16 Trading Mistakes you’re still Making

by admin | Feb 26, 2023

If you’re still failing as a trader.

You could be making one or more of these common and lethal mistakes.

#1: No Structured Approach

If you’re not following a structured approach to evaluate potential trades, you’re likely to make mistakes.

It’s essential to have a well-defined plan that takes into account your personality, risk tolerance and trading goals.

#2: You trade on Emotions

Trading decisions should be based on facts and analysis, not emotions or hunches.

If you’re relying solely on your gut feeling, you may miss important information and make poor trading decisions.

Trust the chart not your heart. (I like that!)

#3: Not researching each market per strategy

Even if you have a trading strategy, you need to research, back test and forward test EACH market to see if they are conducive with your trading.

For example. I have traded Forex since the get-go and yet the EUR/USD (Euro Versus US Dollar) is still the one currency that NEVER works for my system.

This is the kind of research you should know, before you make a trade or risk a trade.

Lack of research can lead to costly mistakes and missed opportunities.

#4: No Specific Trade Setup

It’s important to identify a specific trade setup before making a trade.

You need to determine and pinpoint your exact entry and exit points, stop loss level, and price targets volume and margin requirements.

#5: Not waiting for your high probability setup

It’s important to wait for a clear trade trigger before making a trade.

This way you’ll know what the right market, at the right time is and what you need to do to minimize your risk and maximise your profit potential.

#6: Not putting in your stop loss

When you trade you need to remember something.

You need to set your stop loss to limit your losses.

You need to set your stop loss to follow a plan.

You need to set your stop loss to prevent an emotional reaction to your trading where you can take significant losses.

Always, always always set a stop loss level with each trade and stick to it.

#7: Setting a tight stop loss

If you set your stop loss level too close to the entry price, it will increase your chance of getting stopped out.

It’s important to set a stop loss level that considers market volatility and your risk tolerance.

#8: No clear exit price target

Yes, a stop loss is more important than a take profit price.

But a take profit price is VERY important when it comes to following your Risk to Reward strategy.

You need to set the take profits so you can calculate your potential gains, to lock in gains and to have a mechanical plan to follow in the future.

#9: Forgetting your Reward-to-Risk Ratio

If you ignore your risk to reward level rule with trading, you might as well give up trading.

The key is to always make sure that your potential gains are more than your losses.

If you ignore your risk to reward you will make poor trading decisions and your performance will not be stable and consistent.

These are losing traits.

#10: You forget the anomalies!

There are times where you might need to exit out of a trade prematurely.

There are other market conditions that are wile and can impact your trade negatively.

Whether they are black swans, market announcements, threats, dangers, fat fingers or even news events.

Don’t forget to consider the anomalies to reduce a catastrophe.

#11: You buy however much you want on margin

When you trade derivatives you need to remember.

You will be exposed to more money than what you deposit.

You can LOSE way more money that you anticipated if things don’t go your way.

You need to seriously understand the risks involved with margin and gearing trading before you even commit to trading derivatives.

#12: You don’t diversify

Some traders ONLY trade one index or one currency or one commodity.

I believe this is not very good for the future.

There are times where these markets enter into a stagnant period for months upon months on end.

You need to find a way to diversify and trade a few more markets, to make up for the dangers of idling markets.

It’s important to diversify your portfolio and spread your risk across multiple markets.

#13: You chase the next best penny thing

Chasing ‘hot’ penny stocks or penny cryptos is lethal.

You’ll end up emotionally involved in them and you’ll find every reason (fundamentally and technically) to hold on because they are going to the moon.

Remember, you need to research the markets that work with your trading strategy over at least 5 years.

Any other markets, are dangerous and can lead to you blowing your account.

#14: Not Emotional control

Not managing your emotions appropriately and making impulsive trading decisions can lead to poor outcomes.

When you lose you’ll feel like it’s the end of the world.

When you win, you’ll feel you have trading down and life.

Problem is these uppers and downers with trading will have an effect in your life negatively and will end up with you making very emotionally driven and triggering trading decisions.

Then POOF. All will be gone.

It’s important to stay calm and focused when making trading decisions.

#15: No Trading Journal

What are you basing your success on?

A strategy you don’t even have proof whether it works or not.

If you are Not using a trading journal to track your trades and evaluate your strategy over time, it can lead to a losing performance, unnecessary losses, missed opportunities for improvement and will leave you blinded to your potential.

It’s important to keep a record of your trades and evaluate your performance regularly.

#16: Not Learning from Mistakes

Trading is a forever learning journey.

You need to learn from EVERY mistake you make and move on.

If you don’t learn you’ll continue to have a poor performance.

It’s important to evaluate your mistakes and make changes to improve your strategy. Maybe even document every trading mistake you make in your trading journal.

This way you’ll reflect and work on them for the future

Trade well, live free.

Timon Rossolimos
Founder, MATI Trader

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