How can beginners in foreign exchange trading manage their emotions during trading?

The importance of emotional management

Imagine that you knew the non-farm payrolls (NFP) data would be released today. And you knew you should avoid trading when the big data was released, but you couldn't resist the gamble. Greed and fantasies of getting rich prevailed, and you ended up making a trade before the data was released.

You expect that if the reported figure is higher than the predicted value, the price of EUR/USD will fall rapidly, which will make you a good short-term profit.

The NFP is here, and as you would hope, the number exceeds the forecast. But for some reason, the price is not climbing! At this point you are confused because you think all the analysis and data will prove that the EUR/USD should fall, but the reality is not.

In fact, it's just that you think your analysis is correct. In fact, it's just a result of your impulsiveness, and it has nothing to do with analysis and data.

Professional traders don't want to take risks because a hasty decision can damage their account. It can take a lot of practice and a lot of trading to learn how to minimize emotional trading.

The three most common emotions traders experience

Some of the emotions most commonly experienced by traders include fear, nervousness, certainty, excitement, greed, and overconfidence.

Fear/nervousness

A common cause of fear is trading too big. An inappropriate trade size can unnecessarily amplify volatility and cause you to make mistakes you wouldn't normally make.

Another culprit of fear (or nervousness) is that you make the wrong trades, i.e. trades that don't fit your trading plan.

Confidence/excitement

Confidence and excitement are another key emotion that you will feel in every trade. If you don't have a level of excitement or belief, then there is a good chance that you are not entering the right trade.

By correct trading we mean correct trading according to your trading plan. Even though good trades may fail and bad trades can be profitable, you should allow yourself to win and lose only on good trades.

Greed/overconfidence

If you find yourself only wanting to make trades that you think might make you rich, you might become greedy.

Always check that you are using the correct trading mechanism (i.e. sticking to stops, targets, good risk/management, good trading settings). Sloppy trading due to overconfidence can damage your account.

How to manage emotions in trading?

If you want to keep negative emotions out of your trading, planning your approach is key. The old saying that no plan is a plan failure really applies to financial marekt.

As a trader, there is not only one way to profit. There are many strategies and methods that can help traders achieve their goals. However, whatever works, it is often a deterministic and systematic approach; rather than a gut-based approach.

Here are four ways to make it easier to manage your emotions when trading.

Setting your own trading rules can help you manage your emotions. Your rules may include setting risk/reward tolerances for entering and exiting trades, passing profit targets and/or stops.

2、Trading under the correct market conditions

It is also prudent to stay away from undesirable market conditions. It is a good idea not to trade when you are not feeling it. Don't expect the market to make you feel better. If you are not willing to trade, the simple solution may be to leave.

One of the easiest ways to reduce the emotional impact of trading is to reduce your trading size. I'm sure everyone knows this well. For the same amount of principal of 1000, doing 0.1 lot and doing 1 lot of capital changes are completely different. The former has little psychological pressure, while the latter is always worried that they will blow up. This will seriously affect your trading sentiment and trading thinking.

Therefore, reducing leverage can go a long way towards reducing the risk of such events in the future.

4. Establish a trading plan and transaction log

The results between new traders who use a trading plan and those who don't can be huge. Preparing a trading plan is the first step in resisting trading sentiment.