It is with a heavy heart that today, I have sold off one of my “cash cow” shares.

Amazon has served me so well and I know it will serve me well again in the future, but the share price seems to keep gradually dropping. Of course, I could hang onto it as it is bound to rise again

The comment above should NEVER be part of a Traders mentality.

Yes, I did sell off my Amazon shares, and yes, they have served me well, especially over the last few months, but attachment to a share? No thank you.

You stop making me profits, then you go, as I will now move onto the next positively trading stock… That’s all there is to it!

Your mindset should be….

1, I will not hang onto you in the hope that you will bounce back again.

2, I will have ZERO attachment to you, no matter how much profit you have made for me.

3, I will not keep hold of you whilst you’re flatlining (aka – in consolidation) as I know that you will rise again someday (no matter how sure I am of this)

4, I will move onto other stocks that are currently trending well and buy into those (IF they meet the specified criteria)

5, I will not double down and buy more during a downturn as we wait for the stock to rise again… (why would I do this when I could just as easily buy stocks that are going up)

6, Try to cut down on me when you’re in my portfolio and I will STOP LOSS your backside out of here so fast……

7, You want to play a part in my life again, then show me some decent trading patterns, or stand aside as I have better stocks to deal with.

These may seem obvious and standard steps to follow but one would be amazed at just how many people don’t, or get tied up in one or more of the above points…

One of the best lessons one can learn when trading, is “ATTACH ZERO EMOTION TO A TRADE”…. (of course, knowing how to choose a stock is also important, but I wouldn’t think I need to list that and that shouldn’t even need to be said)

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that one becomes a sociopath of the trading world!… Or am I? …. (terrible humour, I know)

Learning the above steps isn’t difficult, but it does require discipline, and once we learn (and can stick to) them, we will be all round better traders…