Causes of Trading Discomfort

Discomfort in trading usually comes in two forms and both have micro and macro causes.

Monetary Discomfort – Just like it sounds, this is where you are uncomfortable because you are losing money.

This can happen simply because you have a position with an open loss that is beyond your comfort level, or it can have more a more complex genesis.

Are you down big for the year in your trading account?  Are you in financial trouble in your regular life?  Is the mortgage payment coming due and your trading profits are the funds you have to use to pay it?

Control Discomfort – This where you feel discomfort not because of the monetary loss, but because the trade is “not doing what it is supposed to.”

This could be the result of a choppy day where every trade you attempt, no matter long or short, reverses against you.

Or once again it could be a related to larger issue.  Are you the type of person that always needs to be in control in your life?  Do you have an obsession with always being “right?”  Is the world a place that would  be better off if it listened to your opinions DAMMIT? (more…)