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
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.
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.
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.
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.