What it takes to be a successful trader

Someone who wants to be a successful trader must adapt a few trading traits. These traits are critical to the success of any stock market trader.

1. Controlling your emotions. This is an important part of trading. How many times have you gotten into a stock because everyone was making money with it. You were afraid of missing the opportunity so you jump in only to see the stock crash to the ground. Emotions control most traders and will often lead to a hefty loss of capitol.

2. Don’t give up after a few losses. Trading is abundant with both wins and losses every successful trader has them. If you have one or two bad trades that does not mean that you should stop trading all together. The key is keeping your losses small.

3. Cutting your losses short. This is one of the most important parts of trading. Losses are nothing to be scared of; they come with the territory when trading. The trick is to cut your losses short and let your winners run to make up for any loss you may experience.

4. Manage your positions. The best trader in the world will go broke if they did not use proper position sizing. You only want to risk a small part of your account for any one trade about 2-5%. This way if you are wrong it is not the end of the world. You will still have capitol to make future trades with if you are wrong.

5. Learn from every loss. It is important to learn something from every loss you encounter. If you don’t you will just end up losing again on a similar trade in the future. There is an old saying, “Those who do not study the past are doomed to repeat it”.

6. Never lower your stop loss. It is natural to want to lower your stop if your stock pulls back, after all no one wants to exit a position at a loss. But lowering your stops can often lead to bigger losses then you need, remember cutting your losses short is the best thing you can do when trading.