Survive first
Getting direction right means you answered one of three questions.
Updated 2026-10-23
Most people searching this are already trading. You can read the chart, you often call the move, and the statement is still red.
This is the hardest kind of loss, because you cannot find the mistake — on the face of it, you did everything right.
Direction is one of three things. If the other two are not there, being right on direction does not count.
Why we only look at three things is here: Why we focus on the Nikkei JPN225
Candles, direction, momentum. All three agree before you enter. If they do not, you wait.
| This one | Answers |
|---|---|
| Candles | What this bar is saying right now |
| Direction | Which side |
| Momentum | Whether it has the strength to move now |
You answered one of the three. The other two you left to luck.
The direction is right, but at that moment it had not started moving. You are waiting for it to go. It is waiting for you to run out of patience.
The chart does lean your way, but it cannot push. Two steps forward, one back — and your line gets hit first.
All three did line up, and you entered well. Then mid-trade you moved your line, or you left early.
The third is the most common, and the least like a technical problem. The three most common reasons people lose are here: Why do traders keep losing money? Three real reasons
Not by remembering. A week later, thinking back on "why did I lose that day", what you remember is the feeling, not the chart you were looking at.
It takes the three columns: did the three things line up at that moment, did you follow them, and looking back, where was the judgement wrong.
Column one you cannot fill in — they were not lined up. You are the first or the second.
Column two says "no" — you are the third.
How to keep the three columns is here: How do you keep a trading journal? Three columns is enough
Yes. But separate two kinds of loss: the one where you followed the rules and lost anyway, and the one where you did not. The first is a cost. The second is the problem.
Not necessarily. Switching methods starts the three months over. Look at the journal first — on the trades where all three lined up, if you followed them most of the time, the problem is not the method. Why it takes three months is here: How long does it take to learn trading before you see results?
That is normal. Three things lining up does not mean this trade wins. It only means you act when the conditions are more complete. Losing small when you do lose is what it is actually doing for you.
No. Adding while the direction is right puts more weight on the same judgement. It does not correct it. Judgement gets corrected by the journal, not by position size.
Direction is one question out of three. Bet after answering one, and the other two are down to luck. Answer the other two and the losses do not disappear — but you will know why this one lost. Knowing why is what makes the next one changeable.
