A big win can take care of many small losses and a big loss can wipe out many small wins.  It all boils down to money management, following some trading rules, and being disciplined. Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$8 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit.       $15 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$5 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$10 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit.       $4 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit.       $7 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a big profit.        $75 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$15 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$12 Net profit 5 losses 4 wins                                    $51 Now change all the wins to losses and losses to wins and you have a negative ($51). Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit..      $8 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$15 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit..      $5 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit.       $10 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$4 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$7 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take a small loss.    -$75 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit.       $15 Enter a trade put on a stop loss take some profit.       $12 Net profit 4 losses 5 wins                                   -$51 If you hadn’t taken the large loss you would be ok. What if you had only taken a $20 loss instead of a $75 loss how much would you have? You would have a $4 profit for the trades taken. Big losses prevent you from having a winning day. They wipe out too many small winners that you have worked so hard to get. Big losses also take their toll on you from a psychological and emotional standpoint. It takes a long time to get your confidence back after taking a big loss on a trade.