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Traders, how do you feel and what do you do when your trades go wrong?
 

Imperialian's picture
ST
(Baboon, 173
 
Points)
 on 7/4/12 at 11:27am

It's very obvious you cannot win all the time. How do you feel when your trades go wrong? What do you do?

Go one corner and smoke? Abuse the junior staff? Or blame yourself?

The politically correct answer would be to write this down in your trading journal so that you will not make the same mistake again, but I mean, who really does that?

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Addinator's picture

Actually, I really do do that

ST
 
Points)
 on 7/4/12 at 11:36am

Actually, I really do do that much of the time. More importantly, I always make sure I admit that it was a failure and that, most importantly, I screwed it up. Don't blame the markets or some other bullshit. Admit you were wrong and move on. Let it hurt just enough to want to put on another trade but not enough to force you to start chasing. That i've found is the most important part. Honestly, when I make my worst trade, I'll literally walk away for a little while. Go get food, or hell even have a beer. Then go right back to your process and get back on the horse. Don't lament or whine about it and please for the love of god don't start randomly chasing or buying the same thing you just lost on. Keep your discipline and wits about you and you'll be fine.

Honestly, one thing you can also do depending on your own specific situation is make sure you tell someone else about your losing trades as well as your winning ones. Not EVERYONE, just someone. It is much easier to keep yourself honest about what went wrong when you have someone to remind you over a beer, " Hey, remember that time you bought RIMM at 60?" Or my personal favorite, " Hey, Remember when you shorted bonds with the 10 year at 2.1%"

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Imperialian's picture

I don't know man, I don't see

ST
(Baboon, 173
 
Points)
 on 7/4/12 at 11:45am

I don't know man, I don't see my senior traders having trading journals. Or maybe they do it in secret. I don't know.

One thing I do know is that they scold vulgarities, especially at options expiry dates when they are on the wrong side of the trades.

Addinator's picture

Haha, I never said that

ST
 
Points)
 on 7/4/12 at 11:53am

Haha, I never said that trading journals were common... but I still do have one. It's only for really awful trades actually.

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dest149's picture

Just B your L on the computer

ST
 
Points)
 on 7/4/12 at 12:19pm

Just B your L on the computer screen, and yell out "F*ck you stock, I'm gonna make you my B*tch!" Official research found that 6 out of 10 times, it works every time.

Bondarb's picture

losing trades are a part of

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,267
 
Points)
 on 7/5/12 at 5:19pm

losing trades are a part of trading. think about what went wrong, learn from it, and move on somewhat wiser...

SteadyOptions's picture

Losses are part of trading.

(Chimp, 1
 
Points)
 on 7/7/12 at 11:47pm

Losses are part of trading. The trick is to keep losses small and not to get emotional.

www.steadyoptions.com

RonaldReagan's picture

Every now and then you're

O
(Monkey, 57
 
Points)
 on 8/6/12 at 9:10pm

Every now and then you're going to make a mistake. I think a majority of the people on this site are used to winning. I'm sure used to winning, I almost got ejected from a charity softball tournament because we were loosing. The very thought of loosing my money, or worse yet, an investor's money is sickening, but letting yourself sulk in one failure will turn into more and more. I generally hit the gym, then go back to research to find a great stock that will make up for my last trade.

-RR

SirTradesaLot's picture

RonaldReagan: Every now and

O
 
Points)
 on 8/6/12 at 9:23pm
RonaldReagan:

Every now and then you're going to make a mistake. I think a majority of the people on this site are used to winning. I'm sure used to winning, I almost got ejected from a charity softball tournament because we were loosing. The very thought of loosing my money, or worse yet, an investor's money is sickening, but letting yourself sulk in one failure will turn into more and more. I generally hit the gym, then go back to research to find a great stock that will make up for my last trade.

lmao

Turbo leverage for capital explosion -- BD Capital

My WSO Blog

paid2trade's picture

Imperialian: It's very

 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 10:24am
Imperialian:

It's very obvious you cannot win all the time. How do you feel when your trades go wrong? What do you do?

Go one corner and smoke? Abuse the junior staff? Or blame yourself?

The politically correct answer would be to write this down in your trading journal so that you will not make the same mistake again, but I mean, who really does that?

The best traders who have been around the longest view losses as an operational entity of their business. It's kind of like overhead; losses are expected to occur and must be monitored to ensure that they are kept to an acceptable level to maintain long-term profitability (break prices).

For new traders who are just learning, it is a bit different. Many newer traders, myself included, haven't developed the skills yet to completely separate emotions from results. This can only be acquired through dedication and will to perfect the craft of trading.

My mentor told me, "You will never know if a great trader is having an incredibly good or bad day by looking at him."

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