I just got this idea from one of the threads here about things us traders don’t talk about often. 
I guess it’s understandable that this is one of the things mentioned. 
Do you guys talk to anyone about your trading losses, or are you more of the “keep it to myself” type? 
And do you think talking about it is better than keeping it to yourself?
5 Likes
I talk about my losses with my students, so they can learn from it. I have not done it with random people though, if that is what you mean. I guess in general others are not interested in the losses you make
Talking about it can be done as long as other people their opinions will not influence you wrongly imo. Also others need to be interested in seeing your losses lol…
4 Likes
In the beginning yes. But when you lose too often it gets pretty boring very quickly 
6 Likes
I think, on balance, I talk about both equally. Three months ago, a friend came to us and said they wanted to buy some crypto, for a total value of about £2K and asked “what did we recommend”. I asked her what her objective was, and if she knew anything about why she may wish to choose one over another.
You all know what’s coming. “I just don’t want to miss out on making all this money. Everyone I talk to talks about all the money they made in crypto”. Anyway after a three-way conversation that lasted far too long, she just asked if I could show her how to buy and sell crypto, and what we were invested in. This is when I told her four stories. Two about when we made a large gain, and two about when we got it wrong and bought some cryptos at their peak after which they tanked. She asked to buy only the ones that we owned that had been successful. I told her this was her decision, and not my recommendation. This was at the market peak in November 2021.
So she bought some BTC, ETH, DOGE and Shiba Inu. They are all down since then.
Want a great loss story? Jewel and ONE. Jewel is only tradeable within DeFi Kingdoms game, and ONE is the currency of the Harmony ecosystem. They are both down about 70% from their year-end peak. I continue to earn Jewel in-game, and it continues to tank. Same with ONE. This is what we signed up to with crypto, and the present day value is still above our total input in $ terms (only just). But on 19Nov21 I had one NFT in that game (called Heroes and valued in Jewel) and today I have 43 of them. They were all bought between 30 and 55 Jewel, regardless of their US$ value, whose total range has been from about around $300 to $800, and beyond that range prior to my involvement in the game. I figure they are cheaper now than they ever have been - I think they started life with a floor level of about $300. I only buy near floor level. So I trade them as NFTs, send them on quests as a source of income, and I want as many as I can afford because there are imminent air drops that basically relate to how many of them you hold, and how experienced each one is. In a much faster sense, they are similar to our investment in gold for the past 30 years. They could end up worth a tenth of present net $ value, or 10X. We have just chosen to have a small part of our portfolio dedicated to crypto, with its commensurate risks and potential rewards.
4 Likes
I have breakfast once a month or so, with a pro trader friend of mine who is managing my largest live account. I talk to him about his whole trading spectrum which includes losses - and I have learnt that he’s at a level I could only dream about reaching in the next five years.
It would be difficult to explain here just exactly how advanced his NY Wall St system set up and knowledge is - he only trades four major pairs - however it took him six years a couple of decades ago to become consistently profitable, and now he owns his own hedge fund, of which I am one ‘minor’, but profitable client. His trading edge is access to immediate and ongoing True FX Data.
I don’t talk about my losses, because I am at the breakeven level - with emotional control as my nemisis to overcome. I know how to manage it, but putting it into practice is tough going. I think it is more important to focus on how to utilise probabilities of making more overall profits than losses.
6 Likes
I think it’s healthy to share your losses. But just coming here to lick your wounds won’t help.
I realized that’s what I was doing. I had to add some analysis to it. It can’t just be complaining.
I think there has to be a “how can I improve” element.
What do you think @ria_rose?
4 Likes
There are losing trades and losing trading.
Its unavoidable that you will have losing trades - you can limit them but you can’t get rid of them.
More important loss is the loss of capital from your trading account, when your losing trades cost more than your winning trades win. If this is you, don’t talk about it, just stop trading. Work out why you were losing and how to avoid doing losing more. Stay out until you’re a winner on demo.
6 Likes
What is there to talk about. Just sit around talking about losses… lol. I think losses are nothing to talk about, just learn from it, correct your mistakes, and brag about your wins.
4 Likes
Well, I think, it is important to talk about trading losses, so that others can learn from it. 
5 Likes
Talking to other people may help you see the error that you maybe can’t see on your own. So sometimes it good to share it with people that have more expertise than you so they can help you grow.
5 Likes
Sometimes I do. I am not ashamed to admit that I lose sometimes - and I lose more often than I’d like. Losing is just part of the process, there is no shame in it, and one cannot minimize it if they pretend it’s not happening.
5 Likes
I do talk about it, especially when I’ve had friends and family approach me asking for advice about getting into trading. I never want to mislead anyone, so I always mention losses I’ve dealt with (especially in the beginning) because I don’t want anyone to blindly follow me and be upset when they inevitably lose money at some point.
5 Likes
Pretty much to myself. I don’t suppose I have that many friends to tell. But I usually write it down on my journal and then taking some time to go through it to understand how I can improve the next time.
3 Likes
I sometimes discuss my trades with my trader friends. But not too frequently though.
3 Likes
I don’t think there is anything to talk about losses. Others only make you feel how stupid you have been. And when all start giving their advice, it becomes more confusing to decide which way to go. I think it’s better to analyse your losses on your own and find solutions to them.
3 Likes
Stop loss is the most important ingredient of risk management strategy in trading. It does not matter what position you are trading, you must prefer using them.
2 Likes
Oh! That’s interesting. I didn’t really know that you were a mentor and that you’re taking in students. But sharing your losses with them is definitely a good learning opportunity. 
Don’t you get shy or worried that they would trust you less?
Haha! That’s true. But I feel like a lot of people would be interested to know about it cause they can relate to them. At least that’s how it is for me. 
1 Like
That definitely hit home. HAHAHA. But valid point.
Ooh. In our country, that’s a loooot of money already and I would’ve been very scared to recommend anything since I know just how volatile and unpredictable crypto could be. 
I had a guess in mind and it turned out correct.
I think it’s great that you emphasized this with her cause in the end, she was the one in control of her decisions. Somehow, with her response (wanting only to buy the ones that had been successful), it gives me the idea that she hasn’t also done much research about crypto and just relied solely on your story. Idk, could be just me. But overall, pretty stable. good choices! I wonder how she’s doing since then? Have you talked to her recently about her coins?
Thanks for sharing this Mondeo! I haven’t had the courage to invest in these but the experiences you share somehow give me a better idea of what to expect once I actually go in and try them out for myself. Not easy sharing losses story, so I really appreciate it. Still, I think it’s still quite early and there’s still a big chance to regain what you’ve lost so far. But for that, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
That sounds super interesting. It’s great that he doesn’t mind sharing his system with you! I always thought that the very successful traders like him would be very greedy when it comes to sharing their systems with others. 
Have you ever thought of replicating the system he shared? Or tweaking it for yourself?
Understandable! Maybe talking about losses isn’t for everyone, but it’s good to recognize that we all have them every now and then.