Steps
Limit order doesn't fill; price moves away.
You feel 'robbed' by the missed entry.
You enter late with a market order.
Spread and slippage put you immediately negative.
To compensate, you tighten the stop or increase size.
Normal noise stops you out.
You re-enter again, further from the original plan.
A missed trade becomes a loss cluster.
Intervention points:
- Cut size at the first sign the chain is forming.
- Pause when you start “fixing” the last loss with a new trade.
- Stop trading when execution quality degrades.
Antidote
No chase rule: if the limit doesn't fill, the setup is over.
If you must participate, wait for a new setup with a new invalidation.
Measure how often chasing creates losses; let the data shame the habit.
- Stop the sequence: one loss is information, two losses is a warning, three losses is a system failure. Have a hard cut.
- Reduce degrees of freedom: fewer pairs, fewer timeframes, fewer discretionary choices.
- Re-enter only after reset: calm state, checklist passed, size reduced.
Notes
Missing trades is part of price-sensitive strategies. Chasing is switching strategies mid-emotion.
Related: limit order, spread, slippage.
Field checklist
- Measure spread before entering. If it’s abnormal, you’re trading the wrong product at the wrong time.
- If volatility expands, reduce size first. Don’t “solve” it by widening stops with the same size.
- Avoid the predictable liquidity holes: rollover, session open/close, first minutes after data.
- Assume your stop may fill worse than your entry. Price the worst-case, not the brochure.
- If you cannot explain where liquidity comes from, trade smaller.