lachyg91, well done on your first trade. I know how you feel...

lachyg91, well done on your first trade. I know how you feel watching BCC thru lunch, calculating the lost profits on each tenth of a cent as it climbs.

It's funny how you can feel bad about a small profit that could have been a huge profit.

What I do is to think back to various points in time: Eg: I bought BCC at 0.066 on Wednesday. Back then I would have been happy to make $500, or 10%, on the trade, as long it was prior to T+3.

Yesterday I was a bit nervous, and would have sold at 0.071 to make $320 (6%), had it traded that high.

This morning, after it opened, I would have been happy to sell at 0.075 for a 12% gain.

So the announcement arrives, I pulled my order, rode it up for a few minutes and cashed out for an $1150 profit, or 23%! I should feel really good about that compared to my expectations at the other points in time, right?

Wrong.

But what happens is that we see the lost extra profit, and get annoyed! This is an emotion day-traders (and part-time traders like myself) need to conquer.

Set a target profit, and if it exceeds that, take it and be happy!