A trader’s number one job is NOT:
A traders #1 job is to be a great risk manager. (more…)
Everyone knows that chasing price is usually not beneficial, we either end up catching the move too late, or we get poor trade location, which makes it more difficult to manage the trade.
However, there are other forms of chasing that are just as common, maybe more common, and just as counter-productive. Traders who are not profitable are often too quick to chase after new set-ups and indicators, or a different chat room, if that’s your thing. Obviously, we need to have a trading edge, whether it is from the statistical perspective of a positive expectancy, or simply the confidence in a particular discretionary strategy such as tape reading, following order flow, market profile, etc.
Chasing a trade is the fear of missing out. The fear of missing out is associated with various emotions, including regret. In my work with traders and in my own trading, I’ve seen the incredible power of regret. There’s a lot of talk about fear and greed in trading, but the power of regret is often overlooked. Some of my own worst trades, and those of my clients, often have a ‘regret from missing a prior opportunity’ component. When I finally finish my book on the psychology of financial risk taking, I will include much about this overlooked but very powerful emotion.
Somewhat related to chasing a trade, is impulse trading. They both have in common the underlying feeling of the fear of missing out. It’s tempting for me to talk about impulse trading here, but it really deserves its own piece.
“Plan the trade, and trade the plan!” is perhaps the most common advice given to traders. As far as advice goes, it’s well meaning, but unfortunately falls well short of addressing the problem most traders actually face.
Looking at the advice, it has two parts. The first part says you need a plan. No argument there. But the second part, about executing the plan, that’s where the problems appear. Why?
The two parts to the advice ‘plan the trade’ and the ‘trade the plan’ require two very different skill sets. Without understanding the different skills required, it’s highly likely that you will continue to regularly veer from your plan. (more…)
If you have ever played poker, you will know the high of going “all in”. Your heart is racing like there’s no tomorrow, and you are hoping and praying that the cards will go your way. It’s the thrill of knowing you can double your money in a few moments and also knowing it can all disappear if things don’t go your way.
This type of excitement should not exist in any form in your trading. If you are a thrill seeker, go skydiving. If you are a gambler, go to a casino. If you are afraid to lose money, open a savings account.
Successful Day traders do not let their emotions interfere with their trading. Too often, we let fear, greed, or pride get in the way.
Fear
Fear will prevent you from making the right trades and make you lose out on immense opportunities. Fear stems from lack of knowledge and proper education. You are afraid because you can’t see that a trade is the right trade since you don’t know what the right trade looks like. Once you acquire the knowledge and training, you can begin to trust your decisions because they are based on facts and not emotion.
Greed
Greed is another emotion we must overcome to be successful. Many beginners experience “beginners luck”, and come out on top on their first few trades. Then they start believing that they should have traded with more money so their profits will be larger. So on the next trade, they trade with a large sum of money and they lose it all. Logic will dictate that they should trade with a smaller amount the next time around since they have less capital now. Unfortunately, humans are not logical creatures. Our greed takes over, and we start believing that if we put in more money, we will make up for the lost amount, and come out on top. Sadly, this cycle can only continue until you are completely out of money. The worst thing that can happen to a beginner trader is to have a successful first trade. (more…)
What do the above all have in common? That’s right, “nonlinear” concepts!
It is interesting that one of the great minds of humanity, Albert Einstein spent his time on “nonlinear” concepts such as “time, space, reality, and oneness.” I find it more interesting that the interdependence of these “nonlinear” concepts is what makes a market tick as well.
As a trader, “timing” your trade within the “market” is based on “reality” in relation to the “oneness” of other traders and your outcome is determined by the “space” or movement of your position.
It is my opinion based on consulting with many traders that most traders incorrectly view the markets from purely a “linear” mindset and instead should view the markets from a “nonlinear” mindset as the markets are “nonlinear” themselves. This is why rigid logical thinkers or “linear intellectuals” find trading the markets so frustrating. Since they operate from their logical “linear” “beta” mind state, and become frustrated when market behavior does not do what it “should.” This is also why I feel that successful trading has to be both “art” & “science.”
Think about how you approach the markets and to what degree you are a “linear” vs. a “nonlinear” mindset. Also try and remember a trade or trading day where it seemed effortless and you just “let-go” and flowed with the market. In days like these, I’ll bet logical thinking was secondary to enjoying yourself, and selecting trades based on both your trading “tools” and your “intuition” which represents trading the markets as an “art” & “science.” Compare that to days when you where frustrated because the market did not do what it was suppose to based solely on logical assumptions.
Usually fear and greed are by products of logical thinking. Fear and greed are emotions and “nonlinear” in concept, but created by “linear” thinking. Isn’t it interesting that fear and greed are present in the markets and are “nonlinear” as well. Or is it because fear and greed are “nonlinear” and that they are present in the markets?
Maybe the key to a good trading system should be based on how to measure or determine “nonlinear” market events such as fear and greed. The purpose of this article is to have you look at the markets from a “nonlinear” point of view so that you can perhaps “see” market relationships that where invisible to you before.
I’ve never seen a trader succeed whose explicit or implicit goal was to not lose. The trader who trades to not lose is like the person who lives to avoid death: both become spiritual hypochondriacs.
No union was ever destroyed by a failure of romance. It is the loss of respect, not love, which ends a relationship.
Love, once present, never dies. It must be killed.
Sometimes we select markets–and trading styles–much as we choose romantic partners: by their ability to validate our deepest-held images of ourselves. Our choices generally succeed, for better or for worse.
Many a trader fears boredom more than loss, thereby experiencing the two in sequence.
Boredom: The trader wants some “action” so they put on a trade. Trades are for when entry signals are hit not to alleviate boredom.
Anger – Do you ever catch yourself yelling out loud or cursing at the screen? Or complaining about the market like it is out to get you? This is a very common and dangerous emotion. It can easily destroy your belief in trading and the belief in having an edge when trading.
Greed – You see that your trade is well up and you start picturing that new sports car. You think to yourself “if I could just make 50 % more” but what can often happen in these situations is that your profit disappears and your trade is now under water, all thanks to greed.
Fear – Fear of losing money can make traders skip on a perfectly valid trade. It might also make traders take a small loss on a trade, to then see it turn around and give profit when all the time you were taking the correct steps of entering a stop loss which was never taken out.
Frustration – Why did I not take it? Why do I always take the losing trades and not the winners? These are very common questions a trader asks himself many times during a trading career. This frustration can destroy the motivation and lead to a previously mentioned emotion; anger. (more…)
I am sure that all of us have seen the statue of The Thinking Man. It is an amazing sculpture that evokes in individuals many different emotions and ideas.
As a trader, if we are always worrying about what might happen if we do this or do that and if it is wrong that we will lose money, then we will rarely if ever have a successful session.
I submit that if we take time before we begin a trading session to think about all of the correct decisions we will make, all of the good trades we will execute, all of the money management actions that we will adhere to and so much more, then we will be so far ahead of multitudes of other traders.
When we take time to think about what we desire to accomplish and what skill sets we have and how we will put them to use while we trade, when the session is over we will many times be amazed at what we have accomplished.
Don’t begin trading with thoughts of it being impossible to succeed or else your results will match those thoughts. Fill your thoughts with confidence and focus on what you truly desire to happen and then let yourself just go ahead and make it happen.
