychological mistakes.
Reframing Boredom as a Professional Skill
Professional traders don’t eliminate boredom — they learn how to coexist with it.
Mastery of boredom in trading psychology means understanding that boredom is often a signal that no edge exists right now.
- Stepping away when no setup exists
- Letting momentum invalidate bias
- Separating familiarity from opportunity
- Allowing patience to do the heavy lifting
Bottom Line
Boredom in trading psychology doesn’t announce itself loudly. It sneaks in during quiet moments and convinces traders to act simply to feel productive.
But the market doesn’t reward activity — it rewards alignment.
Sometimes the most disciplined trade you can make
is no trade at all.
Nvidia AI Demand Trading Outlook
Nvidia’s “Tremendous” AI Demand Message: What Traders Should Watch as Vera Rubin Heads Toward Launch
Nvidia didn’t need an earnings surprise to move the conversation this week. At CES, the company reinforced a simple narrative:
Demand for AI and accelerated computing remains strong — and the next platform is already in motion.
For active traders, this is exactly the kind of backdrop that shapes intraday behavior: how price reacts at levels, how momentum sustains (or fails),
and whether dips get bought with conviction or just “supported” into chop.
The Catalyst: Consistent Messaging + A Clear Timeline
During a CES fireside chat, Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said demand for AI and accelerated computing is “tremendous,” and emphasized that the company is
positioned to bring the Vera Rubin platform to market in the second half of 2026.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang also stated the Rubin platform is in full production.
Traders don’t get paid for knowing the headline — they get paid for understanding what the headline does to positioning, volatility,
and the market’s willingness to reprice expectations. When the message is “demand is strong” and “supply is planned,” it tends to:
- Reduce panic selling on pullbacks (buyers show up faster at support)
- Increase rotational trading (range expansion intraday, but slower multi-day follow-through)
- Make breakouts harder (because “good news” is already expected)
What Vera Rubin Means in Trader Terms (Not Engineering Terms)
Rubin isn’t just “the next GPU.” It’s an integrated platform that combines multiple components — including the Rubin GPU and Vera CPU —
designed to improve training and inference efficiency. Nvidia has also highlighted major cost improvements for inference versus the current generation.
Here’s the trading takeaway: efficiency is the bridge between hype and adoption.
When cost-to-inference drops, demand doesn’t just stay alive — it can broaden. That matters because NVDA is not just a stock; it’s a
sentiment anchor for the AI complex and semis broadly.
If you’re trading NVDA (or semis as a group), treat Rubin headlines as a structural tailwind — not an automatic breakout trigger.
In this phase, it’s less about “buy the news” and more about “trade the reaction at levels.”
Why NVDA Didn’t Explode Higher (And Why That’s Normal)
After a dominant trend, markets shift from repricing growth to trading expectations. Nvidia’s leadership in AI is no longer a surprise —
It’s the baseline assumption. That creates a familiar pattern traders should recognize:
- Headlines support price, but don’t necessarily accelerate it
- Rallies fade faster because profit-taking is “mechanical,” not emotional
- Levels matter more than narratives (breaks and holds become the edge)
In other words, this is where traders get chopped when they trade the story instead of the structure.
If you feel yourself slipping into urgency, review our performance psychology work on execution and patience — because the market
often punishes the trader who “knows” more than it rewards them.
A Trader’s Checklist for AI-Headline Sessions
- Define your levels first. Headlines create volatility; your levels generate the trade.
- Wait for the reaction. The first move is often positioning. The second move is information.
- Don’t chase strength into known resistance. That’s where “good news” becomes a liquidity event.
- Scale expectations to the environment. If the tape is rotational, trade rotationally.
- Protect your decision quality. Fatigue and FOMO are the fastest ways to turn a solid plan into a bad entry.
Related TraderInsight Reads
If this topic hits your workflow this week (NVDA, semis, AI leadership, volatility), these articles pair well with today’s narrative:
How To Stop FOMO In Trading
— How good ideas become bad trades when urgency replaces entry discipline.
Patience: The Skill Every Trader Thinks They Have… Until They Really Need It
— Why waiting for confirmation is a skill, not a personality trait.
The Subtle Shift That Causes Big Losses
— The small execution drift that turns controlled trades into avoidable drawdowns.
China’s AI Breakthrough Rekindles Volatility in Big Tech — What Intraday Traders Need to Watch
— How AI headlines change the intraday playbook for leadership stocks.
AI Chip Boom – the New Playing Field
— Competition, opportunity, and risk as the AI cycle matures.
Call Walls and Put Walls
— Options-driven “walls” that can box price and create tactical intraday trades.
How Overnight Futures Influence the Next Day’s Stock Market
— A practical framework for reading premarket context without overreacting.
Browse the TraderInsight Article Archives
— Search by theme: psychology, discipline, volatility, strategy, and more.
Bottom Line
Nvidia’s message is supportive: demand is strong, the next platform is underway, and supply planning is already in place.
For traders, the edge is not predicting the next trillion-dollar narrative — it’s executing cleanly in a market where leadership names often shift from trending to rotating.
Trade the levels. Respect the tape. Let the headline be context — not a trigger.