What is Fear?
Fear is that emotional state, which makes an individual feel extremely stressed in anticipation of an adverse event. Even when the probability of an adverse event happening is very low, an individual may remain in the grip of fear.
Top psychologists believe that the worst events that we are scared of rarely ever happen and yet we all experience some degree of fear. In the context of the stock market, people experience two kinds of fears.
First, they fear losing their money. Second, they are scared of underperforming the stock market. The first kind of fear is easy to understand. After all, everyone is scared of losing their money.
However, the second kind of fear is tricky because most people underperform the market at some point of time or the other. So, there is no clear way of getting rid of this fear. The best thing to do is to have realistic expectations of ourselves.
What is Greed?
Greed is defined as a desire or rather a craving to have more of something. It is like having several shirts in your wardrobe and yet feeling an intense desire to buy one more shirt while knowing that you do not need that shirt.
As an emotion, greed can make a person do more than he should be doing. In the context of the stock market, greed may make a trader buy a stock when its price has already increased a lot. In such a case, the probability of the price further rising is quite low, but the trader is unable to resist the temptation to buy the stock because he thinks that the stock’s price may still go up.
Often, greedy traders take a position because they want to experience an emotional high. When they are extremely greedy, they may be unable to understand how much losses they will incur by taking a position. Hence, greed can be an extremely risky emotion in the stock market.
How to Manage Fear and Greed to Be a Successful Trader?
All traders experience fear and greed in the stock market. But, they can overcome these emotions by following these strategies:
Have a Definite Plan: You must have a clear plan, which you should write down somewhere, before participating in the stock market. Adhering to a definite plan will not let your emotions take your decisions. At times, when you are about to lose money on a trade, your emotions may tell you to increase the size of that position. However, if you follow a clear plan, you will not make such mistakes.
Put Aside the Get Rich Quick Mentality: Always remember that there is no one in this whole wide world who got rich in the stock market quickly. Even the great investor Warren Buffett had to learn and wait for years before making money in the stock market. Hence, you should do away with this self-destructive get rich quick mentality.
Keep a Trading Journal: You must keep a trading journal, which will help you track your investments. In this journal, you should record your day-to-day observations of the stocks you are invested in and of the market in general. When you record these observations diligently, it will help you keep a check on your emotions. Besides, it will also help you understand your own trading decisions better.
Don't Give Up Learning: Once you decide to start participating in the stock market, you need to become a learner for your lifetime. Financial markets keep on evolving worldwide and hence you do not stand a chance to make money if you remain stuck to a few principles you learnt decades ago. For example, there was a time when many companies used to pay a lot of dividends. Hence, it made sense to invest in stocks just for dividends. However, now, hardly any stock is providing a decent dividend yield. Hence, you will be making a mistake if you invest in a stock just in anticipation of receiving dividends.
Conclusion
Trading psychology dictates that most traders experience fear and greed whether they operate in the Indian stock market or other markets in the world. If you have just opened a demat account and begun trading, you must realise that almost everyone has experienced these emotions.
The best way to deal with them is by developing a system or being disciplined about your trading. Let a plan or strategy dictate your decisions and not your emotions. You should also keep a trading journal in which you must record your daily observations of the stock market and how you feel about them.
Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risk, read all related documents carefully before investing.
This content is for educational purposes only. Securities quoted are exemplary and not recommendatory.
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