You analyze the chart. You see a perfect setup. You enter the trade.
Two hours later, you hit Stop Loss. You get angry. You double your lot size to win it back. You lose again.
Does this sound familiar? You are not alone. **90% of retail traders lose 90% of their money in the first 90 days.**
But why? The truth is harder to swallow: **You are sabotaging yourself.**
In this breakdown, we will expose the **7 hidden reasons** why your account is bleeding, and provide the antidote for each.
SVG 1: The Cycle of Doom (Why Traders Fail)
1. System Hopping (The #1 Killer)
You try a strategy for 3 days. You lose 2 trades. You immediately switch to find a "Better" strategy. This is the **System Hopping** trap.
**The Truth:** Every strategy has losing streaks. By switching constantly, you never stick around long enough to see the winning streak.
**The Fix:** Pick ONE strategy and trade it for 100 trades. Do not change it.
2. Revenge Trading (The Ego Trap)
You lose $50. Your ego demands: *"I need to get that $50 back NOW!"* So you open a random trade with double the lot size.
**The Truth:** The market does not owe you money. Trying to force a profit usually leads to a bigger loss.
**The Fix:** The "Walk Away" Rule. If you lose 2 trades in a row, close the computer for 24 hours.
3. Catching Falling Knives (Counter-Trend)
Gold is shooting up like a rocket. You think: *"It's too high, it HAS to come down."* So you Sell. You blow your account.
**The Truth:** Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. **Never fight the trend.**
**The Fix:** Stop trying to predict the top. Wait for clear **structural confirmation** before reversing the trade.
4. Over-Leveraging (Greed)
You have a $100 account, but you use 0.10 lots, risking too much per trade. A 10-pip move against you wipes out 10% of your account.
**The Truth:** Professional traders risk **1% per trade**. Gamblers risk 10%+.
**The Fix:** Use the Position Size Calculator. Never risk more than **1-2%** of your total capital per trade.
5. Trading the Wrong Session
You are trading during the Asian Lunch hour (04:00 GMT). The price is moving sideways. The spread is eating your profit. You get bored and force a trade.
**The Fix:** Only trade when the liquidity is high. Focus on the **London and New York Sessions**. Monitor liquidity using the Realtime Market Dashboard.
SVG 2: The Two Mindsets (Gambler vs. Professional)
6. No Trading Plan (No Business Model)
You wake up and just "look for trades". You have no checklist. If you don't know exactly what you are looking for, you will find "fake" setups everywhere.
**The Fix:** Create a rigid **Trading Plan** with definitive rules. If a setup doesn't meet all criteria, do not click the button. Use the Risk & Reward Calculator to verify every trade before entry.
7. Ignoring the "Big Picture" (Higher Timeframes)
You are buying on the 5-minute chart because you see a green candle. But you didn't check the 4-Hour chart, which is crashing down. You are trading against the macro flow.
**The Fix:** Always do **Multi-Timeframe Analysis**. Never trade against the Higher Timeframe trend.
Final Thoughts
Losing is part of trading. But *consistent* losing is a choice.
If you are losing right now, stop trading real money. Go back to Demo.
Pick ONE reason from this list that applies to you, fix it using strict risk management, and watch your results change.
