Here are four mistakes that traders usually find themselves doing concerning day trading. These are not easy to avoid without enough experience so be sure to learn from each experience as much as you can.
Bad timing
The majority of traders acknowledge the need for certainty. They always want to be sure that they are entering a winning trade. Theoretically, everyone can profit from any trade. The difference lies on "when" they decide to enter. Some people wait too long, some impulsively gets in too early. There should be a good mixture of timing and necessary indicators to help you spot the trade that will give you the money.
In most cases, traders let the trades take off without them. But they need to wait until they become very certain of what to do. Some hop in before the trade sells off. Just like the game of musical chairs, someone will always be left without a chair to sit in.
Being too hopeful
Trading is a game of probability, of numbers, of technicalities, but definitely not a game of hopes and wishes. The market moves in a certain direction ignoring the number of people who are hoping and praying that the stocks they are trading will go up. The market does not care whether you are losing or winning, it is in fact neutral. Being too hopeful is an indication of losing. So sell your stocks before you go broke. Afterwards, asses your pitfalls and try not to commit the same mistakes again.
Deviating from a working plan
It is a general rule in trading that you should stick to two or three working plans. However, in the heat of excitement or the height of panicking, traders often forget that they are using a strategy that has specific objectives, direction and fall-backs. Some traders begin their trade with a specific methodology in mind but after several days of working on a set of specific rules to follow, they begin to use methods that are entirely different.
It is not wrong to invent or innovate but if it is money that's on the line, you should always be certain that the new method won't backfire. Nonetheless, this is often the case because in this business no one can be sure that a method is successful or not unless practiced overtime.
Unrelenting ego
Traders who are highly successful in other businesses enter day trading with one thing in mind- they have been a success in other things, why should this be any different? This kind of attitude boils down to one thing- ego or the bane of overconfidence.