this is killing me, is getting over miss oppertuntities and missed trades that turned out to be huge. today I was in JPM and WFC early on, they went against for a .30-.40 cents and I got out (prolly got out as I was down on my other trades) but it kills me to know I was in that trade and got out early. they were each 2-3 points a few weeks ago, I bought SPG a REIT that popped and it went from 39 to about 50 in 2 days (I got out way too soon) anyways, any suggestions to get my mind out of the "could have, should have, would have" I just need to delete the ticker on my quotes and move on, but I cannot help to look where the trade went
NYC, its a good question and we all struggle with this. The thing is we all miss a LOT of trades everyday that would have made us a lot of money. We just don't see them so we don't think about them. I would guess that if we add up how many good trades we miss everyday it could be over a 100 on any given day. what your allowing to happen is focusing on them because you happened to see them. How about all the trades you would have made IF you developed a signal for them? you can drive yourself nuts. What we need to do is understand that yes we miss trades but its in part that we allow trades to go that we can make money. There is a saying in poker that the guy who wins the most pots in a night is usually the biggest loser. This is because he is simply in TOO MANY pots with the losses outweighing the gains. Same can be said for the trader. Being selective is one of the strongest edges that smaller traders have and NEVER let that edge slip away unless the conditions are perfect for your trade. Your stress level and your assets will be much better off in the long run. Best to you Robert
He who buys stock and it drops is mad because he bought, he who buys and it goes up is mad because he did not buy more, he who sells with profit and it goes up more is mad because he sold to low, he who does not buy while it goes up is mad, he who does not sell while it dops is mad, if he gets good advice he is mad because it wasnt given him earlier, if he gets wrong advice he is mad because they gave it to him Joseph de la Vega , Confusion of Confusions (1688) , oldest book ever written on the stock exchange business.
Nice Quote... Think about this... think of the time where you just got out for a loss then all of sudden the price suddenly falls much much lower than your exit (assuming your where long). If you did not get out when you did your loss would of been much greater! There is a difference closing out before a HUGE spike vs. closing out before the continuation of a trend.... So if you find a great percentage of your trades you close out too early and miss the majority of a TREND move then go back a revise your strategy, but missing spikes is no big deal... they are mostly unpredictable, perhaps a handful (petite hands) of spikes your can kind of get a future on are told through TA... (triangles come to mind) It all part of the numbers game... it will happen... shrug it off.
RULE NUMBER ONE IN A LOSING GAME SUCH AS TRADING, WE SHALL START AGAINST THE MAJORITY AND ASSUME - WE ARE WRONG UNTIL PROVEN CORRECT! -FOP.
Since you don't know what a stock will do when you sell, it is not really a question of why you sold too soon. The real question is why did you not get back in when it appeared the stock would continue higher. It may continue higher or it may reverse. Another approach that may help is to sell some of the position and use a stop on the remaining shares. There is no perfect solution. And if you are now at the point where you are complaining about money left on the table instead of constantly losing money then you are making progress. There are many opportunities every day and you carve out your profits where you can.
I kind of agree with CET. I got shook out of WFC this morning as well. But once it started to build a base and I saw the relative strength start coming back I rebought. Didn't hold long enough but thats nothing new. My thought is you have stops for a reason- to define your risk on that trade. If you get stopped, you get stopped so be it. Doesn't mean you can't re-enter later if you wish. Something else you said was your decision was in part based on other losing positions you were holding. We've all been there and again sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I've certainly enacted a portfolio stop before and I'm certain I will again. One thing I will consider sometimes is the total amount at risk in all my open positions. How much would I lose if they all stopped out? I have a daily loss limit I like to stick to so based on this I sometimes have to adjust my position sizes or pass on a setup whichever I feel is best at that moment. As for how to deal with it mentally? Trade for a few years and gain enough experience that these things just become common everyday events. No question I leave at least 3 times more on the table than I make and those are my winning trades!. LOL! As for trades that I stop on that would have worked big, oh my god, I can't even begin to tell you how much thats cost me if I were to look at it that way. It's especially fun to get stopped to the penny on 20K shares and then see the piece of shit immediately reverse and move 3 points. Shit! I tried to help you and now I'm depressed. rofl
Your decision to exit the trades for a profit were good trades...you had no idea what was going to happen from then on....would you be upset if WFC et al dropped a couple of points after you sold? No. A trade is just a trade.....profit...loss.. or break even are the only outcomes. Move on and be grateful you have another opportunity. Good luck. NiN