Don’t Get Cocky when Trading

                When trading in the stock market is important to always be on you’re A game.  There are a large number of traders who get extremely cocky when they are making money and end up losing it all by a few foolish mistakes.

                Getting cocky happens to everyone who is in the market and is one of the main reasons why traders fail.  To avoid sudden catastrophe you must remember a few things.

1.       Always follow your system.  If a system is working use it until it isn’t.  Human emotions cause us to make bad decisions at times.  Sticking with a set system can help you to avoid getting out to early, or getting in too soon due to your emotions.

2.       The past isn’t everything.  If you made a huge 200% return on your money last year that does not mean you will do as well next year.  The markets can always change. You should keep up to date with the current market conditions at all times.

3.       Only take trades that offer little risk.  When you are having a big profitable streak it can be very tempting to take bigger and bigger risks.  This makes sense, if you were right 70% of the time last month you really don’t need a 2/1 risk reward ratio, right?  Wrong, just because you were right 70% of the time last month doesn’t mean it will happen again next month. Keeping your risk small is so important when trading.

4.       Remember there is always room to improve.  No matter how well you are doing you can always improve.  If you made $50,000 in the market you could have made $100,000. That is just how it works.  If you are always looking at how to improve your strategy it can great help you to take the bad times as an opportunity to learn.  Remember “what don’t kill you will only make you stronger”.