Feeling guilty on missing a trade

That is my approach as well. I feel a lot guiltier if I do open a trade and then I lose money because of it.

Maybe its a blessing in disguise so we i think there is no need to regret, instead we should plan for our future trading rather than chasing a lost opportunity.

You shouldn’t feel guilty for missing a trade. Usually everything happens for a reason. What you can do in these cases is to calm down and change your point of view. Take a look at your mistakes and learn from them. These missed trades might turn out to be even better opportunities. I am not sure if some books on the matter will help you to get over that aggression but they could point out some common mistakes. Only you can help yourself to become more focused and disciplined. Just follow your strategy and try to not get too emotional.

That is my opinion as well. Even if you miss out on a trade that supposed mistake could lead to an even better trading opportunity. There is no point in stressing out about it beyond analyzing why you missed that trade.

There will be many occasions when a trader will miss a trade. But there are opportunities everyday. It can be frustrating, but you don’t have to kill yourself. Just learn from why you missed entry, and watch for opputunity again.

I agree. The market will always provide you with a new opportunity to trade, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.

Hello all, and thank you for the help!
It’s been too long since I replied to my own thread, so apologies there. However, I have not abandoned it.
First off, you are all very kind to share your thoughts and opinions, they help a great deal. I think I’ve overcome that side of me, however, there are still times I want to go in a trade just for the sake of being in one. Controlling it though.

I think I owe it to you to explain a bit more, and maybe some other newbie trader like me will jump over and avoid my mistakes.

First off, a neglected side of me, I’m stuck in a 9-5 job I don’t really like too much, and as 90% of the people who get involved in trading, I want that to be my full-time career. The pink-tinted glasses don’t fall off as easy as one might think. The reason I always felt the need to be in a trade, is because I really really really wanted to quit my day job / get great fast. And that’s impossible - and I understand it now. “This game is a marathon, not a sprint” I see written everywhere. And it’s true.

Second, when you’re new, you learn a bunch of ways to analyze the markets. In retrospect, backtesting, they all work and you should be getting 50-100% growth per month (or more). That’s in retrospect. When you’re a newb, you develop a mindset (after you learn those ways) that it’s actually so easy to trade. You lost here because of chance, there because of bad luck, but look at this - my analysis is always so perfect! The other guys must be dumb, it’s so easy; I can make money any time I click “buy” or “sell”.
Of course, we all know this is not the case; however, with the above mindset, I was expecing to “nail it” all the time, so I wanted to be in 10. 50. 500 trades per day.
Well that didn’t work out for me well… Not in my first, 2nd, 3rd… 9th account. [B]That was the fastest way to blow those up.[/B]

And finally, I had the wrong strategy. I was a swing trader with active trade management. But as a person, I’m not a patient one. It was a setup for failure, managing an open trade going in profit for days, watching the swings; coming from a guy that wants to enter the market 10 times per day and lacks the patience to wait for the perfect setup to unfold.
[B]Now I’m trading two opposite strategies, that treat MY personality well.[/B] I’m scalping on the 1min chart, soothing my aggressiveness (~1RRR, 60ish% strike rate, 10-20 trades per day) , and swing trading a set&forget strategy (~6RRR, ~30-40% strike rate, 4 entries per month). I would not recommend working with 2 strategies for other newbies, but at least pick one that actually rolls well with you.

One final note I wish to make, and I really do hope this post (turning into an essay) is helpful for someone in the future.

Whatever you choose to do, this is a business like any other. When you study entrepreneurship, you will be taught how to first state your company’s mission and statement. And this seems to be neglected a lot in this business. What IS the reason why you trade? How much time will you wish to spend trading? What are your personal goals?

If you wish to have a side-income, would not suggest you try scalping. If you lack patience, like me, swing and position trading is not really for you, for most cases.

And so on, and so on, and so on…

You can certainly make a living from that - and at comparatively low risk - if you’re really proficient at it.

I’m sure you can, from that, as well. Many people will find that one the more appealing method of the two (I don’t think I do, but I have no experience of it).

Contrary to what most people seem to think, and say, my own impression is that in the long run, the “[I]risk management parameters[/I]” with this second method are actually [I]considerably[/I] more difficult for most aspiring traders to handle than is true of the scalping (though of course I’d never advise beginners to try scalping, I hasten to mention!).

No; I suppose not - can’t argue with that, really. Still, I wish you well with both. :cool:

My point was actually not on what exactly I trade, I’m yet to master either:) But how I fit them to match my personality and traits. Although it seems exhausting, it fits what I want to do, and my idea of trading, thus actually feels easier than what I did before.

No - I know … I was kind of digressing, sorry. :8:

I have very, very limited understanding of “trading psychology”, myself, and have been finding it an interesting thread and was pleased to see it continuing; thank you. I do take your point about about trading-style fitting personality, of course.

Heh, psychology is an enigma for me too… Only thing I do is keep a very detailed personal diary, and not trades wise, but ideas wise. It’s fun to see how I can contradict myself 4 times over 4 consecutive days :smiley: makes you think and re-evaluate stuff

Writing down one’s ideas as soon as you come up with them is actually a pretty great solution. I should start doing that too.

Believe me, one of the best things Ive done. I found I literally changed my opinion several times per day, which helped me ask myself the right questions. I learnt so much from that notebook.
I would recommend googling for tips on keeping a professional journal, not strictly a trading one. Words words and more words will help you understand your goals, not TP 120, SL 80, entry 90. The second type of journaling barely helped me at all…

That’s good advice. Also, I imagine that writing down ideas helps with going back to them at some point to try them out?

One of the two strategies I use is actually a strategy I used back in 2014 but abandoned… I went for something completely different after that. Didn’t work out for me.
Then, I found my journal from back then, and started re-modelling and re-creating… And bang, I trade something differnt now, but that old strategy was the basis on which I built

That’s something that happens often, and it is a great example why one should write down ideas and knowledge they already have. It’s interesting to go back to those a few years later and examine them through the lens of the new knowledge one has acquired in the meantime.

Yes never feel guilty because market works 24/5 . You can avail nay good opportunity some other day or time. This was not a last time you missed. Stay in touch with market you will find many good chances here.

Biggest mistake retail traders make is that they focus solely on getting in to trades. Whereas success depend on getting out right.

I am also of the opinion that one shouldn’t get bugged down on failures. If you’re feeling really bad, just don’t open the terminal for a few days, and you’ll understand that trading is not just a hobbie, but actually a way of life.)

I agree! Opportunity comes every day. But a smart trader is like a hunter who waits for the right opportunity to trade. One should never jump into a trade because he is hungry for action.
Remember there’s always another trade, if you are patient enough to wait.