Trading Psychology  |  SEP 1999

Anxiety Cure by Ruth Barrons Roosevelt

Anxiety Cure Here are some tips on not letting those feelings of anxiety affect your trading. ""Hope is not a strategy; it’s a simple emotion,” a retired army general remarked. He was talking about a war, but his comment reminded me of trading. I remembered trading situations when hope was the only strategy I had. That could be said about almost any emotion and trading. Greed is not a strategy; it’s a simple emotion. Fear is not a strategy; it’s a simple emotion. Sometimes, unfortunately, fear, or greed, or hope, or determination does become a trader’s basic strategy. Trading becomes dictated by emotion rather than a consistent strategy for entering and exiting the market. The general was right; simple emotions are not an effective strategy. A strategy built on emotions will be inconsistent at best and disastrous at worst.

by Ruth Barrons Roosevelt