Trading Psychology & the Top 10 Mistakes

Level: Beginner · About 12 min · 7 slides

Your mindset decides whether you follow your plan. Learn the biases that wreck traders, the emotions to watch for, how bull and bear markets move through phases, and the top 10 mistakes day traders make, each with a fix.

🔑 Key takeaways

• FOMO → stick to the plan. Loss aversion → pre-set stops. Overconfidence → keep size the same after wins.
• Fear and greed drive early exits and held losers. Accept losses as part of the game.
• Markets move in phases. Hope and speculation peak late in a bull run.
• Trade with a plan, size small and journal.
• Practice on a demo account before committing real money.

✅ Your homework

1. Name your #1 trading emotion and write a rule to handle it.
2. Review your last 10 trades. Which of the 10 mistakes showed up?
3. Read a chapter of Trading in the Zone.
4. Add an 'emotion' column to your journal.

📎 Resources

• Trading in the Zone (Mark Douglas)
• The Psychology of Trading (Brett Steenbarger)
• The Disciplined Trader (Mark Douglas)
• ADT Academy: https://americandreamtradingacademy.com