{"id":15201,"date":"2011-10-27T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=15201"},"modified":"2013-04-24T11:43:41","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T15:43:41","slug":"how-to-think-about-a-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/how-to-think-about-a-loss","title":{"rendered":"How to Think About a Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"We all lose here and there. It’s just part of trading. You can’t avoid it, but that isn’t the issue. Where many traders struggle is how to handle a loss gracefully<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Instead if equating a trading loss with personal failure, shift your mentality for what a loss means.<\/p>\n

Does it mean you’re stupid? Not necessarily.
\nDoes it mean you were wrong? Yes, in at least one way.
\nDoes that mean you will never get it back? Absolutely not.<\/p>\n

Losses are an event, yes, but they also subtract from your account. Consider them a cost of doing business<\/strong> as a trader. Brick-and-mortar stores have overhead, but as a trader, the biggest portion of your overhead is the losses you take.<\/p>\n

When businesses cut costs, they’re reducing their overhead as much as possible to fatten their profit margins. Do the same with your trading. Reduce your “loss overhead” by accepting a loss quickly and moving on to the next trade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It’s much more fun to always be adding to your account rather than seeing funds flow out, but as soon as you start viewing trading losses as something impersonal<\/strong>, it’s going to change your perspective in a very helpful way. Rather than fret over them and allow losses to cloud your thinking or alter your mood, viewing them through the proper lens<\/strong><\/a> will help you more quickly get them back and then some.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, trading is a business. How are you managing yours?<\/p>\n

Jeff White<\/strong>
\nProducer of The Bandit Broadcast<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow TheStockBandit on Twitter<\/a> or get our free newsletter<\/a> to keep up!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all lose here and there. It’s just part of trading. You can’t avoid it, but that isn’t the issue. Where many traders struggle is how to handle a loss gracefully. Instead if equating a trading loss with personal failure, shift your mentality for what a loss means. Does it mean you’re stupid? Not necessarily. Does it mean you were … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":920,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[455],"tags":[1193],"class_list":["post-15201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trading_psychology","tag-trader-education","no-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Think About a Loss | SMB Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/how-to-think-about-a-loss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Think About a Loss | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all lose here and there. It’s just part of trading. You can’t avoid it, but that isn’t the issue. Where many traders struggle is how to handle a loss gracefully. Instead if equating a trading loss with personal failure, shift your mentality for what a loss means. Does it mean you’re stupid? Not necessarily. Does it mean you were ... 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