I stick to a few basics when trading. I always plan ahead like when to jump in, when to get out, and what to do if the price hits my stop loss. I really hate taking losses, so I tend to grab small profits. If I see a 3% gain, I usually sell right away.
But here's the issue: I end up opening orders a lot and taking profits super quickly. Then when I see the price go up after I sell, I feel like an idiot. I really need some advice on how to handle this. Any tips?
How to manage emotions while trading?
19 replies 319 views
The reason for this is that you are always afraid of loss. You think that when you have some profit, if you sell it, you can buy it again at a lower price. But that does not happen, then the price of that coin increases. And seeing that, you buy it again at a higher price and then it starts to fall, then you sell it at a loss. This is a common thing for traders, it is something that they always have to face. I cannot avoid these things either. And that is why I quit trading and go back to holding. If you can hold properly and patiently, then such fear and frustration will automatically go away and you can generate good profits by holding for a long time.
coin_sigmaLegendary
Posts: 1275 · Reputation: 5553
#3Jan 10, 2019, 03:52 AM
What trader exactly are you?
If you frequently reenter the market after you close your recent trades, then that's scalping.
For newbies I don't recommend scalping unless you want to challenge yourself and learn from mistakes in a faster way.
You don't even have a proper target profit. If you keep doing that, your profit ratio will be low.
I do recommend you try learning swing trading, and you should have multiple price targets for TP and a single target for SL. Avoid risking too much because that's the reason why your emotion triggered and accepted the slight pump in profit.
So it's very important to learn risk management and keep the risk low if you don't want your emotions to handle your decisions.
Check this source: https://github.com/learn-crypto-trading/learn-crypto-trading.github.io
Go straight to risk management and then chart patterns or read all of them to learn more in trading
shard_minerSenior Member
Posts: 359 · Reputation: 1322
#4Jan 10, 2019, 08:27 AM
A very good fact I know when it comes to trading is that any decision you make either too early or too late and that leads to a you having a small profit is way better and safer than when you let your emotions guide your decision because you watch the market too closely or listen to BS news all day and feel you could have made a bigger profit.
From all indications, you prioritize safety above anything else that's why you sell at 3% to grab the gains instead of it turning to a loss which is very hurtful to you and you also regret any missed opportunity you didn't get and this contributes to the emotional state you find yourself in.
If you follow a good plan, it is better than letting your emotions guide you because that's what trading requires to be successful.
If you are taking profits too early, it means you are not sure of your strategy, the strategy that earns you those profits. If you are sure of the strategy, you will trust it when you take positions and set your level to take profits from. If you are taking profits too early, it is because you are afraid of losing, and that is an emotional trigger you have to deal with psychologically. Your psychology is still weak in trading and that exactly is what needs an improvement on. To improve your psychology, watch videos on Youtube on trading psychology to see the views of some professionals, and some other helpful videos.
Just keep your head straight that your decisions on selling too quickly at the slightest profits is to manage your risks of loosing since you trades regularly and you must understand that such psychological behavior of you feeling regrets after taking the action of selling before the market price increase is a sign of greed which usually leads traders to lost.
Infact, assume such circumstances of earning little profits to be better than losses. Maybe if your anxiety is not okay with it, you can as well give your instincts a chance by chasing the bigger wins which you think will keep you successful in the long term.
You should even be grateful that you could make profits because some traders like the beginners usually looses from the onset the opens a trade.
So just keep greeds aside and you're good to win and be successful in the gradual process in the long term.
It's better to take the small profit on your trade and exit the market than thinking the price will still go high. The market is unpredictable, you might feel the price will increase but turns out the opposite. If you're a trader, after taking profit, you have to be patient with the market if the price keeps increasing and wait till it falls for you to buy again.
However, trading is simple theoretically but difficult practically. This is why you should only invest with the amount of money that you can afford to lose. I made a little loss this money from my trade because I was greedy on taking the little profit that I had on my trade and the market went against me.
4t0micbridgeMember
Posts: 24 · Reputation: 170
#8Jan 13, 2019, 01:13 AM
This is true and I am sure that you are going to end up with a lot better results without that much worrying at all. I understand it is going to be a very risky subject and it is not going to be that easy to fix when you just lose yourself and trade all your bankroll away.
Just small and certain steps are a lot better and you should be hoping for something like that, would allow you to do a lot better. I know it is not going to be easy to see just tiny upticks, but the reality is that if you have those tens of times per month, and do this for a decade, the end result would be higher than anything else. So do not let your emotions ride it, and make sure that you are capable of waiting for a big return in the long term.
bro your trading plan is kinda cool because you are obviously doing the basic things right!! entering, exiting & setting stop losses is just the key to a healthy trading journey, the actual issue is just the emotions! like you end up taking profits too quickly and at end if the price push up in a good way you start feeling bad for it, well that's like a general issue for several traders out there because no one can definitely catch the market move all the time but to avaoid regret maybe you can just sell part of the position early and then try to allow the rst to run on but with a stop loss of cause but one key thing is to always follow you initial plan not not give a rat a*ss of what the market price does after you have exited
I think the price increase that appears right after taking time to sell your coins should not bother you that much because you will still benefit that on your next selling of coins. That is why we don't need to sell all at once, but sell a portion of your bitcoins from time to time as long as there are impressive profits you'll benefit. Now, if you have been feeling still bothered with your concern, just remember that you can't control the price movement of your coins, so there is high possibility that a pump or dump may take place right after you decide to sell.
The only key here is to accept and be grateful every time you sell for profits, since not all investors have experienced that, others are even selling at loss because they can't bear anymore seeing their investments continue to decline its value on the market.
Emotions are our best enemy when trading. Whether you're in a negative or positive emotion, that will certainly create an impact with your decision-making. So the best solution for this, do not marry your coins. Add additional hobby or side hustle so that you won't be too focused on your trades. Because in that way, your time will be divided and won't be solely for trading only. At least, every time you decide to trade, you won't be too emotional regardless if there is price increase happened after you sell, because you can't predict correctly the future movement your coins in the market.
You really need to first understand what type of trader you are in this crypto industry. Second, it's important to know within yourself what percentage of your funds you can afford to lose.
Because if you only set up take-profit (TP) levels but never use stop-loss (SL), you'll eventually lose everything.
Moreover, your first step should be training yourself to set strict limits on the money you'll use in this online crypto trading "business" (or what some might call a casino). Because if you don't practice this discipline, you won't be able to control yourself as a trader.
Youre just basically gambling, even though people referred to it as scalping, this type of very short scalping is seriously more riskier than Gambling. You definitely are not practicing risk management nor any other strategy because what you do is simply to enter the market with obviously huge capital because a little capital wouldnt be significant in place of profit of 3% in fact some exchanges could even eat that up for transaction fee.
You dont need anything aside I will advice you start to learn trading gradually again because what you describe your self as is definitely not anything related to trading. It is people like who you do not have basics or one thats impatient and also greedy that usually get liquidated
If you are completely satisfied with the size of the profit, then you should not be upset if the price increases after you close the order. It should be understood that few people manage to buy at low and then sell at high, and a small profit in the wallet is better than a loss.
To be honest sometimes traders feel regret when closing orders the price goes up high and always say this feeling why not hold a little more, but that's trading there is a slight sense of regret selling too fast.
But it's better to do that than to experience a loss or do SL and still experience a loss.
Trading must indeed be satisfied with the profits taken so as not to be curious.
mark_whaleSenior Member
Posts: 238 · Reputation: 968
#16Jan 13, 2019, 05:23 PM
You could probably have a preset stop loss and take profit on every trade you make. Open the position and step away from the screen. The limit orders will get executed automatically depending on how the market moves. The other advance way is by using trading bots or scripts that have a similar set of strategy just like what you use. You can't 100% get rid of emotions, but you can reduce on how they affect your trading decisions.
Also, using money you can afford to lose is very important. This would mean less pressure or emotions.
No trader wants to see losses as the outcome of their trades, but let's be honest, losses are already part of trading. Either you face it or ignore it, you will really endure some losses along the way. But its better if you learn to accept the fact that losses will be unstoppable so face it, that is the only way where you can manage your emotions during trading, especially if you are trading at a loss.
Also, always prepare for your trades. Have some back up plans, build your strategies that will suit your trading style, and most importantly, understand that when you lose, that does not mean that you are weak, but your best potentials in trading are still unfolding. Just be patient and continue to gather valuable experiences in trading.
Have much experienced with many coins holding drop and price become zero make us learn more and control emotion well during trading by taking profit as soon possible although under 5%. I think many trader can't control emotion well during earn much profit and want earn more without taking profit before price returning back and get loss more. Not greedy in cryptocurrency trading I think is the right way how to control emotion during trading, with market conditions like this the price of the coins we buy is unstable so set up take profit if any coins increase up 3% above or anticipation if bad thing coins decreasing drastically with set up stop loss maybe 10% of your fund loss.
Scalping trader in cryptocurrency have target to earn profit early and I think is good technical trading for right now depend market unpredictable after raise up easily getting down in short moment only.
nonce_2017Member
Posts: 45 · Reputation: 195
#19Jan 14, 2019, 06:04 AM
Limiting the amount of risk of loss and not being too greedy in pursuing large profits can help us better control our emotions when trading. Trading requires a strategy, and generally using stop-loss and take-profit is necessary because these steps can limit the amount of loss each time we engage in a trade. Don't worry about the price rising higher after you sell, as that generally happens in trading. Instead, learn to consistently generate profits, even small ones rather than being greedy which can ultimately lose more money.
When you set stop-loss and take-profit, if the are filled your trade will automatically exit automatically. You can also set stop-loss and take-profit manually, but this is often difficult to maintain discipline with, as you might try to shift your take-profit or stop-loss when the market moves in the opposite direction. In my opinion, it's much better to apply stop-loss and take-profit orders when trading.
CalmLedgerSenior Member
Posts: 236 · Reputation: 1270
#20Jan 14, 2019, 08:52 AM
Almost every trader has been there you sell early take your small profit then watch the price climb higher and it feels like you made a mistake but in reality you didnt what you did was follow your plan and secure profit thats what disciplined trading looks like. Its better to consistently take small profits than to chase a few big wins that might never come what you need to learn now is emotional control once youve exited a trade stop watching it dont look back because the moment you start comparing what could have been youll end up revenge trading or overtrading trying to catch the next move.
One trick that helps is to write down your plan before entering each trade for example target 3% profit stop loss at 1% risk and once either hits walk away over time you can slowly extend your targets like going for 5% or 7% if your strategy supports it but dont force it let your data guide you. So in short dont feel stupid for taking profit the goal is consistency not perfection the market will always move after you exit what matters is that you leave with money in your pocket not regrets.
Related topics
- Keeping your emotions in check while trading 19
- What's your favorite trading style: Scalping, Day trading, or Swing trading? 19
- Hedging vs One-Way Trading 0
- Importance of Stop Loss in Trading 19
- Creating trading strategies with AI tools 18
- 5K Trading Volume and Counting: My Laid-Back Journey in TCC Series 2