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Module F · Psychology·Lesson 2

Fear and Greed

The two emotions that run your trading account

4 sections · 2 quiz questions · ~5 min read

Guided course path

Keep fear and greed inside the live track.

You are reading a reference lesson. The live course path gives you the lesson order, checks, saved progress, and next step. This live track carries the risk, decision quality, and psychology material forward.

Closest track: Options, Risk Math, and PsychologyFirst lesson: What a call option grants you
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Fear

Fear shows up as: not taking a valid setup, closing a winner too early, or moving your stop to break-even after 5 pips. Fear is your brain trying to protect you from losing — but in trading, SMALL losses are part of the business. Fear-trading means you never give your winners room to run.
Wick stands by a balanced scale with fear on one side, closing too early, and greed on the other, sizing too big, showing two emotions that both break the plan.FearClose too earlyGreedSize too big?
Wick saysFear cuts trades short and greed makes them too big; both pull you off your plan.

Greed

Greed shows up as: oversizing your position, moving your target further because "what if it keeps going," taking trades that don't match your plan because you're bored, and adding to losers. Greed is your brain chasing the dopamine hit of a big win. It almost always costs more than it earns.
A worried Wick walks steps from getting greedy after wins, to oversizing and losing, to getting scared and skipping a setup, showing the fear and greed cycle.1Win 3,getgreedy2Oversize,lose3Getscared4Skip asetup
Wick saysFear and greed feed each other in a loop, and written rules break it.

The Cycle

Most losing traders swing between fear and greed every day. Win three trades → get greedy → oversize → lose → get scared → skip the next valid setup → see it run 200 pips without you → get greedy → oversize to "catch up." Sound familiar? The rules break this cycle.
Wick holds a tiny scoop labeled 0.5% risk next to a jar labeled your account, teaching that smaller size is the fix for fear-driven decisions.Size down until you feel calmYour account0.5% risk
Wick saysIf 2% risk makes your hands shake, try 0.5% until you feel calm.

The Fix

The fix for fear: size smaller until you are calm. If 2% risk makes your hands shake, trade 0.5%. The fix for greed: pre-plan every trade BEFORE you enter. Entry, stop, target, size — all written down. No in-the-moment decisions.
Quick check

Did it stick?

Try to answer each one before you peek at the explanation.

1

What does greed look like in trading?

2

If you feel scared to take a trade, you should size down — not skip it.