What do you do when you exit a losing trade?

Do you also have those “what if” questions or do you just accept your loss and move on instantly?

I just look back and figure out what I did wrong, I record it in my trading journal. Do you keep a journal at all? Also, no need to dwell on the losing trade. Just move on and find the next best trade, but don’t force the next trade either. I used to force trades after I would lose to try and get back what I lost right away. DONT DO THAT lmao you WILL lose even MORE. Just stay calm, be patient, and wait for the next best setup to present itself

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As long as I stuck to the plan I dont worry about it

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At the end of a trading day I try to analyse my trading mistakes. Basically the algorithm of learning process where losing trades are used as input data is the following:

  1. Investigate if losing trades have something in common (possibly some fault of the system)
  2. Adjust system parameters
  3. See if the adjustments improves system performance.

Basically it is trial and error process

Trading journal, in whatever form you like. There’s a free excel one floating around here. Do a search, you’ll find it easy. I think going over why you entered, what you thought was going to happen, and then what actually happened will make you a better trader.

Accept it as a loss and focus on my next trading plan.

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I used to be the kind of person who get super emotionally drained whenever dealing with losing trades. :sweat_smile: I used to cry sometimes! :stuck_out_tongue: Haha. :slight_smile: But now, I’d like to think that I’ve grown and whenever I have losing trades, I just accept it and see what might have went wrong. :slight_smile: After that, it’s back to spotting new set-ups! :slight_smile: Haha.

For me a loss is easy because its predeterimined and I understand that its a part of the process.

If there is one piece of knowledge that I can share with new traders that can change their entire point of view on trading its this… understand that in your search for a profitable trading methodology your not nesecarly looking for a system that yields the higest win%.

Your looking for a system that renders a positive expectancy over the long term and there are trading systems with a losing win % that will render a winning expectancy over the long term.

If you can grasp the significance of what im saying a whole new world of potential trading systems will open up to you.

Of all the “aha moments” ive experienced in my trading career, this realization has by far been the most impactfull discovery i’ve ever made when it come to trading.

Expectancy over the long term > winning %.

I hope that what im saying resonates with at least a handfull of you.

I wish you all nothing but success

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Losses are the cost of doing business. Every business has expenses trading is no different.

However I notice a few comments saying that they try to figure out what they did wrong.

Well maybe you did nothing wrong it was just a loser.

Provided you use a mechanical system it isn’t even possible to do anything wrong, save for not following the system.

Sometimes you do need to dig deep after losses, I’ve find reading about performance and sports psychology is one of the better ways to improve your inner game.

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Last week I actually put in a buy order when I wanted to put in a sell order. Now, that was a mistake.

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The best market sentiment strategy is keeping away from it. If you don’t use the most popular technical analysis tools and don’t trade reversals, you can avoid the riskiest moves.

Don’t chase the sentiment.Doing so you could develop a sustainable trading strategy with the right mixture of technical and fundamental analysis.

You have to expect losses when trading forex. You just need to move on!!!

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right, it’s all part of the game

I believe thinking of “what if” would defeat the purpose of your mentality. Don’t “What If I have done this”. Do “Oh, this is what I should have done” - that is how you realize your mistakes and learn & improve better for the future trading.

after exit loss trade i will sleep for a few hour

I guess that’s a good way to prevent overthinking. :stuck_out_tongue: Letting your mind rest before evaluating what transpired. :smile:

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I tell myself I have to take responsibility for the trade. The markets are neutral. It is not against me but just the direction I took the trade was against the direction the market wants to go. After realizing that, I forget about the trade until I am reviewing my trading journal. That is when I reflect on the lessons learned.

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Tell yourself that time does not always work in your favor. Loss can be a very random thing. The market is ever-dynamic and sometimes you can be on the wrong side of it all.

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Way too much thought in trading goes into losing trades and the cost of losing and what to do if you lose money etc. etc. Its the winning trades that make the money and assuming you have a system with a consistent profitable return and you follow its rules, you will make money.

And if you don’t have a system with a consistent profitable return and you don’t always follow its rules, why are you trading with real money?

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To make a profit through Forex trading, first, you have to know how to trade wisely and you also need a trading strategy. To trade wisely you should first trade with risk capital only. Forex trading can be extremely profitable but only depends on your trading ability and skills.

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