One thing that seems to hurt traders is that they can't remain objective. It causes them to miss opportunities to trade or more commonly to refuse to exit a losing trade that's clearly telling them it's not working out.
Most people have a bias. I see it even here in the forums. A question will be posted. Someone knowledgeable will answer, and the answer will be refused, through no other reason than it isn't the answer the questioner wanted or doesn't fit with his beliefs, truth is irrelevant to most. Those who can be objective look on in dismay as several people attack the person who provided a sensible and correct answer.
A similar example would be EURUSD for the past few weeks. The number of traders going long, getting stopped out, going long, scratching for breakeven, going long again and again, and losing again and again, and missing the objective fact that EURUSD was falling and it was easier to short. A few people pointed this out, and others turned on them. Same underlying phenomenon, different topic. The truth makes people angry if it doesn't match the way they want to see something. But you can't argue with the trading results, they're objective.
Another one, on EURUSD there were also people who said that there was no opportunity to get short? Amazing. It fell for 3 straight weeks and they couldn't find one place to short. How do they think it's going down if nobody can find a place to sell? Is the market supposed to fit into your belief structure or are you supposed to adapt to it?
The mind can very powerfully ignore even major details. Is what you're making trading decisions on even real? Are you sure you're seeing the reality? How do you know?
So what steps do you take to ensure that you do see the full picture in trading? What steps do you take to take to make sure you're not fooling yourself?
P.S. I'm already fairly confident this sort of thread is not going to be popular (bias or objective truth?).
Most people have a bias. I see it even here in the forums. A question will be posted. Someone knowledgeable will answer, and the answer will be refused, through no other reason than it isn't the answer the questioner wanted or doesn't fit with his beliefs, truth is irrelevant to most. Those who can be objective look on in dismay as several people attack the person who provided a sensible and correct answer.
A similar example would be EURUSD for the past few weeks. The number of traders going long, getting stopped out, going long, scratching for breakeven, going long again and again, and losing again and again, and missing the objective fact that EURUSD was falling and it was easier to short. A few people pointed this out, and others turned on them. Same underlying phenomenon, different topic. The truth makes people angry if it doesn't match the way they want to see something. But you can't argue with the trading results, they're objective.
Another one, on EURUSD there were also people who said that there was no opportunity to get short? Amazing. It fell for 3 straight weeks and they couldn't find one place to short. How do they think it's going down if nobody can find a place to sell? Is the market supposed to fit into your belief structure or are you supposed to adapt to it?
The mind can very powerfully ignore even major details. Is what you're making trading decisions on even real? Are you sure you're seeing the reality? How do you know?
So what steps do you take to ensure that you do see the full picture in trading? What steps do you take to take to make sure you're not fooling yourself?
P.S. I'm already fairly confident this sort of thread is not going to be popular (bias or objective truth?).