Why do you always sell the profitable ones first, leaving the losing ones behind?
With each floating win comes a floating loss. When it’s time to cut positions, which one will you close first? If the only reason is “take the profit first, and wait for the loss to come back to breakeven,” then it’s time to pause.
A study of U.S. Congressional investment behavior published on the SEC website, and indexed by the Library of Congress, refers to the tendency to sell profitable investments too early and hold losing investments for too long as the disposition effect. It describes a common bias—not a rule that profitable positions must always be held and losing positions must always be sold.
The real issue is what conditions you use to decide when to exit. The logic behind profitable positions may still hold, while the logic behind losing positions may already be outdated. If you act only based on whether it’s green or red, the portfolio can gradually turn into “all that’s left are the mistakes I don’t want to admit.”
Also, a list of closed positions that often looks like it makes money doesn’t necessarily mean the overall trading is healthy. Those losses that you keep delaying—still tie up capital, consume margin, and expose you to future volatility.
When I review my BTC, ETH, and SOL trades, I write the reason for each exit next to the profit/loss: is it because a pre-set rule was triggered, information changed, or I only wanted to feel comfortable? Different exit methods may be allowed by the strategy, but you can’t grant special privileges to losing positions on the spot.
The images are stock-exchange reference photos from the NYSE. They discuss trading behavior and do not indicate that the above-mentioned coins are listed there.
Whether you should keep them depends on the reasons—not that color.
$BTC $ETH $SOL
Tap my avatar to view live trades
With each floating win comes a floating loss. When it’s time to cut positions, which one will you close first? If the only reason is “take the profit first, and wait for the loss to come back to breakeven,” then it’s time to pause.
A study of U.S. Congressional investment behavior published on the SEC website, and indexed by the Library of Congress, refers to the tendency to sell profitable investments too early and hold losing investments for too long as the disposition effect. It describes a common bias—not a rule that profitable positions must always be held and losing positions must always be sold.
The real issue is what conditions you use to decide when to exit. The logic behind profitable positions may still hold, while the logic behind losing positions may already be outdated. If you act only based on whether it’s green or red, the portfolio can gradually turn into “all that’s left are the mistakes I don’t want to admit.”
Also, a list of closed positions that often looks like it makes money doesn’t necessarily mean the overall trading is healthy. Those losses that you keep delaying—still tie up capital, consume margin, and expose you to future volatility.
When I review my BTC, ETH, and SOL trades, I write the reason for each exit next to the profit/loss: is it because a pre-set rule was triggered, information changed, or I only wanted to feel comfortable? Different exit methods may be allowed by the strategy, but you can’t grant special privileges to losing positions on the spot.
The images are stock-exchange reference photos from the NYSE. They discuss trading behavior and do not indicate that the above-mentioned coins are listed there.
Whether you should keep them depends on the reasons—not that color.
$BTC $ETH $SOL
Tap my avatar to view live trades
