Does holding trades cause you stress?

In today’s chat with the folks at Core TV I spoke about what’s happening in USDMXN and USDCAD but one subject that came up was about coping with trades when you’re waiting for something to happen.

We often talk about the emotional aspect of just trying to get into a trade but there’s also the issue of dealing with that once we’re in. Holding for a move or an event can test your patience and mental limits but there are ways to deal with that.

First and foremost, if you have accepted your worst outcome for any trade right at the start then you should have little emotion while you’re in it. Often that’s easier said than done because you’re watching your trade every single minute/hour/day. Your stress levels can go up if the trade moves against you, and the opposite way if it moves in your favour. It can be a pure roller coaster of feelings.

There are ways you can ease that stress though. Good trade management is one. As I discuss on the video, taking partial profits and moving your stops to lower your potential losses, or lock in your profits is one way. That’s only good if your trade is in profit. If your trade is offside then it’s often a case of sucking it up and trying to take comfort from your trading plan. As above, if your strategy is sound and there’s no real news or events to change it, just tell yourself that you’re still in a good trade and until something does change, you know your loss and you know your upside. It all boils down to your own self-confidence and that can only come from you. Some people jot their plan down on paper and stick it somewhere near their PC so they can refer back to it in times of stress. As long as you don’t kid yourself that all is good when really it’s not, then you’re on the right path.

Anyway, let us know whether you get, and how you deal with, in-trade stress syndrome.

 

Ryan Littlestone

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