Trading – surviving a crisis period

So, you’re looking to become a trader, but there’s something you should consider first. What happens when the market goes into crisis and everything becomes volatile? Well, traders will tell you straight up that these periods provide some of the best opportunities as well as some of the worst career car-crashes, so here’s our best tips on how to survive when the going gets tough.

Let mistakes guide you

Everyone is going to make mistakes, and you are no exception. Where the good and the bad are separated, however, is how they deal with these mistakes. Good traders learn from their errors and the errors of others, and forge themselves in the fires of deals that have crashed.

Bad traders continue to make the same errors and watch as all of their deals crash and burn, before succumbing to the flames themselves. Don’t panic if you make a mistake or something doesn’t work out – learn from it and move on.

Stick to your guns

Using all the knowledge you’ve gained to this point, you need to create yourself a battle plan and then you need to make sure that you carry it through. Set aside how much you’re willing to risk on any given deal and make sure that the risk to reward ratio is as good as you can make it before you set out.

Obviously when you’re winning, it’s easy to get caught up in the excess, but if you stick to your strategy, you’re much more likely to leave the table whilst you’re still on top.

Don’t fight it, feel it

Apart from being a great tune by Primal Scream, this little ditty is the kind of attitude you need to succeed in a market that has more twists than turns than a rollercoaster.

You must accept that the markets are not going to behave in the way you might expect, and just roll with the punches – don’t get angry, don’t panic, because it won’t help you. Just play your best game and focus on the things you’re doing which are working, and you’ll have the best chance of coming out on top.