Stop Trading Like a Pig
Are you a Bull, Bear or Pig in the market? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you’re probably trading like pig and you’re probably losing money.
As the old Wall Street saying goes: “Bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered”. This saying warns traders and investors against excessive greed and impatience. Simple as it may seem on the surface, it conveys more than it may seem. Not letting greed affect your judgement in the market is much easier said than done.
Let’s discuss several ways the market punishes excessive greed, also known as ‘trading like a pig’, and some ways you can avoid being controlled by it. So, if you’d prefer to make money in the market, rather than get ‘slaughtered’ by it, read on…
Are you a bull, bear or pig?
Traders who have a bias on a market (bullish or bearish), and stick to that bias without over-trading (not being greedy), will typically make money over the long-run. Where many traders get into trouble is trading against the dominant market bias or trend. This is an especially easy trap to fall into if you don’t yet know how to identify a market’s trend. However, even traders who know how to identify a market’s trend still tend to trade against it far too often, this is called over-trading, or being a ‘pig’ in the market.
Thus, your goal as a trader should be to simply be a bull or a bear, and not a pig. The way that you become a bull or a bear is by developing a bias for a market and not deviating from it.
For example: If a market is in a clear trend, either up or down, you stick with trades ONLY in the direction of that trend and you ignore any potential counter-trend trades you think you see. You do this until that trend has clearly ended.
So, if a market has clearly been trending higher, you want to look only for price action trading signals that are buy signals, ideally from a confluent level in the market. If you try trading all the counter-trend retraces to the downside against a strong uptrend, you’re being a ‘pig’ and you’re going to lose money. Don’t be a pig, determine your bias for a market and remain patient while waiting for a signal in-line with that bias, and if no signals form in-line with that bias for a week or two, then you simply do not trade that market. Remember, not trading is ALWAYS better than losing money!
Unreasonable expectations
‘Pigs’ have unrealistic expectations about trading. They think they’re going to get rich quick. Whilst you might be lured into the temptation of ‘getting rich quick’ that many other trading sites and services advertise, I am telling you that it’s simply not possible. Actually, if you really believe you’re going to get rich quick in the market, I am going to do you a big favour and save you thousands of dollars by telling you to just stop now, stop reading this article and stop trading forever, you will be better off. Trying to ‘get rich quick’ will only make you poor, fast.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to turn you off to trading, I am just being honest with you since not too many other people in the trading world will be. Traders who don’t try to hit home runs every trade (not being greedy), will make money eventually. However, again, if you trade like a ‘pig’ by trying to make money on every little price fluctuation in the market, you’re going to become addicted to the market, emotional, and as a result, blow out your trading account.
Stop chasing what’s already moving
If you miss a good trade setup, don’t ‘chase’ it. Just accept that you missed it and wait for the next opportunity. If you jump into a trade too late, you’re going to get a bad entry which means you’re going to need a wider stop loss and there’s a greater chance the market will move against you shortly after entering.
Chasing trades is also being greedy. You can’t successfully trade every move in the market, you just need to accept this. Trading is not about getting in on EVERY move, and it’s impossible to do this profitably anyways. All you need to do is hit one or two good moves a month and you can take a nice chunk of change out of the market. Trading a small account is difficult because even if you have one or two big pip gains per month, it’s not going to equate to a lot of money. However, money cannot be your main goal when you’re starting out with a small account. Learning to trade properly should be your main goal. If you do that, you will eventually make greater amounts of money.
The clearest example of trading like a ‘pig’
This one is pretty self-explanatory and obvious. But, it needs to be mentioned since we are talking about being greedy and trading like a ‘pig’. Quite simply, if you risk more than you are comfortable with losing on any one trade, you’re trading like a pig and you are eventually going to suffer an uncomfortably large loss which will set you on a course to blowing out your trading account.
Risking more than you can really afford to lose is the clearest example of trading like a pig. If you cannot at least muster the discipline to tune your risk per trade to a level that you’re emotionally comfortable with, you will not make it as a trader. The ‘barometer’ for being ‘emotionally comfortable’ with your risk on a trade, is whether or not you can sleep well at night with a trade on. If you find that you can’t sleep properly and you’re constantly looking at your trade on your cell phone while lying in bed when you should be sleeping, you need to dial-down your risk until you can easily sleep at night without thinking about your trade. Traders who practice proper risk management every trade (not being greedy), will make money
Conclusion
As you can see, greed kills, it can kill a trader’s returns by making them act in haste. The best trader is the one who is intellectually flexible and dispassionate in analysis when it comes to trading. As Warren Buffet has said “the critical determinant in an investor’s success is not intelligence or skill but temperament.”
In other words, if you trade like a pig, you’re not going to succeed as a trader. You can learn more about how to trade like a bull and a bear by learning some of the simple price action strategies which I teach in my members’ area and price action trading course. Hopefully, by doing so, you’ll learn to develop a market bias, stick with it, and stop losing money by trading like a pig.
Great article, it is true as you say and what goes on with the world today, GREED is the worst thing one can aspire to in any respect.
Thanks for the reminder.
You are Welcome! Glad you liked the lesson.
Thanks Nail. You are an educator
It was you that helped me to realize the trend is my friend. Ever since trading only with the trend a few years ago that my success rate increased from 30% to just over 60-70%. Thank you. I no longer trade against the trend on my own
Hi Nial,
Really, I was trading like a pig…sometimes. I will try not to repeat such kind of attitude again.
Thanks
Thanks Nial..Great articles..I vow not to be a pig anymore
Great article, its true, i am won’t being pig again
It seems I am a pig. Got to get some trading education.
Nial; Thanks for these nice articles. This site is one of my favorites in which i find great pleasure when reading. What i like the most here is you guide people how to make the trading a part of our lives, not a lifestyle like living for trading. When i fail in my trades i often look back in your articles to see what i missed in the general idea. Please keep writing these articles.
Thanks for your Educative Article & Guidance.
Thank you very much for your Educative & Empowering Skills in Trading field.
Nial Fuller is always Full of Great Advices, Reasonable Market Trading Ideas& He really has The Genuine Road To Trading Success.
Thanks Nial, Great article, it illuminates my brain…..
Thanks sir,
I will always try my best to avoid trading like a pig.
when a pig falls, it makes a loud noise and finds it hard to stand up. this fall
might represent trading account deplaning.
Thank you
great post as always. How can I get that hat?
Happy Holidays :)
money cannot be your main goal when you’re starting out with a small account. Learning to trade properly should be your main goal. If you do that, you will eventually make greater amounts of money.
This is Enlightening and educative, Thank Neil.
Thanks a lot Nial, it is a great article. I had enough experience being pig and I am not even think about anymore. I am on my way to be a consistent winner. I wish everyone read this article and learn the catastrophe of being pig in the market and avoid loosing hard earn money.
Thanks,
Arun.
Great job! Nial, you are the best teacher ever.
Cheers.,
Awsome, pratical article Nial!
That is the main cause I can’t bank my account.I earn at beginning of month, but I lose untill the end of month.
Nial,
Having read many of your articles, I felt compelled to respond to this one.
It was as if you were watching my trading habits this past week. I have truly traded like a pig and I am now paying the price.
With a much reduced account I am hopeful that with your guidance I may be able to recover over the long term. A pivotal moment for me over the weekend as I have a loosing trade still open that I was not able to close.
See you next week.
nial fuller thanks a lot,
Double thumbs up.
Go Bulls and Bears!!!
Simply and nicely put. Most of my big loosing trades contained this element – “pig behavior”. I ‘ll try to stick to your advises and recommendations.
Keep this good job up!
Enjoy your Christmas holidays.
Thanks Nial, still saving to become a lifetime member…..so impressed with your work. Good job, bro.
Hey Nial,
You know i’ve always been following your commentary and advise, but for long i couldn’t practice what i was reading. Soon i realised that i will eventually just become a statistic (loosers) and bow out with a bruised bank account. Then i started following actually putting into practice what i learn from you i.e daily affirmations, risking less, following price action signal, discipline and not interfering with trades. Then things started changing for the better! A million thanks to you sir….
Thank you for- to gear up my mind in Trend.
Great article…
Nice one Niall I’ll get my nose out of the trough !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for your priceless piece. Much of what i know today about trading is attributed to your benevolent sharing of your trading wisdom. God bless you richly. Merry xmas and a happy new year in advance.
Thank you very much Nial for the great article
Thanks Nial for a great article, BRILLIANT !!!
Easier said than do e but absolutely true.
Hi Nial,
This article you have written is exactly how I use to trade and lose money! This has to be one of the best simplistic summary articles you have ever written. Thank you for putting this article across the way you have.
cheers
Scotty
I must read.
Hey Nial,
Great article. As I read it I realised my trading has improved. Thanks to your site and excellent advice, I no longer trade counter-trend and I’ve stopped chasing trades I’ve missed. Not having much time to trade, I have learned the art of patience. Only having a small account I quickly learned that it was most important to learn how to trade correctly before I would be able to earn good money.
Thank you for sharing your trading wisdom and experience so freely. I will be joining your trading course early in the new year.
Enjoy your Christmas break, Nial.
Andy Moore
Thanks Nial, i am not going to be a pig anymore…
Thanks Nial, its true what you say , I used to trade all market direction and end up losing money, now that you put it this way,I vow not to be a pig any more
Great article. Thank you very much Nial.