When Emotions Take Over

[wmorris3825]

Isn't it amazing how emotions can take over? It's weird how quick it can happen sometimes. I was trading around the us unemployment report this month and took a nice beating on a trade to be down like 20 pips. At that point I lost control. I began picking sloppy entries and over leveraged myself way up. I got incredibly lucky that day though, and managed to get it all back and a little more. But even though I was profitable, I was bummed about how I lost control like that. I could have just as easily lost 100 bucks or more. I was also thinking about something, those of you who are familiar with tennis at all know who John McEnroe is. He was unusual in that when emotions took over he played better. If a trader could have this ability, he would be successful beyond all comprehension!

Anyway, how about some emotional take over stories?

[purplepatchforex]

Yes, as it happens, last week, missed opportunities, frustration, taking trading profits for granted, should have been a great week, but juggling other stuff as well, it just didn't give, oh well, next week, back to it.

[MoneyNVRSleeps]

Just a matter of focus..

John didnt play better because he was mad, He played better because HE WAS THE BEST, and had the " I'll show Him" type of mentality. Just makes you dig deeper.

[SithJawa]

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! Prepare yourself for a tale of woe.. So yeah :l.. This one time I had a sell trade on AUD/JPY and was already 30 pips in profit and then.. A news announcement came.... In a split second price shot up 20 pips! I was scared i'd lose my winnings or worse get stopped out so I instantly closed out my position, but just then price dropped 50 pips!! And it kept falling like gravity somehow had a profound effect on price, so out of my supreme wisdom I put ALL of my margin on a sell trade, I was so confident it would go down more, but about a minute after I placed my stop loss.. Price shot up and stopped me out.. ONLY TO DROP ANOTHER 70 POINTS!! At this point I was mad, I then placed all of my new lower margin on another sell trade, but after about 10 minutes I got worried it was retracing, so I cut my losses, right before price dropped more :'( true story, lost 40% of my account in less than a half hour on a trade that would have been full tp had I not been on my computer.. To this day I blame it on my sister asking me to google something for her, it was a sweet potato casserole recipe and it definitely was not worth it :[

[MoneyNVRSleeps]

Sith, Cherry pick, solves it all.

Would you run across the Highway in LA at 5:00PM, with just socks on?

[SithJawa]

That depends on how much money I'll make if I get to the other side alive ;P

[wmorris3825]

Just a matter of focus..

John didnt play better because he was mad, He played better because HE WAS THE BEST, and had the " I'll show Him" type of mentality. Just makes you dig deeper.

Very true.


And sith, I felt your pain reading that, I haven't ever taken that large a percentage loss, but I remember a trade that did something similar. Stopped me out, I reversed my position only to have it reverse and stop me out again! I wiped out the while prior weeks profits on that one. And always after sloppy trades on impulse I wonder, why would I do something so reckless?! It sounds so easy, just follow the rules.. That's the biggest thing I have to work on, my system works. I just have to work my system.

[MoneyNVRSleeps]

That depends on how much money I'll make if I get to the other side alive ;P

But why RISK your chances? Its not a challange to make it to the other side, its a challange to YOUR BRAIN, to do the right thing.

I'll take the trip at night, were they cant see me, and my future depends on my logic. Linda like a stopHunt, lol..

[SithJawa]

@wmorris3825: yeah it was pretty depressing, i stopped trading the rest of the week :P The biggest challenge in trading is mastering your emotions, anyone can pick a winning system, but actually trading it is the hard part

@MoneyNVRSleeps: aha exactly right! And since that day i can honestly say i haven't done anything nearly as dumb, no more emotional mistakes for me, the few mistakes i make now are all mechanical though still entirely my fault, i learned a lot from that experience

[wmorris3825]

I had another one get away from me yesterday! I ended up losing my entire weeks profits, chipped back a little on that Eur rally yesterday closed it out only to see it rally another 10 pips! Haha, another lesson in why I need to follow the rules of my system!! No exceptions!