Why Most Traders Lose Money - Here Are The Top 3 ReasonsAnyone that has been around the markets and trading for any period of time has probably heard that most traders lose money.
In fact, there’s actually an old trading adage that says:
90% of new traders will lose 90% of their account within 90 days.
So after reading that, before you reach for your broker’s phone number to wire out all of your money… how about I let you in on a little secret:
If you follow some simple rules and avoid these 3 mistakes, you can be in that minority of traders that actually make money consistently in the markets.
And if you are currently making one or all of the mistakes, I’ll also show you exactly how to fix it.
So let’s dive in!
1) Most Traders Enter A Trade Too Late
The first thing on my top 3 reasons why traders lose money is: Most traders get into trades WAY too late!
There are a lot of reasons this happens, but most commonly it’s because new traders are basically gambling. They’re buying stocks or options based on news, or a hot stock tip, which really isn’t what I would consider a strategy.
So let me give you a great example with a company I’m sure you’ve heard of: Uber Technologies (Yes, enemy #1 for taxi drivers worldwide.)
Last year Uber, known for its popular ride-sharing and food delivery services, IPO’d in May (2019).
With the disruption this company caused, their IPO had a lot of hype surrounding it, bringing a lot of investors to the table.
On the day of their IPO, UBER opened at $42/share and people poured into the stock.
For a few weeks, the stock had a turbulent, roller coaster of a ride all the way to as high as $47.08/share, a little over a 13% increase since its IPO.
And around this new high, more and more inexperienced retail traders piled in thinking that it would continue its bullish run with dollar signs in their eyes.
The mainstream media was continuing to hype it and more and more and investors and traders gobbled up more of the stock.
Looking at the image below, you’ll see after that high of $47 things got UGLY fast, with UBER falling day-after-day, week-after-week.
It wasn’t until November of 2019, about 7 months after their IPO that UBER found a temporary bottom at $25.58, down more than 45% from its high of $47.08… and I would bet there were a LOT of people who bought near or at the highs and were still holding at that point.
So what did retailer traders do when UBER made a bottom?
Yes, once again most (losing) retail traders didn’t get in at, or even around the bottom… once again, they piled as UBER neared its previous highs.
And as you’ll see yet again, UBER rolled over on its way to making another new all-time low this past March 2020 going all the way down to $13.71/share.
That’s more than a 70% decrease from its ATH and yes, I’m sure some investors rode it all the way to the bottom.
Now I want to share a second example with you, so let’s take a look at Amazon (AMZN).
So as you know, AMZN is a HOT STOCK, and last year it has a crazy move where it crossed $2000/share…. and yes, just like our example with UBER, inexperienced retail traders piled in at the very top.
Once again, in the weeks that followed, AMZN’s stock tanked leaving those who’d piled in dazed and confused, now holding onto sizable losses.
So as you can see, the first of my top 3 reasons most traders are losing money is simply because they’re piling in way too late in a stock’s move, generally near a high.
Now on to reason number 2:
2) Most Traders EXIT Too Late
Yes, as you can imagine if people are getting in too late, well, they’re also typically getting out too late as well.
So let’s talk about why this happens. Why do retail traders tend to hold onto trades way too long, either turning a small loss into a BIG loss or sometimes even more painful, turning a winner into a loser?
Let’s take a look at another example with an UBER competitor, LYFT .
Like UBER, LYFT also had its IPO in 2019, opening up at $87.24/share… but that didn’t last long.
In less than two months, LYFT went as low as $47.17… and what do you think those who bought during the IPO are saying right about now:
“Oh, I’m holding it because IT WILL TURN AROUND!”
This is generally where I see traders get religious 😉
Instead of ‘taking their medicine’ and getting out when the trade moved against them, they held on and are now pleading and praying the stock will turn around.
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but ‘hope’ is not a strategy… at least not one with a winning trading record.
Now on to number three in our list of top reasons why most traders lose money:
3) They Don’t Have A Trading Strategy
As you’ll see, I’ve saved the best for last as this one alone can help fix or eliminate the other two we just discussed.
So first, let’s answer this question: What Is A Trading Strategy?
Well, a trading strategy gives you three key pieces of information you need before ever entering a trade:
1) It tells you WHAT you are trading. Is it stocks, options, futures, cryptocurrencies? This is answered in your trading strategy.
2) It answers when you ENTER a trade.
3) It answers when you EXIT a trade and that’s exiting with a profit or loss.
Now, let’s take a look at an example here using TSLA on how I make decisions trading.
I like to look at three different indicators, that when in alignment, give me a clear signal to go long or short a stock or ETF.
As you can see on the charts, back in December of last year (2019) my indicators gave us a long signal on TSLA at around $370/share.
TSLA Chart
And the indicators told me we were good to go until around $850/share. All I had to do is let the indicators tell me when to get in and when to get out… no guessing, hoping, or praying.
Summary
So as you can see, there’s actually no big secret to why most traders are losing money.
It’s actually pretty simple to see and correct, but it takes a plan and a little bit of discipline.
Beginners
Trend Reversal Possible . Buy on the Support.The stock is currently trading at a very low price. With the help of some normal indicators and trend lines, it can be found that stock will be positive in this and next week too. Stockist RSI indicator indicating a rise in stock.If Strong Bullish Heikin Ashi Candle on the support as shown on the chart then trend reversal is definitely possible.
'Position Sizing' for beginners - XAUEURIn this example I'm gonna show you how important is the entry point.
With same levels for stop-loss and take profit, one position will give you the opportunity to earn 3 times more than the other.
It doesn't mather if the position is a loss or a win, I just want to visualy show you the importance of the entry.
GBP/USD long Price nicely jumps from our support line.Our RSI making nice divergence higher lows which means price should reverse up + my old friend Aroon say we are on the way to up trend i think price will move above top trend line if im looking at fundamental side of the trade theres is still big protests in America which means economy of America will decrease from other side UK economy seems to be more stable for now. Let me know what u think about my idea in coments down below please.Any advice is welcomed.
USDCAD - 6 to 1 Win vs Risk Trade - LongHello all - DuncanForex here with another trade idea
With USD seeing short term strength on Forex pairs (not metals)
On the 5 minute chart - it has just completed a butterfly pattern and therefore the trade is live
I am looking for a 5 to 1 with a wide stop and 10 to 1 with a tight stop on the 5 minute chart.
On the 4 hour chart - it printed an bullish engulfing candle on the 24th Oct indicating a reversal is imminent.
Thanks for looking a the trade idea.
Find me on YouTube, Twitter and my website.
Safe trading
Duncan
The correct way to start tradingWhatever you do start, you must start in an appropriate way: the start can affect both success and failure. The world of financial markets can be confusing to understand, especially for a beginner. And that’s why trading education is an important first step before entering the trading industry.
That is why LabRich is here now to provide everyone with the essential skills to begin trading in the industry of the market today. As a trader, it will be best to invest in learning and educating oneself before entering the market. The best advice is to test every new strategy in advance to know your weaknesses beforehand. And always remember that knowledge is power: more you know as a trader, the more successful you are.
The attitude towards a trading education syllabus can be different, but when beginners hire a mentor or seek for information on the web, the focus is on what they WANT to know rather on what they NEED to.
Instead of that method, LabRich is focused on the following:
1. Basics, History, and Fundamentals – this is the key to understand trading. Discovering the historical events which shaped the world into a better understanding of trading, and what drives volatility. Before moving to the future every beginner trader must acknowledge past – it is always better to learn on others' mistakes;
2. Risk Management - an adequately managed capital and client portfolio can prevent putting the trader in the downside and helps maximize potential profit. Managing risks and diversifying a portfolio is vital for every business, not only for traders;
3. Technical Analysis – is key to successful daily trade. The trader must become proficient at analyzing charts and economic statistics to further polish portfolio management;
4. Strategy – macro and microeconomic events shape and create an impact on the financial market every day, and each trader needs to learn them. Economic specialists at LabRich can provide traders with a greater understanding in the world of global business news;
5. Longer-Term Views and Leverage – risk management is one of the most important things to learn over a longer time frame. Traders need to develop ideas across the time curve to diminish hedging strategies. For example, studying its introduction, uses, options, and derivatives;
6. Values – are last but not the least. More ever: values are the most essential thing to learn. LabRich will show you the core values and requirements enabling you to become a successful trader, such as patience, attention to details, time management, focus, and more.
Along with beginner courses, LabRich has intermediate and expert traders' courses, because in trading there is always room for development and constant learning.
Lessons from an Experienced Trader
Lessons from an experienced trader.
Lesson 1. Never scalp.
Although scalping seems to be the most profitable and best method in today's market, it is certainly not. Scalping is the hardest method to achieve a consistent performance. High frequency trading firms scalp, but they have many advantages over the retail trader including direct access to exchanges, highly developed algorithms with no emotions, and extremely low costs to name a few. When you are scalping you are competing against these firms or trying to manually do what they do with a computer.
This above is only one problem. The bigger issue is the risk involved. When scalping, you must use a wide stop and be willing to scale in. One bad trade will erase 20 or more good trades. You must be extremely proficient at reading price charts, and be able to act without hesitation. This is virtually impossible for anyone who has not been trading for at least 3 years and has done extensive work on himself to develop the ability to flow with the market, constantly, without any internal conflict.
And worst of all, scalping leads to bad habits. Once you get into the mindset of "get out quick" it is very hard to correct down the road. This makes swing trading more difficult later on after you realize it is a better method.
Lesson 2. Swing Trade the best setups
Swing trading is much more forgiving than scalping, offers a larger reward, and allows for a smaller risk (usually). This makes it much easier to make money long term. When swing trading you only have to win on around 40% of your trades to make a profit. If you can develop the patience to wait for strong setups, you can increase the winning percentage to anywhere from 50-70% and greatly increase your traders equation.
A swing trading approach is also more forgiving when it comes to reading price charts. Some of those who discuss Price Action would lead you to believe you can predict what the markets are going to do next. This is simply not true, no matter how good you are at reading a chart. There is always a degree of randomness in the market, with any edge, any setup, or any context. When swing trading, you can afford to be wrong and make mistakes.
So what setups should a swing trader take? Well, it depends if you want to always in trade or swing trade with signal bar stops. Either is fine, although an always in approach takes more practice and is harder to get right until you are good at reading charts.
An always in trader has two choices. One to take every logical reversal (hardest to accomplish), and constantly reverse when necessary. Or two; wait for the always in direction to be clear and enter any in any fashion until the market flips. The second method is easier, although still tough, and slightly less profitable. An always in trader does not trade when prices are in a trading range. The reward is simply too low, and there are too many reversals to take and that fail, resulting in repeated losses and increased commission costs.
What about a swing trader? A swing trader typically uses a signal bar stop, but can also use a swing stop to increase his probability. A swing trader does not have to take every trade he sees (unlike the first always in trader). In fact, it is best to wait for the best and clearest setups.
What setups are these? High 2's, Low 2's (large) reversals and flags, Wedge reversals and flags, failed breakouts, and failed reversals. The first two are much easier to identify correctly for someone with less experience. The later two often trick newer traders, or fail once or twice before succeeding, making it a bit harder to get right.
Lesson 3. Work on your self
Like discussed before, most new traders and even those who have been around but haven't reached consistency believe that eventually you can read prices well enough to predict what will happen next. It does not matter how long you have traded, you will never predict the market. If it were possible to do so, the market would cease to exist!
So instead of only focusing on reading charts and price action, you must work on your self. You must understand your strengths and weaknesses. You must be aware of your emotions and how they affect your performance. If you do not believe your emotions are directly related to your performance, you will not achieve consistency long term. We are all humans, a computer cannot do what I do. And you cannot remove emotions, no matter how hard you try to do so. So what is the alternative? Develop awareness of them, and use them to your advantage!
It is as plain and simple as this. Trading requires you to understand your self, on a deep and internal level. You must be in tune with your self and the market. If you chose to ignore this fact, you may succeed temporarily, but it is only a matter of time before your performance diminishes. In order to make a lot of money, you must feel you deserve it. If you do not work on yourself, this simply will not happen. Does a professional athlete become a star by waiting around for his coach to tell him what to do? No. He dedicates himself in every possible way to his sport, including conditioning his mind to outperform his competition.
Rather than waiting 2 or 3 years before realizing this, start working on your self from the very beginning. Not only will you become a better trader faster, you will become a better person; a better you.
MAJOR GOLD SELL OPPORTUNITY?? Just a beginner stepping his foot into the forex world. I marked up the charts and wanted to add my 2 cents in on the idea gold has a strong uptrend line of support & resistance thinking it will hit its peak sometime tomorrow or next week tuesday due to the holiday. Correct me if im wrong or add you're 2 cents in ! Thanks guys, may the pips be with you. Happy trading!
My first time drawing support and resistance lines.Good morning traders and happy Thanksgiving. My name is Paul and I am looking to get involved in day trading and swing trading. I have been doing a lot of research and I believe I have finally come up with my first support and resistance chart. I know it is very basic, but i just wanted to see what other peoples opinion was on this because I have no idea if i am right. The resistance line was pretty straight forward but the support line was a little bit more difficult to find but i think being able to find this has improved my confidence and eagerness to trade. All opinions wanted, have a good day.
BTC - Different view on RSIHello Crypto Family,
We already know about the Price Triangle, and most probably you have noticed that MACD and RSI are in a similar Triangle. If not, check the chart, breaking these lines will be huge for BTC.
I want to offer you a new perspective so let's look at my new Indicator.
V-Laguerre/Stochastic RSI
Laguerre and Stochastic RSI are well-known Indicators, to make them easier to read I've written myself a script to overlay both of them in a single indicator.
(You don't need a script to overlay them since TV support overlaying indicators, depending on your Tradingview version, you might have some limitations.)
If you look at this Indicator, every time Laguerre RSI was in the oversold area, and Stochastic RSI started to rise, we had a move up in price. Also, every time Laguerre RSI was in the overbought area, and Stochastic RSI started to drop, we had a move down in price. (Daily)
At the moment, the Stochastic is rising and Laguerre RSI has enough room to move up.
If you look at the V-Laguerre/Stochastic RSI indicator, I've marked 3 different phases (in different colours). It looks like BTC is repeating this phases since Feb.
I'm more leaning to bullish than bearish on Bitcoin, waiting for the breakout and confirmation.
How to trade in the Crypto Market - Trading TipsHello Crypto Family,
Reading the charts and indicators is very important and helpful but without having a plan to manage your money, sooner or later you gonna lose money. It happens that you will find yourself on the wrong side of the trade and having the discipline to execute your plan (exiting the trade) is essential.
“The four most dangerous words in investing are: This time it's different.” - Sir John Templeton
Money Management
1) Never trade on your assumptions / be ready to change your opinion:
We all like some Blockchain Projects more than others, but we are here to trade and make money. There are many interesting projects without liquidity and therefore not the best coin to trade. Never fall in Love with a Coin!
Only because you think the price is very low, it doesn't mean that we could go lower / Only because we made x% up, it doesn't mean that we will reach all-time highs.
Don't try to catch the falling knife, wait for the Volume and breakout. But once the confirmation is there, and it is not what you have expected, you need to change your mind very quickly and adapt, otherwise you will enter the market when others are already taking profit or when the market is crashing, you will sell your position with loses.
“Everyday I assume every position I have is wrong.” – Paul Tudor Jones
2) Keep your emotions under control and never FOMO:
Be aware, how much risk you are risking and what is the potential reward. Right now we don't have a reasonable Risk/Reward ratio to be invested in BTC. The safest way to trade is to stay on the sideline an wait for BTC to break the Support Line (Move Downside) or push above resistance Line. Missing on small moves isn't significant because you can always catch the wave 3.
Never get emotional and invest 100% of your position, by laddering in / out, you reduce your risk of a bad entry point by having a good average price entry. And if you make a bad trade you don't lose all your money. It's like playing in multiple lotteries.
“Frankly, I don’t see markets; I see risks, rewards, and money.” – Larry Hite
3) Reward yourself:
If you have a successful trade, start cashing out your gains. Let's say you have made 100%, you could cash out your initial investment and leave the rest invested and play with the "house money".
“Don’t focus on making money; focus on protecting what you have.” – Paul Tudor Jones
Story-Time!EMA-Trendfollowing-Strategy for beginners!=)Hey guys,
quick another Trendfollowing-Strategy with three EMA`S easily to remember. :-)
I hope you enjoy it and that this is going to inspire you!
Peace and happy learning
Irasor
Trading2ez
Wanna see more? Don`t forget to follow me.
Any questions? Need detailed saignals or education? PM me. :-)
HOW to indentify a TREND! MUST see for beginners! #EZ-learningHey tradomaniacs and becoming traders,
I love sharing my knowledge and wanna help everyone who is interested and trading. :-)
Check this "journal" and start to understand the market.
Most of us know how a trend works. BUT NOT WHY!
I hope this will help you out to understand and improves your abillity to indentify Trends.
Peace and happy learning
Irasor
Trading2ez
- Wanna see more? Don`t forget to follow me!
- Any questions? Wanna more stuff PM me!
EXAMPLE for creating a Strategy! How to make money with TA! #1Hey tradomaniacs,
most of all beginners out there (I was at this point aswell), don`t know how to create a strategy and trading plan and are not able to make money WITH the market.
At this point, I just wanna give you an example and tell you why it`s so important to have valid signals and a strategy you can trust in.
Emotions - The Cash-shredder
Emotions are the reason why 90% of all retrail-traders fail!
We, as a human being, are visceral still living in the Stone Age controlled by FEAR & GREED.
That`s why we need pre-conditions whose undertake these responsibillitys and determine our trading.
CONDITIONS are part of your Strategy and you should treat them like your BOSS telling you when to trade!
This picture does not includ important things like Stop-Loss, Take-Profit, Risk-and Moneymanagement and so on..
THIS IS one EASY example for a TREND-FOLLOW-StRATEGY, which is easy to use for beginners.
Don`t start with crazy shit like Gartley, S/H/S and other Patterns whose have extra conditions and things to know that you can`t know as beginners.
I will tell you more about this in another post it`s late here in germany! ;-P
I just want this to be an inspiration for lost beginners.
Peace and happy learning
Irasor
trading2ez
PS: Have at least 4 of 6 conditions!