This post Kick These Dumb Trading Mistakes to the Curb appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
The market is finally showing us a little back-and-forth action as we begin a short trading week.
It’s important to stay on top of our game as the holidays approach. While the bulls and bears duke it out this morning, we have the perfect opportunity to review our fixes for 12 of the market’s most common trading mistakes.
Even seasoned traders can fall into these traps. That’s why it’s so important to step back from the markets and take a critical look at our trading process.
With that in mind, here are 12 common mistakes many traders of every skill level tend to make:
1. Persistence in the face of repeated failure.
I’m not talking about the good kind of persistence over adversity. That would involve introspection, research, learning— you get the idea. In this case, I’m thinking of a trader who books consistent losses, yet doesn’t make any adjustments to try to correct the matter. He never considers that his approach is the problem, just that he’s had back luck or something.
Speaking of which…
2. Failure to analyze losing trades.
You’re booking loser after loser, yet you’re sweeping the results under the rug without any adjustment whatsoever? What’s the definition of insanity again?
3. Missing good trades from your watch list because you aren’t paying attention.
This is an easy one. Set an alert! If you want to trade a stock when it breaks above $30 and it’s sitting near $26, set an alert for $29.50. You’ll never miss a breakout again.
Don’t be an idiot and leave a trade for dead just because you wrote down the ticker and didn’t set an alert. There’s nothing worse than finding a Post-It Note on your desk with a ticker scribbled on it—and then finding out it’s doubled over the past month…
4. Taking trades that don’t fit your system’s criteria.
You’re not making fruit salad—you’re trading. Why trade bananas and grapes if oranges are your thing? Stick with what you know.
5. Not having a concrete trading plan.
So you bought a stock you like. Now what? When do you sell? What are your targets? What about stop losses?
What, you didn’t consider the fact that this trade might not work out? Whoops. Probably should have figured that one out beforehand…
6. Buying someone else’s trade on a whim
Your ideas might overlap with your next-door neighbor. But don’t get in a situation where you’re reliant on him to tell you whether you should be in or out. If you’re taking your poker buddy’s trade, you better be prepared to own it…
7. Revenge trading
This is when you chase after a not-so-perfect trade because you’ve lost money on the stock before and it “owes you one”. The market doesn’t care. Sorry. This scenario is kind of like dating your ex-girlfriend’s best friend. Sure, it might be fun at first. But there’s no way in hell it ends without your car getting keyed…
8. Playing favorites
The stock was good to you, so you come back for …read more
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