Catching a Falling Knife - The Illusion of OpportunityNOTE – This is a post on mindset and emotion. It is NOT a trade idea or system designed to make you money. My intention is to help you preserve capital, energy, and focus — so you can execute your own trading system with calm and confidence.
A sharp selloff.
Price is plunging.
The chart looks like it’s gone too far .
Your eye zooms in on that last swing low - “It has to bounce here.”
You tell yourself you’re being brave… opportunistic… disciplined even.
Beneath the surface, something else is driving the impulse.
A need to get involved and capitalize on opportunity
A need to relieve tension and fomo
A belief that there’s value here.
A sense of excitement. Things are moving.
A chance to make back all that I’ve lost before - plus more.
When markets fall fast, the nervous system reacts.
Adrenaline spikes.
The body wants to do something - to turn impulse into action.
To buy the bottom feels like you’ve beaten the market. That you’ve proven that you can do this and that you’re really really clever.
But every time you step in too soon, the same pattern repeats:
You’re not trading your process
You’re trading your emotions, your sense of self worth and lets be honest
Face it. You’ve been hijacked.
Body cues:
Eyes darting across screens, scanning for reversal signals.
Shoulders tense, leaning closer to the monitor.
A restless tapping of fingers or bouncing knee as you wait for confirmation.
Breath shortening, shallow and quick.
Underlying belief:
“If I can catch this, I’ll prove that I’m right”
How to shift it:
When you feel that urge to step in early, force a pause.
Name what’s really happening: “My mind wants action, and it wants to be right ”. Ask the question
“Do I want to be right or do I want to make money?”
Then redirect that energy toward process - not action.
Waiting doesn’t make you passive.
It’s an act of discipline and power.
Remember Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd in Trading Places.
The art of waiting for the moment, and then engaging is the mark of a disciplined professional trader.
Stay safe out there and live to trade another day
For another related post, check out this one on buying the dip
