[Soultrader]

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzki

In poker lingual.... you can't win what you don't put in the pot. You can be the tightest player in the world. You won't lose any money. But you definitely won't make any money.

Our minds automatically avoid pain for pleasure. This is how our brain is programmed. New traders who have the trouble of pulling the trigger associate a trade with a potential loss that can cause financial or emotional pain.

Do you imagine taking the trade and never pulling the trigger? Are you right on your analysis but are unable to execute just to watch the markets runaway from you? The biggest conflict that is causing this is your belief in pain.

This may be caused by your pain for loss or your need to be right. The need to be right is associated with the need to be perfect every time. If you are a perfectionist there is a conflicting belief that you must eliminate to trade successfully. Perfectionists believe that there is a "correct way" and a "wrong way". Taking a loss is considered the wrong way to them. Trading is a game of probability. And it is not about being wrong or right. It is about making money.

You must get used to dealing with uncertainty. There is no exact science in trading and nothing can be predicted in advance. However, with enough experience in the markets you will be able to smell market weakness from market strength.

For those who are having trouble taking losses, you are overweighing the loss. If you know your risk parameters there should be no problem taking a trade. Perhaps you are not confident in your own trading methodologies. Have you tested your setups? If you have a strategy that is 70% profitable, take the trade. Once again trading is a game of probabilities. If you have a proven setup with strict money management, you will be profitable. Have faith in your methods.

For some people they are unaware that the markets they are trading does not fit their personality. If you like a slow market you should stay away from the S&P. Trade corn instead. Know your personality and find the market that suits you. This is one mistake alot of traders make. Thus, trading is not only about understanding the markets. It requires self-understanding as well.

[bonder.bond]

How right u are.

Personally I hold back for various reasons, main one is fear of loss. The funny thing is that more often than not, when I anticipated and prepared to pull the trigger, the trade would more often than not go successfully my way. But psychologically it is the same as going in.

Newbie on trial experiences ... James (still trading one contract with some buffer)

[scalper]

very great post. thank you.

[bootstrap]

good post...

my key to pulling the trigger each and every time is approaching the markets with the opinion that i am wrong from the moment i hit the button. in my mind at that very moment the trade is already a loser. the market has to prove me right or i get right back out.

[miamijack]

Trying to teach my kid that lesson in soccer right now! Just take the shot!

[jtmohr]

I have found it much easier to pull the trigger if I am only risking 5-10 percent of capital, then the drawdowns are less painful.

[sevensa]

Originally Posted by jtmohr »

I have found it much easier to pull the trigger if I am only risking 5-10 percent of capital, then the drawdowns are less painful.

You really risk that much? What drawdowns are you comfortable with? If you risk 10% and you get stopped about 5 times in a row, which is really not that unusual, you lost 50% of your account. You don't consider that painful?

[whygood]

That is why, sometime it is usefull to build a ATS.