What is Emotional Trading?
Emotional trading is making buy or sell decisions driven by feelings — fear, greed, frustration, or excitement — rather than following a predetermined trading plan and analysis.
Emotional Trading Explained
Emotions are the enemy of consistent trading. Fear causes you to sell too early or avoid valid setups. Greed causes you to hold too long or over-size positions. Frustration leads to revenge trading. Excitement leads to FOMO entries. The solution isn't to eliminate emotions (impossible) but to have systems that override them: checklists, position limits, and mandatory cool-off periods.
Real-World Example
Your stock drops 5% and you panic-sell at the low of the day. Minutes later, it rebounds 3%. Your trading plan said to hold until the stop loss at -8%. The emotional sell cost you the recovery and an unnecessary loss.
Related Terms
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