Overcoming Trading Anxiety

Do you remember how nervous you were when you placed your first live trade? This was the moment of truth! It was when weeks and months of studying, sim trading and back-testing was being put to the test. You were glued to your chair waiting for price to make entry. The closer it got, the more nervous you became.

This crude oil trade that we posted in our group chat last Thursday evening, was a reminder of a student who became really good at finding high quality trades, but she would never pull the trigger. Sometimes she would even place the orders then cancel them as price got close, for fear of losing. The ones that she cancelled were often the ones that worked.

This could have been for a few different reasons, the greatest of all, RISK. If you can find quality trades but hesitate to take them, you may be taking on more risk than you are comfortable with. Try trading fewer contracts or micros and see the transformation. Also, have a max risk per trade from which you never deviate. This will help keep your losses consistently small. Last, but not least, discipline yourself to place no more than 2-3 trades per day. We will expound on this crucial point next week.

A great way of eliminating much of this anxiety is by taking advantage of the overnight session. For this reason, most of the trades that we post in our chat, are sent in the evenings. These trades are not just valid during globex, but also throughout the next day. This allows you to trade around your schedule and removes the need to find trades during the day.

We hope that you found these suggestions useful. Try them and let us know how they have improved your trading. Happy Trading!