One of the things that separates successful traders from the majority of market participants is that they have a detailed plan that guides them when to close trades. For them, this is essential.
Whilst trading routinely involves decision making, there are no more important decisions you have to make than when to sell shares. Many traders often overlook this part of trading or underestimate how important that it is. It is selling that impacts directly on whether or not you make any money trading in the sharemarket, as buying shares is simply a means of putting yourself in a position to make money trading.
One of the things that separates successful traders from the majority of market participants is that they have a detailed plan that guides them when to close trades. For them, this is essential. It is fair to say that when a lot of traders buy shares they have little idea of under what conditions they would consider selling. It would also be fair to say that a fair percentage of market participants routinely adopt a ‘buy and hold’ approach.
When it comes to considering your strategy for exiting, what is important is not the manner in which you decide to exit, but the fact that you have a plan in place to advise you when to exit. What is also important is that you remain consistent in whatever approach to exiting you adopt. Selling shares is probably the most difficult decision you will face but it is the most important. The decision is especially difficult when you are faced with a loss and all you want to do is wait for the shares to return to your buying price. The situation is made worse when the shares continue to move away from you, making your loss even greater than you would have ever imagined.
There are a number of reasons why people will not sell shares when they are faced with a loss. This potentially is a problem because there will be many occasions when a trade they enter does not head in the anticipated direction. The time tested rule of ‘cutting your losses’ would be most applicable however for those who have strong self-confidence may find it difficult to close the trade at a loss because doing so acknowledges that they got the trade wrong in their own minds. This may be a difficult situation to digest so the easier option will often be to not close the trade at a loss and therefore violate probably one of the most important trading rules there are. To most traders, the idea of not closing a trade at a loss means that they haven’t had a loss despite the fact that they may have a large unrealised loss. Unfortunately for many traders, they cannot bring themselves to set stop losses or if they do, they fail to adhere to them. Cutting your losses is one of the most important trading rules there is. If you fail to cut your losses, you are most likely going to be worse off for it.
Why Break the Trading Rules?
Money is something that affects people’s emotions and your natural instincts with money will often encourage you to break some of the time tested risk management rules, for example ‘cutting your losses’ and ‘keeping your trades small’. Most traders focus on making money and realising a loss goes against the aim of making money.Performance Monitoring
It is well accepted that this is a characteristic of the best traders in the world. They have a passion for their trading and will often and periodically review all of the trades that they have conducted including all the profitable and losing trades, and learn from them.The Realistic Trader: Setting Achievable Goals in the Stock Market
Setting realistic goals is crucial for success in stock trading, yet many traders fall into the trap of aiming too high too soon, leading to potential financial disaster. Understanding the balance between ambition and achievable targets can help traders navigate the complex market dynamics more effectively.