To taste success in trading whether you are a Stock, Bonds, Forex or commodity trader professionalism will keep you one step ahead from rest of the trading crowd. So with the below points try to analyses whether you are taking your trading as a professional or still as an amateur who keep on losing money.
1) Are you Self dependent: Do you still rely on Blue channel analyst who keeps blabbering about the next move about the market. Do you still keep vising trading forum and asking and reading people analysis on “Where is stock market heading”. Do you still believe in doomsday scenarios. Professional trader give due respect to other people opinion but “Do not rely on them“. They believe in doing there homework and anlaysis and let the market decide whether they are right or wrong.
The ultimate goal for traders is to make confident decisions on your own and trade with complete independence. You should not have to rely on the opinions of others because you should have conviction in your OWN ideas.
2)Do you get excited about the profits and depressed about the losses:A client of mine who recently took my trading course made windfall gains in trading HPCL and BPCL. He called me atleast 5 times in 2 days thanking me for the profit.Well thats good but professional traders should not get excited about the profits they have made. Its part of your trading career so control your nerves if you made good gains and do not get depressed when string of losses are made.
When you stop feeling the need to pound your chest every time you make 30 cents on a stock. (It is the flip side of not getting depressed over every loss). Recognize what you did correctly and move on to the next trade.Same thing goes for the stock market. Don’t act like you’ve never had success trading before.
3) Let the Trades Come to You: When you stop feeling the need to trade every day and you get over the “fear of missing out.” This is the downfall of most traders.
It took me a while to shift my focus from worrying about “missing out” to playing great defense. Once I did this, I noticed an increase in my confidence level as a trader. Keep in mind, there will ALWAYS be opportunities and it’s okay if you miss a few.
4) Feel No Need to Brag: Those traders who compulsively tell everyone about every winner are over compensating for their insecurities. It is a sign of lack of confidence. When you make a good trade or a good call on the market, and you don’t feel the need to remind everyone — its because that is what is supposed to happen.
The key is to be consistent and to separate your ego from your trading. If you are doing a good job, people will notice.
5) Loss Management: When you learn to cut losses without hesitation. No one likes to lose, but cutting losses is part of the game. I have studied the best traders throughout history and they all have the same number one rule: CUT YOUR LOSSES! Learn to accept when you are wrong and move on!