Control over Emotions in Trading

Very often traders tend to say that they want to avoid emotions while trading. They suggest that they need to be calm and cold-blooded as robots. Unfortunately traders as well other people are not emotionless machines. Deleting all the emotions would bring destruction of intuition, trading feeling.

Are people helpless before emotions?
Definitely not, as emotions deliver to us important information. We are capable to obtain this information and make some changes or take the necessary decisions. We can interpret emotions in the way they become helpful for us as people can adjust the level of intensifying emotions. Humans are capable to replace an emotion by another one meeting their needs. People became capable to use human emotions as means for development of trading process. The main idea is to interpret them, send them into the right direction and, of course, reduce them if needed.

Three techniques of replacing undesired emotions
The first way, which gives good results, is to eliminate undesired emotions by shifting an object of concentration. An object of concentration inevitably becomes an object of activity. Thus, in trading we consider probability of making losses and taking profit. The thing we focus on becomes extremely important for our emotional state. The object of concentration in trading becomes not just an object of reality, but an important emotional component. All decisions made in trading as well as in other spheres of life have emotional component, therefore, concentration becomes obligatory here. Here an efficient method is to pose questions. By asking questions requiring answers we set interpreting of the facts. Ask yourself: “what if I lose?” and you` will hesitate losing confidence. Ask yourself: “what if I win?” here you will definitely conclude a profitable transaction. Ask yourself: “what is the probability?” and “what do my methods indicate me?” and this will make you act on receiving a trading signal.

Another approach is to eliminate undesired emotions by shifting our convictions. Our convictions influence the way we interpret the facts and events. If we are convinced that the development favors our profits, we will not be discouraged making a separate loss as we remain confident and sure that profit will definitely appear.

The third way is to adjust our physiology. Thoughts are known to affect body. It turns out to be that body may affect mind. Scientific research has proven that breathing frequency, expression, tone of voice impact human thoughts and emotions. Traders should avoid making any transactions when feeling pain, in bad moods or being disturbed or depressed. Lift your shoulders, breathe deeply, speak to yourself in confident tone. Permanent simple physiological manipulation is an efficient tool in handling one`s mood. Traders should use this method in order to succeed in trading.

Trading is balancing
Trading is balancing between two extremes. Concentrating on profits and losses and balancing between them is needed. Traders should concentrate on probability of chosen methods, on information delivered from the market. The only reliable information while dealing with financial markets is price actions. Deliberate control over emotions is a source of self-confidence which can be resulted into financial success.