How about respond instead of react? React always sounds so emotional to me PEACE and good trading, Commisso Oh and great posts everyone!
WDGann, Yep I practiced Kyokushin. But my fight career didn't last too long. A broken hand and a broken foot convinced me to move to safer sports, so I took up Boxing. Runningbear
There is an ad that runs in Futres mag along the lines of "Afraid to pull the trigger? You should be." Fear in trading is healthy in my experience. I agree with aphie's points. You can't be paralyzed by fear, but even a mountain climber respects what can go wrong. My best trading is done when I'm afraid of the market, of what it can do to me. Lose that healthy fear and you begin to get sloppy.
IMO emotions have no place in trading. Imagine the results of an angry or frightened doctor, lawyer, mechanic, grocery cashier, etc.. The best results are obtained by understanding the job and doing it. How you "feel" has nothing to do with what needs to be done. If you can't distinguish between your emotions and the task at hand your performance will suffer.
I have to say I think the react would fit better. To respond implies some thought in the process, see the situation, analyze, and find a solution. To react is very quick and much less thought - more like instincts or reverting to learned and practiced behavior. I try to react in my trading. I've seen the setups so many times that a reaction SHOULD be all that is necesary. But I often think to much and have a bad responce. Make 'em pretty, Chris
FEAR might have the answer you're looking for. It might be trying to point out to you where precisely lies the trouble with your trading. Lend an attentive ear to it, and find the solution. "I am not a professional security analyst. I would rather call myself an insecurity analyst..." "I couldn't recognize my mistakes if I couldn't forgive myself. To others, being wrong is a source of shame; to me, recognizing my mistakes is a source of pride. Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no more shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes..." George Soros "Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty." Sicilian Proverb With good wishes in your quest for self knowledge. cpo
They go up, I buy em. They go down, I sell them. No matter how many times the opportunity comes along during the day. Fear for me only enters when the size of my position has gotten too large for my account size...Even this fear I would like to do away with. nitro
At the risk of sounding cliche, I would say that fear in trading is telling us something specifically about the strategy we are using, the market we are trading in, or the amount of leverage we are using...Also, as many people have discussed before the issue of "my" money versus trading the "house's" money...But instead of focussing on the psychology as has been discussed here for several weeks now, more people should look at the strategy and or alternatives to how they are trading at that moment if fear consumes them... In my opinion, there are "outright" traders and their are "hedgers or spreaders"...Kind of like there are extroverts and introverts...If you are an introvert and you are a door to door salesmen, fear is going to keep you awake at night, etc, etc...Alot of people who would probably do well with more limited risk strategies, when presented with the open and unlimited risk of holding highly leveraged positions are going to freeze and underperform...That is just the reality of how fear works...