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Emotions

EMOTIONS! Chapter-2In trading, emotions can easily become your biggest enemy, and it's crucial to understand that “you are your own opponent.” The market isn’t against you—it’s neutral, driven by global forces like supply and demand, economic policies, and geopolitical events. It doesn’t care whether you win or lose. The real battle is internal, and your success depends on your ability to manage your emotional responses. Emotions like fear, greed, frustration, and overconfidence are powerful forces that, if left unchecked, can lead to impulsive decisions and costly mistakes. The key to thriving in the forex market is learning how to control those emotions, because if you don’t, they will control you. I learned this lesson the hard way back in 2016. At the time, I had just started gaining confidence after a string of successful trades. That confidence quickly turned into greed. I started taking bigger risks, convinced that I was riding a winning streak. Then, things turned. The market shifted, and I began losing trades. Instead of stepping back and re-evaluating, I panicked. I felt this urgent need to recover my losses, so I started chasing the market. Every time I saw an opportunity, I jumped on it without thinking, trading out of desperation rather than strategy. I kept telling myself I could make it all back with just one more trade, but the more I tried, the deeper I sank into losses. It felt like the market was conspiring against me, but the truth was, I was sabotaging myself. I was letting my emotions dictate my decisions, and that was the real problem. Fear took over when I lost, and greed controlled me when I won. I wasn’t sticking to my trading plan, and I wasn’t thinking rationally. Instead of approaching the market with a clear, calm mindset, I was reacting emotionally to every price movement. It was a vicious cycle—each loss made me more desperate to win, and each win made me more overconfident. I was chasing quick fixes, but in reality, I was only digging a deeper hole. That experience was a painful reminder that in forex trading, the market isn’t there to beat you—it’s neutral. *You beat yourself* by letting emotions cloud your judgment and control your actions. After that tough period in 2016, I knew something had to change. I realized that emotional control was not just a skill—it was a necessity if I wanted to succeed. I had to stop reacting impulsively and start trading with discipline. The first step was getting back to basics: sticking to my trading plan no matter what. I began to follow my risk management rules strictly, using stop-loss orders to protect myself from the emotional urge to "let a trade ride" in the hope of recovery. I also limited the amount of risk I was willing to take on each trade. Instead of chasing profits, I focused on preserving capital and managing risk. One of the biggest changes I made was learning to step away when my emotions were running high. If I felt myself getting anxious, frustrated, or overexcited, I would close my trading platform and take a break. This gave me the space to regain perspective and come back with a clearer mind. I also started keeping a trading journal, documenting not just my trades but also how I felt during them. This helped me recognize emotional patterns—like when I was more prone to making impulsive decisions—and take steps to prevent them. Over time, I developed a deeper understanding of how emotions influence trading. I came to realize that *success in forex isn’t about controlling the market—it’s about controlling yourself.* The market will always be unpredictable, but how you respond to that unpredictability determines your outcome. You can’t let fear make you exit a trade too early, nor can you let greed push you into taking unnecessary risks. By learning to control your emotions, you can make decisions based on logic and strategy rather than impulse. I also learned to embrace patience. Trading is a marathon, not a sprint. The best traders are those who wait for the right opportunities and don’t feel the need to constantly be in the market. Looking back, that difficult year taught me a vital lesson: the market isn’t out to get you; it’s indifferent. You are the only one who can stand in your own way. By mastering your emotions, you can avoid self-sabotage and make rational, calculated decisions that will lead to long-term success. Now, when I trade, I do so with the understanding that my biggest challenge isn’t the market—it’s keeping my emotions in check. Trading with a clear, calm mind has made all the difference, and I know that no matter what the market throws at me, my success or failure depends on how well I manage myself. Happy Trading! -FxPocket
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by FxPocket
Lesson 6: Staying Emotionally Aware in TradingWelcome to Lesson 6 of the Hercules Trading Psychology Course—Staying Emotionally Aware in Trading. Building on the essential traits of Patience, Initiative, and Discipline covered in previous lessons, today we explore the critical role of Emotional Awareness in achieving long-term trading success across all financial markets, including stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and forex. How Can You Stay Emotionally Aware in Trading? Listening to advice and consuming educational content can significantly boost your confidence and help you achieve impressive monthly returns. However, there’s a catch: experiencing high returns can lead to emotional blindness, much like speeding in a fast car without recognizing the potential for a crash. Once you encounter this emotional wall, the decisions you make next are pivotal for your trading future. That’s why maintaining emotional awareness is crucial. Understanding that there are both right and wrong ways to win in trading, especially during periods of success, is essential for sustainable profitability. This lesson breaks down the importance of emotional awareness, covering both the big picture and the intricate details, while emphasizing the fundamental role of money management in any trading strategy. Why Should You Care About Trading Psychology? Risk management is undeniably important, and many traders are becoming more adept at it. While focusing on finding the best trade entries is essential, many overlook another key player: Trading Psychology. This aspect can profoundly influence your trading results. Despite the growing emphasis on risk management, not enough traders are tuning into the psychological components of trading. This gap highlights just how crucial trading psychology is. When traders believe they have everything under control, they might ignore the emotional rollercoaster that trading can bring, undermining their success. What Are Key Strategies for Trading Success? To excel in trading, one golden rule is to avoid unnecessary interference and resist the urge to act as if you know more than your trading system. Stick to these three principles, and you might find success in the long run, even amidst the emotional ups and downs that come with trading. Emotions play a significant role in our lives—from music to relationships—but in trading, it’s vital to keep them in check. It’s perfectly normal to feel emotions, but letting them dictate your trading decisions can be detrimental. Professional traders know how to stay calm under pressure, maintaining a clear and objective mindset. New traders often experience a rush of emotions during winning streaks, leading to common mistakes. Understanding these pitfalls is essential for maintaining a disciplined approach during both profitable and challenging times. How to Set Realistic Trading Expectations Managing your trading success requires balancing consistent returns with emotional control, which can be a rollercoaster ride. Achieving milestones is exciting, but it’s not just about securing wins; it’s about venturing into new territory with realistic expectations. A common trap is believing that your wins are guaranteed—thinking you can achieve a steady 15% profit every month without setbacks. This mindset can lead to overconfidence, making it difficult to sustain long-term success. It’s crucial to set realistic earning goals and understand that trading involves ups and downs. Anyone claiming otherwise might be misleading you. Prepare for challenges instead of assuming trading will always be smooth sailing. How Should You Approach Risk and Returns in Trading? It’s important to remember that if you’re not hitting that 9% monthly return and only achieving 1.5%, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Instead, it’s a classic case of regression to the mean. A steady 1.5% monthly return is actually impressive and can pave the way to becoming a professional trader over time, even if some high performers overlook this perspective. Avoid the temptation to increase your risk just because you think you’re on a winning streak. Such actions can lead to unsustainable returns and significant losses. Look to seasoned investors who stay calm and play the long game, consistently achieving impressive annual returns by focusing on disciplined strategies. When markets take a downturn, refocus on these core concepts to avoid emotional trading and strengthen your grasp on risk management. Why Is Trading Experience So Crucial? Jumping into trading without real experience sets you up for significant struggles. While making a profit feels great, the reality of trading can hit hard sooner or later. When things go sideways, it’s an opportunity to pause and reflect—did you stick to your rules or make impulsive decisions? These mistakes can lead to overtrading, making it essential to review and learn from setbacks. Learning from these challenges allows you to bounce back and tackle the market with renewed strength. Grasping the bigger picture and applying those lessons is key, especially when practicing on demo accounts. How Can Emotions Affect Your Trading? Trading can be an emotional rollercoaster! Many traders find themselves spiraling into different emotional states that can significantly impact their decision-making. To manage these emotions effectively, consider three simple actions: Stay Regret-Free: Avoid feeling regret over successful trades. Instead, focus on the strategy and the process that led to those wins. This mindset helps maintain a clear perspective by the end of the trading year. Avoid Emotional Trading: While it’s natural to feel emotions, don’t let them take control of your trading decisions. Keeping emotions in check allows for more rational and objective trading choices. Learn from Mistakes: Acknowledge that mistakes are part of the trading journey. Use them as learning opportunities to improve your trading strategies and emotional control. By adopting these practices, you can enhance your trading performance and maintain a balanced mindset. How Does Trading Psychology Impact Your Success? Many traders feel disappointed when their performance drops from high returns to moderate ones. Instead of celebrating their wins, they focus on what they missed, which can lead to a negative mindset and hinder future performance. It’s essential to stay flexible and not become fixated on specific performance metrics, especially in volatile markets. Regret can interfere with your trading game, so sticking to a reliable trading system is crucial. Always monitor your risks and be strategic about when to take profits to prevent unexpected losses. How to Move Past Trading Regrets Regret is a common emotion among traders, especially when reflecting on missed opportunities, such as exiting trades too early. Straying from your trading system invites losses over time, as these systems are designed to be effective when followed consistently. Relying on emotions for trading decisions often leads to chaos, particularly for those who can’t adhere to their rules. It’s tempting to increase risks during seemingly easy trades, but this is a result of hindsight bias complicating decision-making. Instead, focus on three key principles to simplify trading and achieve long-term success without overcomplicating the process. Why Staying Focused in Trading Matters Reaching your trading goals is the ultimate objective, but many traders encounter obstacles due to emotional fluctuations. Choosing the right trading path is vital, as the decisions you make are crucial, especially when emotions run high after a win. This lesson delves into not just technical analysis but the entire spectrum of trading, highlighting the essential aspects of trading psychology and money management. For beginners, it’s important to absorb these foundational insights to build a solid trading career. Staying committed to your trading system and continuously improving your strategies ensures sustainable success and minimizes the risks associated with emotional trading decisions. Conclusion: Embrace Emotional Awareness for Trading Success Emotional Awareness is more than just recognizing your emotions—it’s about managing them effectively to enhance your trading performance. By staying emotionally aware, you empower yourself to navigate the complexities of all financial markets with confidence and resilience. In Lesson 6, we’ve explored the importance of staying emotionally aware, the impact of emotions on trading decisions, and strategies to maintain emotional control. These elements are essential for building a strong foundation and achieving consistent profitability across all financial markets, whether you’re a swing trader or a day trader. Action Steps: Reflect on Your Emotions: Assess how your emotions influence your trading decisions. Identify triggers that lead to impulsive actions and work on managing them. Develop a Comprehensive Trading Plan: Create a detailed trading plan that outlines your strategies, risk management techniques, and criteria for entering and exiting trades. Ensure that this plan emphasizes emotional control and disciplined execution. Implement Robust Risk Management: Protect your capital by setting appropriate stop-loss orders, limiting trade sizes, and diversifying your portfolio across different financial instruments. Maintain a Trading Journal: Document every trade to gain insights into your trading behavior and identify patterns that need improvement. Reflect on your trades to reinforce emotional awareness and disciplined strategies. Practice Emotional Control Techniques: Incorporate mindfulness practices, meditation, or journaling into your daily routine to manage stress and maintain emotional equilibrium. Engage with the Trading Community: Join forums, attend webinars, or participate in trading groups to share experiences and gain support from fellow emotionally aware traders. Trust in Your System: Have confidence in your trading system. Understand that managing emotions is a continuous process that contributes to long-term profitability. Ready to take the next step? Continue your journey by enrolling in Lesson 7: Emotional Awareness continuation, where we will develop even further this subject so that you’ll learn how to enhance your trading performance across all financial markets.
CME_MINI:ES1!Education
by exlux
Lesson 4: Handling Losing Streaks – Embrace DisciplineWelcome to Lesson 4 of the Hercules Trading Psychology Course—Handling Losing Streaks: Embrace Discipline for Long-Term Success. Building on the essential traits of Initiative and Discipline covered in previous lessons, today we address a critical aspect of trading psychology: how to handle losing streaks. Whether you’re involved in forex, stocks, commodities, or cryptocurrencies, understanding and managing losing streaks with discipline is vital for achieving sustained profitability across all financial markets. Understanding Losing Streaks Losing streaks, defined as three or more consecutive losing trades, are an inevitable part of trading. They can significantly impact your trading account, erode your confidence, and disrupt your overall performance. However, it’s important to recognize that losing streaks are not a reflection of your trading abilities but rather a natural occurrence within the volatile environment of financial markets. Why Changing Your Approach During Losing Streaks Is a Mistake When faced with a losing streak, the temptation to alter your trading approach can be overwhelming. You might consider tweaking your strategy, increasing your trade sizes, or abandoning your trading plan altogether in an effort to recover losses quickly. However, these impulsive reactions often lead to more significant losses and hinder your long-term trading success. At Hercules Trading, we advocate for steadfastness. If your trading system has been thoroughly tested and proven effective over time, the best course of action during a losing streak is not to change anything. Instead, maintain strict adherence to your established plan and trust in the process you have developed. The Power of Discipline Discipline in trading means sticking to your trading plan and executing your strategies consistently, regardless of market conditions or emotional states. Here’s how discipline can help you navigate losing streaks: 1. Maintain Consistency Consistency is the cornerstone of successful trading. By following your trading plan meticulously, you minimize the influence of emotions and reduce the likelihood of making impulsive decisions. For Swing Traders: Stick to your long-term strategies. Resist the temptation to alter your plan based on daily market noise. For instance, if your plan dictates holding a position for two weeks, avoid the urge to exit prematurely due to minor market movements. For Day Traders: Follow your short-term strategies diligently. Adhere to your predefined entry and exit points, even when the market is volatile. This consistency helps in minimizing impulsive trades driven by emotional reactions. 2. Implement Robust Risk Management Effective risk management is integral to discipline. It involves setting stop-loss orders, limiting the size of your trades, and ensuring that no single trade can significantly impact your overall portfolio. For Swing Traders: Diversify your investments across different financial instruments to mitigate risks. Implement strategies that protect your capital over the long term. For Day Traders: Use strict risk management techniques to handle the high-frequency nature of day trading. Limit your exposure per trade and use tools like trailing stops to protect your profits. 3. Control Your Emotions Maintaining emotional equilibrium is essential for making rational trading decisions. Emotions like fear and greed can cloud your judgment and lead to poor trading choices. For Swing Traders: Develop patience and resilience to withstand market volatility. Avoid making decisions based on temporary market sentiments. For Day Traders: Stay calm during fast-paced trading sessions. Use techniques like deep breathing or short breaks to manage stress and maintain focus. Strategies to Handle Losing Streaks with Discipline 1. Stick to Your Trading Plan Your trading plan is your roadmap. It outlines your strategies, risk management techniques, and criteria for entering and exiting trades. During a losing streak, it’s crucial to adhere strictly to your plan without making any deviations based on emotions or short-term market fluctuations. For Swing Traders: Trust in your long-term analysis and remain patient, allowing your trades to develop as per your plan. For Day Traders: Adhere strictly to your trading rules, ensuring that each trade is executed based on your predefined criteria. 2. Avoid Overcompensating Attempting to recover losses by increasing your trade sizes or making drastic changes to your strategy can lead to a downward spiral. Instead, focus on maintaining a balanced and disciplined approach. For Swing Traders: Maintain your long-term strategies even after experiencing losses. Overcompensating by increasing trade sizes or altering strategies can lead to further losses. For Day Traders: Follow your predefined trading rules without exception. Overcompensating by making larger trades to recover losses can result in significant account depletion. 3. Practice Mindfulness and Emotional Control Techniques such as meditation or journaling can help you stay grounded and manage your emotions effectively. Maintaining emotional balance is crucial for making rational trading decisions. For Swing Traders: Incorporate mindfulness practices into your daily routine to maintain a calm and focused mindset, essential for long-term trading success. For Day Traders: Use short meditation sessions or deep breathing exercises during breaks to manage stress and maintain clarity during intense trading periods. 4. Keep a Trading Journal Documenting each trade provides valuable insights and emphasizes the need for a solid system over mere gut instincts. For Swing Traders: Maintain a trading journal that records the rationale behind each long-term trade, the market conditions at the time, and the outcomes. This helps in identifying patterns and improving your strategies over time. For Day Traders: Keep detailed records of each intraday trade, including entry and exit points, the emotions you felt, and the results. Analyzing these records can help in refining your trading tactics and emotional control. 5. Seek Support and Engage with the Community Engage with a community of traders or seek mentorship from experienced professionals. Sharing experiences and gaining insights can provide encouragement and reduce feelings of isolation. For Swing Traders: Join long-term investment forums or groups where you can discuss strategies and share experiences with like-minded traders. For Day Traders: Participate in day trading communities or mentorship programs that offer real-time support and feedback on your trading practices. Why Changing Your Approach During Losing Streaks Is Counterproductive Losing streaks are a part of the trading journey, and altering your approach every time you face a few losses can lead to inconsistency and undermine your trading system. A well-tested trading system is designed to navigate market fluctuations, and sticking to it during losing streaks reinforces the discipline required for long-term success. For Swing Traders: Allow your trades the necessary time to develop without interference. Overanalyzing or frequently adjusting your positions can lead to unnecessary losses and disrupt your long-term strategy. For Day Traders: Implement strict entry and exit times. This prevents you from getting caught up in the heat of the moment and helps maintain a disciplined trading routine. Embrace the Long-Term Perspective Success in trading is not about avoiding losses but about managing them with discipline and maintaining a long-term perspective. By adhering to your trading plan and maintaining emotional control, you position yourself to capitalize on profitable opportunities when they arise, ultimately leading to sustained profitability across all financial markets. Action Steps: Assess Your Current Discipline: Reflect on how you handle losing streaks. Identify areas where you might be deviating from your trading plan and commit to maintaining discipline. Reinforce Your Trading Plan: Ensure your trading plan is comprehensive and includes strategies for managing losing streaks. Regularly review and update your plan as needed. Implement Robust Risk Management: Protect your capital by setting appropriate stop-loss orders, limiting trade sizes, and diversifying your portfolio across different financial instruments. Maintain a Trading Journal: Document every trade to gain insights into your trading behavior and identify patterns that need improvement. Practice Emotional Control Techniques: Incorporate mindfulness practices, meditation, or journaling into your daily routine to manage stress and maintain emotional equilibrium. Engage with the Trading Community: Join forums, attend webinars, or participate in trading groups to share experiences and gain support from fellow disciplined traders. Trust in Your System: Have confidence in your trading system. Understand that losing streaks are a part of the trading process and that sticking to your plan will yield long-term success. Conclusion: Embrace Discipline to Overcome Losing Streaks Discipline is more than just following a set of rules—it’s about cultivating a mindset that prioritizes consistency, reliability, and resilience. By embracing discipline, you empower yourself to navigate the complexities of all financial markets with confidence and determination. In Lesson 4, we’ve explored the significance of handling losing streaks with discipline, the pitfalls of altering your approach during downturns, and strategies to maintain consistency and emotional control. These elements are essential for building a strong foundation and achieving consistent profitability across all financial markets, whether you’re a swing trader or a day trader. Next Lesson: Patience – The Key to Long-Term Trading Success Stay tuned for Lesson 5, where we’ll delve into Patience, another crucial trait that underpins consistent success in trading. Learn how to cultivate patience to make informed decisions, wait for optimal trading opportunities, and maintain a calm and focused mindset, regardless of market conditions. Hercules Trading Psychology Course is designed to equip you with the mental tools necessary to thrive in all financial markets. By mastering traits like Initiative, Discipline, and Patience, you’ll build a resilient mindset that can withstand the challenges of trading and lead you to sustained profitability. Here’s to your growth and success as a trader across all financial markets!
Education
by exlux
Top 3 Tips on How to Avoid FOMO Trading (Fear of Missing Out)Here you are, casually sipping your coffee and watching the clock go by while you wait for the market to open so you can buy a few shares of your new stock pick. Remember, you chose that one after deep research and careful planning. And then “ WHAM! ” Twitter notifications start flying. GameStop (ticker: GME ) is once again rocketing to the moon after some livestream on YouTube unleashes a huge buying spree. “MUST. GET. IN.” — you, probably, after you get your emotions shaken and stirred by something called FOMO. 🔔 What’s FOMO? FOMO is an abbreviation for Fear Of Missing Out. This little four-word phrase can throw your investment rationale, thesis and analysis out the window so it could settle in your prefrontal cortex where your brain goes to make life decisions. In this blog, we’ll talk about that little gremlin FOMO and what steps you can take to prevent it from overriding your emotions and decisions. And for the sake of your time, we’ll keep it short. Let’s go. 💡 Tip 1: Plan Your Trade Plan your trade in advance and don’t sink into the moment. Knowing your entry, take profit and stop loss before you move into your position will eliminate the urge to rush in when things get hot. 🔴 Problem: News Releases, Earnings Reports We all know how intense markets can get when there are news reports coming out. Company data such as earnings reports or some of America's top economic events , such as the widely anticipated nonfarm payrolls , or the Federal Reserve’s market-moving interest rate decisions can spur volatility and cause trading instruments to seesaw and fluctuate in both directions. And because these events are well-known in advance — the Fed only meets eight times a year — these moments can be an attractive invitation to make a profit. 🟢 Solution: Plan your trade and understand that news reports and earnings releases are a double-edge sword and even if the data supports a certain narrative, i.e. lower inflation = higher gold prices, this isn’t always the case. Take a step back, regulate your breathing and keep your emotions in check. Wait it out until the noise tones down. 💡 Tip 2: Avoid Revenge Trading Revenge trading is the trading you do when you want to get back at the market after getting smacked in the face with a loss. Next time you stare at a losing position, notice if you feel the urge to jump right back in and make up what you lost. That's revenge trading. 🔴 Problem: Losses and Missed Opportunities Taking a beating from Mr. Market can be a painful experience. Yet, not taking the loss the right way can lead to even more pain and wiped out funds. Whenever you’re staring at a losing position, you might be tempted to sell out and jump right back in an effort to make back what you lost. 🟢 Solution: Avoid revenge trading. Recognize that pesky feeling, which — whenever you lose money on a trade — makes you want to pare back your losses with one quick trade. That quick trade could be a) more aggressive (for more potential profit), and b) cost you even more money because you’ve been impatient. 💡 Tip 3: Don’t Chase the Pump Any pump usually has a strong pull, because it makes gains look easy. All you need to do is catch the speed train (or get onboard the rocket ship) and, boom, you're in profit. Although, it's not as easy as it looks. 🔴 Problem: Pump and Dump Schemes Quite often we see some little-known stock or a cryptocurrency with a small market capitalization perform some outstanding moves. It may shoot higher by 100% or more and that may trigger some FOMO in you, causing you to panic-buy and then watch your investment evaporate like snow in water. 🟢 Solution: Don’t chase the pump. It’s simple. A pump can play with your decision-making capabilities and cause you to make irrational choices out of the desire to join the volatility train. But many of those pumps end up as dumps. Pump and dump schemes are real — the gains go as quickly as they came and you don’t want any of that. Final Considerations Forming a deep emotional connection with the market isn’t a bad thing. This place is your passion and you’ve chosen to participate in it, together with its ups and down. What you should pay attention to is how you react to its changing moods and whether you behave logically or illogically to get what you want. Acting illogically can lead you to trip up so you want to distinguish that. Use your emotions to get rational inspiration and excitement about what you want to accomplish. 📣 Your Turn! Have you ever tripped up over a FOMO trade that hurt your account? What was your trigger and subsequent result? Let us know in the comment section below!
Editors' picks
NYSE:GMEEducation
by TradingView
10
The 9 Rules of Successful Investors The world of investing can be a daunting place, especially for beginners . With so many factors to consider and the potential for significant losses, it can be difficult to know where to start. However, there are a few basic rules that all successful investors follow. By following these rules, you can increase your chances of success and avoid costly mistakes. 1. Be prepared to lose money. This is the first and most important rule of investing. No matter how much research you do or how experienced you are, there is always the possibility of losing money. This is why it is important to only invest money that you can afford to lose. 2. Calculate your risk before opening a trade, not during. Before you open any trade, you should always calculate your risk. This means determining how much money you are willing to lose on the trade. You should also set a stop-loss order to automatically close the trade if it reaches a certain price level. 3. Be in a cold state of mind (without the influence of emotions). Emotions can be a major enemy of successful investing. When you are trading, it is important to stay calm and rational. Do not let your emotions get the best of you, as this can lead to making bad decisions. 4. Open positions only in the direction of the trend. One of the best ways to increase your chances of success in trading is to trade in the direction of the trend. This means identifying the overall trend of the market and then trading in line with that trend. 5. Keep a trading journal with a detailed description of each trade. A trading journal is a great way to track your progress and identify areas where you can improve. In your trading journal, you should record details of each trade, such as the date, time, entry price, exit price, and profit or loss. 6. Regularly analyze your trades. Once you have a few trades under your belt, it is important to take some time to analyze them. This will help you identify what you are doing right and what you need to improve on. 7. Constantly improve yourself. The world of trading is constantly evolving, so it is important to keep up with the latest trends and strategies. There are many resources available to help you learn more about trading, such as books, websites, and courses. 8. Give yourself time to rest from trading. Trading can be a stressful activity, so it is important to give yourself time to rest and recharge. Taking breaks from trading will help you stay focused and avoid making emotional decisions. 9. Profit is only what you have taken and have in your pocket (conditionally), not what the open P&L in the position shows, because it is floating and not fixed profit. This is a reminder that profit is not real until you have taken it out of the market. Do not get too attached to your profits, as they can quickly disappear if the market moves against you. Additional Tips for Successful Investing In addition to the 9 rules listed above, there are a few other things you can do to increase your chances of success as an investor: Do your research. Before you invest in any asset, it is important to do your research and understand the risks involved. This includes understanding the asset's fundamentals, as well as the overall market conditions. Diversify your portfolio. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. By diversifying your portfolio, you can reduce your risk and increase your chances of success. Invest for the long term. The stock market is volatile in the short term, but it has historically trended upwards over the long term. By investing for the long term, you can ride out the short-term fluctuations and maximize your returns. Don't panic sell. When the market takes a downturn, it is important to stay calm and avoid panic selling. Selling when the market is down will only lock in your losses. Instead, focus on the long term and ride out the storm. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of success as an investor. However, it is important to remember that there is no guarantee of success. Even the best investors in the world lose money sometimes. The key is to learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward.
Education
by Yaroslav_Krasko
The most important problems leading to lossesThe most important problems leading to losses in the market and how to deal with them "I suffered a series of severe losses, and to this day I still can't recover from it." - this is how an investor friend described the more difficult period he was going through. Life events made him more stressed than usual and on top of that, a series of losses happened to him. As a result, he was unable to return to the market. He sat in front of the computer, looked at the signals being drawn and... was unable to enter a position. During a later conversation, he took out a thick binder full of color printouts of the market. - If I had entered today I would have made a lot of money. I analyze the last few weeks and see how much I would already have in my account. My wife laughs at me for becoming a demo investor. She has already accepted that I sit in front of the screen for hours and don't trade. This story has a fairly neutral ending. The standard of living and the family remained intact, and the investor was left with ample capital to live a quiet life, dating back to his days as CEO. But for many investors, the inability to return to the market is a disaster, as they have to look for another source of income. Other stories end worse. Much worse. Investors lose assets (sometimes not their own), embezzle company money, lose their homes (a loan in the bank against collateral), fall into alcoholism and drugs, get into mental problems. Those who carry emotional problems into the family lead to breakups and suffering. In extreme cases, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder appear, which can drag on for years turning life into hell. In many of the situations described, further trading can be forgotten. The problem of losses and how to react to them is very serious, especially since there are no good sources of solutions that can stop the problem or reverse it at all. What the best traders do differently? To "bite" the problem a few years ago, while researching top investors, I started asking myself questions - how do they deal with losses, what methods do they use, what has allowed them to survive so long without negative side effects? Long-term and systematic profits are surely some kind of guarantee that these people can cope. Studying the best we discovered several reasons, some of them are due to the different approach to the system and the way they trade, some are the mental work techniques they used. According to the research, the best traders approach the system and its results quite differently. First of all , their systems are well prepared and tested. Among other things, this is the result of many years of experience in the market. Good preparation means less stress, weaker mental reactions during the trading, greater resistance to unfavorable turn of events, belief or knowledge that despite difficulties and losses everything will end well. Second - they perceive the purpose of the system and the outcome of a single order differently. Here they fundamentally differ from others. They know that the outcome of a single order is unknowable, so they do not get attached to it. They also know from experience that, for example, at the end of the month they will still come out ahead. Third , the fundamental uncertainty of what the market will do makes them not risk too much, a fraction of the account, hence the high margin of safety. It will allow them to "trade back" many times over. If they risk more) sometimes a lot more) they know very well why it's worth it, they don't make decisions on the spur of the moment. The opportunities they hunt for are very good indeed. Fourth , they know the efficiency of their system and what the maximum sequence of losses can be for them. Knowing the "worst possible variant" is reassuring, being mentally prepared we are better able to withstand a series of losses. In beginners or the unprepared, the strength of reaction is increased by the element of surprise. Subsequent losses only increase the strength of reaction. Fifth , while being with a position in the market, they do not think about its size, they do not treat it as "money". "Think about points, not money," as one billionaire trader says. Recommendations of a psychological nature In addition to the different approach in the "system" layer, we found several differences of a psychological nature between the best and the rest group. The following recommendations are based on them. Each of us has our "pain threshold" for losses, i.e. the level at which we begin to feel them as troublesome. It is a good idea to set your "pain threshold" on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and never exceed it. The pain threshold is mainly due to the level of cash we are used to. "Glass ceiling", that is, the size of the position, which begins to breed stress, even in traders - multimillionaires. Another problem is related to this area, there are situations in which traders reach a certain level of capital and are unable to go further. This effect I call the "glass ceiling" effect. One very experienced trader (a multimillionaire) told me that he feels a lot of discomfort with position size (i.e. possible loss) above half a million dollars. His solution - he doesn't go beyond that size, even tries to stay firmly below it, so he sleeps soundly. Another currency trader told me how he was unable to break through a certain account size for several years. He was able to make a good result quickly (let's say it was 100,000) and then took five times as long to build another hundred. It cost him so much effort that in the end he decided that he would stick to an account size under 100,000 and specialize in what he does best - driving up to 100,000. I have also had to deal with situations where the mental shock was caused not by a loss, but by a large profit made one day (400% of the account on huge traffic after a terrorist attack). This is the result of a strong breakthrough of the "glass ceiling" and the trauma that was created. And as a result of it, the trader for more than a month (until therapy) was unable to return to the market with even the smallest position. The area of "glass ceiling" problems is still quite unknown. According to studies and observations, traders require some kind of therapy or the use of techniques to tame higher levels of profits and losses, because psychological reactions (which always occur) are a block to reaching higher financial levels. For quite a number of investors, even those with good trading systems, achieving the higher level of profits they dream of is impossible for this very reason. Sooner or later (and the better the system, the sooner) they will encounter a level of capital at which they will feel uncomfortable and at which severe stress and great discomfort will begin to appear during the trading. Toxic hope and the desire to trade-back In studying how losses occur and accumulate, I have developed some additional tips. For your own financial security, it's worth treating the desire to trade-back and the greed that prompts you to increase your positions as two very toxic feelings. Hope ("that the market will turn around") works similarly. Some of the traders surveyed have developed a reaction - as soon as these feelings arise they walk away from the platform and do something else while waiting for the market to recover. Other experienced traders at the very beginning of the day - ask themselves an additional question, whether for some reason they are under pressure to trade (for example, because of losses) or whether they feel euphoric after earlier gains (which prompts carelessness). It is good to know that recovery from difficult experiences is possible, only that it requires an individual approach. You can use methods of withdrawing memories, recoding (reframing) their meaning, or something of a lighter caliber if the loss was not very severe. This allows you to return to the market fairly quickly without negative effects. I will describe one such method in the next issue of New City Trader. Thanks to it, a trader who was completely mentally shattered and unable to return to the market after an emotional shock - "got it together" in a few hours. This was one of my most interesting experiences, especially since the effect was practically immediate, and the problem never returned. Summary Summarizing the results of the study, it can be said that one of the goals of investors should be to take care of their mental comfort while trading, and for several reasons. Firstly, our decisions are then better and quite naturally "zona" - the best mental state supporting investors - can appear. Second, we have a better picture of the situation not disturbed by impatience, euphoria or emotional pressure of any kind. Third, if we feel comfortable in our workplace we are eager to return to it, thus avoiding a situation where we feel compulsion and anger when sitting down to analyze. This in the long run can make us hate our job. There's no need for that, after all, we're trying to make money in the market in order to increase the quality of our lives, not decrease it, aren't we? Fourthly, matters of psychology and comfort in investing are becoming better researched and there are more and more effective solutions. Give it a boost 🚀 and drop a comment so we know to publish more for you. Cheers! Follow: www.tradingview.com
Education
by drSwierk
Emotional rollercoaster in trading. Which stage are you at?"The game of speculation is the most uniformly fascinating game in the world. But it is not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the person of inferior emotional balance, or the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor." - JESSE LIVERMORE Consider a trader named Jon, who began Forex trading with high hopes of significant profits. Jon had a solid understanding of technical and fundamental analysis, and on paper had developed a profitable trading strategy and system. However, he was not prepared for the psychological challenges of the stock market... Phase 1: Overconfidence and initial successes In the beginning, Jon executed a few trades that turned out to be very profitable. This initial success boosted his confidence to the highest level. He began to take larger positions, thinking he had a natural talent for forex trading. His overconfidence led to impulsive decisions and excessive risk taking. Phase 2: Reality check Because Forex can be very volatile, Jon soon scored a series of losses. He became anxious and stressed, and began to act chaotically and in a hurry. He opened riskier and riskier trades, and wanted to trade. Losses chased losses. His emotional state worsened, affecting his personal and professional life. Phase 3: Seeking help and education After significant losses and emotional turmoil, Jon realized he needed help. It was natural that he started by changing to another system, then another and another, and... Still without better results, he turned to trading psychology. He learned about typical emotional traps, such as fear, greed, trading with a vengeance "to trade," lack of discipline, and poor mental toughness. He also sought support from mentors. He learned that top-earning traders put 90% of their efforts on psychology. Similarly, in the richest trading funds - they spend huge money on psychological departments and programs to support traders. He sought knowledge on how they do it. Phase 4: Developing emotional resilience Jon gradually began to implement strategies to build mental toughness and manage his emotions. He learned to accept losses as part of trading, stick to his trading plan, beyond emotionally managing risk and capital, and avoid making impulsive decisions. He also practiced mindfulness and relaxation techniques to reduce stress while trading. Phase 5: Consistency and long-term success Over time, Jon's mental strength improved significantly. He was no longer driven by emotional ups and downs. He built discipline and learned to maintain it, and began to manage risk and capital effectively. As a result, his performance stabilized and he began to make steady profits, gradually building more and more capital. This is a typical trader's path, and reflects the typical challenges and experiences that many traders encounter in their "trading life." Unfortunately, in most cases it does not end so positively. Traders are unable (unwilling) to jump from 3 to 4. While it is the mastery of one's psyche that is often the key to long-term success in the forex market. And you, do you like to lose or make money? "Just as professional athletes work on their body and psyche, traders should start to learn about their strengths and weaknesses and create something like a mental gym or gym for themselves. The idea is to be technically better and mentally stronger. If I were to point out a few mental qualities of the best traders it would be the ability to focus in situations of chaos and volatility, the ability to stick to the plan despite everything, the ability to manage one's reactions to highly stressful situations (like special forces). In one sentence... Current traders face a simple choice: either strengthen their psyche and increase their market advantage, or many of them face losses and abandonment of their profession." - Dr. Dariusz Swierk If you liked this post, give it a boost 🚀 and drop a comment so we know to publish more for you. Cheers! Follow: www.tradingview.com
Education
by drSwierk
What are emotions in trading? Where do they come from?We have two channels with which we perceive the world. The first (customarily attributed to the left hemisphere) is the analytical channel - the stream of thought, we usually think is rational. The second (customarily attributed to the right hemisphere of the brain) is the emotional channel. We perceive what is happening around us emotionally. We can better understand the role of both channels when we turn to simple evolutionary biology. Thinking allows us to understand the world: to seize opportunities and avoid threats. Emotions and feelings tell us what is an opportunity and what is a threat. In other words, emotions give meaning to the events we perceive. In the vast majority of people (that's evolutionary biology again), the emotional channel is stronger. People who are completely emotionless are considered cold or even impaired. Strong emotions usually turn off the rational channel, because the primary function of emotions is to identify a threat, "turn off" thinking, redirect blood from less important organs (including the brain) to the muscles, initiate a hormonal response: prepare the body to fight or flee. The same way emotions work in trading. What is emotional trading, emotional investing? The problem begins when the emotional channel begins to strongly dominate the thinking channel. This is when actions occur that traders later say "I don't know how I could have done that". This is how the rational channel sums up thinking and acting under the influence of emotions. But... it just works that way. Strong emotions usually turn off the rational channel, because the primary function of emotions is to identify a threat. Strong emotions are triggered by a strong threat. The emotional reaction triggers a hormonal response which cuts off thinking, pumps blood to the muscles, injects cortisol and adrenaline (we become stronger, tougher and more resistant to pain). It's a survival mechanism - our body prepares to fight the threat or run away. Here you don't need to think, you need to be strong, fast, fit and resistant to pain. Thanks to this, as a species we have survived and dominated the planet. The problem arises when we have this reaction in front of the computer and strong emotions cut off our thinking, while we need a sober judgment of the market situation (a good rational channel) because we are not preparing to fight a tiger or a bear just to re-analyze a position in the market when something unusual has happened. How the best traders control emotions in trading The best traders have both channels functioning well even in the most difficult situations. This means that even under the influence of strong or even very strong emotions in trading, the best traders are able to make good decisions. The best traders are helped in controlling their emotions in trading by several important things: experience proper preparation ability to manage emotional reactions in trading Most of the best traders are able to act efficiently despite their emotions, and even treat them in some cases as a source of information about what other market participants are feeling, e.g. during a market panic. A trader may feel strong emotions in trading, e.g. fear, but will still correctly execute many entries in a row in a market panic. Here, traders who work alone are easier - they can cut themselves off from emotional news, TV and just don't read incoming news. Traders who work in trading rooms find it more difficult, because the atmosphere of panic is shared by everyone. How to control emotions in trading? The best tools to control such situations have special forces. Soldiers there are systematically put in life-threatening situations and they have to act soberly and precisely. The training that the best troops undergo includes breath regulation, process management (I'll explain in passing) and, of course, preparation in real life, simulation and visualization for whatever may happen during a mission. For a trader, there are situations that are critical, just as for soldiers - a few wrong emotional decisions can wipe out capital built up over many months. That's why - breath work, good preparation, awareness of risks and knowing how the stress response works (and inhibiting it) are techniques worth learning. The best traders work on their mental resilience using, among other things, military methods of working with stress (I write more about this in my Top Investor training here, I also describe the exercises used there). And one more thing - special forces soldiers have a much stronger psyche (mental toughness in other words), as do the best traders. And this is also worth working on. What emotional challenges do you have? Let me know in the comments. I will prepare options for solutions. If you liked this post, give it a boost 🚀 and drop a comment so we know to publish more for you. Cheers! Follow: www.tradingview.com
Education
by drSwierk
Unlocking The Trader's PyramidIn the realm of trading, success isn't solely derived from intricate technical analysis. Surprisingly, the key to triumph lies in an unconventional ratio: 20% technical analysis and a staggering 80% blend of emotions, discipline, psychology, risk management, and money management. If you appreciate our charts, give us a quick 💜💜 The 20%: Technical Expertise Yes, technical analysis is crucial, comprising the foundational 20% of your crypto trading journey. This segment encompasses chart patterns, indicators, and market trends. However, it's not the sole determinant of your success. The 80%: The Pillars of Triumph The real magic happens within the 80%. Embracing your emotions, mastering discipline, understanding market psychology, and implementing astute risk and money management techniques form the cornerstone of your success. Emotional intelligence allows you to navigate market highs and lows, discipline ensures you stick to your strategies, and psychological resilience helps you stay steady amidst volatility. Effective risk and money management safeguard your capital and nurture your profits. This symbiotic blend of technical expertise and emotional intelligence propels you towards trading mastery. By allocating your focus and energy according to this pyramid, you're not just trading; you're sculpting success . Let this balanced approach be your guiding light in the trading journey! Happy trading! 💜
Education
by Vestinda
6
Introduction to Behavioral FinanceIntroduction Behavioral finance is a captivating field that explores how human psychology affects financial decision-making. Traditional finance models assume investors are rational beings, making logical choices to maximize wealth. However, behavioral finance acknowledges that emotions, cognitive biases, and herd mentality often lead individuals to deviate from rationality. In this article, we delve into the intriguing world of behavioral finance, investigating the psychological factors that influence investors and traders and how these elements impact their decision-making processes. Cognitive Biases: The Subconscious Pitfalls Cognitive biases are ingrained mental shortcuts that our brains use to simplify information processing. Although helpful in everyday life, these biases can lead to significant errors in investment decisions. Common cognitive biases include: a. Confirmation Bias: Investors tend to seek and favor information that supports their existing beliefs or opinions, ignoring contradictory evidence. This leads to a skewed perception of market trends and an unwillingness to challenge preconceived notions. b. Overconfidence Bias: Many investors overestimate their ability to predict market movements, leading to excessive risk-taking and potentially significant losses. c. Anchoring Bias: This bias occurs when investors fixate on a particular piece of information (e.g., the purchase price of a stock) and use it as a reference point for future decisions, disregarding changing circumstances. d. Loss Aversion: Investors often fear losses more than they value gains, causing them to hold onto losing positions for too long in the hope of a turnaround, leading to missed opportunities. Emotional Influences on Decision-Making a. Fear and Greed: Fear and greed are potent emotions that profoundly impact investment decisions. Fear can trigger panic selling during market downturns, while greed may fuel excessive risk-taking in pursuit of high returns. b. Regret Aversion: Investors tend to avoid making decisions that might result in regret, such as realizing losses on investments. This reluctance may lead to inaction and failure to rebalance portfolios as needed. c. Herding Behavior: Humans are social creatures, and this extends to financial markets. Herding behavior occurs when investors follow the actions of others, even when it may not be in their best interest, potentially exacerbating market trends. d. Availability Heuristic: Investors often rely on easily accessible information or recent events to make decisions, leading to an overemphasis on recent market trends and news. Conclusion Behavioral finance sheds light on the critical role psychology plays in investment decision-making. Cognitive biases, emotions, and herd mentality can lead investors astray, affecting their financial well-being and market stability. Recognizing these psychological factors is essential for investors and traders seeking to make more informed and rational choices. As financial professionals continue to explore behavioral finance, the integration of psychology with traditional finance models promises to enhance our understanding of market dynamics and human behavior in the world of finance. By embracing the insights offered by behavioral finance, investors can take steps to minimize biases and make more objective and strategic investment decisions for long-term success.
Education
by financialflagship
Mastering Emotional DisciplineMastering Emotional Discipline: The Key to Successful Investment Decision-Making Introduction Investing in financial markets can be an emotional rollercoaster. Fear, greed, and euphoria often cloud judgment, leading to impulsive and irrational decisions. One crucial lesson for successful investors is the significance of emotional discipline in investment decision-making. In this blog post, we will delve into the importance of keeping emotions in check and how it can lead to more informed and prudent investment choices. The Impact of Emotions on Investment Decisions Emotions can significantly influence how we perceive and react to market movements and financial news. Some common emotional biases include: Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Feeling the urge to invest in a rapidly rising asset, driven by the fear of missing out on potential gains. Loss Aversion: Placing more emphasis on avoiding losses than achieving gains, often leading to holding onto losing positions for too long. Overconfidence: Being overly confident in one's investment abilities, leading to excessive risk-taking and overconcentration in high-risk assets. Herding Behavior: Following the crowd and making investment decisions based on the actions of others rather than on individual analysis. The Importance of Emotional Discipline Rational Decision-Making: Emotional discipline allows investors to make rational, well-thought-out decisions based on fundamental analysis and research rather than impulsive reactions. Long-Term Perspective: Emotional discipline helps investors maintain a long-term perspective, enabling them to ride out short-term market volatility and focus on their investment goals. Avoiding Herding Behavior: By staying emotionally disciplined, investors can avoid the pitfalls of herd mentality and make independent decisions based on their own convictions. Risk Management: Emotional discipline is essential for effective risk management. It helps investors set and stick to stop-loss levels and position sizes that align with their risk tolerance. Strategies for Maintaining Emotional Discipline Investment Plan: Develop a well-defined investment plan based on your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Stick to the plan, even during turbulent market conditions. Avoid Impulsive Actions: Before making any investment decisions, take a step back, and assess the situation objectively. Avoid impulsive actions driven by emotions. Diversification: A diversified portfolio can reduce the impact of individual asset volatility, reducing emotional stress during market fluctuations. Focus on Fundamentals: Rely on fundamental analysis and research rather than short-term market movements. Solid research provides a more objective basis for investment decisions. Conclusion Emotional discipline is a critical aspect of successful investment decision-making. By recognizing and managing emotional biases, investors can make rational choices aligned with their long-term financial goals. Embrace emotional discipline as your guiding light in the tumultuous world of investing, and let it pave the way to a more confident and rewarding investment journey. Remember, investing is a journey, not a race. Stay patient, stay disciplined, and stay on track to achieve your financial aspirations.
NASDAQ:TSLAEducation
by MindOverMarket
❌Trading Mystery: Why 95% Of You Will Fail❓ 🟥The world of forex trading holds immense allure - the promise of financial freedom and the opportunity to make money from the comfort of your own home. However, it is no secret that the path to success in forex trading is treacherous, with estimates suggesting that a staggering 95% of traders fail to achieve their desired outcomes. So, what exactly goes wrong for these aspiring traders? Let us unlock the creative narrative behind this apparent mystery and delve into the reasons that prevent them from cracking the code. ♦️Lack of Proper Education: Just as successful carpentry requires the right tools, so does forex trading. Many traders dive into the financial ocean without a true understanding of its currents, waves, and hidden dangers. They overlook the importance of acquiring comprehensive knowledge about markets, technical indicators, risk management, and strategies. Without a firm grasp of these essentials, traders unwittingly chart a course for disaster. ♦️Emotional Tempests: Imagine being a captain of a ship, navigating treacherous waters while being plagued by anxiety and fear. Forex trading is not for the faint of heart. As the markets fluctuate, traders battle their own emotions, succumbing to impulses that lead to impulsive trading decisions. Greed, fear, and overconfidence can cloud judgment, causing traders to buy or sell impulsively rather than relying on calculated analysis. Emotion-driven trading inevitably leaves traders shipwrecked amidst the unforgiving tides of the forex market. ♦️Unforeseen Volatility: The forex market is a living organism that reacts to an array of factors, from economic data to geopolitical events. These dynamics can send currency values into a frenzy, defying logic and leaving traders bewildered. Sudden fluctuations, unpredictable trends, or unexpected policy decisions can capsize even the most astute trading strategies. By underestimating volatility, traders find themselves drowning rather than riding the waves. ♦️Inadequate Risk Management: Imagine moving forward without a life jacket while navigating choppy waters. This risky endeavor can lead to dire consequences, just like trading without proper risk management. Successful traders understand the importance of setting stop-loss orders, managing trade sizes, and allocating a portion of their capital to each trade. Those who disregard risk management find themselves sinking beneath the weight of their poor decisions. ♦️Overreliance on Automation: In recent years, the rise of automated trading systems has piqued the interest of aspiring traders. While these algorithms can streamline processes and enhance efficiency, they are not a guarantee of success. Blindly relying on automation without understanding how it works or constantly monitoring its performance may result in unexpected losses. It is essential to strike a balance between human insight and technological support. 🟥The realm of forex trading is a captivating one, tantalizing traders with elusive riches. However, becoming part of the 5% who succeed requires diligence, perseverance, and a deep understanding of the whimsical nature of the market. One must embark on this journey by arming themselves with knowledge, taming their emotions, embracing volatility, implementing effective risk management, and balancing human intuition with automation. Only then can traders hope to navigate the tempestuous seas and emerge victorious in their pursuit of forex trading success. 😸Thank you for reading buddy, hope you learned something new today😸 Do you like this post? Do you want more articles like that?
Education
by ProSignalsFx
5
🧠 THE CYCLE OF MARKET EMOTIONS📍 When starting a trading career, much emphasis is placed on trading strategies, technical analysis, and indicators, which is important. However, as traders gain experience, they may discover that analysis and strategy become more intuitive as they find their specialization in the market. On the contrary, trading psychology often demands significant effort from most traders. It is often overlooked that trading psychology is developed through practice. Some argue that simulated trading lacks realism and cannot adequately prepare traders for the emotional aspects of trading. However, this holds true only if traders have not yet learned to trust a tested strategy. The market emotions run the gamut from fear, despair, hope, anxiety, and even euphoria. It is so common to experience these emotions that you can actually expect them to occur in a predictable cycle. We call it the market of emotional cycle. 📌 Think of it this way: we all start out with optimism – optimism that we are going to make lots of money in the market. Over time we may have trades go in our favor and make lots of money. However, if we aren’t in tune with the normal price cycle of the market, we can ride our profits all the way back down, leading us to despair. The goal, of course, is to become a trader who learns to manage his emotions and make wise decisions. Instead of hope and fear and greed, become a process-oriented trader who can trust his judgment on the market. In the upcoming TV ideas, we will make a deep dive on each parts that effect the trader's psychology and why it does so. 👤 @QuantVue 📅 Daily Ideas about market update, psychology & indicators ❤️ If you appreciate our work, please like, comment and follow ❤️
Education
by QuantVue
2
Market Psychology and Your Trading Decisions✨ Unlocking the secrets of market psychology is vital for successful trading. Here's why: 🔹 Emotions at Play: Fear, greed, and herd mentality significantly influence your trading choices. 🔹 Rational Thinking: Being aware of market psychology helps you maintain a calm and logical approach to decision-making. 🔹 Trend Spotting: Recognizing market psychology enables you to identify potential market trends and reversals. 🔹 Tackling Biases: Self-assessment must consider three biases: 1️⃣ Confirmation Bias: Avoid favoring information that confirms pre-existing beliefs. 2️⃣ Overconfidence Bias (Dunning-Kruger Effect): Beware of overestimating your abilities as a novice trader. 3️⃣ Loss Aversion Bias: Recognize the inclination to avoid losses more than seeking gains. 🔹 Prospect Theory: Understand how prospect theory shapes decision-making, where individuals take risks to evade losses rather than pursue equivalent gains. 🔹 Stay Informed: Stay updated with market news to avoid impulsive reactions to short-term fluctuations. 🔹 Empower Your Trades: An understanding of market psychology empowers you to make informed and rational trading decisions. ✨ Harness the power of market psychology for long-term trading success! 📈💪
TVC:DXYEducation
by Moon_SmartMoney
Self reflectionThe past couple of days has seen EURUSD hit my POI and start to bounce off and head towards my target. While this is nice, the downside is that I have not yet been able to position myself into this trade. This video is just about my emotional state at this moment and some takeaways I need going forward. Initially this was meant to be a private video but in the spirit of transparency and just wanting to be held more accountable to myself I decided to make it public.
Education
by udonahi
1
Getting Over Emotional Barriers to Successful ResultsInvesting plays a crucial role in personal finance, serving as a vital avenue for individuals to expand their wealth and financial security over an extended period. Despite its significance, numerous individuals shy away from investing due to various perceived obstacles that hinder their progress, including a lack of knowledge, fear of risks, and limited resources. Unfortunately, these barriers can impede individuals from reaching their financial goals and securing their future. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the common obstacles that hinder successful investing, and we will present practical tips and strategies to overcome them effectively. Our ultimate objective is to empower individuals by eliminating these barriers, enabling them to make well-informed investment decisions and ultimately achieve long-term financial prosperity. Emotional Aspect Emotions exert a profound influence on the realm of investing, often stealthily shaping our choices and behaviors without our conscious awareness. Fear, greed, and even overconfidence can distort our judgment and result in suboptimal investment decisions. Recognizing and effectively managing our emotions becomes paramount for achieving success in the realm of investing. This article aims to delve into the profound impact of emotions on investment endeavors, pinpoint prevalent emotional biases that can derail our investment strategies, and offer pragmatic advice for navigating the emotional landscape when making investment decisions. By gaining insight into the intricate interplay of emotions and investments, we can enhance our investment outcomes and attain greater financial security for the long term. Lack Of Knowledge The misconception that successful investing revolves solely around buying and selling the right stocks can lead investors astray. This oversimplified viewpoint fails to acknowledge the intricacies of market dynamics and the multifaceted factors that drive investment performance. Moreover, investors often overestimate their ability to outperform the market and unwittingly expose themselves to unnecessary risks. Another common pitfall is the allure of strong performance, which tempts investors to chase the latest trendy sector without fully comprehending the underlying reasons or associated risks. This behavior can result in an unbalanced portfolio with an excessive concentration of funds in a single investment, such as their employer's stock, which undermines diversification. Furthermore, a significant number of investors lack a comprehensive understanding of fundamental investment concepts, such as bonds, interest rates, and central bank policies, which can profoundly impact their decision-making. For example, some investors may avoid bonds altogether, unaware of their potential advantages in situations such as company bankruptcy, or fail to recognize the influence of rising interest rates on bond prices. Lastly, investors often struggle with determining the appropriate time to sell a substantially appreciated stock, failing to capture profits or free up capital for other investment opportunities. This oversight can result in an imbalanced portfolio that excessively favors the appreciated stock, exposing investors to unnecessary risk. Market fluctuations inevitably prompt portfolio readjustments, sometimes to the dismay of investors. Rebalancing involves selling some of the best-performing investments to acquire quality stocks that have lagged. Understanding these fundamental concepts and adopting a more rational approach to investing can empower investors to achieve greater financial success and navigate the complexities of the market with confidence. Concentrating Too Much On The Details Despite many investors proclaiming to prioritize a long-term investment perspective, their decision-making is frequently swayed by short-term market movements and fleeting notions. While the importance of establishing long-term financial goals, such as purchasing a home, saving for education, and preparing for retirement, is widely acknowledged, many individuals neglect to devise sound financial plans to actualize these aspirations. This lack of strategic planning renders their choices vulnerable to the unpredictable fluctuations of the market, heightening the likelihood of impulsive decisions that undermine their ability to achieve long-term goals. Invariably, when the market experiences an upswing, the average investor hastily plunges into stocks and mutual funds in an attempt to capture some of the profits amassed by seasoned professionals. Conversely, during a market downturn, panic often grips the average investor, prompting them to sell investments near the market's nadir. Regrettably, this cyclical pattern frequently repeats itself, resulting in investors enduring substantial capital losses and growing disenchanted with the stock market. Methods For Overcoming Emotional Obstacles To enhance the likelihood of success in investing and trading, several strategies can help overcome barriers. Consider the following tips: Educate yourself: Lack of knowledge is a major obstacle to successful investing. Invest time in learning the fundamentals, including different investment types, risk management, diversification, and market trends. Online courses, workshops, seminars, and financial advisors can assist in expanding your knowledge base. Develop a plan: Create a well-defined investment plan that aligns with your financial goals and risk tolerance. This plan should encompass a diversified portfolio, clear investment objectives, and a strategy for monitoring and adjusting your investments over time. Maintain discipline: Avoid making impulsive decisions driven by emotions or short-term market movements. Stick to your investment plan and resist the temptation to chase fads or engage in impulsive trades. Embrace long-term focus: Successful investing requires a long-term perspective. Don't overly fixate on short-term fluctuations; instead, concentrate on your long-term objectives. Seek assistance when needed: Don't hesitate to seek guidance when necessary. Working with professionals like financial advisors, accountants, or investment experts can provide valuable insights and help develop a personalized strategy tailored to your specific needs. By implementing these strategies, you can overcome barriers to successful investing and increase the likelihood of achieving your financial goals. Conclusion Investing presents its fair share of challenges, often impeding individuals from reaching their financial goals. Emotional biases, limited knowledge, and getting lost in intricate details are common barriers faced by investors. However, by effectively managing emotions, acquiring knowledge, formulating a clear investment plan, maintaining discipline, adopting a long-term perspective, and seeking assistance when needed, investors can overcome these barriers and attain lasting financial success. It is vital to understand that investing is a journey that demands patience, perseverance, and a willingness to learn and adapt. By implementing these strategies, investors can conquer emotional obstacles and make well-informed investment decisions that yield profitable outcomes.
Education
by FOREXN1
26
Why 90% Of Traders FAIL⁉️ Trading is one of the most fascinating and exciting professions in the world. It promises huge profits, financial independence, and the ability to work from anywhere. But with great rewards come great risks, and 90% of traders fail. Why do so many traders fail? Let's explore the reasons. 📚Lack of education: Many traders jump into trading without the proper education or training. They don't understand the market dynamics, technical analysis, and risk management. Trading is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced over time. Without education, traders are like blind people trying to navigate through a maze. 💔Emotional trading: Emotions are the biggest enemy of traders. Fear, greed, and hope can cloud judgment and lead to poor decision-making. Successful trading requires discipline and emotional control. Traders must learn to keep their emotions in check and stick to their trading plans. 📉Overtrading: Many traders believe that more trades translate into more profits. However, overtrading can lead to burnout, stress, and losses. Traders must focus on quality trades, not quantity. 🆘Lack of risk management: Trading involves risk, and traders must learn to manage it. Risk management includes setting stop-loss orders, using proper position sizing, and diversification. Traders who don't manage risks can quickly wipe out their accounts. ❌Unrealistic expectations: Trading is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It requires patience, persistence, and hard work. Many traders have unrealistic expectations about their profits and timelines. They give up too soon or take too much risk in search of quick profits. So, what can traders do to avoid failure? ✅Firstly, educate themselves. Learn the fundamentals of trading, technical analysis, and risk management. Investors can take various online courses for trading like those from Udacity, the Trading Academy, etc. ✅Secondly, manage emotions and develop discipline. Learn how to control your emotions and stick to your trading plan. Traders must treat trading as a business and follow strict rules like any other business. ✅Thirdly, trade with proper risk management. Develop a risk management strategy before starting trading. Use stop-loss orders, never risk more than you can afford to lose, and diversify your portfolio. 🧠In conclusion, trading can be a rewarding profession that offers many benefits. However, traders must be aware of the risks and pitfalls. By educating themselves, managing emotions, and developing robust risk management strategies traders get a good chance of succeeding in trading. Good luck! 😸Thank you for reading buddy, hope you learned something new today😸 Do you like this post? Do you want more articles like that?
Education
by ProSignalsFx
14
Emotions It is impossible to have a prejudice every day. However, it is possible to designate rules, models and criteria in order to exclude decision-making on an emotional basis. Notice, research and record everything that happens before, after and during each of your trades. Pay attention to the time period when errors occur and analyze all the details: triggers, thoughts, emotions, behavior, actions, changes in decision making, changes in the perception of the market, opportunities or current positions, trading failures. Before opening the next trade, remember your previous experience. This will help you avoid repeating old mistakes. The moments after the completion of transactions provide an excellent opportunity to track exactly how you came to this and what thoughts, emotions manifested in the moment. The recording process itself can also help to defuse the emotional state. Your first goal is to reach a level of complete detail in your trading strategy. Continue to map out your behavior pattern in as much detail as possible until you identify the initial trigger and analyze it as part of your trading preparation. During a trading session, try to write down new details. After, combine and analyze your notes to better prepare for the next session. Once you have identified the details associated with your trades, look for the early triggers that come before each one. You may be able to spot smaller errors or notice subtle changes in market perception. For example: you spend too much time on informational noise or make a trade that does not meet all the criteria of your trading plan. Create a working day schedule taking into account the instrument sessions. Set up a timer so that it fires at regular intervals during your scheduled break and doesn't disrupt your work. During this time, take a few minutes to become aware of your thought process and understand how you feel. If there are signs of a problem, write them down. Understand the intensity of the emotions. You may think that anger and frustration are two different emotions, but anger is just heightened frustration. Understanding how an emotion intensifies will help you recognize the details of your behavior pattern, including the original trigger. .... Have you ever faced a situation where, despite having a well-designed trading plan and a carefully crafted trading strategy, your actual trading day turned out to be completely unpredictable? In such instances, your actions deviate from the original plan, and momentary weakness casts doubt on the effectiveness of the entire trading session. These unexpected emotions can catch you off guard. One of the reasons for this is a lack of recognition of what is happening. Emotions often arise as immediate reactions or reflexes triggered by certain events, which traders often misinterpret as problems. Let's consider the example of a loss from a trade. Many traders may become furious and enter positions without following proper trading patterns. However, this doesn't happen to everyone. Instead of expressing anger, some traders easily cope with failures, instinctively understanding the situation and turning it into opportunities. Therefore, a crucial aspect of developing a trading plan is identifying and addressing your own internal struggles, which serve as the underlying cause of the problem. It's important to note that in many cases, the initial trigger for these emotions is subtle and barely perceptible consciously, yet it already impacts your mental stability and your habitual interaction with the market. Even if the trading day starts off on the wrong foot, by regaining composure at the right moment and avoiding impulsive reactions, you can prevent basic mistakes and maintain control over your psychological state, ultimately improving your performance. The secondary arousal occurs when a trader becomes aware of or reacts to the impulses, thoughts, and actions that occurred initially. In simple terms, the mind and thoughts amplify the emotions that have already emerged. In everyday life, people often don't differentiate between these experiences. However, if the source of the reflex is not identified, along with the secondary causes, finding a solution to the situation becomes challenging. Triggers will continue to generate more and more emotions that need to be managed. Awareness of the initial impulse and the subsequent reaction are the two starting points that enable progress. After all, stressful situations can accumulate and overlap, creating a precedent for a cumulative effect. Trading is a business, not a game of chance. This is where it is important to keep a professional mindset while following the trading plan. Hope you enjoyed the content I created, You can support with your likes and comments this idea so more people can watch! ✅Disclaimer: Please be aware of the risks involved in trading. This idea was made for educational purposes only not for financial Investment Purposes. --- • Look at my ideas about interesting altcoins in the related section down below ↓ • For more ideas please hit "Like" and "Follow"!
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDEducation
by Crypto4light
Trading Success Through Journaling: Reflect, Learn & GrowHello traders, today we will talk about how journaling can be a really helpful tool for you in your trading journey. Journaling is a simple yet powerful tool that can help you gain insight into your mental and emotional state, identify patterns and triggers, and make more informed decisions. In this post, we'll explore how you can use journaling to improve your trading performance. 1. Reflect on your emotions: After each trade, take a moment to journal about your emotions during and after the trade. This can help you identify patterns in your emotional responses and provide insight into how certain emotions may affect your trading decisions. 2. Identify triggers: By journaling about specific events that preceded a trade, you can identify the triggers that lead to your emotional responses. This can help you take steps to manage your emotions before they affect your trading decisions. 3. Evaluate your decision-making: After each trade, take a moment to journal about the decision-making process you used. This can help you identify any biases or patterns in your decision-making that may be affecting your trading results. 4. Set goals and track progress: Use journaling to set goals for your trading and track your progress over time. This can help you stay motivated and focused on your long-term goals. 5. Increase self-awareness: Journaling can help you become more self-aware of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This can help you identify any negative thought patterns and work to change them, which can lead to improved trading performance. To make the most of journaling, you should be honest with yourself and write down what you truly feel and think. Journaling is a powerful tool for reflection, learning and making adjustments for the future. It's important to note that journaling is not a standalone strategy, but rather it's a tool that can be used in conjunction with other analysis and indicators to inform trading decisions. Also, you don't need any specific equipment, just a pen and a notebook, and you can journal at any time. In conclusion, journaling can be a powerful tool for traders looking to improve their performance and manage stress. By gaining insight into their mental and emotional state, traders can make more informed decisions and improve their overall trading results. Give it a try and see how it can help you in your trading journey. I would love to hear about your own experiences with journaling in trading. Please feel free to share your thoughts, feedback, and tips in the comments section below. Your input and feedback is valuable to me and to the trading community!
Editors' picks
Education
by m_maia14
42
THE MOST USEFUL TRADING SITES ...and how to utilize themIn this post, I will share the some of the most useful trading sites that are available to you and how you are able to utilize them to your advantage whether it's for fundamentals, charting, analysis, performance tracking, news events or just to follow your favorite professionals and their ideas & education that they share publicly. First and foremost, if you haven't made this your PRIMARY trading platform, I want to encourage you to use and SUBSCRIBE to TRADINGVIEW As we all evolve as traders, I'm sure we can all relate to one thing in common which is hard work and dedication. Trading is one of the hardest professions out there and without hard work, practice and dedication, we know that 90% of traders fail to make it in this industry. TRADINGVIEW gives you all the resources you need to be able to become one of the 10% as it enables you to become a content creator, it gives you a community to research ideas, you're able to watch livestreams, catch news flows, back test & analyze your own strategies and most importantly of all, you have direct support team to help guide you by sharing their own personal trading experiences, publicly as well as privately. Whether your choice of market is Forex, Stocks, Crypto, Bonds, Futures, Commodities or Yields, TRADINGVIEW has all the tools to be able get you well on your journey to become a professional trader. See Figure 1: Subscriptions WWW.MYFXBOOK.COM MYFXBOOK has a variety of different tools to use ranging anywhere from position size calculators, COT data (Commitment of traders), Broker spreads/quotes/volumes, news flows, correlations and most importantly, account linked performance analysis. You may be a full time trader or a part time trader with a 9-5 job, either way analyzing your entries, exits, RR ratio, drawdowns etc. are necessary to find what works and what doesn't. Trading is about probabilities and if you're not making money in 25 trades, you need to reanalyze and change your approach. Myfxbook.com allows you to link your trading platform to breakdown your performance, ultimately being your own coach to find the approach that suits you the best. See Figure 2: Performance Stats WWW.TRADINGECONOMICS.COM As many different crises happen throughout the world (especially the most recent ones within the last few years), understanding how the Federal Reserve operates to manage monetary policy is key to get an edge in your positions in the forex market. TRADINGECONOMICS gives you all the accurate information needed to be able to forecast and research throughout 196 countries like, economic indicators, exchange rates, stock market indexes, government bond yields and commodity prices. Micro and Macro economics are a big part of how this world operates and having access to all the most important information that drives the Feds decisions due to the economy being split between these two realms are valuable as they could be bridged together for more accurate forecasting. See Figure 3: Inflation Rates/GDP Growth (By Country) WWW.FOREXLIVE.COM FOREXLIVE has many different helpful resources to keep you up to date in the market no matter what time zone or trading session you take part in. As our lives are busy with family, day jobs, business endeavors or simply being in different time zones, you may not be able to watch all sessions play out and in fact, taking a break from the screen is healthy for your mind and emotions. The great thing about FOREXLIVE is that you are able to read Session Wraps to keep you up to date with a summary after each session (Asian, European, U.S) completes. Psychology is a big part of why a trader either succeeds or fails which balancing your time on and off the markets are important to detach your emotions from your positions. Set a plan for how many times you will scan the charts a day and fill that in between time with activities like exercising, reading, chores, spending time with your family, going for a walk and much more. See Figure 4: Session Wraps WWW.INVESTOPEDIA.COM INVESTOPEDIA was founded in 1999 headquartered in the heart of New York city U.S. This website provides comparisons of financial products, reviews, ratings, comparisons of different financial products and most importantly, it is a financial dictionary. With the broad range of information provided, it gives readers the confidence to manage every aspect of their financial life. Whether you're learning about money and investing for the first time or are looking to improve your knowledge and skills, anyone from an experienced investor, a business owner, a professional, an advisor, INVESTOPEDIA has all the information to build your skills. See Figure 5: 4 Basic Things to Know About Bonds/Key Takeaways WWW.INVESTING.COM INVESTING.COM is a well known site that offers real-time market quotes, information about stocks, futures, options, analysis, commodities and most importantly an economic calendar. Keeping an eye out for the high impact news events will help you adapt and control the volatility during those peak hours. Another helpful aspect of this site is knowing what will drive the market mood for each upcoming week. The top 5 most important fundamental areas to watch for are explained and broken down to help your forecast and analysis so you can prepare your trade setups accordingly. Applying fundamental analysis along with technical analysis will help you become a better trader as when the high impact news events hit, markets get volatile which could cause a running profit turn into an absolute loss. Knowing when to be in or out of the market is valuable so you don't go into a draw down phase. See Figure 6: Economic Calendar As I only have mentioned a small number of sites that you are able to access, we all know there are so many other ones available out there, paid and free. Researching and spending the time to read to broaden your knowledge in the financial world will only help you grow as a trader and essentially improve your trading results. Check out some more free sites: www.fxstreet.com www.dailyfx.com www.forexfactory.com www.babypips.com Please share the site that most helps you in by leaving it in the comment section. I would love to see the variety of ones available. ** If you felt this was helpful in anyway, please support by hitting the LIKE button and FOLLOW me for more educational and analysis ideas ** I appreciate all the feedback! Thanks Trade Safe
Education
by ktlfx
1
How to achieve profits by managing emotions?Market fluctuations are often a direct reflection of the emotions of market participants. Managing and controlling emotions is essential for successful trading. If you cannot control your emotions, you will suffer from impulsive emotional behavior and make bad decisions, which will harm your trading performance. Negative emotions such as fear, hatred, anger, greed, jealousy, pessimism, and despair can lead to negative consequences for traders. Traders who have negative emotions may lack the ability to leave positions, refuse to accept reality, and blame others, resulting in selling positions only after a long period of price declines, missing the best buying points, and selling too early. Negative traders may also regard failure as a negative, significant, and final result, attributing losses to their own shortcomings or negligence. Everyone experiences various emotions, but people with high emotional intelligence can better manage their negative emotions and vent them appropriately. Emotional control skills can be developed through practice, but it is important to note that this process is a long-term and systematic one. Traders must be psychologically prepared for this. Therefore, no matter what happens, you must control your impulsive emotions. Take a deep breath for 10 seconds, then choose the best course of action. This often leads to more rational and correct decisions. Do not make decisions when impulsive, and do not make promises when excited. By managing your emotions, you gain control over your life. There are various emotions in life, and you must learn to manage and control them. Do not be a slave to your emotions. Manage your negative emotions and cleverly transfer them . Similarly, controlling emotions in life determines emotional control in trading. The three stages of emotional failure leading to trading losses are: 1) being careless before unexpected events occur; 2) being panicked after unexpected events occur; 3) being eager to make up losses after suffering losses. The solutions are as follows: Always respect the market and trade with caution. Approach the market with a trembling, cautious attitude. Once you suffer losses, do not panic. Stop trading temporarily, find the cause, identify the problems, and improve your system. Impatience is the biggest reason for traders' losses. Heavy positions are impatience, opening and closing positions without signals is impatience, frequent trading is impatience, adding positions is impatience, which is essentially greed, wanting to make money quickly. Be patient, make calm decisions, and the market will reward you.
INDEX:BTCUSDEducation
by triumphing
7 Reasons why Elite Traders Crush the CompetitionHello TradingView world, I have been trading for almost 15 years and have learned some serious lessons about trading and the markets. I have also been fortunate enough to interact with many great traders over that time that have helped me tremendously, however I still struggled for a long while and wondered why I wasn’t making the progress I desperately wanted to make. I thought just like everyone else, that if I found the perfect trading strategy, all of my problems would vanish and profits would rain down from the sky like salt bae letting salt drip down off his forearm. Well guess what happened? I ACTUALLY DID FIND IT. In fact, my analysis in the market was so damn good that in 2013 I was invited to speak on a worldwide webinar hosted by Daily-FX which was then owned by FXCM. I’d have a 50 pip stop with a 500+ pip price target and I was nailing the trades left and right, so this was the reason I was invited on. I was working at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during this time and I ended up leaving that job to trade full time that same year. Things went smoothly for a while. I partied… A LOT. Did all kinds of reckless and stupid things with my time and money and I ultimately lost it all by 2015. I pondered for a long time about what happened and once I removed my ego and stubbornness, I figured out that what makes a trader great has nothing to do with the outside and has everything to do with the inside. This is the TRUE secret of trading success. It’s all about YOU and how YOU approach trading. There is so much more to the story but without further hesitation, based on what I have learned from other great traders and have personally learned through brutal hard lessons, this is why Elite traders crush everyone else in the market and if you begin employing these lessons in your own trading, I can guarantee that you will see a dramatic change in your results. #1 - ELITE TRADERS ARE LEAGUES ABOVE YOU IN PATIENCE Everyone gets into trading for one thing and one thing only; to make money and to make as much of it as possible. One thing that the majority of traders do is that they also want to do it in the FASTEST way possible. This is where they screw up but is it any surprise that this is the case? I mean look all around you in terms of social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) it’s all over the place with people touting “Watch me turn $1,000 into $10,000 in just a few days!” … This gets views, it gets attention and it encourages other traders to continuously take on massive risks in order to achieve this. Is it possible to do? YES, because many traders (Including myself) have done it but what does it also do? It creates detrimental habits that keep you in this mindset of turning a small account into a large account quickly and then that one day comes when you take on massive risk on a trade that looks “good” but ends up going violently against you for a huge loss or COMPLETE destruction of your account. Another factor is that the majority of traders want to be in the market ALL of the time. They can’t resist staying out and staying flat during times of uncertainty or when the charts aren’t clear enough to validate putting their capital at risk. Elite traders can wait hours, days and even WEEKS before putting on another trade because they understand, their trading opportunity is not yet clear and they rather wait as long as possible in order to enter the market at the most optimal time and conditions. Think about it; do you want to be in the market on a consistent basis? Are you able to wait a few days or a few weeks before putting on a new trade? It’s a very difficult thing for many traders to do while Elite traders have mastered the game of patience to their advantage. It’s not a matter of how long is the next trade going to take to develop? Rather, I’ll take the next trade when the optimal conditions are met regardless of how long it takes. #2 - ELITE TRADERS KNOW THEIR OWN WEAKNESSES Everyone has weaknesses whether we like to admit it or not. Some traders are severely impatient, some have a problem with risk management, some have a problem with making impulsive trades and become reckless, some have a problem with over analyzing their charts or trying to look at multiple markets at the same time, etc. Most traders either try to suppress them or choose to ignore them completely and this causes many to struggle and stay frustrated. Have you ever thought to yourself, “Shit, why did I do that!?” or “Why did I get out when I should have stayed in” or “Why did I chase it! I knew I should have stayed out” … There is a weakness there that you have not learned to master or work on improving it. Even if you finally acknowledge it and try to write it down or post it on your wall by your trading desk… You STILL end up making that mistake and frustration takes over. Elite traders through trial and error have learned to master their INTERNAL trading character. They know what triggers them and have found a way to stop it in its tracks so that mistakes are kept under control. They also understand that when these weaknesses start to creep up on them, they can identify WHY it’s happening and talk themselves out of it. For example, if the market is rising and it looks like it’s going to get away from them, they understand that by chasing after it, the market could turn around and leave them with an unnecessary loss or trap them in a position that they should have not gotten into in the first place. Their attitude is “The market did not give me the optimal trading opportunity that I wanted therefore I will wait. Let the market do whatever it’s going to do, I don’t care. I only care about my optimal trading opportunities” This tie’s in with reason #1 (Patience). They will not let ANYTHING force them into trades they shouldn’t be in. #3 - ELITE TRADERS FOCUS ON ONE MARKET/PAIR/SECTOR This is not only true of trading but life in general, focusing on one thing and mastering that one thing to become great at it. There are a multitude of instruments and markets to trade and it gives us traders the freedom to choose where we’d like to put our capital to work but as many of us know, too much choice can actually be a bad thing. When it comes to the Forex market, we have many pairs we can work with and that can actually be a problem. Everyone has a watch-list of pairs that they want to trade but is that causing you more trading struggles for you or keeping you confused? Whether the answer is yes or no, why are you doing that? And the answer is most likely because you believe it presents more trading opportunities but that is not always the right way to go about things. Each pair moves and reacts differently during certain market conditions and what works well on the EUR/USD may not work on the GBP/JPY. While the EUR/USD moves at a more stable pace and a big day would be considered a 1% move, the GBP/JPY can become wildly explosive and relentless when it comes to market volatility. Elite traders know this and they stick to ONE thing and become a master at it. I personally stick to the EUR/USD and that is MORE than enough to make profitable trades on. Elite traders do not divert to other markets or other pairs to try and make more profits but they lock down and focus on that one pair and crush it. It’s not common for the majority of traders to do this because they feel that they will be missing out on other trading opportunities but are they really? Or are they just finding multiple ways to take losses? In order to trade this way, it would require the ability to stay incredibly patient but it would allow for you to stay away from multiple charts and remain disciplined while not putting your capital at risk and avoiding impulse/emotional trades. This is not common but then again… this is why Elite traders do it and the majority does not. #4 - ELITE TRADERS PREFER A LONGER TERM OUTLOOK Just look at the screenshots of charts scattered on trading forums, social media or any other discussion outlet, more times than not everyone’s looking at the 1 Minute all through the 4 Hour time frames. You’ll find a few daily charts here and there and even less Weekly+ charts. Most traders want to be in the market every day and this is why Day trading is so enticing, it gives them a reason to log in, open up their charts and look for trading opportunities to make money. That’s a Mistake. You’re probably noticing that the previous 3 reasons tie into this reason and that’s because this is just another manifestation of lack of patience or inability to focus on one thing. Short term charts give the impression that there will be more moves to get in and out and not staying in a position overnight. Yes, I get that some traders out there prefer to just get into the market and then be done with it at the end of the day but more times than not, you’ll end up making impulsive trades that creates a string of losses if you don’t have your emotions in check. Elite traders like to look at the “whole picture” and prefer looking at the daily charts and up. Since longer time frames take time to develop, this is perfectly fine for them as it gives them more time to prepare for the upcoming trade and analyze the levels, they want to take a position and take profit. Once they enter a position, they set their stop and let the market work for them. They don’t need to check their positions multiple times per day since they know the market will take its time doing what it’s going to do and therefore have time for other activities in their lives or businesses. #5 - ELITE TRADERS VIEW TRADING FROM A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE “How much can I make per day”, “How much can I make per week” or “How much can I make per month” … This is what you’ll usually hear from the majority of traders but how many times have you heard “We’ll see how performance looks at the end of the Quarter”? I’m willing to bet, not many. There is a lot of hype about how much can be made in one day or week but trading is not about just one day, one week or one month, it’s about the long game and how results look over time. Some Elite traders even go as far as looking at profit-loss on a yearly basis but because market conditions change throughout the year, reviewing how performance looks like at the end of the quarter is preferable. There is no rush to try to make a gain at the end of the day, week or month. Spacing out P/L review allows opportunities to both develop and play out especially if the market is trending. Elite traders don’t mess around in the market either, this is not a game or hobby for them while many amateurs in the market don’t take it as seriously as you would think. They know that the market is a battlefield and the other side of the trade won’t hesitate for a Nano-second to take their money. They understand that trading should be treated with the same care as running a business and properly deploying their capital out into the market is essential in bringing back even more capital for future trading opportunities that yield larger profits. Although trading is now offered to the masses and anyone can pretty much open a brokerage account and begin to trade, there are millions of traders that are misinformed and approach the market incorrectly and unprofessionally. “But, I’m not looking to trade professionally, I just want to trade casually” sure, that is completely fine however guess who’s going to eat you alive in the markets? That’s right, the Elite traders who do take things seriously and professionally. #6 - ELITE TRADERS PROTECT THEIR CAPITAL AT ALL TIMES In the boxing world, what is one of the warnings referees issue to the fighter’s right before the fight begins? “Keep your hands up and Protect yourself at all times!” and for good reason, right? So that they do not put their hands down and get a crushing hard punch to the head that knocks them out cold. It doesn’t matter how well you trained or for how long you’ve trained because one lazy mistake can cost you the fight, in some cases brutally. If you’ve been in the trading scene for any length of time, you have read or heard it countless times “manage your risk, manage your risk, manage your risk!” but how many traders ACTUALLY do it? You’d be surprised at how many do not do it at all because it’s painful to do. Painful? How so?... Well, it requires one to make small gains over time instead of putting the pedal to the metal and use high leverage on one single trade. That’s very difficult for the majority of traders to do because that means no “Account Flips” or trying to hit a homerun trade every single time and let’s face it, everyone is trying to get “rich” quickly. Elite traders know that just one mistake of not practicing sound money management by either not using a stop loss or using too much leverage can be extremely dangerous to their account and they know that it’s just not worth it. On another note, they understand that following risk control is instilling good and strong habits for their subconscious mind and it will carry along for the rest of their careers if they just stick to that simple principle. If there’s one major reason the majority of traders fail while a small percentage of traders make money consistently, it’s a lack of risk management and account/capital protection. Before you step into the unforgiving arena (Forex) be sure to protect your account at ALL times! Keep your "Guard" up and play defense! #7 - ELITE TRADERS AVOID DISTRACTIONS AND NOISE This is a pretty interesting and controversial one. It can be difficult to ignore the distractions and noise because us traders want to be part of a group or community so that we can share ideas and forecasts along with everyone else but sometimes, you’ve got to be careful with this. You may have an idea or outlook that goes against what others think is going to happen and it could get you off track. You may have experienced this a few times where you believe the market is going to go in one direction and others share the complete opposite view which then causes you to doubt your analysis. You end up cutting the position too early for fear of being wrong and ultimately the market goes in the direction you thought it would and you’re left frustrated. Distractions can also come in the form of upcoming economic data such as the Federal Reserve coming out with Interest Rates or its chairman Jerome Powell talking about certain economic projections. Volatility spikes up and it sucks you into the hype but if you have a sound trading strategy and rules, you may have noticed that even during high volatility, the market still respects order on the charts. It just moves as a faster pace. I have personally experienced this through my years of trading, in fact a recent memory comes to mind in 2020. I was invited by an online friend to a private Meta trading group and I wanted to offer some help and insight into what I knew, so I shared a screenshot of my outlook of the EUR/USD going forward. It was a powerful chart pattern I had seen countless times on the weekly chart and the EUR/USD was trading around 1.0850. Once I shared my screenshot calling for the Euro to make a strong 1000+ pip move and trend towards 1.2000 to 1.2200, some other group member immediately called my analysis a joke and that chart patterns were garbage and useless. I was going to retaliate back but I thought to myself, this is childish, unprofessional and really unproductive, so I immediately left that group. My friend apologized and said the other guy had a chip on his shoulder because he was former banker for a massive global investment bank (I won’t say which one but I can guarantee you, everyone knows it). I appreciated the apology and left it at that. I the end, all that mattered to me was that as the months went by, the EUR/USD did in fact trend towards the exact projected price levels. That was a lesson for me to avoid detrimental opinions from others. Elite traders know about this type of noise and are sure to remove any of that from their trading. This is why many stay “undercover” and you don’t really hear about them. They stay under the radar and just do what they do and do it well. The overall lesson here is that a community should be about helping others and uplifting them, even when they’re wrong. No matter how great a trader is, he/she still deals with losses and nobody is ever correct 100% of the time. Trading is already difficult, so by encouraging and helping others become better at trading the markets, everyone improves as a whole. Conclusion There you have it, just some of the basics of what Elite traders do and what has transformed my own trading results tremendously. We all know that there are a variety of ways to approach the market but if there is one takeaway from all of this is that, Top Level traders have learned to master themselves and how they mentally approach trading. It’s actually quite simple and straight forward however it can be hard to implement in real time but that doesn’t mean that it cannot be done and transform your own trading. I wish you the best in your trading journey. I personally know it can be VERY tough but it's well worth it. Keep at it and never give up.
Education
by InternalTraderNYC
4