The Role of Regret in Trading

Regrets are fine to have as long as you act on them.

Here is a list of common regrets that traders have had over the years and if you can identify them and work to avoid them going forward you can begin to see real progress in your trading results.

“I did exactly the wrong thing. The cotton showed me a loss and I kept it. The wheat showed me a profit and I sold it out. Of all the speculative blunders there are few greater than trying to average a losing game. Always sell what shows you a loss and keep what shows you a profit. “-Jesse Livermore

Any activity that involves gain also involves risk. Sometimes the risk takes over and you’re left with regrets. However, if you take a moment to look at what you regret specifically and look at your trading journal, you may be able to see exactly what you need to do to breakthrough and achieve the results you wanted in trading originally.

Trading regrets are not uncommon to most traders. Newer traders often ask themselves after a day of trading why they acted they way they did that allowed money to flow out of their account. If you’ve had trading regrets too, relax, there are simple answers you can put into practice to dramatically help your trading.

• Can you trade without regrets?

I wouldn’t count on it. In fact, your regrets should be seen as a feedback provider and hopefully as your trading methodology matures, you should have finer tuned regrets as opposed to the beginner regrets like trade size or chasing a move. However, to lessen the emotionally damaging regrets some traders face, let’s cover the common ones so that you can work to avoid them.

Let discuss the Common Regrets trader make

• I wish I would have stuck to lesser leverage on that trade.

When you trade too large in relation to your account balance, it often reveals something about your view of the market that needs to be corrected. That improper view is that you can predict the future. Naturally, you cannot and trading an appropriate trade size can keep your emotions and mindset in check.

 

To be Continued