Halloween Horror: Avoiding Common Trading MistakesAs Halloween approaches, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the common “frights” that can scare traders away from success. Just like ghosts and ghouls lurking in the shadows, trading mistakes can be sneaky and unexpected. This post will highlight some of the most common trading mistakes, drawing parallels with Halloween themes, and provide strategies for avoiding these pitfalls.
🎃Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
Many traders experience FOMO, which can lead to impulsive decisions, such as chasing after rapidly rising stocks or jumping into trades without proper analysis. This behavior often results in buying at peak prices and facing losses when the stock inevitably corrects.
Set Clear Entry and Exit Points: Establish specific criteria for entering and exiting trades to avoid emotional decisions.
Stick to Your Plan: Have a trading plan that includes risk management strategies. Review your plan regularly, especially in volatile market conditions.
👻 Overtrading
In an attempt to capitalize on every opportunity, some traders overtrade, leading to excessive fees, emotional fatigue, and ultimately poorer performance. Overtrading can resemble a Halloween party gone wild, with too many participants causing chaos.
Limit Your Trades: Set a maximum number of trades per week or month. Focus on quality over quantity.
Take Breaks: Allow yourself time away from the screen to recharge and refocus. This helps in making more rational decisions.
🕷️Ignoring Risk Management
Trading without proper risk management is akin to wandering through a haunted house without a flashlight. You’re likely to encounter unexpected dangers. Failing to set stop-loss orders or to size positions appropriately can lead to catastrophic losses.
Implement Stop-Loss Orders: Set stop-loss orders at a predetermined level to limit potential losses.
Diversify Your Portfolio: Spread your investments across different asset classes and sectors to mitigate risk.
👺 Emotional Trading
Trading decisions driven by emotions such as fear, greed, or panic can lead to disastrous results. Emotional trading is like letting a ghost dictate your path through a dark forest—it's unpredictable and often leads to mistakes.
Keep a Trading Journal: Document your trades, including the reasoning behind them and your emotional state at the time. This will help you identify patterns and triggers in your decision-making process.
Practice Mindfulness: Incorporate techniques like meditation or deep breathing to remain calm and focused during trading hours.
🦇Neglecting Research and Analysis
Many traders skip the crucial step of research and analysis, relying instead on tips or rumors—much like believing in urban legends without questioning their validity. This can lead to uninformed trades and unexpected losses.
Conduct Thorough Analysis: Use both technical and fundamental analysis to make informed trading decisions. Stay updated on market news and trends.
Leverage Trading Tools: Utilize platforms like TradingView to access charts, indicators, and community insights.
[b 🕸️Chasing Losses
After experiencing losses, some traders attempt to "revenge trade," trying to quickly recover their losses by taking high-risk trades. This often results in deeper losses and a vicious cycle of frustration.
Accept Losses as Part of Trading: Understand that losses are inevitable. Learn from them rather than trying to immediately recover.
Take a Step Back: If you find yourself in a negative trading streak, consider taking a break to reassess your strategies and mental state.
👽 Not Adapting to Market Conditions
The market is constantly changing, and clinging to outdated strategies can be dangerous. This is similar to wearing the same costume year after year—eventually, it becomes stale and ineffective.
Stay Flexible: Be willing to adapt your trading strategies based on current market conditions. Regularly review and refine your approach.
Educate Yourself: Continuously seek knowledge through courses, webinars, and market analysis to stay informed about new trends and strategies.
As the Halloween season creeps in, it’s time to face the spooky realities of trading! By identifying and confronting common trading frights, you can transform potential pitfalls into stepping stones for success. Remember, every trader encounters challenges, but preparation, discipline, and continuous learning are your best defenses against the ghouls of the market.
So, this Halloween, don’t let fear haunt your trading journey. Embrace the tricks of the trade, sharpen your skills, and turn those frights into fruitful opportunities! Here’s to a successful and spooktacular trading experience!🎃👻🕸️
Tradingmistakes
5 Common Mistakes New Traders Must Avoid
Trading in the financial markets can be an exciting journey, but it's not without its challenges. Many new traders often make common mistakes that can lead to losses and frustration. Understanding these mistakes is essential for developing a successful trading strategy. In this idea, we will discuss the top five mistakes new traders make and provide practical tips on how to avoid them. By being aware of these pitfalls, you can improve your trading skills and work towards achieving your financial goals.
1. Lack of a Trading Plan
Mistake: Many new traders dive into trading without a well-defined plan. They often trade based on emotions, tips from friends, or market hype, which can lead to inconsistent results and unnecessary losses.
Solution: Develop a comprehensive trading plan that outlines your trading goals, risk tolerance, entry and exit strategies, and criteria for selecting trades. A good plan should also include guidelines for risk management, such as how much capital you are willing to risk on each trade. Stick to your plan, and avoid making impulsive decisions based on market fluctuations or emotions.
Key Elements of a Trading Plan:
-Objectives: Define what you aim to achieve (e.g., short-term gains, long-term investment).
-Risk Management: Determine how much you are willing to lose on a single trade and set stop-loss orders accordingly.
-Trading Strategies: Decide on the type of analysis you will use (technical, fundamental, or a combination).
2. Ignoring Risk Management
Mistake: New traders often underestimate the importance of risk management, leading to excessive losses. They may over-leverage their positions or fail to set stop-loss orders, which can result in significant financial damage.
Solution: Implement strict risk management rules. A common rule of thumb is to risk no more than 1-2% of your trading capital on a single trade. This approach allows you to withstand several losing trades without depleting your account. Use stop-loss orders to limit your losses and consider using trailing stops to protect profits as trades move in your favor.
Tips for Risk Management:
-Position Sizing: Calculate the appropriate size of your trades based on your risk tolerance.
-Stop-Loss Orders: Always set a stop-loss order to exit a trade if it moves against you.
-Diversification: Avoid putting all your capital into a single trade or asset.
3. Overtrading
Mistake: In an attempt to make quick profits, new traders often engage in overtrading. This can result from the desire to recover losses or the excitement of seeing trades executed, leading to poor decision-making and increased transaction costs.
Solution: Set specific criteria for entering and exiting trades, and resist the urge to trade more frequently than necessary. Focus on quality over quantity. It's better to wait for high-probability setups than to force trades that don’t meet your criteria.
Strategies to Avoid Overtrading:
- Limit Trading Frequency: Define a maximum number of trades per day or week.
- Review Trades: After each trading session, review your trades to assess whether they adhered to your trading plan.
- Take Breaks: If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or impulsive, take a break from trading to reset your mindset.
4. Emotional Trading
Mistake: Emotional trading occurs when traders let their feelings dictate their decisions. Fear, greed, and frustration can lead to impulsive trades, often resulting in losses.
Solution: Practice emotional discipline. Recognize that emotions can cloud your judgment and lead to poor trading decisions. Use techniques such as journaling to reflect on your trading experiences and identify emotional triggers.
Techniques to Manage Emotions:
-Set Realistic Expectations: Understand that losses are a part of trading, and not every trade will be profitable.
-Develop a Routine: Establish a pre-trading routine to calm your mind and focus on your trading plan.
-Mindfulness Practices: Consider techniques such as meditation or deep-breathing exercises to manage stress and maintain focus.
5. Neglecting Market Research and Education
Mistake: New traders sometimes jump into trading without sufficient knowledge about the markets, trading strategies, or economic indicators. This lack of understanding can lead to poor decision-making.
Solution: Commit to continuous learning. Take advantage of the wealth of educational resources available online, such as webinars, articles, and trading courses. Stay updated with market news and analysis to understand the factors influencing price movements.
Steps for Education:
Read Books: Invest time in reading books on trading, market psychology, and investment strategies to deepen your understanding and broaden your knowledge base.
Practice with a Demo Account: Before trading with real money, use a demo account to practice your strategies in a risk-free environment.
Join Trading Communities: Engage with other traders on platforms like TradingView, where you can share insights and learn from each other.
Follow Experts: Subscribe to trading blogs, YouTube channels, or podcasts from experienced traders.
Trading is a journey that requires discipline, patience, and a commitment to continuous learning. By avoiding these common mistakes and implementing effective strategies, new traders can enhance their trading skills and improve their chances of success in the financial markets. Remember, every trader faces challenges, but those who learn from their experiences and adapt will ultimately thrive.
Learning from Mistakes: The Path to Trading Mastery 📈📚🛠
Mistakes are an inevitable part of a trader's journey. What sets successful traders apart is their ability to not only acknowledge these mistakes but also to study and learn from them. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the art of dissecting your trading mistakes, understanding their origins, and using them as stepping stones towards trading mastery. Join us on this enlightening journey, enriched with real-world examples and practical insights.
Mastering the Study of Trading Mistakes
Embracing Imperfection 🙌
To become a successful trader, one must first accept that mistakes are an integral part of the process. Mistakes provide invaluable lessons and opportunities for growth.
Overleveraging
Ignoring Stop Loss
The Art of Mistake Analysis
1. Identify the Mistake: The first step is recognizing what went wrong. Was it a poor entry, impulsive decision, or neglect of risk management?
2. Examine the Context: Understand the market conditions, news, or emotions that led to the mistake.
3. Quantify the Impact: Assess the financial and emotional impact of the mistake. How did it affect your trading account and mental state?
4. Learn and Adapt: Use the mistake as a source of knowledge. Develop strategies or rules to avoid making the same error in the future.
Mistakes in trading are not failures but stepping stones to success. By studying your errors with a critical and open mindset, you can extract invaluable lessons that propel you toward trading mastery. The path to becoming a consistently profitable trader is paved with self-reflection, adaptation, and the unwavering commitment to learn from your past missteps. Embrace your mistakes as opportunities for growth and make them a part of your journey to trading excellence. 📈📚🛠
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Breaking the Cycle: The Perils of Repeating Trading Mistakes
Trading in financial markets can be a challenging endeavor. It requires a combination of skill, knowledge, and adaptability to navigate the complexities of the market. Unfortunately, many traders fall into a common trap - they repeat their mistakes, often leading to failure. This article will explore why repeating mistakes in trading can be detrimental and explain how studying these errors can pave the way for long-term success in the markets.
1. The Importance of Recognizing Mistakes:
One of the primary reasons traders repeat mistakes is the failure to recognize them in the first place.
2. The Consequences of Repeating Trading Mistakes:
Continually making the same mistakes in trading can have severe consequences.
By understanding the negative impact of repeated mistakes, traders can be motivated to break the cycle.
3. Psychological Factors:
Psychological biases and emotions significantly contribute to repeating trading mistakes.
Studying trading mistakes with a reflective mindset is crucial for professional growth. Techniques such as journaling, performance reviews, and seeking feedback can help traders gain valuable insights.
5. Identifying Patterns and Developing Strategies:
Mistakes often reveal patterns that can be detected and analyzed.
6. Continuous Learning and Adaptation:
The key to trading success lies in continuous learning and adaptation. The pursuit of knowledge is essential to avoid repeating trading mistakes.
7. Implementing Risk Management Measures:
Developing sound risk management practices helps prevent repeat mistakes and protect against potential losses.
Conclusion:
Repeated mistakes in trading are detrimental to success, both financially and psychologically. However, by acknowledging and studying these errors, traders can learn valuable lessons and refine their strategies. Through continuous learning, self-reflection, and effective risk management, traders can break the cycle of repeating mistakes, leading to improved performance and long-term success in the trading world.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
The Anchoring Bias: Navigating the Pitfalls of Trading Decisions
Introduction:
In the fast-paced world of trading, making accurate decisions is crucial. However, traders are not immune to cognitive biases that can lead to irrational behavior and potentially significant financial losses. One such bias is the anchoring bias, which refers to the tendency of individuals to rely too heavily on an initial piece of information when making subsequent decisions. This article delves into the concept of anchoring bias in trading, offering insightful examples to help traders identify and mitigate its negative impact.
Example 2: Anchoring on market predictions
- A trader reads a market analyst's prediction that a particular stock will experience rapid growth.
- Armed with this anchored expectation, the trader ignores other relevant factors, such as the company's financials or market trends, and invests a significant amount of capital into the stock.
- The anchoring bias leads to tunnel vision, disregarding critical information that may alter the stock's predicted trajectory, exposing the trader to avoidable risks.
Conclusion:
Understanding the anchoring bias is vital for traders seeking consistent success. Becoming aware of this cognitive bias, and actively working to question and diversify our decision-making processes, empowers traders to make more objective and rational choices in an ever-changing market landscape. Remember: anchoring should not become the heavy anchor that weighs down your trading potential.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
16 Trading Mistakes you’re still MakingIf you’re still failing as a trader.
You could be making one or more of these common and lethal mistakes.
#1: No Structured Approach
If you’re not following a structured approach to evaluate potential trades, you’re likely to make mistakes.
It’s essential to have a well-defined plan that takes into account your personality, risk tolerance and trading goals.
#2: You trade on Emotions
Trading decisions should be based on facts and analysis, not emotions or hunches.
If you’re relying solely on your gut feeling, you may miss important information and make poor trading decisions.
Trust the chart not your heart. (I like that!)
#3: Not researching each market per strategy
Even if you have a trading strategy, you need to research, back test and forward test EACH market to see if they are conducive with your trading.
For example. I have traded Forex since the get-go and yet the EUR/USD (Euro Versus US Dollar) is still the one currency that NEVER works for my system.
This is the kind of research you should know, before you make a trade or risk a trade.
Lack of research can lead to costly mistakes and missed opportunities.
#4: No Specific Trade Setup
It’s important to identify a specific trade setup before making a trade.
You need to determine and pinpoint your exact entry and exit points, stop loss level, and price targets volume and margin requirements.
#5: Not waiting for your high probability setup
It’s important to wait for a clear trade trigger before making a trade.
This way you’ll know what the right market, at the right time is and what you need to do to minimize your risk and maximise your profit potential.
#6: Not putting in your stop loss
When you trade you need to remember something.
You need to set your stop loss to limit your losses.
You need to set your stop loss to follow a plan.
You need to set your stop loss to prevent an emotional reaction to your trading where you can take significant losses.
Always, always always set a stop loss level with each trade and stick to it.
#7: Setting a tight stop loss
If you set your stop loss level too close to the entry price, it will increase your chance of getting stopped out.
It’s important to set a stop loss level that considers market volatility and your risk tolerance.
#8: No clear exit price target
Yes, a stop loss is more important than a take profit price.
But a take profit price is VERY important when it comes to following your Risk to Reward strategy.
You need to set the take profits so you can calculate your potential gains, to lock in gains and to have a mechanical plan to follow in the future.
#9: Forgetting your Reward-to-Risk Ratio
If you ignore your risk to reward level rule with trading, you might as well give up trading.
The key is to always make sure that your potential gains are more than your losses.
If you ignore your risk to reward you will make poor trading decisions and your performance will not be stable and consistent.
These are losing traits.
#10: You forget the anomalies!
There are times where you might need to exit out of a trade prematurely.
There are other market conditions that are wile and can impact your trade negatively.
Whether they are black swans, market announcements, threats, dangers, fat fingers or even news events.
Don’t forget to consider the anomalies to reduce a catastrophe.
#11: You buy however much you want on margin
When you trade derivatives you need to remember.
You will be exposed to more money than what you deposit.
You can LOSE way more money that you anticipated if things don’t go your way.
You need to seriously understand the risks involved with margin and gearing trading before you even commit to trading derivatives.
#12: You don’t diversify
Some traders ONLY trade one index or one currency or one commodity.
I believe this is not very good for the future.
There are times where these markets enter into a stagnant period for months upon months on end.
You need to find a way to diversify and trade a few more markets, to make up for the dangers of idling markets.
It’s important to diversify your portfolio and spread your risk across multiple markets.
#13: You chase the next best penny thing
Chasing ‘hot’ penny stocks or penny cryptos is lethal.
You’ll end up emotionally involved in them and you’ll find every reason (fundamentally and technically) to hold on because they are going to the moon.
Remember, you need to research the markets that work with your trading strategy over at least 5 years.
Any other markets, are dangerous and can lead to you blowing your account.
#14: Not Emotional control
Not managing your emotions appropriately and making impulsive trading decisions can lead to poor outcomes.
When you lose you’ll feel like it’s the end of the world.
When you win, you’ll feel you have trading down and life.
Problem is these uppers and downers with trading will have an effect in your life negatively and will end up with you making very emotionally driven and triggering trading decisions.
Then POOF. All will be gone.
It’s important to stay calm and focused when making trading decisions.
#15: No Trading Journal
What are you basing your success on?
A strategy you don’t even have proof whether it works or not.
If you are Not using a trading journal to track your trades and evaluate your strategy over time, it can lead to a losing performance, unnecessary losses, missed opportunities for improvement and will leave you blinded to your potential.
It’s important to keep a record of your trades and evaluate your performance regularly.
#16: Not Learning from Mistakes
Trading is a forever learning journey.
You need to learn from EVERY mistake you make and move on.
If you don’t learn you’ll continue to have a poor performance.
It’s important to evaluate your mistakes and make changes to improve your strategy. Maybe even document every trading mistake you make in your trading journal.
This way you’ll reflect and work on them for the future.
Was that helpful?
Common trading mistakes to avoid as a trader ❌
For new market traders, review these common trading mistakes so you can avoid emotional blunders with your investments and take advantage of psychological edges.
The mechanics of trading are relatively simple. A click or two gets you into a trade, and a click or two gets you out. But the decision-making process behind those clicks is much more complex. And with complexity comes more opportunities to make mistakes that can affect your bottom line. Here are seven common mistakes that traders—both new and experienced—sometimes make.
1️⃣Mistake 1: Emotional trading/psychological trading
Trading can bring out the best and the worst in us. For a trader, nothing is more frustrating than opening a long position and seeing the market drop, bringing the value of your long position to levels well below the price you bought it. The same can be said about missing out on a move in a stock that's been on your radar for a while.
Anger, fear, and anxiety can lead traders to make quick and even irrational emotion-based decisions.
The reality is that markets are cyclical, moving through ups and downs. Trading decisions based on emotions may not always give the results you want. Instead, take a step back and think through the situation logically. Every situation is different, and instead of buying or selling in a panic, think about how you can best manage risk.
2️⃣Mistake 2: Pulling stop orders
When a position hits a stop order, it can often mean you're going to take a loss on it. Pulling—or canceling—a stop is often a subliminal attempt to avoid admitting you were wrong. After all, as long as the position is open, there's still a chance it could come back and be profitable.
The problem is every 50% loss starts with a 5% loss. It's not magic; it's just math. And it only takes one small loss that turns into a big one to make a big dent in a portfolio. Losing is no fun, but it's part of trading. Being disciplined about managing stop orders may help you come back and trade another day.
3️⃣Mistake 3: Trading without a plan
Trading plans should act as a blueprint during your time on the markets. They should contain a strategy, time commitments and the amount of capital that you are willing to invest.
After a bad day on the markets, traders could be tempted to scrap their plan. This is a mistake, because a trading plan should be the foundation for any new position. A bad trading day doesn’t mean that a plan is flawed, it simply means that the markets weren’t moving in the anticipated direction during that particular time period.
Every trader makes mistakes, and the examples covered in this article don’t need to be the end of your trading. However, they should be taken as opportunities to learn what works and what doesn’t work for you. The main points to remember are that you should make a trading plan based on your own analysis, and stick to it to prevent emotions from clouding your decision-making.
Hey traders, let me know what subject do you want to dive in in the next post?
This mistakes can rip your depositEveryone goes through the path of their own mistakes, gaining experience. But maybe this video can help you avoid some mistakes in the future, if you have just entered the cryptocurrency market.
The first mistake, and perhaps the most important, is not to analyze your actions.
It doesn't matter if it's trading, futures trading, participation in an IDO or simple investments. When you make some action on the market with your deposit, and then lose or earn money, always analyze what you did right and where you made a mistake.
You entered a trade without a stop loss and lost part of the deposit, you did not analyze the period of coin unlocks and bought at the wrong time, or bought on greed already at too high a price.
You must understand that there is no more money in the market, it just flows from one hand to another. If today you have earned, then someone has lost. So, do not ignore your actions, keep a trading diary, tracking your portfolio for investment. Analyze why you are buying this coin, what you intend to receive and when to exit the project, options for exiting the project if everything does not go according to plan, where you will transfer your money if you exit the coin. What tools will you use while trading, what indicators and why. Also write down your psychological and emotional state at one time or another, this will help you invest money more rationally in the future.
The second mistake is that you are simply trying to copy someone else's trading or investment strategy. Perhaps somewhere you saw someone's advice that should bring you millions, and you began to blindly repeat the same actions, but no one gives you guarantees in cryptocurrency.
What worked in 2017 may not work in 2023 , you have to understand that. You must work out for yourself two investment strategies and a trading strategy. Conducting analysis and working on their improvement just for yourself. Because if one strategy becomes available to everyone, the market maker will do everything to ensure that this strategy stops working. That is why classical tech analysis practically does not work in the cryptocurrency market. Do not try to shift the responsibility for your income or losses to someone else. Your money is your decision.
The third mistake Do not invest the entire deposit in one coin.
Diversification. If you invested in 100 projects and 80 of them failed, then you will still end up with money. But if you invest in one project that fizzles you will lose all the money. I think the recent terra luna example is a great example. I’m afraid to upset you, but everything is possible in cryptocurrency, so even coins such as ether, cardano, polkadot, bitcoin are also not immune from falls.
The fourth mistake is to sit 100% only in cryptocurrency. Even if it is a stable coin. The recent example with ust also perfectly describes this error. Nobody knows what might happen to usdt or stablecoins in general in the future. Therefore, withdraw part of the funds always into real fiat money in the real world. Buy something for yourself, your money should bring you emotions and you should see the physical result, and not just the numbers on your wallet. Don't wait until you reach a certain amount. Perhaps at the peak you can lose everything.
You can’t fall in love with projects, those projects that were in the top 10 in 2017 are not in the top 100 now. Think about it.
The cryptocurrency market is changing and new projects will appear every year. Earn money, not just the number of coins. Don't be afraid to take profits, you will never hit the bottom and you will never hit the top of the market. Fix gradually, and buy coins step by step. Creating your average check. Remember, many projects are launched to earn money by their creators. No one is interested in what ordinary investors would earn. Don't be greedy and always take profits.
I had an example with ShibaInu. I bought this coin even before the listing on binance, and during the listing, I did not sell the coin without taking a profit of 200k. That's when the market crashed. I fixed part of the profit, and also part of the profit on its subsequent growth. But if I hadn’t been greedy, but fixed it and bought it back, but already cheaper, I could again earn another 200 thousand in November at the new peak of the market. In the end, I did not do this, because I succumbed to the information field that this project would grow. As a result, Shiba Inu lost capitalization from 42 billion to 14 billion. That is, someone fixed a profit and next time they will invest this money in a new project. Don't fall in love with projects
Share with your friends who are just starting their journey in the cryptocurrency world.
Hope you enjoyed the content I created, You can support with your likes and comments this idea so more people can watch!
Why Most Traders Lose Money — Here Are The Top 3 ReasonsI’m Markus Heitkoetter and I’ve been an active trader for over 20 years.
I often see people who start trading and expect their accounts to explode, based on promises and hype they see in ads and e-mails.
They start trading and realize it doesn’t work this way.
The purpose of these articles is to show you the trading strategies and tools that I personally use to trade my own account so that you can grow your own account systematically.
Real money…real trades.
Anyone 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 trading decisions.
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.
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.
If you’re brand new and not sure where to get started, I’ve written The PowerX Strategy, a book that outlines my EXACT trading strategy for trading stocks and options.
Does Trading Really Work?I’m Markus Heitkoetter and I’ve been an active trader for over 20 years.
I often see people who start trading and expect their accounts to explode, based on promises and hype they see in ads and e-mails.
They start trading and realize it doesn’t work this way.
The purpose of these articles is to show you the trading strategies and tools that I personally use to trade my own account so that you can grow your own account systematically. Real money…real trades.
Does Trading Really Work?
What I want to talk about today is, does trading really work?
Because sometimes it feels that you’re going one step forward and then two steps back, doesn’t it?
Yesterday, Rosemarie shared in one of my private Facebook groups. She asked:
“How is everybody doing? I got out last Friday losing most of my gains, and yesterday I got stopped out of a loss during the same day and today I put on three trades, two long and one short, and they’re all in the red. Is everybody in the same boat or staying out of the market?”
What is going on here? Does what Rosemarie shared sound familiar? This is where sometimes it really feels that you’re not moving.
And let me show you what’s even worse.
Traders will often look at some charts for big percentage movers and say, “Oh my gosh!” and will get in too late.
Usually it’s penny stocks for companies like CARV . Very recently this stock went from $2 to $22.
Another example of a stock that did this was COHN which was trading at $4 and then skyrocketed.
These two stocks were up 300% & 137%.
When you see this, you’re wondering, “Why can’t I do this,” right?
They see a price spike, and buy a stock with no strategy in mind.
You see, doing something like this with penny stocks it’s like winning the lottery.
Have you ever heard of CARV before? They may have shot up, but then they came right back down.
This is what usually happens. What goes up must come down, especially when it has these parabolic moves.
2 Things Needed To Trade Successfully
So I want to share a little bit of what I have experienced in all my years of trading. You see, in order to trade and to trade successfully, you must have two things.
1. A Solid Trading Strategy
The first thing that you need is a solid trading strategy. I’ve talked about this before. What exactly do you need in a trading strategy?
What to trade
Well, first of all, a trading strategy needs to first tell you what to trade, right?
I mean, what stock, what option, what binary option, or what future market, it doesn’t really matter.
When to enter
It also has to show you when exactly to enter a trade.
When to exit
Then we need to know when to exit a trade.
When it comes to exiting you can either exit with a profit, I mean, this is why we are trading, or you’re exiting with a loss, right?
Both ways are possible here, and this is what a solid trading strategy does for you, it gives you this information.
Now, as you know, I personally like to use the PowerX Strategy.
This is the strategy that I like to trade here, and this is exactly what strategy Rosemarie is trading.
2. You Must Have Confidence In Your Strategy
Now, the second thing that you need, based on my experience, is you need to have confidence in your strategy.
We talked about this before, if you don’t have the confidence, you start chasing shiny objects, you jump from one strategy to another, from one newsletter to another, or you buy more & more tools.
At least this is what happened to me in the beginning when I was lacking confidence. So confidence is absolutely important.
Now the key question here is, “How?”
People ask me all the time:
“How do you have so much confidence in your plan?”
Well here’s my answer: I know my numbers and I know what to expect.
How to know what to expect
You see, for example, how do I know what to expect?
As I mentioned, I’m using the PoweX Strategy and I am using the PowerX Optimizer to find the best stocks and options to trade.
That is the software that I use every day I’m actually using it at night to find the best trades, and then I confirm them the next morning.
This only takes me, what, 15-35 minutes a day.
When I run the software, I look for certain stocks and I look for stocks that give me at least a 60% return on my investment, per year.
This means I’m expecting 5% per month.
Now, I’m always happy when I’m surprised in a positive way, but these are my minimum requirements.
I’m also expecting a 40% winning percentage.
These are my requirements and yours might be different, but this is what exactly I’m expecting.
A 40% winning percentage means 6 out of 10 trades are losing trades.
I also expect a profit factor of at least 3. Now, what does a profit factor of three mean?
It means that for every dollar that I lose, I expect to make at least $3 in return.
So this is my ratio, and again, yours might be completely different, but this is what I’m looking for.
So these are my expectations when trading the PowerX Strategy.
Real Results From My Trading Account
So let me show you some real results. As some of you may know, I opened a small account with tastyworks.
I put $20,000 into the account because I wanted to see how quickly can I grow this account.
I have been trading with my trading plan, on this account, and I want to explain to you exactly what happened.
These were my statistics. These results are from June 17th, and went back almost a month prior to May 19th.
I got 192 signals from the PowerX Optimizer Software in total.
I then ruled out a few stocks according to my trading plan.
I had 41 triggered and 31 filled. So this means over the past four weeks I’ve taken 31 trades.
Now out of these 31 trades, 9 trades were still open, and I closed 22 trades.
Now out of these 22 trades, I closed 6 with a profit and 16 with a loss.
Now, I’ve just covered with you what I expect, and 6 out of 22 trades is 27%.
So right now, my winning percentage is 27%.
I expect a 40% winning percentage, right? So here, the strategy was underperforming.
This is very important to understand because when you are trading a strategy, and you’re expecting a winning percentage of 40%,
it means that in the long run, based on my experience, a good number of trades to look at is 40 trades.
This is what you want to see after 40 trades.
However, I only closed 22 trades, and it’s absolutely normal for every trading strategy to have times when they’re underperforming, or when they’re overperforming.
You see, when trading, you don’t have this straight line that goes up from the lower left to the upper right, it doesn’t work this way.
There will be dips, here & there, and you will see that sometimes it’s just going sideways, maybe even down, and then it takes off.
So at this time my account was definitely underperforming, but over the next few weeks, I expected it to overperform.
At this time, the account was underperforming, because the markets were nervous about what was going on with the virus.
During these trades, markets were definitely nervous due to uncertainty with the rising number of new cases of Covid-19.
I mean, we had a spike in cases in Florida, Texas, Arizona, but then overall, it seemed that our economy was rebounding, so these were definitely tricky times to trade.
So this is why my account was underperforming, but there is more to it than that because again, the winning percentage is only one of the important factors.
What I also expect is that I have a profit factor of 3 to 1.
I was not quite there yet because my average losing trade was $200.
This is very important to note here that I was keeping my losses small here.
Think about it, this was a $20,000 account. So $200 per losing trade is 1% and the average winning trade is $433.
So my loss after four weeks of trading was only $600.
I told you I’d give it to you straight, and even though I’m really good at trading, I wish I could tell you that I’m always winning, but after four weeks of trading here, I had a loss of $600 in a $20,000 account.
This loss however is only about 3%. That’s nothing, especially if that my average winning trade was $433.
This means that one winning trade will get me close to break even, and a few more winning trades, and I’d be back up.
I want to share something else with you.
In my company, Rockwell Trading, we have a team here, and some of the team members are trading.
One of the team members who is trading is Alex, who is responsible for all the tech support for the website, and all the backend stuff.
We had a conversation through Skype about the trades he was taking at this time.
Alex said:
“I’m trading right now and I’m not doing well.”
And I said:
“Well, I’m not doing well either. Look at this. Check the stats, 22 losing trades, only 6 winning trades.”
Exactly how I explained it here in this article, to which Alex replied:
“Yes, I’m surprised you’re only down $600.”
I asked him:
“Why are you surprised? I’m keeping my losses small. This is the secret here one winning trade will bring me back to break even.”
Alex had a realization and said:
“I’m surprised that I’m only down $155 a month, and two more winning trades, and I’ll have a decent profit.”
So you see, this I believe is the key. You have to keep your losses small.
Is It Possible To Make Money Trading?
I’ve been trading for a long time. I can’t remember exactly how long, but more than 20 years. I can give you my answer.
YES, it is absolutely possible to make money with trading, and there are a few things that you need to consider.
1. Trading Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint
Number one, trading is a marathon, not a sprint.
When you see these crazy claims about “how you can turn a thousand dollars into a million dollars,” or “never have a losing trade again,” or “make 1,000%,” run away!
I mean, here, I’m as real as it gets. I’m sharing my real results with you, from one of my actual accounts.
This is one of my smaller accounts, and I have a total of 8 accounts.
The results of this account are pretty typical of all the other accounts I’m trading on.
2. Stay Focused
Number two, is it possible to make money with trading?
Yes. Stay focused. Don’t jump from one trading strategy to another one.
That is one of the big mistakes that I made in the beginning of my trading career.
I mean, this is where I started trading a strategy and then when it underperformed, as this one did, I jumped to the next trading strategy, and then I jumped to the next trading strategy.
3. Stay Disciplined
The third thing I believe is absolutely important is to stay disciplined.
Let me tell you a story really quick.
So my kids are sailing, and so we go to regattas all over the country.
A few years ago, we went to a regatta in New Orleans.
In the evening after the first day, one of the dads, Tony said:
“Hey, you know, what? Do you want to go to a casino and play, gamble a little bit?”
And I said:
“Well, not much of a gambler, but sure, why not?”
Tony and I went to a casino and we decided to play blackjack. I think we had about $500 each and, here’s what happened.
Tony had a few losing hands, and after a while, his chip pile was down to half the money that he had.
Now, I’m very conservative, as I’m really not much of a gambler, I barely know the rules of blackjack.
Well when Tony was down almost half of his money, decided for the next round he was all in.
No more discipline. All in. Does that sound familiar?
What do you think happened? It was another losing hand and so we left the casino and Tony wasn’t so happy.
This is also what I see happening to traders.
After a few losing trades, often they do something stupid.
I also did this in the beginning of my trading career.
In the beginning of my trading career I clearly said:
“You know what? After a few losing trades now let’s just increase the bet size and try to make back the money that I lost.”
Have you ever done it? Because if so, you know exactly what happens. So it is super important to stay disciplined.
How do you stay disciplined?
How do you stay focused and disciplined?
This is where we go back to having confidence.
And you see it’s a full circle.
And how do you have confidence?
By knowing what to expect and by knowing your numbers.
Has this been helpful to understand a little bit of what’s happening right now?
And if you have a losing streak, it might not necessarily be new to you.
Know what to expect and know your number.
Trading After The Presidential ElectionThe aftermath of the election
The presidential election is over, so it is safe to start trading again?
First of all, as of writing this, we actually don’t know yet who has won the Presidential Election.
As of this morning, Biden leads Trump in the Electoral College 264–214, and we are waiting for an update to see who won Nevada.
If Biden wins Nevada, this will give him 270 electoral votes exactly enough to win the presidency.
The Trump campaign has also filed lawsuits against the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia as the race to 270 looks to be nearing its end.
As of now, it is still a close race. We won’t have any updates until later today, as Nevada basically said yesterday:
“You know what, we’ll keep counting, but stop bothering us, we’ll let you know tomorrow around noon. Until then we will not publish any more results.”
we will see what is happening there soon.
Looking back to last week, the markets were a little bit worried about a so-called “blue wave.” This means the Democrats would control both the House of Representatives, and The Senate.
What it comes down to is, how is power being distributed? As of right now, it seems that the Senate COULD remain Republican.
However, we’re not quite sure yet. It is very close, but it doesn’t seem that we have this “blue wave” that the markets were fearing.
As for The House of Representatives, it seems that it likely to remain Democratic.
So we still don’t know for sure who will control The House, The Senate, or win the Presidency. It’s still a close race.
There’s still a lot of “would of, could of” and speculation as far as what will happen if Trump stays in office, or if Biden takes over.
How is the election affecting the markets & traders?
Yesterday morning, the day after the election, the markets were rallying big before pulling back a little bit.
The DJI was up more than 900 points as it continued to shoot up that morning, before pulling back before the close.
The S&P 500 was up 2.37% and its the same picture here, jumping up before retracing
The NASDAQ was the leader of that day towards the close. Up 4.2% and as high as 5% earlier in the day.
What is causing this?
As I mentioned, looking at the election results so far, there doesn’t seem to be a “blue wave” coming.
This means that there is a division of the powers and not everything in the hand of one party. This is what traders and the markets are looking for right now.
A division of the powers could mean fewer regulations on ‘Big Tech’. This is why yesterday, the day after the election we saw big jumps in companies AAPL , AMZN , GOOG , etc.
AMZN was up 6% near the close. AAPL was up over 5% and finished up over 4%. NFLX closed up almost 2%, FB closed up almost 8%, and GOOG and MSFT both closed up almost 6%.
This is why The NASDAQ was leading the way higher, when before it was lagging behind The S&P 500 and The DJI .
News from the election that is affecting the markets
In California, voters pushed for Prop. 22. This will allow UBER and LYFT to keep classifying their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees.
This was a big win for both companies resulting in both companies being up almost 12% and 13%.
Another thing on trader’s minds is the stimulus deal (or lack of one).
Recently, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said that a stimulus package should be passed by the end of the year.
This is what market participants were waiting for, as new cases for the Coronavirus continue to rise.
We are up to almost 95,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day, and Dr. Fauci has said that we are positioned really badly as we head into Flu season.
It’s important to keep in mind that uncertainty could creep back into the markets as the Trump Campaign is calling for lawsuits, and as new Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
Is it safe to trade after the presidential election?
The key question is, “How do we trade this?”
Before the election, I said that we should all sit on our hands. For those of you trading The Wheel Strategy, we had an opportunity, on election day, to close out a TQQQ 100 put that I sold.
This is the ONLY position that I had going into the election. I sold this put last Thursday and I was able to buy it back on election day, for a nice profit of about $250, after only being in the position for 5 days.
Now, the next morning when I saw the markets were up, I thought that after the initial excitement we would fill the gap.
After we saw that we might not have any results from the election for a few days I thought we would hover where we opened at around $133 or maybe lower.
Instead, we went higher so here’s what I did. I sold a call with a strike price of 148. I sold this call for $2.45 which means I took in another $245 in premium.
My break-even price on this trade was around $132. At one point I was down $3,000 but I just kept selling more premium according to the rules of The Wheel Strategy.
Overall I’ve realized $2,300 by selling premium. If I would have closed out the trade right then, I would have closed it with a profit, but I didn’t plan to do that just yet.
Should TQQQ keep dropping, I will be able to buy back the call that I sold against my shares.
If my shares are “called away” I would lose $200 of the premium I earned, but would still be up over $2000 on this trade.
I checked this position yesterday and it started the day up $1,400, and this is the only position I am in. For now, I am not taking making any other trades. I may start trading again later this week, but for now, I’m just going to sit on my hands.
The markets are still rather flat, trending sideways, as market participants are waiting for the final results of the election to come in.
Trading After The Presidential Election Summary
Whether you like what’s happening with the election so far, or whether you will like the final results of the election or not, as traders it is our jobs to react to this and make the best out of it by adjusting our trading strategies.
With still a lot of uncertainty looming, I recommend sitting back and waiting to take any new positions until the air clears.
There is a saying among sailors: “You can’t change the wind, but you can adjust your sails.”
The 5 Biggest Trading MistakesSo let’s talk about the five biggest trading mistakes that cause traders to lose money. And one of them is the account killer that I’m saving for last.
When you are trading, you need to have a trading strategy. You already know this, this is nothing new.
The 3 Key Elements To Every Trading Strategy
There are three key elements to every single trading strategy.
What to trade
First of all, a trading strategy tells you what to trade, right?
I mean, what stock or what options should you trade? What expiration? What strike price? So this is very important.
And as you know, I’m using my software PowerX Optimizer to find the best stocks and options to trade.
When to enter
Number two, a trading strategy, whatever trading strategy it is, has to tell you exactly when to enter.
When exactly should you buy or sell an instrument? Whether it is a stock or an option, it doesn’t really matter.
When to exit
Now, element number three is when to exit. Super important here and when we talk about exiting, there’s two ways to exit, right?
So we can either exit with a profit and if this happens, then yay, this is good, right? Or losses are part of our business as a trader.
So sometimes we have to exit with a loss. And of course, nobody likes it, but it’s part of trading.
So the key here is that you have to keep your losses small, right?
Anyhow, this is just a brief recap. These are the three major elements that every good trading strategy needs.
So let’s talk about the five biggest trading mistakes, especially considering that these are the things.
Trading Mistake #5
Trading mistake number five is trading the wrong stock or option.
What do I mean by this?
Trading the wrong stock or option means that you picked a stock and it is just diddling around while everything is taking off, right?
It happens. And this is where often I see that many traders are picking stocks based on news, right?
They hear, for example, “Tesla is making new all time highs.” “Amazon is making new all time highs.” Netflix, or Nio, the Tesla of China, right?
And then they’re jumping in and realize, “Oh, this is not going anywhere,” or it is going down.
So trading mistake number five, trading the wrong stock or option.
Trading Mistake #4
The next trading mistake is entering too early.
Has this ever happened to you that you were kind of right about the stock, but you entered way too early?
Let me give you a very specific example. Because right now, as we are still in this pandemic, the airlines have been one of the industries hit the hardest.
So you might say at this point, “Yeah, you know what? This is a good point to enter because airlines will go up again. People will travel again.” Right?
And so you might enter there or you might actually say, “Oh, this didn’t work. Let’s enter here as there at $10.”
Then they do in fact move up and you think, “Yay, I timed right.” But then it’s again coming down.
Has this ever happened to you that you entered a trade way too early before you should have happened it?
Now, especially if you are a PowerX Optimizer user, you know that with PowerX Optimizer and the PowerX Strategy you need to wait until it goes above a certain level.
Has it ever happened to you that you jumped into a trade before it actually went to the level? Probably, yes.
Trading Mistake #3
Let’s talk about trading mistake number three, and this is entering too late.
Let’s use Netflix for example.
When do most people enter Netflix? Traders like you and I, we are way smarter, right?
But many are entering it when it says, oh, it’s going through a key level, like $500.
And they say, “Oh, my gosh. Netflix is going above $500. I need to buy it right now.”
And what happens after it went through a key level? It comes down again.
Also, often when stocks make a new all time high, this is when many traders are getting interested in this.
Might not happen to you, but, hey, based on what I see of why people are losing money, is because they’re entering too late after a move has already taken place.
Trading Mistake #2
Let’s talk about trading mistake number two.
And again, all of this is connected to your trading strategy, because when you have a trading strategy, you have just these three major elements here.
So another trading mistake is taking profits too early.
Has this ever happened to you that you got out of a trade too early?
That you saw some profits and you were so excited, “Oh, my gosh, it was moving up.”
And you took the money off the table and realized, “Oh, my gosh, I did it way too early!” and the stock just keeps going higher and higher and you would have made so much more money if you had stayed in.
Let me just ask you, do any of these four trading mistakes resonate with you thus far?
Just let me know in the comments if you made any of these four trading mistakes and then I’m going to tell you the number one mistake.
The Trading Account Killer
This here, this mistake is the trading account killer. What is it? What is the number one trading mistake that kills accounts?
It’s not getting out of losing trades.
Here’s the deal. This is why it is so important. You’ve got to know that this is what will kill your account.
Can the other mistakes kill your account?
Let’s talk about the other trading mistakes.
Trading the wrong stock
What happens when you’re trading the wrong stock? This could be a technical error. For example, I wanted to enter AAL and I accidentally typed in ALL.
So it could be technical, or you just made a wrong choice, you traded the wrong stock.
But that is not killing your account. When you realize you made a technical mistake, you get out of this as quickly as possible.
Entering too early
Now entering too early. Does this kill your account? No. All that happens is that you’re missing out on some of the profits because you’re getting into a stock that is not yet moving.
I like to trade according to the PowerX Strategy. I want to wait until I see that the stock made a move and then I’m jumping in while the move gets momentum.
So this is why the PowerX strategy is called momentum trading. But anyhow, does this entering too early kill an account? No, it does not.
Entering too late
Now entering too late. This is a problem because this is where if you are entering close to the top, you might enter right before a stock turns around.
Now, here’s the good news. As you know, when we’re talking about a trading strategy here, when to exit, I like to work with profit targets.
So I know exactly when I’m taking profits before I even enter a trade. And in order to keep my losses small I work with stop losses.
And a stop loss, I set at 2% of my account. So I never risk more than 2% of my account on any given trade.
This means that if I have a $10,000 account, I would risk $200. If I had a $20,000 account, I would risk $400, making sense? OK.
So as you can see, if you are entering too late and you see, “Oh my gosh, the stock turns around,” you just get out of here.
Taking profits too early
Now taking profits too early, can this shred your account into pieces?
No, because keep this in mind, nobody ever got broke taking profits.
Why is not getting out of losing trades the #1 trading mistake?
Think about it. Has this ever happened to you? It happened to me in the beginning of my trading career.
In the beginning of my trading career I was trading bonds and I was bullish on bonds. I was convinced that they were just going up forever.
And they didn’t, they came back and I just had an opinion. I just thought, you know what? No, these bonds will keep going up.
Have you ever had a stock like this where you entered, and after you entered, it approaches your stop loss, but as it approaches your stop loss, you take the stop loss out of the market and then it keeps going down.
And the $200 loss turns into a $300, $400 loss, and then into a $1,000 loss, then a $2,000 loss.
So what should have been a stop loss turns into a larger loss. This is what I’ve seen over and over that is killing accounts.
Accounts are not getting killed because you’re trading the wrong stock or because you’re entering too early or too late. Accounts are not getting shredded into pieces because you are taking profits too early.
But if you hold onto a losing trade for too long, this is the number one account killer. That is for sure, so keep this in mind.
Trading mistakes will happen
There are trading mistakes that will happen. These are the big five. Of course, there’s more trading mistakes.
You could, for example, go long when you intended to go short, or accidentally buy 1,000 shares when you only wanted to buy 100 shares.
It’s also possible to accidentally buy 10 options when you only wanted to buy one.
Keep this in mind, this will help you, when you make a mistake, liquidate.
What does this mean? As soon as you realize that you made a mistake don’t hope that the market turns around, don’t hope that it gets better.
Get out of this. Even if you get out of this with a small loss, right? This is how your account stays alive.
And yes, losses are part of our business. As a trader, you will experience losses. The key is really here to keep your losses small.
Recently traders have experienced more losses than usual because the markets have just been whipsawing, they’ve been going around.
And one of the biggest mistakes that you could make is saying, “I don’t want to exit the trade because I don’t want to have another losing trade.”
Trust me on this one, if you don’t take a loss when it is small, you will have to take a loss when it is bigger.
Yes, of course, every now and then you might get lucky and the stock turns around.
But let me ask you, when you held onto a losing trade for too long, did it turn into a winning trade?
Sometimes it does, more often than this, it does not.
Summary
So these are the five mistakes. And the number one thing that I want you to take from this is:
Get out of a losing trade when you see that your stop loss is hit. Have a stop loss, keep your losses small, and cut your losses short.
This way you stay alive and then can benefit from the large move that will happen in the market.
I hope that you enjoyed this article. If you did, do me a favor and leave a comment below or share it with anyone who might need to hear this, who might have experienced a larger loss.