Fear is when you are in a profit and want to get out of a small profit instead of risking the trade turning into a loss. So sometimes you end up having big stops and small targets for trades. Also, you might move your stop instead of letting a trade get stopped out since you just don't want to take a loss and then get a bigger loss. Then anger occurs if you take a loss, and you end up revenge trading to make back the loss only to lose more money when if you normally don't do more than 2 - 3 trades a day on a good day, you need to just stop if you get that loss instead of doing 10 - 12 trades on a bad day. These are hard issues to overcome. However, if you keep a journal and work on your issues while keeping your contracts small, hopefully you can make progress. I was upset about only taking a small gain yesterday when I knew I could have made more money, but I was able to control myself from then jumping back into the market while emotional. Today, I chased a trade since I had fear of missing out, but was able to manage the trade into a better gain then yesterday, but still should have just limit order into the trade instead of doing 2 contracts. One just needs to work on these issues and move forwards. Have a plan before you start trading on either a stop loss amount for the day, or how many trades you will do. Have a plan to not trade the market during low volatility like after the regular market closes. Since even if you are able to place a trade, does not mean you should. Go back to sim for awhile if needed to verify that you have a system that if you follow it, will make you money. Accept that you could get stopped out of a trade before you place a trade, and be willingly to live with that risk. Know that you need to leave your stops and targets for the most point alone when you place the trade unless you see you made a mistake and need to make some slight corrections. Realize you are going to be more emotional once you are in a trade then before you place the trade, and take a walk or something so you are not watching every tick. I used to do over night swing trades, and was able to just sleep through my trade and wake up and see what happened. Know when you can make more points of profit when the market moves more and less when it does not move. Be able to take the time to study a chart before you place a trade instead thinking you need to jump into a trade as soon as you start trading.
Don't forget about the emotional cost of not taking a trade that turns out to be a winner. You have to be kind to yourself with the understanding you are laying the foundation for future success. If you live or die from the outcome of every trade you are not thinking in a successful trader's mind set. IMO, mental capital is far more important then financial capital.
my method to control fear is fast in and fast out. when I lose, I just focus on even one tick gain. my time frame shrinks from days to hours,even minutes and seconds. after several one tick winners, I feel I am a winner again. then I widen my time frame, increase size. I find I am back to normal. it is all psychological. when you are losing, donot think about stop loss. just think about one tick gain. stop loss will put your mind in a negative status: that tells you you will be stopped out. that means you will lose. no one wants to be a loser, so you will never be able to pull trigger. even in a well trending down day, there are lots of upticks even in a well trending upday, there are lots of downticks. that means, grab one tick gain is a no brain job. focus on buy low and sell high, donot think about any fancy strategies such as buy high and sell higher, or sell low and buy lower. write a limit order pair (one tick gain). for example, aapl, buy 100 shares at 430 limit and sell it at 430.3. or in future, in ES, write 1600and 1600.25. or whatever. all you need to do: gurantee a winner. even a B/E will make you feel you are not a loser. the shorter the timeframe, the most possible you will win. but you need place the exit order at the same time, donot think about leaving money on the table.in that case, you may move your exit order and you fall into a "9 ducks in, wait for the last 10th in" situation, and you will break your plan. I trade options mainly, normally my target is 2times gain. but when I starts to lose. I change it into 10% gain and day trade. I find it is pretty effective. the point is: let the fact to prove you are a winner. even you win $0.01, you are still a winner. when you know you are a winner, pull trigger is easy since you know youwill win
There is one dichotomy I see... You say "donot think about leaving money on the table". And later you say "even you win $0.01, you are still a winner." Both statements are accurate. However, the first statement is where the majority of the psychological problem is. As a trader your job is to make money. Period. Concern with leaving money on the table is not a factor at all. A good trade is a trade in which you follow YOUR plan/system, not the amount of money you make or lose. Only liars nail tops and bottoms constantly and consistently. And a trait among ultimate trader-failures is a "need" to pick bottoms and tops and capture the most profit possible from a given trade. A good trade is a trade in which you follow your plan/system, win or lose. Your job is to make money. Period. That said, I DO NOT have nor have I ever had the problem of not being able to pull the trigger. Trade On!
its a tough thing to do. I have developed a a system that works, but in order for it to work, you must play ALL of your setups. Because if you have a setup that works 60% of the time....u need to play all of them, and u need to make more then your other 40% that lose. For example I had MCD lines up last week...3 of my indicators were giving me a short signal, it had touched 100 for like 2 hours and could not break through, and I had my finger on the 100 puts for .77, but I didnt pull the trigger. the next day they were trading at 1.89. Friday I had not as good of a set up with APPL, but I was sort of impatient and I bought in...boom and I got smoked. ok, nothing wrong with getting smoked, I didnt lose that much...but had I taken the MCD and one other...I probably make 20% of my account. Thats the hardest to overcome I think, and I have been trading for 6 months. lol
I think it's important to have at least one setup that occurs under certain conditions that makes you think, "Yes, I've been waiting for this one!" It's what I've heard some traders refer to as "high conviction" or an "A setup". If you have that, make it the only thing you trade until you can pull the trigger every time. If you don't have that, then do more research. Those setups are out there, quite a few of them.
I like to pick bottom and sell top. those can produce most significant profit. look at ES, the 1596.5 is the fresh bottom. I just sit andwait it till hit there. it did hit1597.5 and bounced, I started to load calls of ES and SPY. late it is a double bottom. another major thing is 50EMA crossing. picking top and bottom is not so hard. you just need be patient only those things are there, then jump in those minor dip/pop. FED will not disappoint the market, that is why we need buy. do not fooled by wall street's maniuplation.
the best way to conquer fear is: you know what you do,why you do it,andyour results is almost sure positive. most people here are technical traders, or day traders. intra-day chart and pattern in most cases almost meaningless. technical trading creates lots of uncertainties. better have a fundemental reason behind your bet.or make trades on key price level in the long-term charts. for example, the market may want to take profit the market is thinking FED may not dispoint them the company may be a buyout target or may release new product... I am a day trader today. when the market opens, I was thinking buy 165spy calls, just I hesitate, it goes up a little bit, shit, I buy 30 lot spy 165 calls at 0.99. then it dipped, added another 20lot a little cheaper. "I may lose?", "will the market like yesterday?", insome moment particularly when it dips, those shit negative things do pop up, and I feel I get to run. that means I am full of fear. so often I switch symbols toavoid past unpleasant experience to ruin my trading. so try best to avoid lousy trade at the first place, nail each trade as possible as positive results, those failed trades will have huge impact on your trading late.
unfortunately whatever technical indicator will produce uncertain results. hard fact. so it is impossible to avoid fear. we all know it is like gambling. sometimes,just like throw a dart. look back,just history,certain, too certain!
The best way that I got over my fears was to automate my trading rules and backtest the system on mt4. fear stems only from the unknown.