How to Deal with Missed Trading Opportunities

You could say that you have been in the financial markets for as long as you could remember when you think about the missed opportunities that could have made a difference in your trading account. Indeed, it is common to miss such opportunities given that the financial markets are awake 24/7. 

As traders, we are in an environment where an endless stream of opportunities displays itself. There may be various reasons for not taking the said leading name. 

1.)   The price structure seems unattractive. 

2.)   Failure to screen such names. 

3.)   The trader is busy with other activities. 

4.)   Mentally unprepared to take the trade. 

Missed opportunities happen all the time. The best way to move on from such is to prepare a buyback criteria if the opportunity represents itself. 

It is conventional wisdom that doing things right leads to the correct outcomes. No doubt, it’s natural for us to think that way. However, that is not always the case for us market participants. There would be times that you have analyzed the stock through fundamentals or technicals and it could still move against your bias. The best way to conquer this is to accept the fact that anything can happen (we cannot control the movement of these assets). 

While the financial markets are an arena of endless opportunities, potential prospects expose the trader with inimical psychological conditions. It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance for a trader to indicate when such opportunities exist. However, learning how to pinpoint a potential leader does not mean that you have learned to think like a professional trader. Without possessing the right state of mind, a trader would not be able to produce consistent results. Indeed, consistency is a mindset that has at its core certain fundamental thinking strategies that are unique to trading (Douglas, 2000).

It is ideal to see the market from an objective perspective, wherein you must learn and accept the risks with no internal conflict. You must infuse a mentality that is unique to traders. A mentality that enables you to repudiate hesitation and to eradicate overconfidence. That is relatively the epitome of professional trading. 

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