this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2026
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Today I Learned

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19, trading for 8 months. Learned an expensive lesson about greed this week.

I started with intraday trading first. Had a good run for a while, but I wasn't disciplined about stop losses, and eventually gave a lot of that profit back. Switched to swing trading about 3 months ago, thinking a slower pace would suit me better.

For a while, it worked. I was recovering at a solid pace, felt like I'd actually learned something from the intraday phase.

Then three days ago, one greedy decision wiped out 15% of my capital again. Same mistake, same cycle, just a different strategy this time. No stop loss discipline, held on longer than I should have, convinced myself "it'll come back."

It didn't.

What gets me is that I know the rule. Set a stop loss, respect it, don't let one trade decide your month. I just didn't follow my own rule when it actually mattered, again.

I'm not looking for stock tips. I'm trying to understand the psychology side of this, because clearly the technical knowledge isn't the problem, my execution and discipline is.

For those who've traded longer than me, how did you actually fix this in yourself? Was it a system, a rule you forced on yourself, or did something just click after enough losses?

Genuinely trying to learn from this instead of just moving on and repeating it a third time.

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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

OP, this is probably more suitable for 'Off My Chest'.

[–] myrmidex@belgae.social 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

You probably know it already but still: may I recommend A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Perhaps a bit farther removed from day trading, but the core findings should still hold up.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

The good old wanting to be right.

[–] Pistachio@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I think the word you're looking for is, "addition"

Edit: New phone, still getting used to the keyboard, but yes, there is a missing "c" to make it "addiction"

[–] sandhu@thelemmy.club 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I suspect the addition of a c will clarify this comment.

But yes, it sounds like rigid impulse control is required for the type of trading you're doing.