The need-to-be-right trap

Trader Psychology

Moving the goalposts mid-trade

Moving a stop-loss further away because you don't want to admit the trade is wrong is the need-to-be-right trap in action. It turns a small, planned loss into a bigger, unplanned one.

Averaging down without new evidence

Averaging down into a losing position with no new evidence for the trade, just to lower the average cost and avoid a loss, usually turns one manageable loss into a much larger one.

Comfortable being wrong is an edge

A trader who's comfortable being wrong, taking the small planned loss and moving to the next setup, has an actual edge over a trader who fights every single loss.