After going to trade and then not being able to think clearly because of a nasty head cold, it got me thinking…
Some of these are common sense, but hey, that’s not so common anymore.
Never trade when …
… you have a nasty head cold and you can’t see your screen clearly.
… you are hungover and can’t think straight or see your screen clearly.
… you have just received some really bad news and you’re an emotional wreck
… you have a swarm of wasps/bees/elephants in your trading room (especially if you’re a home trader and are minute market scalping)
… Godzilla is at your window
… you don’t understand what is going on in the market that day and your strategies aren’t working
… you don’t know what a stop loss/take profit is
Distractions can be a bad thing for minute market scalpers, it’s good to minimize them as best as you can positively. Trading while in an emotional state can also have a negative effect on your trading, and it’s ok to take a break for awhile to get back to a clearer head.
…otherwise you might lose a ton of pips.
What others would you add to the list of “Never trade when…” ??
Never trade when your goal is to “make back” the losses from your previous trade. You have to look at each trading opportunity on its individual merits. If you place a trade because you believe the market owes you money that you lost previously, then you are more likely to make a rash decision.
Revenge order is the most suicidal action for your trading account. If you want to recover your losses, make sure your patience is still there so you won’t haste yourself to open an order recklessly…
I watched this movie called “The God’s Must Be Crazy”. Funny movie from the 1980s, good for a laugh if you can track it down nowadays. There’s a sequel as well, including elephants.
I have to admit that I was feeling pretty sick and my head was heavily congested when I wrote this post.
Hope it brought some humour to someone’s day.
