In order to make it on green in the trading area, you need a lot of skills or a mind "all over the place". You will need to analyze a lot of data like profit, earnings, market share, and competition in order to see how the stock will go.
Numbers are an important part of the game.
However, an even bigger part of the game is the "emotional" part, or how you handle difficult and good times.
We can call this part: what is your "mindset" when it comes to trading?
Emotions can be negative - FUD or positive - greed
What is FUD?
FUD is short for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Who likes bad news?
I guess nobody, but still, we have bad news everywhere.
It's normal to be scared when you see a bad report/a "bad news".
However, what is "normal" on paper might feel very strong for some and that can lead to irrational moves like liquidating all just to feel safe having cash.
This overreaction can be:
1. Good - in the sense you avoided more losses.
2. Bad - true you might avoid some losses, but markets tend to recover. That means you sit on cash so you lose the gains made by the same recovering stocks that you liquidated in red.
I'm talking at points 1 and 2 about "uncertainty".
Nobody knows how the stock market will go.
Sure we have a lot of tools but in the end, all they do is to give us estimates: might go up or might go up.
So what do you do?
It's obvious why people "doubt" what they should do.
The information is not clear and furthermore the information changes rapidly.
It's not:
- OK the market is going up, so I will buy the market and make money.
No. Nope.
It's more like: now it's going down, now up, but overall down, but now up, what a spike up, but happened too fast in order to take advantage of it ... what shall I do (considering that I already lost some money - that only adds more pressure to the situation)?
To put it short:
If training would be easy, everyone would be rich!
So what can you do to prevent this?
First, you should know that all these emotions are normal reactions of the mind.
Furthermore: you probably already lived these emotions in your life so this is not something special (only) for the trading area.
For example, fear is a natural reaction to a perceived threat. A trader might feel fear not only because he might lose the profit made, but also cause he can lose his invested capital!
If you have a lot of info the uncertainty will vanish. Ok, not vanish, but knowing what you are dealing with will lead to a better judgment of the situation so therefore better decisions. All you have to do is DYOR (do your own research) meaning: have information.
Why should you doubt when you have a plan?
In some tight situations, you can doubt your plan, but the plan is what might save you from doing dumb stupid moves.
For example, a good plan in the stock market will include lines like: it is important to know that the markets are going to go up and down.
No, of course you won't like it when the market will go down, but at least you will know that this is normal and you will probably also know what to do in such situations.
By planning ahead (what can/will happen?) a trader can be prepared for different events that might occur in the market. These plans will make the trader "skip" the emotional part and focus more on what he should do in the situation he is facing.
Note: I must tell you this is easy only on paper and much harder when being in that situation. However, with patience, perseverance, and taking into consideration your past moves, trading events will become much easier.
What is greed?
Greed is an uncontrolled longing for an increase in the acquisition or use of material gain or social value.
To put it simply: people don't know when to stop.
Who remembers the hot stocks from '80?
A reason for not knowing those stocks: most of them and I mean more than 95% are not on the market anymore!
Sooner or later any company will have its downfall.
Now it doesn't have to be bankruptcy or lose all your money type of situation, but it can cause you to lose from 50 up to 90% of the money invested with that firm.
The problem is that greed comes in a masked form and that is why only a few see it.
Greed is based on the feeling to do better or to have more.
So are you trading based on greed OR you are just doing your plans to do better?
It's every trader's job to answer this question as there is no general predefined answer.
Discipline beats luck!
Repetition can become boring so adding $$$ each day to make "that million $" is out of the question for most people.
Because let's face it:
Everyone wants to be rich fast.
BUT:
Investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme!
Can you see the conflict between the ideas?
That is why you need a plan that should contain a line called:
Resolving my emotional conflicts.
To improve your trading psychology you should answer questions like this:
What risk am I willing to take?
What should I invest in?
Should I be a day trader? Or a long-term investor? Or between them? Or all at once?
When do I enter a trade? When do I exit? After EPS, the launch of a product, after naming a new CEO?
Should I place an order, stop loss, or take profit?
Do I use leverage?
Answering these questions might be time-consuming (can take even weeks), but it's very important to know them.
To put it short: it's important to know what you are doing and why.
Knowledge can overcome emotions especially fear.
For example, you will probably sell your stock if you would know that a company will fall the next day.
But how would you know that if don't research?
Reading the news, looking at charts, analyzing competitions, talking to other traders, learning and testing new strategies are actions that need to be done every day. At least 5 days out of 7.
Results
The purpose of handling your emotions or taking advantage of what they are communicating is to have results.
No one will pay for how much effort you do!
People pay for results.
But emotions change depending on your strategy or what you want.
It's not the same emotion when you invest $100 or $10.000.
Although they might seem similar (the emotion caused by investing money) they are not. There are 2 different emotions for each case that require 2 different strategies.
You got to be flexible and know that handling your mindset is a daily set of tasks.
The more you go in-depth about what you are going to do, the more you increase your chances to become successful each day.
Lose aversion
An example of how emotions lead a crucial role in the trading strategy is related to lose aversion.
This happens because most of the trades haven't lost money anywhere!
Sure if you lose a $10 bill on the street you lost your money!
But:
1. How often do you lose money on the street? 1 time in 5 or even 10 years?
2. It's only $10. You will survive without them.
The rest is only depreciation (not losing money).
After 5 years a car will lose its value. But in these 5 years you used the car, you went to work or on holiday. So for the money "lost" in the depreciation process, you got something in return.
When you invest in a company, what do you get when you lose 20% of the invested value after only 20 minutes?
And what people don't realize:
ANY trade will start on red, due to the commission/spread paid to the broker.
So before you make money, first you lose money!
That is mindboggling and in most cases, due to "loss aversion" or the lack of experience in losing money, most beginners (but even experienced traders) will start doing unexplainable moves (most of them dictated by the emotions they feel).
Conclusions:
Mastering your emotions is a skill that will lead you to success in trading.
However, it takes a lot of dedication, patience, and work to get to a level where you can handle your emotions and still make the right moves.
But it is worth it!
Your bank statement will be proof that your work was worth it!
Numbers are an important part of the game.
However, an even bigger part of the game is the "emotional" part, or how you handle difficult and good times.
We can call this part: what is your "mindset" when it comes to trading?
Emotions can be negative - FUD or positive - greed
What is FUD?
FUD is short for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Who likes bad news?
I guess nobody, but still, we have bad news everywhere.
It's normal to be scared when you see a bad report/a "bad news".
However, what is "normal" on paper might feel very strong for some and that can lead to irrational moves like liquidating all just to feel safe having cash.
This overreaction can be:
1. Good - in the sense you avoided more losses.
2. Bad - true you might avoid some losses, but markets tend to recover. That means you sit on cash so you lose the gains made by the same recovering stocks that you liquidated in red.
I'm talking at points 1 and 2 about "uncertainty".
Nobody knows how the stock market will go.
Sure we have a lot of tools but in the end, all they do is to give us estimates: might go up or might go up.
So what do you do?
It's obvious why people "doubt" what they should do.
The information is not clear and furthermore the information changes rapidly.
It's not:
- OK the market is going up, so I will buy the market and make money.
No. Nope.
It's more like: now it's going down, now up, but overall down, but now up, what a spike up, but happened too fast in order to take advantage of it ... what shall I do (considering that I already lost some money - that only adds more pressure to the situation)?
To put it short:
If training would be easy, everyone would be rich!
So what can you do to prevent this?
First, you should know that all these emotions are normal reactions of the mind.
Furthermore: you probably already lived these emotions in your life so this is not something special (only) for the trading area.
For example, fear is a natural reaction to a perceived threat. A trader might feel fear not only because he might lose the profit made, but also cause he can lose his invested capital!
If you have a lot of info the uncertainty will vanish. Ok, not vanish, but knowing what you are dealing with will lead to a better judgment of the situation so therefore better decisions. All you have to do is DYOR (do your own research) meaning: have information.
Why should you doubt when you have a plan?
In some tight situations, you can doubt your plan, but the plan is what might save you from doing dumb stupid moves.
For example, a good plan in the stock market will include lines like: it is important to know that the markets are going to go up and down.
No, of course you won't like it when the market will go down, but at least you will know that this is normal and you will probably also know what to do in such situations.
By planning ahead (what can/will happen?) a trader can be prepared for different events that might occur in the market. These plans will make the trader "skip" the emotional part and focus more on what he should do in the situation he is facing.
Note: I must tell you this is easy only on paper and much harder when being in that situation. However, with patience, perseverance, and taking into consideration your past moves, trading events will become much easier.
What is greed?
Greed is an uncontrolled longing for an increase in the acquisition or use of material gain or social value.
To put it simply: people don't know when to stop.
Who remembers the hot stocks from '80?
A reason for not knowing those stocks: most of them and I mean more than 95% are not on the market anymore!
Sooner or later any company will have its downfall.
Now it doesn't have to be bankruptcy or lose all your money type of situation, but it can cause you to lose from 50 up to 90% of the money invested with that firm.
The problem is that greed comes in a masked form and that is why only a few see it.
Greed is based on the feeling to do better or to have more.
So are you trading based on greed OR you are just doing your plans to do better?
It's every trader's job to answer this question as there is no general predefined answer.
Discipline beats luck!
Repetition can become boring so adding $$$ each day to make "that million $" is out of the question for most people.
Because let's face it:
Everyone wants to be rich fast.
BUT:
Investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme!
Can you see the conflict between the ideas?
That is why you need a plan that should contain a line called:
Resolving my emotional conflicts.
To improve your trading psychology you should answer questions like this:
What risk am I willing to take?
What should I invest in?
Should I be a day trader? Or a long-term investor? Or between them? Or all at once?
When do I enter a trade? When do I exit? After EPS, the launch of a product, after naming a new CEO?
Should I place an order, stop loss, or take profit?
Do I use leverage?
Answering these questions might be time-consuming (can take even weeks), but it's very important to know them.
To put it short: it's important to know what you are doing and why.
Knowledge can overcome emotions especially fear.
For example, you will probably sell your stock if you would know that a company will fall the next day.
But how would you know that if don't research?
Reading the news, looking at charts, analyzing competitions, talking to other traders, learning and testing new strategies are actions that need to be done every day. At least 5 days out of 7.
Results
The purpose of handling your emotions or taking advantage of what they are communicating is to have results.
No one will pay for how much effort you do!
People pay for results.
But emotions change depending on your strategy or what you want.
It's not the same emotion when you invest $100 or $10.000.
Although they might seem similar (the emotion caused by investing money) they are not. There are 2 different emotions for each case that require 2 different strategies.
You got to be flexible and know that handling your mindset is a daily set of tasks.
The more you go in-depth about what you are going to do, the more you increase your chances to become successful each day.
Lose aversion
An example of how emotions lead a crucial role in the trading strategy is related to lose aversion.
This happens because most of the trades haven't lost money anywhere!
Sure if you lose a $10 bill on the street you lost your money!
But:
1. How often do you lose money on the street? 1 time in 5 or even 10 years?
2. It's only $10. You will survive without them.
The rest is only depreciation (not losing money).
After 5 years a car will lose its value. But in these 5 years you used the car, you went to work or on holiday. So for the money "lost" in the depreciation process, you got something in return.
When you invest in a company, what do you get when you lose 20% of the invested value after only 20 minutes?
And what people don't realize:
ANY trade will start on red, due to the commission/spread paid to the broker.
So before you make money, first you lose money!
That is mindboggling and in most cases, due to "loss aversion" or the lack of experience in losing money, most beginners (but even experienced traders) will start doing unexplainable moves (most of them dictated by the emotions they feel).
Conclusions:
Mastering your emotions is a skill that will lead you to success in trading.
However, it takes a lot of dedication, patience, and work to get to a level where you can handle your emotions and still make the right moves.
But it is worth it!
Your bank statement will be proof that your work was worth it!
Access our exclusive tools at: angelalgo.com
Join our community via discord.gg/FGUTfkmYbW
All content from AngelAlgo is for informational and educational purposes only. Please note that past performance does not guarantee future results.
Join our community via discord.gg/FGUTfkmYbW
All content from AngelAlgo is for informational and educational purposes only. Please note that past performance does not guarantee future results.