Hi guys, just wanted to see if any of you had any ideas for situations where you take a position, everything goes the way you predicted, you exit, reap a substantial reward... only to see those stocks soar 30% more on the next 5 minutes!!! I was so happy to get a 10% today, but I guess I should have just turned the machine off and went on to do my other stuff. How do you get over situations like this? It can drive one nuts Anyway, thanks for advice.
My point of view in trading is to always trade with my mind thinking that I'm only be able to take a very small part out of every move. (a small controlled victory) The goal is to take out only the points that I feel comfortable with... also if those are just two or three points per trade. In the book "The Art of War" by Sunzi there is told when an army is disciplined and clear in its mind then it should not be attacked. Make the army greedy or give them fear and then you will have a greater probability of wining against them. I know many stories of the ancient wars back 2000 to 3000 years ago. And one reason many king doms lost in a war was "GREED". When I have a trade I exit with a loss and then it moves the way I was speculating on for 10 to 20 points I think to those stories and it makes me feel comfortable and ready for the next battle.
No. Greed is not good. "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." --Jesus. This from someone who at length on being wise with 'this worlds goods.'
You've got it backwards. your problem was not greed, but fear. You feared that your profits would evaporate and you cut your winners short instead of letting them run. Where is Gordon Gekko......"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good....Greed works."
from a pure philosophical point of view however, there has to be a point called "enough". People who are billionaires and spend every waking moment trying to become multi-billionaires rather than giving to others are too greedy and cause harm to society and themselves. On the other hand the average man who starts a small business and works his ass off to make as much as possible is being greedy, but also benefiting society at the same time, as long as he doesn't become a criminal or abuse his employees.
Yeah, well Jesus' understanding of money and economics was obviously zilch. This same moron also recommended giving away all your posessions to the poor - oblivious to the fact that you don't help the poor by becoming one of them. What a load of nonsense. The important thing is by what means does a billionaire seek to become a multi-billionaire? By expanding his business interests? In other words, by satisfying the needs and wants of consumers? Yeah....that does harm to society, NOT.
I do that most of the time. But today I f@cked up. I kept a position loking for a little more profit and a $300 gain turned into a $500 loss in about 30 seconds. I should know better than that but I guess I still have some pain to endure.
Sounds like your trading lacked a "plan". If you trade like this, you will always be looking at what could have been. Every trade you make, you will look back on thinking you should have stayed in, you should have gotten out, etc. There is no such thing as perfect entry and exit. All you can hope for is to be consistent and stick to what works for you. Looking back is a waste of time. Every trade could have been better. So why frustrate yourself?