Hindsight. What an incredible thing. In trading it can be horrible. It is so easy to look at charts afterwards and say what would have been done. But in live trading it simply isn’t that easy.

This morning, before writing this, I have suffered from a ‘what could should have been morning’. I’ve done two trades. They were simple small scalps using my setups. Hoping to get +10 from them both. The first got to +8 in profit but I went to go and grab some breakfast after I entered, it moved quickly (more quickly then me any way!) so I didn’t see it. Came back and it turned so I ended up out for basically break-even, I think to be exact it was +0.6. On the second trade it was going ok but I got in a bit late so I knew a much smaller target was needed. It got to +4 and turned. Once again I ended up closing for a tiny profit. The end result is I’ve got a couple of pips for the day. But should have certainly reached my target of 10 pips with better trading and not leaving the screen for a second.

Words of A Fool

As Beverley Knight told us in 2002:

Shoulda woulda coulda are the last words of a fool.

And that is very apt! Here is the music video in case you don’t remember it. Have a sing a long, you know you want to.

This is where trading is annoying. I obviously completely blame myself for the result of this morning, I should have stayed at my desk as my ‘exit when’ note on my first trade was any time after it goes 5 pips in my favour or when a candle stalls. Had I been sitting at the screen a much better profit would have been realised. And then on the second trade a suitable limit price would have been set.

I say this, but yet if the market had continued in my favour I would have hit a decent profit on the first trade as my exit on the InterTrader platform was at +20 so had the market kept going I would have came back from getting breakfast, seen I’d hit my day goal and closed the position. And been thinking I am a genius. A good example of how hindsight and ‘what if’ can play havok if you let it.

My Aim

My goal next week is to trade solidly and not let the; coulds, shoulds and woulds creep in to my mind more then they need to.

Do you suffer from this? I bet nearly every trader has at some point in their journey. If so aim to do the same as me. Here is how many traders thoughts tend to transpire, these are what to avoid.

Shoulda – a position moves nicely in to profit, and then it moves against. You sit there saying I should have closed it at that high candle.

Woulda – looking at the charts and saying “I would have entered there and exited there for a healthy profit”. Chances are in live trading that wouldn’t have happened, it’s not that easy.

Coulda – this is what will normally be said after a missed opportunity. The markets rises and then you think “I could’ve got in there”. But instead procrastination happened.

I am still at the stage of my trading where I do this. I still have times when I hesitate, still have times when I’m not patient enough. Etc etc. And these 3 words creep in to my thinking. As I mentioned earlier in the post I want to eradicate it next week and see how I go. I am battling hard to avoid them by just trading what I see and letting what will be will be.