TradingBlog

Many traders find themselves in a recognizable minefield with enormous intraday losses. Out of desperation, they put on double, triple, and quadruple the normal size of efforts and time just looking for a miracle. The one word that injects fear into the heart of every trader is blowout. This is purely because traders speculate on time based trading rather than understanding the ethical trick behind it. Control is the essence of good trading. You can’t control the markets, but you can control your actions. You either have the control or you hand it over.

Check your checkpoint:
Any of the below actions proves that you are trading on borrowed time:

• You go on any single stock
• You go all in on a stock position into an earnings report or an FDA meeting
• You are constantly praying for a position to go your way even though all your original premises and signals have broken down
• You start justifying your trade position with a longer term outlook and decide to invest or swing the trade
• You keep trading to make up the commissions
• You keep trading to make up losses on the day, even through the setups are blurry
• You go double, triple or more of your normal comfort level size on trades after each stop loss— especially when it’s during consolidation periods
• Your intraday losses are greater than 10% of your account
• You can’t leave the screens for fear of missing an opportunity, not even to go to the bathroom
• You regularly pray for just one more miracle trade! (several times a day)

There’s a thin line between having control and sinking head first into the deep hole. This line can be crossed merely by a string of emotional stop losses. These losses can turn into a domino effect that gradually snowballs into disaster. Every trader faces the chasm and recovers at least once with a miracle trade. Rather than considering this as a gift, consider it more of a warning especially when you are into a time based trading.

After a miracle trade, a trader will come to one of two conclusions.

1. The trader will realize how lucky he was and take a step back to reevaluate his methods and take the necessary steps to get back in control.
2. The trader will go on as if nothing has happened. He will inevitably find himself in nowhere again. With each successive miracle trade, the trader gains more false confidence.

The best way to not get blown up in a minefield is to not place yourself in a minefield particularly when you are a trader who speculates on time based trading.

Search Engine Terms people used to find this Article...
Note: This is an automated script and bears no reflection on any entity listed

time-based betting (1)