It is truly surprising how stocks can move so fast. Before a person has time to think, a stock can change substantially. This is in large part a factor as to why complaints surrounding the viability of stock investing is usually related to the heavy losses that can be suffered in the span of a singe day. For this reason, one of the most important things a trader can learn early is risk management and the science of learning how to cut losses. This should be a part of all investing strategies, but these are a few specific reasons why risk control and cutting losses are important to a market trend investor.
Market Trends Investors Trade According to Market Trends
As straightforward as that can appear, really consider that. Because the philosophy of this investing plan is based around using indicators to show the direction of stocks, a market investor should avoid trading against the market trend at all costs. However staying in a bad trade despite all the signs is doing exactly that. Sometimes information is missed, sometimes indicators can give false signs. Depending on your position the rise or fall of a stock can result in losses initially. There are times where this is okay but if the gap gets to be too much, just cut losses before it becomes impossible to make up the difference.
Stop-losses were invented specifically to safeguard against traders losing too much money. What type of stop-loss to use depends entirely on the trade you're taking part in. But the basics are that the guaranteed stop-loss will place an absolute hold on the losses you are able to sustain. The trailing stop-loss will assure you of your profits while protecting from loss as it moves up or down according to your profits. Some brokers charge extra for the use of certain stop-losses so make sure that you read up on what your broker does before trying to use one.
Market Trend Investors Cannot Trade Without Limits
When success and trading are discussed, it is often about the trades that make overnight millionaires. What many do not talk about is the discipline that traders need in order to be successful every year. Letting profitable transactions serve their purpose takes as much discipline as does cutting losses when investments are going bad. The amount of losses that you can afford will depend on how much you have to start. Set your absolute limit there or at whatever amount you can't afford to lose. Being aware of where your limit is can make it easier to quit a trade when it gets out of hand. You will have to resist the temptation to hold on. Trading is about doing transactions that profit you.
Market Trend Investor Cannot Linger
When a transaction is not going anywhere good and every sign and indicator is telling you that there is no change coming, don't wait until you're facing ruin to get out. In heeding to the natural human desire to believe in one's own abilities, a trader can lose a lot of money fighting losing battles. A market trend investor needs to be flexible and to not take individual trades personally. Market trends move with too much speed for traders to stick to one trade at the expense of all others. Should the stock begin showing itself alive, it is possible to get back into trades.
People can and sometimes do make incredible sums on the stock market. Because of this it is easy to get lured into the trap of trying to complete the most profitable trades. The reality for most successful traders is that several profitable trades in a day are more valuable than one massive victory. Trend investors do not have the resources or time to stay fixated on a stock that is costing the more money. A home run trade means nothing when the deficits are too much to make the difference.
Nobody wants to be seen as someone who lost everything on the stock market. For this reason very few people are willing to talk about why risk control and cutting losses are important to a market trend investor. The thing is, regardless of what people want to think they do need to trade with trends, abide by self-imposed guidelines, and never linger over a stock to their own detriment. Those who want to trade successfully will need to know how to cut losses quickly in order to make more money on the stock market.