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.
Emotionalanalysis
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.
Why I Fail At Trading!(Episode 1)A $10 account that Im trying to record my trades on it to figure out my mindset and thinking and what I should do and what I should not do.What are my strenght and weakness and things I know that are wrong todo but I do it anyway due to NOT able to control the emotions
What Ive done Wrong:
1 Open a Long position at a bad place
1-I didnt close at 28.3 where I wanted to close if it stalls.
2-After seeing potential to come down to my entry I still holded it
What Ive Done Correct:
1-Using SL/TP and planning for the position
Day Trading vs Mid-term investments Day Trading 🌪️📉📈
Day trading involves buying and selling financial assets within the same trading day. Traders constantly monitor the market, aiming to capitalize on short-term price movements. 🕒⏰
👍 Pros:
Potential for quick profits with multiple trades in a single day.
High adrenaline rush and excitement from rapid decision-making.
👎 Cons:
Requires constant attention, often leading to stress and emotional fatigue. 😓
High risk due to rapid market fluctuations and trading fees.
Mid-Long Term Investments 🚀📈📉
Mid-long term investments, on the other hand, involve holding assets for an extended period, ranging from several months to years. Investors focus on the asset's overall growth potential and fundamental value. 📈💹
👍 Pros:
Lower stress and emotional strain as you have time to analyze and make informed decisions. 🧘♂️📊
Potential for significant returns through long-term market trends. 📈📈
👎 Cons:
Limited excitement in comparison to day trading, as it requires patience and discipline.
Requires a solid understanding of market fundamentals and long-term trends.
Why the Second Option Is Better Emotionally 😌
While day trading can be thrilling, it often comes with high stress and emotional tolls. The constant pressure to make quick decisions and the fear of missing out (FOMO) can lead to impulsive actions and losses. 😫
In contrast, mid-long term investments provide emotional stability. H aving a long-term vision allows you to detach from short-term market fluctuations and focus on the bigger picture. This patience and emotional balance can lead to more thoughtful investment decisions and better overall returns. 😊
Remember, successful investing is not a sprint but a marathon . So, consider the emotional benefits of mid-long term investments, and you'll find yourself on a calmer, more fulfilling financial journey. 🏃♂️🚀
FrogAlgo: Not profitable trader before!I made a huge mistake when I first started trading – I jumped from one strategy to another, constantly searching for the "holy grail." I tried everything from signals and account management to mentorships and expert advisors. Each approach seemed profitable initially, but as soon as I invested more capital, I encountered significant losses. It was a frustrating and costly experience.
I realized that I was being emotional in my trading, driven by greed and fear. I would see others boasting about their consistent high returns on social media, and I wanted to replicate their success. But deep down, I knew that if they truly had a winning strategy, they wouldn't be selling courses or mentorships for a small fee. They would be working with large institutional players and making substantial profits.
The key realization was the importance of having a trading plan. Without a plan, I was going in circles, constantly shifting from one strategy to another. I needed to follow a consistent approach and stick to my rules. Even if I hit a big winning trade, I shouldn't deviate from my plan. By sticking to a well-defined trading plan, I could eliminate emotional decision-making and irrational behavior.
Achieving consistency required backtesting my strategy and taking at least 100 trades to validate its effectiveness. I learned that profitability comes from two angles: increasing my win rate and avoiding bad trades. It may seem counter-intuitive, but by focusing on a strategy with a risk-reward ratio of 1:3 and maintaining an above break-even win rate, I could generate significant profits. It didn't have to be a high-risk, high-reward approach.
I had my share of ups and downs, trying different strategies and mentorships, but eventually, I found my own holy grail. It took perseverance and a willingness to learn from experienced traders. I developed a framework that worked for me, which involved chart analysis, setting alerts, documenting analysis, and following a step-by-step plan. I also emphasized the importance of journaling trades, recording emotions, and analyzing patterns to improve my trading psychology.
Having a mentor was crucial in my journey. A mentor provided valuable guidance, shared their mistakes, and helped me refine my approach. It's important to find someone who can analyze your strategy objectively, show solid trading results with third-party verification, and support your personal development beyond trading.
In conclusion, trading success comes from having a well-defined plan, sticking to it, and avoiding emotional decision-making. Consistency is key, and profitability can be achieved through a balanced approach that focuses on risk management and a decent win rate. Find a mentor who can guide you, but ultimately tailor your strategy to fit your own lifestyle and goals.
Remember, success is within reach if you stay consistent and committed.
FrogAlgo: Emotion and Trading!Investing is a crucial component of personal finance, providing individuals with an avenue to expand their wealth and secure their financial future. Unfortunately, many people shy away from investing due to perceived obstacles that hinder their progress, such as a lack of knowledge, fear of risks, and limited resources. These barriers can prevent individuals from achieving their financial goals and attaining long-term prosperity. In this comprehensive article, we aim to address these common obstacles and provide practical tips and strategies to overcome them effectively. Our ultimate objective is to empower individuals by eliminating these barriers, enabling them to make informed investment decisions and achieve financial success.
- Emotional Aspect: Mastering the emotional aspect of investing is paramount for success. Emotions like fear, greed, and overconfidence can cloud judgment and lead to poor investment decisions. By recognizing and managing our emotions, we can enhance our investment outcomes and achieve greater financial security. This article delves into the profound impact of emotions on investments, highlights common emotional biases that derail strategies, and offers pragmatic advice for navigating emotions when making investment decisions. By gaining insight into this interplay, individuals can make wiser investment choices and secure their long-term financial future.
- Lack Of Knowledge: Successful investing is not solely about buying and selling the right stocks. It requires a deep understanding of market dynamics and the various factors that influence investment performance. Many investors overestimate their ability to outperform the market and expose themselves to unnecessary risks. Additionally, the allure of chasing trendy sectors without understanding the underlying reasons or associated risks can lead to an imbalanced portfolio. Furthermore, a lack of comprehensive knowledge regarding fundamental investment concepts, such as bonds and interest rates, can significantly impact decision-making. This article sheds light on these misconceptions and emphasizes the importance of understanding key investment concepts. By acquiring knowledge and adopting a rational approach, investors can achieve greater financial success and confidently navigate the complexities of the market.
- Concentrating Too Much On The Details: Despite claiming to prioritize a long-term investment perspective, many investors are swayed by short-term market movements and fleeting notions. This lack of strategic planning leaves individuals vulnerable to unpredictable market fluctuations and impulsive decisions that hinder long-term goals. This article stresses the importance of establishing sound financial plans to realize aspirations like homeownership, education, and retirement. It highlights the pitfalls of reacting to market swings and encourages investors to maintain a long-term focus on their objectives. By prioritizing disciplined, long-term strategies, individuals can overcome the detrimental impact of short-term market volatility and achieve their financial goals.
- Methods For Overcoming Emotional Obstacles: To increase the likelihood of success in investing, it is crucial to employ strategies that overcome emotional barriers. This article provides valuable tips, including the importance of education to combat a lack of knowledge, the necessity of developing a well-defined investment plan aligned with goals and risk tolerance, and the significance of maintaining discipline to avoid impulsive decisions driven by emotions or short-term market movements. It also emphasizes the need to embrace a long-term focus and seek professional assistance when required. By implementing these strategies, individuals can overcome emotional obstacles and make informed investment decisions that yield profitable outcomes.
Conclusion: Investing presents challenges that often hinder individuals from reaching their financial goals. Emotional biases, limited knowledge, and fixation on 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 obstacles 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 barriers and make well-informed investment decisions that lead to profitable outcomes.
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.
Avoiding emotion in Trading!Avoiding emotions in trading can be challenging, but it is essential for making rational and objective decisions. Here are some strategies to help you minimize the impact of emotions on your trading:
- Develop a trading plan: Create a well-defined trading plan that outlines your goals, risk tolerance, entry and exit points, and overall strategy. Following a plan helps you stay focused on your predefined criteria instead of making impulsive decisions based on emotions.
- Set clear rules and stick to them: Establish clear rules for your trading activities and adhere to them strictly. For example, determine the maximum amount you are willing to risk on a single trade and never exceed it. Having predetermined rules eliminates the need for impulsive decisions driven by emotions.
- Use stop-loss orders: Implementing stop-loss orders helps limit your potential losses by automatically triggering an exit from a trade when a certain predetermined price level is reached. This can prevent you from holding onto losing trades due to the fear of missing out or the hope that the market will reverse.
- Avoid overtrading: Overtrading can occur when you let emotions, such as greed or fear of missing out, dictate your actions. Stick to your trading plan and only execute trades that meet your predefined criteria. Taking fewer, well-analyzed trades can reduce emotional decision-making.
- Practice risk management: Effective risk management is crucial for maintaining emotional balance. Determine the appropriate position size for each trade based on your risk tolerance and overall portfolio management strategy. By managing risk effectively, you can minimize the impact of losses on your emotions.
- Maintain a long-term perspective: Trading can be volatile in the short term, but it's important to keep a long-term perspective. Avoid getting overly influenced by daily market fluctuations or short-term trends. Focus on your trading plan and the bigger picture, which can help you make more rational decisions.
- Take breaks and manage stress: Trading can be stressful, and stress can amplify emotions. Take regular breaks, practice relaxation techniques, and engage in activities outside of trading to maintain a healthy emotional state. A clear and focused mind is essential for making objective decisions.
- Analyze and learn from your trades: After each trade, review your performance objectively. Analyze both successful and unsuccessful trades to understand the factors behind the outcomes. By learning from your experiences, you can refine your strategy and reduce emotional decision-making in the future.
Remember, emotions are a natural part of being human, but successful trading requires discipline and the ability to make rational decisions. While it may not be possible to completely eliminate emotions, these strategies can help you minimize their impact and make more objective trading decisions.
EMOTIONAL STATES OF A TRADERHello traders, today we will talk about EMOTIONAL STATES OF A TRADER
#1 Optimism – Everything starts with a positive outlook or a hunch that will lead traders into buying a stock.
#2 Excitement – Things start to move the way we want them to you feel giddy because of it. This is where we start hoping and anticipating that we are possibly making a success story in the stock trading world.
#3 Thrill – The market is continually going in the direction favorable to you. At this point, you are starting to feel that you are too smart. This is the stage where we are fully confident with the trading system that we have.
#4 Euphoria – This is the point where both the maximum financial risk and maximum financial gain are marked. As the investments you made start to turn to easy and quick profits, we simply ignore the risk’s basic concept. At this stage, we start trading at every opportunity we see with the aim of making bucks.
#5 Anxiety – The market starts to turn around. The market is starting to get back your hard-earned gains. However, this is new to us, we still believe with the trend we have seen before and still trade.
#6 Denial – We still think that the market simply does not turn as quickly as we hoped. There must be something wrong is what we keep on believing.
#7 Fear – Reality finally sets in and you now realize that you are not that smart after all. From being confident, you are now confused. We know that we should start getting out with a small profit but we just cannot bring ourselves to move on.
#8 Desperation – At this point, all of your gains are lost. Without knowing what to do, we attempt to do things that will leverage our position again.
#9 Panic – This is the most emotional stage as this is where we are hopeless and clueless. We feel like we lost control and now are left at the mercy of the market.
#10 Capitulation – This is where we reach our braking point and start selling our position for whatever price so as we can get out and lose no more.
#11 Despondency – After our exit, we now view the market as something not for us and we develop a phobia of buying stocks.
#12 Depression – We drink, pray or cry. We think we are so dumb and we start to analyzing where we went wrong. This is where true traders are born.
#13 Hope – We realize that the market has a cycle, which then renews our hope and we believe that we can still do it.
#14 Relief – The market turns positive once again. We are seeing the coming back of our prior investment and we now have our faith in it back.
The cycle will then start all over again and it is up to you how to play it this time.
This chart is just for information
Never stop learning
I would also love to know your charts and views in the comment section.
Thank you
Technical | Fundamental | EmotionalOANDA:XAUUSD
FOREXCOM:XAUUSD
FXOPEN:XAUUSD
PEPPERSTONE:XAUUSD
EIGHTCAP:XAUUSD
SAXO:XAUUSD
Market moves on zig zag not straight Up
A correction is a must
Technical :
Support :
-1830
-1810
Resistance :
-1870
-1890
Fibonacci / Important Levels :
50.0 : 1785
61.8 : 1747
Fundamental :
-The whole move was caused by USD (Unemployment Data)
-DXY Dumped (it needed a correction anyway)
-It pumped more than expected (Manipulation / SL Hunt / Liquidation / Fear)
-It Broke Trend line (if it stays there above the trend line for 2 Days till 14/March then the trend is confirmed (Bullish)
Emotional :
-Greed | Euphoric / Bulls
-Sellers Fear / Bears
-Hope / Bears
-Ego /Bulls
Keep An eye :
-14 March CPI Data
-15 March PPI
A Dump is possible by 14 March/Tuesday (CPI)
This idea is invalidated If (Gold Stays above trend line 1840+ Until Wednesday 15/March)
*This is not an financial advice (Please make sure to follow your own Analysis)
*If you believe the idea is good show some support to keep me motivated for more ideas
Technical | Fundamental | Emotional | DataBINANCE:BTCUSDT
COINBASE:BTCUSDT
BITSTAMP:BTCUSD
COINBASE:BTCUSD
INDEX:BTCUSD
BYBIT:BTCUSDT.P
INDEX:BTCUSD
Market moves on Zig-Zag
Those who think it will keep going lower straight without retracement they are wrong (Sideway is possible)
Fundamental :
-Coinbase Sells (SilkRoad BTC Dumping)
-Tax
-KuCoin Fud
-Binance Fud
FUNDAMENTAL = Bearish (But things can change quickly)
Technical :
Retracement :
20,800
Resistance :
21,400
Support :
19,000
Emotional :
-Market is full of fear and the majority is bearish
-Panic
-Bias
Data :
-Huge liquidity at 18K
-90% Longs Liquidated
-Interests are negative
Keep an Eye :
-March 14th (Tuesday) CPI
-Mtgox BTC (April)
-ES / SPX
BTC Technical | Fundamental | Statistics | Emotional AnalysisBITSTAMP:BTCUSD
COINBASE:BTCUSD
INDEX:BTCUSD
BITFINEX:BTCUSD
BINANCE:BTCUSD
KRAKEN:BTCUSD
BINANCE:BTCUSDT
KUCOIN:BTCUSDT
OKX:BTCUSDT
COINBASE:BTCUSDT
Technical Analysis :
We are currently at wave 5
After we finish wave 5 the ABC starts
The Trend is up (We wanna make sure that we have a proper risk management when we start this position)
Strong Resistance at 25300$-25500$ (We had 2 waterfalls in the past at this resistance)
Fib Levels :
23.6 : 22700$
38.2 : 21300$
50 : 20200$
61.8 : 19100$
Breaking 24200$-23800$ Confirms This “IDEA”
Fundamental Analysis :
-DXY is going Up with BTC which surprised a lot of traders
(maybe the reason Behind this PUMP is Binance USD (BUSD|USDC) Coinbase USD we saw millions of dollars minted by them)
-Today we have USD PPI/Job claims data released (16th FEB)
-BUSD FUD news is in the corner it seems that we have a battle between Coinbase and Binance
(Paxos seems in trouble)
Data/Statistics :
-At The moment Longs are more than shorts we could see more short liquidation at 25300$
-15B$ Liquidation at 25300$ (Shorts)
-20B$+ Liquidation at 20800$ (Longs)
Emotions Analysis :
-Bears are in disbelief
-Bulls are in profit maybe (euphoria) soon ….
-Fear greed index is at (Greed)
Thank you for reading maybe I update this idea in future I hope it helps some traders out there <3
*This is not an financial advice make sure to follow your own personal Ideas/Plans
If you believe this idea is useful make sure to support it for more ideas in future
Best of luck to Bears & Bulls
MANA Fueling up Ascending Triangle!?I'm trying something a little different today still using Fib Timeframes which I love a lot but this time I'm measuring every swing to try and capture a more accurate bottom I'm also trying to understand the emotions in the market more I think that is an important aspect to look at. So what I'm seeing is as the wave starts the time to hit highs and higher highs are longer than as the market moves forward. The Dips also tend to be shorter as time moves forward. I think this has to do with emotions building up in the market which is completely normal. People who got in at the bottom would for sure take 300-500% profits which cause the dips which bring more entry points.
All in All Mana is forming an ascending triangle in the consolidation area. I'm bullish on MANA as of now.
(NOT FINANCIAL ADIVSE DYOR!)
Manipulation Scenario :
1. Support was tested several times and finally (looks) a breakdown. Maybe some traders will sell on break support.
And put SL a little above the candle that breaks the support. But the price made a pinbar / hammer, went back up and touched SL.
2. After the SL is touched, the price finally breaks the trendline and closes above it.
Traders will think this is a false break with the trendline breakout confirmation and become a best time to buy with SL just below the previous low. However, prices fell back and touched SL for the second time.
3. After the SL has been touched, the price create a pinbar which is an indication of buyer's pressure.
Traders might think not to be fooled once again and think that the support is really broken and decide to sell in the SBR area with SL above the previous high. But again, the price was not friendly and touched SL once again.
4. The price finally made an upside impulse and formed a bullish pennant which became a continuation pattern.
With this pattern the trader should take a long position. However, due to doubt and don't want to become a victim of SL for another time, trader decided not to open a position. And the result is price actually goes up without being able to get some profit.
After being hit by SL several times it does disturb our emotions as traders, but if we have calculated each risk of SL before jump into trade and put SL which suitable with our risk tolerance, it shouldn't be a problem.
JUST ENJOY THIS PROCESS
Are you "The Unexamined Trader"?Socrates famously said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Why do we do what we do, why do we feel the way we feel about something, or what is our purpose in life? These questions brought about generation after generation of journals, diaries, and random thoughts from some of our greatest thinkers from Socrates himself, to Jonathan Edwards in early America, and maybe even yourself. If we look at the information, meditate on it, we *should* take future actions that will be purposeful and not live day-to-day mundane lives. We want lives of purpose, of meaning, and of growth and satisfaction.
The same thing goes for our trades. So many of us trade willy-nilly, never looking back as to WHY we took a trade, what was the PURPOSE of the trade, what did we LEARN from that trade, and what are we NEVER going to do again or what will I CONTINUE to do in my future trades?
Just as an unexamined life is not worth living, the unexamined trader should not be trading.
“Why do I keep making the same mistakes?” “How come I let my emotions get the best of me?” “Why do I always seem to miss out on best trades with the monster returns?”
Ask yourself, do you examine each and every one of your trades? At the end of each trading day, do you look for patterns of profit and signs of “The Suck” that draws your account down day after red-candle day? Can you look at the psychology, feel the emotion of why you planned a trade, why you got in a trade, how were you feeling during a trade, and why did you get out of a trade when you did? After that, did you ask “What did I learn?” “What will I continue to do?” and “What mistake will I eradicate from my mindset and NEVER do again?”
There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask “What happened?” The same goes for trading. If you never look back at the trades you took, especially the ones that were losers, you will consistently ask “What happened? Why am I always a loser?” If you watch things happen *plus* examine all the factors that went on during the process, your trading ability will grow inch by inch, yard by yard, which will turn you into one of those top traders who MAKE things happen. You will be able to *see* the money on the chart. And once you learn to identify patterns by analyzing trade after trade after trade, you find there are *limitless* opportunities to make money. (I paraphrased that last sentence from Mark Douglas, Trading in the Zone, which I highly recommend.)
All that said, DO YOU JOURNAL? The trade journal is often the most overlooked tool in the trader toolbox. There are several ways to do so, and there are a plethora of traders on YouTube who share their ideas on how to journal your trades, and I recommend that you try several methods to find what’s right for you. The method I like is to screenshot of my trade and document the fool out of it right there on the chart. Then I “tell the story” via text boxes and arrows, and I number each one of them to walk myself through the story. Yes, each trade has a *story* to tell. I include the FACTS of the trade (the levels of Supply and Demand, the RSI, the trend, whatever factual decisions that went into the trade), the PSYCHOLOGY of the trade (how did I feel when price started going sideways right when price went to 2/3 towards my target?) and the results of the trade (what did I learn, what did I do great that I will continue to do, and what did I not do well that I should remove from my plan or my psychology).
The proof is in the puddin’ as they say… The Covid lockdowns of early 2020 were the "best worst thing" to happen to my trading career. I was a Covid Casualty, as my employer shut down in part as a result of the Covid lockdown requirements. I was mad, upset, depressed, that I couldn’t go out to a coffee shop, bar, or cigar lounge. My friends all hunkered down in their domestic bunkers and wouldn’t come out. After 6 weeks of feeling sorry for myself I had had enough and decided to backtest / backtest / backtest and journal / journal / journal for 8+ hours per day for 30 days. I backtested the top 2 Futures contracts by volume in each category on the 15 minute chart. (2 metals, 2 indexes, 2 meats, 2 energies, etc.). 300-some-odd trades later, I felt like Neo when he woke up out of the Matrix and saw Cypher looking at all the green gobbledygook on the screens … instead of a nonsense of symbols Cypher told Neo that now he could see “Blondes, Brunettes, and Redheads” in the patterns.
After 300 trades, simulating, backtesting, and journaling, I could “see” the money on the chart… the patterns of cashflow… the areas of value traded by the big institutional traders so I could follow them in their footsteps.
I went from backtesting to forward testing, testing with live data in a simulated account using everything I had learned, and three weeks in a row I had a green week.
And then I went live.
Do this yourself and I promise, it will be like taking the Red Pill. You will never see the Matrix, you will never see the charts, in the same way. Instead of blondes, brunettes, and redheads, you will see opportunities, traps, and the footprints left by the market makers… And we can then *follow* in their footsteps.
I leave you with a screenshot of one of my trades from last week… I hope it will inspire you to do the same. If you are not yet a consistent, profitable trader, learn to “see through the noise’ by journaling.
If you want to see the scene I referenced from the Matrix, click here and enjoy! (And clicking the ‘Like’ and “Share” buttons wouldn’t hurt either if this article was edifying to you!) If you like it, I’ll write some more!
If you want to show off your journaling prowess, leave a comment with a picture!
Trade hard, trade well...
Crypto Fear & Greed Index can tell you when to buy BTCWhy Measure Fear and Greed?
Crypto market behavior is very emotional. People tend to get greedy when the market is rising which results in FOMO (Fear of missing out). Also, people often sell their coins in the irrational reaction of seeing red numbers. With our Fear and Greed Index, we try to save you from your own emotional overreactions. There are two simple assumptions:
Extreme fear can be a sign that investors are too worried. That could be a buying opportunity.
When Investors are getting too greedy, that means the market is due for a correction.
Therefore, alternative.me analyze the current sentiment of the Bitcoin market and crunch the numbers into a simple meter from 0 to 100. Zero means "Extreme Fear", while 100 means "Extreme Greed".
You can find the indicator in TradingView and it is quite amazing what it shows.
In a bull market, it actually shows you great buy opportunities for buying the dips or playing the swings!
Hope you will enjoy it!
If you like this post give us a like also. Thank you!
Bitcoin Daily Update (day 332)Disclaimer: If you are primarily interested in copying other people’s trades then this is not for you. However, if you are willing to put in the work that it takes to learn how to trade for yourself then you have found the right place! Nevertheless please be advised that you can give 10 people a profitable trading strategy and only 1-2 of them will be able to succeed long term. If you fall into the majority that tries and fails then I assume no responsibility for your losses. What you do with your $ is your business, what I do with my $ is my business.
Click here for my Comprehensive Trading Strategy | Click here for my Comprehensive Trading Process | Click here to learn about the 2 BTC' to 20 BTC' Trading Challenge
Consensio: P > S MA > M MA > L MA
Patterns: Phase 7 Hyperwave | A&E
Horizontals: R: $3,993 | S: $3,891
Trendline: At $4,577
Parabolic SAR: $3,514
Futures Curve: Contango
BTCUSDSHORTS: Appears to be resisting throwback to TL. Failure to maintain trend would indicate a change in market disposition where less are inclined to short sell these prices.
Funding Rates: Longs will receive 0.0213% (this is very surprising)
TD’ Sequential: D G5 | W G3 > G2
Ichimoku Cloud: Attempting to close weekly above Tenkan-Sen for first time since Aug 2018
Relative Strength Index: Above 70 for first time since July 2018
Average Directional Index: Daily found support at 20 and created a higher high above 25 providing nice confirmation of this only being the beginning of the trend.
Price Action: 24h: + 0.73% 2w: +16% 1m: +11.9%
Bollinger Bands: Third close above top band. Want to see price continue to stick to that band.
Stochastic Oscillator: Weekly buy signal | Incoming daily sell
Summary: Over the last couple weeks a lot has changed for me. Namely I was asked to co author the book on Hyperwaves with Tyler Jenks and Leah Wald! I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity, however trying to find the time has been a bit of a challenge.
My day was already scheduled so tightly that I barely had a free 30 minutes in an entire week. Now I am needing to adjust my priorities in order to make time for writing. Unfortunately that means I have less time to analyze charts and trade.
This was not a problem when the markets were dormant and quite uninteresting, however that hasn’t been the case over the last few days. While I haven’t been able to do as much analysis as I would like I am keeping a close eye on what is most important:
The 4 & 9 week EMA’s.
ETHUSD is working on it’s first bullish crossover since April of 2018 and it looks like BTC will be following closely behind. Look back over the past years and calculate how much you would have returned if you simply would have bought every bullish crossover and then taken profit and shorted every bearish crossover.
You would have bought BTC around $600 in 2016 and sold around $12,300. I am not suggesting that type of move will happen again, or anywhere close to it, I am suggesting that you should do some backtesting and see how powerful this indicator can be. Being in confluence with the weekly Stochastic buy signal provides great confirmation.
This market is showing all the signs of a big bounce, which is still hard for me to wrap my head around. Therefore I will just be taking it day by day. Being very careful about how I manage my positions and not allowing myself to become too convinced of one outcome or the another. As it stands today I am continuing to add to my long exposure and am really liking what I am seeing.
The only reason I am not calling a bottom is because I do not believe we have capitulated and that is my most important indicator for calling the bottom of a bear market.
Where is the Bottom For BTC?If you have been following me for a long time, I have always been a blockchain tech bull (fundamentally speaking). I have always felt like the technology can offer so much more too our society and that eventually it will be accepted. I was also one of those people caught up in the euphoria of the 'thrills'. Making 20% in a day was an unbelievable thing. Then it all came crashing down. And when I say down, I mean waaaay down.
I still constantly see people asking where the bottom is. I want to make one thing clear, nobody knows where the bottom is right now. The only people who might know are the whales out there that cause so much of the price movement in the industry (but there has been so much drama with these whales that I think they might not even know).
As an investor, you have to look at charts without emotions. You can't think about how much you have lost OR how much you have made. You can't hope. If you do any of those things, you are going to lose money.
With that in mind, please, look at the long-term chart of BTC. Be completely unbiased and make an opinion. As you can see from my chart above, it is simple. I don't have a million lines on it. I just have a moving average, some trend lines, and support levels. I personally think that technical indicators are a bit skewed in the long term of BTC so I do not use them as much (for the BIG picture moments. I still use them in the short term). From the chart above, I have come to a bearish conclusion. Does that mean I am right? No. Does that mean the price is going to go down for the next month? No.
Then what does it mean?
It means that you have to be smart. This trading and technical games are all about probability. Right now, I believe the probability is higher that we will continue in a negative direction. BUT...I have a plan if things turn positive. I have a plan no matter what and so should you.
The main purpose of this post is not to trash COINBASE:BTCUSD . In fact, it has very little to do with it. Most great traders don't win because they are geniuses. They win because of their discipline.
So look at yourself. Truly understand how confident you are as a trader. Learn more.
Bitcoin Daily Update (day 266)I believe that it is possible to beat the market through a consistent and unemotional approach. This is primarily achieved through preparing instead of reacting. Click here to learn more about how I use the indicators below and Click here to get my complete trading strategy! Please be advised that I swing trade and will often hold onto a position for > 1 month. What you do with your $ is your business, what I do with my $ is my business.
My recent Bitcoin Bubble Comparison - 3 Day Chart led to the following calls: < $5,750 by 11/15/2018 & my prediction for the bottom is $2,718 by 1/20/19 | My Bitcoin Bubble Comparison - Monthly Chart closely mirrored my price and time targets | Calling for $35 ETH before the end of 2018.
Previous analysis: “Furthermore I was really expecting a retest of the 8 day MA before selling off further. Now it is looking like the price action from yesterday whipsawed me out of my long and into a short at exactly the wrong time.”
Position: Short ETHBTC from 0.03109 | Short LTCBTC from 0.00752 | Short EOS:BTC from 0.0008057 | Short BCHBTC from 0.04628 | Short XRPBTC from 0.00009434
Patterns: Short ETH:USD from $118.35 | Short ETHBTC from 0.03109 | Short LTCBTC from 0.00752 | Short EOS:BTC from 0.0008057 | Short BCHBTC from 0.04628 | Short XRPBTC from 0.00009434
Horizontal support and resistance: S: $3,626 - $3,682 | R: $3,800
BTCUSDSHORTS: Starting to get overbought. I have an alert at 36,000.
Funding Rates: Longs pay 0.0023% (wasn’t expected that)
Short term trend (4 day MA): Continue to close below
Medium term trend (9 day MA): Turning down sharply from that last move
Long term trend ( 34 day MA): Rolled over
Overall trend: If I would have traded entirely based on Consensio then I would still be in my entire short position from $6,350. Instead I got scared out and into a long at $4,000 - $4,200 due to my discretion. Very valuable learning lesson for me. Highly recommend “Deep Dive Into Consensio” which I am going to completely violate again with my plan below.
Volume: Looking at the 4h and it was ~4X average on that last breakdown.
FIB’s: (Start at $1,000 and connect to ATH’) 0.886 = $3,164 | 0.786 = $5,805
Candlestick analysis: Took out that weird pattern from yesterday.
Ichimoku Cloud: Pretty worthless right now. Interested in the 1h cloud holding as resistance.
TD’ Sequential: On a red 9 that looks like it will end up perfected but it is far too early to say that.
Visible Range: If we breakdown $4,000 then there should be significant support at $3,750. If we breakdown that area then I would expect a fall to $3,100
Price action: 24h: 13.57% - I started doing this when I noticed how rare it is for BTC to move much more than 10% in a day. This is a strong indicator for me and a great way to make sure you don’t enter after the move already happened
Bollinger Bands: Closed right on the bottom band
Trendline: Currently testing trend support on the 4h
Daily Trend: (Using 1h 33 MA to identify daily trend) Da bears
Used to watch fractals, like parabolic SAR’s much better when markets are volatile: SAR = $5,023
RSI: If it wasn’t for the red 9 this would be set up so sweet for a bull div’ right into my $3,000 price target
Stochastic: Getting stuck to the bottom. According to @CryptoCore this is when BTC makes it’s biggest moves.
Summary: I would love it if somebody went back through my posts and found the last one tagged with a 'long' because I know it's been a while. Preparing for something for this long feels good and it should. I am getting very excited for a potential bottom in the next 1-3 days.
This market is starting to look ripe for capitulation. I really don’t know how to call that other than a sense that I feel and a high volume dragonfly / hammer that I see.
I posted this Bubble Comparison on October 16th and it is exactly what I have been preparing for:
1) Price falls -44.59% after horizontal support breakdown.
2) Bottom of wick is -30% from the bottom of the body
-$2,718 X 1.3 = $3,533
3) Bottom of body creates support for another year of consolidation
4) Prior support becomes resistance ($6,000 - $6,150)
I have orders at $2,718 - $3,001 to buy back spot but it is for ~5% of my portfolio and I might decide to exit at breakeven the first chance I get (like my $4,225 buy). Therefore I would not suggest doing the same unless you have a clear understanding of your risk and time horizon.
In the meantime I am watching alts closely and continuing to add to my positions. When BTC does bounce, IT WILL BOUNCE FROM SOMEWHERE, then alts are going to melt faster than Frosty the snowman'.
Just keep in mind that phase 1 waits at $1,000 and we could return there before this move is over. I would personally love that. It would complete the hyperwave (thus allowing for a new one to start), fill that ugly gap at ~$1,400 that has had me worried since $5,000 in 2017.
Scaling into Bitcoin under $4,000 with ~15% - 33% of your net worth could be the best decision you have ever made. And if it isn’t then the risk is worth the reward. If you time horizon is > 2 years and you know that you have the ability' to hold through a loss / lose it all.
I have no idea what I'm doing.$
Everything says it is October but I don't know what happened to the prior 9 months of the year. But this punishment has to end some day. And it damn sure isn't going to end with more doom. Consider this my uncompromising demand. There is no other way (except total bull run even sooner than my stupid triangle tip).
Long it.