Hey everyone, Ross Cameron here! Today, we’re talking about something most traders would rather avoid: losing. Specifically, how to be a great loser in day trading. If you’re serious about trading for the long haul, you’re going to have to learn how to embrace losses. Yep, I said it — embrace them. Sounds counterintuitive, right? But trust me, winning consistently at day trading means getting good at losing first. Let me break down how today’s red day (after a 47-day green streak) gave me some fresh insights that can help you improve your own trading game.
Let’s face it. Not every day will be a winner. In fact, today, I broke a long green streak and ended the day with a max loss. But that’s okay – part of the process is learning how to handle days like today. I’m a big believer in consistency and discipline, and staying sharp even when the market isn’t going your way. Sometimes losing the right way is what sets you up for future success.
Understanding Red Days in Day Trading
In day trading, we use the term “red day” to describe any day we end with a loss. After a streak of 47 consecutive green days, I woke up today thinking I might hit day 48, but the market had other plans. I didn’t feel like a winner. I started with two losses, and those early hits can quickly affect your mindset if you’re not careful. Then, I rallied a bit just to fall back down again. It was rough.
You can’t always have a green day, and sometimes, taking a loss early in the day is unavoidable. But it’s how you respond to those losses that makes or breaks your success over time. It’s easy to get into a downward spiral, chasing losses, letting emotions take over, and making things worse. Trust me, I’ve been there. The reality is every trader will have red days, and the secret isn’t avoiding them — it’s minimizing the damage when those days come.
Getting Good at Losing
What makes someone a good loser in day trading? It’s all about accepting that losses happen. There is no such thing as a perfect strategy that wins 100% of the time. But, you can control your losses, and that’s the key. Winners know how to lose small and come back strong. Today wasn’t my day, but I kept my loss contained. Anytime I hit my max loss, it’s a signal that it’s time to stop and reassess, and that’s exactly what I did.
A big mistake day traders make is letting emotions take over after a loss. They get desperate and drop their standards from high-quality trades to lower-quality ones. I’ve done this myself in the past, but I’ve learned how to control it. Whenever I start lowering my standards, switching to B or C quality trades to try and “save” the day, I end up digging myself an even deeper hole. Don’t do that. Get comfortable with walking away red if it means avoiding a bigger loss.
Introducing My New Risk Management Technique
Now, let me share the technique that helped me get through 47 consecutive green days before today’s loss. Earlier this year, I noticed a pretty serious pattern: on red days, my accuracy plummeted. After years of trading, that realization hit me hard. I needed a way to handle my biggest weakness — overtrading on these red days.
What I did was start each day by trading with only a quarter of my regular position size. Normally, I take about 20,000 shares on a full-size position. But with this new approach, I gave myself training wheels, starting with just 5,000 shares. I wouldn’t go full-size until I was up at least $1,000 on the day (Results not typical). This small tweak made a massive difference.
Why is this so important? Because if the day starts rocky, at least the losses are smaller. It’s way easier to dig yourself out of a $1,500 hole than a $6,500 hole. Plus, on slow days, this method keeps me from overtrading out of frustration, trying to force profits that just aren’t there.
The Results Speak for Themselves
Since implementing this strategy back in June, I hit my second-longest green streak of my career. During this time, I made $426,000 in gross profits across 47 days (Results not typical). But more importantly, I minimized my red days. My win rate stayed around 65–70%, but my average losses were much smaller on bad days. This kept my confidence high and prevented one bad day from ruining an entire week or month.
Trading smaller positions in the morning let me test the waters before diving in. If it was going to be a red day, I figured it out early with minimal damage. If it was a green day, I scaled up quickly and hit bigger profits once I had that initial $1,000 cushion.
How to Handle Trading in a Cold Market
Part of being a great day trader is knowing how to adapt to changing conditions. Most of the time, I trade the same strategy across the board, but the market doesn’t stay the same. In a hot market, there’s more liquidity, more opportunities, and you can take larger positions without much risk of slippage. But in a cold market, the dynamics change.
If you trade with the same large size in a cold market, good luck — you’ll get hammered by slippage. That’s why it’s so important to ease off the throttle on slow days. Reduce your position size, stay cautious, and don’t chase losses.
Day trading is all about timing, and sometimes, the market just isn’t giving you the setups you’re looking for. When that happens, it’s better to scale down and protect your capital for better opportunities.
Conclusion: Focus on Being a Disciplined Trader
So, what’s the takeaway from today? Learn how to be a disciplined trader. Focus on the process, not the profits. My results over the last few months speak for themselves — though again, they’re not typical. The biggest change I made was learning how to manage risk better and recognizing when it’s time to walk away.
If you’re serious about day trading, make sure you take the time to improve this area of your trading. Losses will happen, but if you manage them properly, they won’t destroy you.
Stay Connected
Warrior Trading was founded by Ross Cameron in 2012 and is now a thriving community of thousands of traders. You can learn more about joining the Warrior Trading community here
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Disclaimer: The results shared are based on my personal trading experiences and are not typical. Trading involves significant risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Always practice in a simulator before trading with real money.
