The common beginner mistakes
Six scenarios in which a first deposit disappears.
Recognise the usual mistakes by their symptom, before they cost money.
Recognise the usual mistakes by their symptom, before they cost money.
Beginner mistakes repeat with remarkable precision. Here are the six most expensive, each with its symptom and its antidote.
- A trade with no idea
- — Symptom: “I am bored, the market is flat.” Antidote: a daily limit on the number of trades
- Raising the amount after a loss
- — Symptom: “I will win it back now.” Antidote: a fixed trade size
- Too short an expiry
- — Symptom: choosing 5–15 seconds “to get it over with.” Antidote: expiry matched to the timeframe you analysed
- Too many instruments at once
- — Symptom: cycling through instruments hunting a signal. Antidote: 1–2 instruments a month
- Real money from day one
- — Symptom: “demo is not serious.” Antidote: two weeks on demo
- Copying someone else's signals
- — Symptom: decisions with no argument of your own. Antidote: a journal with the reason for entering
All six share one thing: the decision arrives faster than the argument does. The market does not punish you for being slow — it punishes you for being hasty.
The most insidious scenario deserves its own mention: the first trades went well. The brain concludes “I have worked this out”, the amount grows, the analysis disappears. Statistically this is the most common prelude to a large drawdown.
If you catch yourself thinking “I will get it back quickly” — that is not a strategy, it is an emotion. The cheapest action at that moment is to close the platform.
Key takeaways
- Every one of the six mistakes comes from deciding before the argument exists.
- A winning start is a risk factor, not evidence of skill.
- “I will get it back” is a signal to close the platform, not to trade.
A practical example
Take the second mistake on numbers. A balance of $100, a trade of $10. After a loss the amount is doubled: $20, then $40.
Three losses in a row and $70 of the $100 is gone — on a sequence that is entirely ordinary. At a fixed $10 the same three losses cost $30.
A note from Leon Mercer Academy
Write the six symptoms on a note beside the screen. Recognising your own state is faster than analysing it after the fact.
Lesson 9 of 10 in “WELCOME TO MERCER”