Trading Tips - Katie Tutorials

Why Do I Keep Losing Money in Trading?

September 28, 2026February 1, 2022 by Katie

Curve showing the gain required to break even after a loss. A 10% loss needs 11%, a 20% loss needs 25%, a 30% loss needs 43%, a 50% loss needs 100% and a 70% loss needs 233%, against a dashed line showing what a symmetrical relationship would look like.

Ten reasons accounts lose money, from position size and revenge trading to the ones decided before you ever place a trade. With the numbers behind each one.

How to Keep a Trading Journal (and What to Actually Record)

September 28, 2026January 31, 2022 by Katie

A trading journal template showing eight columns: date and time, instrument, why I entered, planned exit, actual exit, risk percent, whether the plan was followed, and mood, with one example row filled in.

Eight columns, a free template and no software required. What to record, how to review it, and the one column that tells you whether the problem is your strategy or your discipline.

How to Trade Market Cycles (and Why the Diagram Lies)

September 28, 2026January 30, 2022 by Katie

Two panels of the same price path. On the left the full curve is labelled with accumulation, markup, distribution and markdown. On the right the same curve stops partway with a you are here marker and three equally plausible dashed continuations.

The four stages are a good description of the past and a poor forecast of the future. What you can observe in real time, and how to pick a strategy that suits it.

How to Manage Risk in Trading

September 28, 2026January 28, 2022 by Katie

Bar chart showing that with a fixed $100 risk on a $50 share, a $0.50 stop allows 200 shares, a $1.00 stop 100 shares, a $2.00 stop 50 shares and a $4.00 stop 25 shares.

Risk management is two decisions and one division. How much to risk per trade, where the stop belongs, and the arithmetic that turns both into a position size.

Why Is Trading So Hard?

September 28, 2026January 28, 2022 by Katie

Three figures showing the number of trades needed to distinguish a real win rate from a coin flip at 80% confidence: 196 trades for a 60% win rate, 785 for 55% and about 4,900 for 52%.

Not because the ideas are complicated. Because the feedback lies, the sample needed to trust it is enormous, and ordinary randomness looks exactly like failure.

What Economic Factors Affect Stock Prices?

September 28, 2026January 27, 2022 by Katie

The same jobs report of 200,000 shown three times. Against a 150,000 forecast it is a beat and price rises, against 200,000 there is no surprise and price is flat, against 250,000 it is a miss and price falls.

The list is short. The useful part is that markets move on the surprise against the forecast, not on the number, which is why the calendar is a risk tool and not a signal.

What Is the Best Time of Day to Trade?

September 28, 2026January 27, 2022 by Katie

Timeline of the main trading sessions in UTC. Sydney runs 22:00 to 07:00, Tokyo 00:00 to 09:00, London 08:00 to 17:00 and New York 13:00 to 22:00, with the London and New York overlap from 13:00 to 17:00 marked as the deepest liquidity of the day.

The sessions, the overlaps and the hours to avoid, plus the part nobody covers: how to find the hours you personally trade well from your own record.

How to Control Your Emotions When Trading

September 28, 2026January 27, 2022 by Katie

A comparison showing that at each stage of a trade fear and greed do opposite things. Fear skips setups, trades too small, closes winners early, freezes on losers and stops for days. Greed chases moves, oversizes, holds past the target, adds to losers and trades again bigger.

Fear and greed break a trading plan in opposite directions and need opposite fixes. How to tell which one you are in from behaviour rather than feeling.

How to Be Disciplined in Trading

September 28, 2026January 27, 2022 by Katie

Two columns comparing vague trading intentions with checkable rules. Do not overtrade becomes maximum four trades a day. Manage risk properly becomes 1% per trade calculated before the session. Do not revenge trade becomes two losses and the platform closes until tomorrow.

Discipline is an engineering job, not a character test. Mechanical rules, a pre-trade checklist, and what to actually do on the days you break your own system.

When to Exit a Trade (and How to Stop Getting Out Too Early)

September 28, 2026January 26, 2022 by Katie

Bar chart showing the break even win rate for a 2 to 1 plan. Taking the full 2R needs a 33% win rate, taking 1.5R needs 40%, taking 1R needs 50% and taking 0.5R needs 67%.

Three exits, all written before you enter. Why cutting winners early raises the win rate you need, and how to tell from your own records whether exits are the problem.