Calculated Risk vs Emotional and Monetary Rewards:

  There is no doubt that trading can be an emotional roller coaster as traders swing from winners to losers and vice versa. Successful traders realize that calculating risk involves much more than money.  It involves the emotional risk associated with winning and losing. Of course, we all can understand the risk associated with losing.  No one likes to lose but it is part of the speculative game. If the trader cannot lose for fear of losing money, the fear will cause greater losses.  The trader who expects to be paid with each risk on trade sets himself up for greater disappointment because in an uncertain environment there are no guarantees.   There is also the risk associated with winning, especially when we win big. Winning can cause the trader to make hasty, irrational decisions based on the need to feel the emotional “high” associated with that last big win.  Trading for guaranteed monetary rewards and the high associated with winning can be a fatal combination as preparing for a possible loss is not considered.  Instead, only profits are calculated.  The successful trader calculates both the potential for loss and profit associated with each new trade, allowing himself to accept any possible outcome; not the one most desired.