10 Trading Clichés and the Truths Behind Them
The market’s full of fortune‑cookie wisdom. You’ve heard them all a hundred times. Some are actually true. And some trading clichés make you roll your eyes…
Here are 10 of the most common trading clichés — and the real lessons behind them.
1. Cut your losses short, let your winners run.
Easy to say. Hard to live.
Most traders reverse it: they cut winners short and let losers run.
Why? Because it feels good to book a win, and it’s painful to admit a loss.
The only way to live this cliché is to have a clear plan for exits and the discipline to follow it — even when your emotions are screaming otherwise.
2. Plan the trade, trade the plan.
A trading plan is written in calm.
The decision to abandon it is usually made in chaos.
You can’t just write a plan and expect it to stick — you have to build rules and habits that keep you aligned to it when the market tests your patience.
3. The trend is your friend.
…Until the end.
It’s easy to identify a trend in hindsight. It’s much harder to spot when it’s weakening in real time.
Pros develop trend exit triggers — predefined signals for when to trim, tighten stops, or get out.
4. Don’t catch a falling knife.
It’s not really about knives — it’s about momentum and probability.
Yes, sometimes they bounce. But more often, they cut deep.
If you trade against momentum, you need to know exactly where you’re wrong and manage risk tightly.
5. No one ever went broke taking a profit.
True — but plenty of traders have stayed broke by taking profits too soon.
Managing winners is one of the hardest parts of trading.
Sometimes the right move is to “sell some and hope you’re wrong” — scale out and let the rest work.
That’s how you find the path of least regret.
6. Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.
Greed isn’t just about wanting more — it’s about ignoring risk.
A bullish or bearish bias is fine as long as it’s paired with sound risk management.
7. Trade what you see, not what you think.
Your opinion is expensive.
Price action is free.
You can have strong convictions about where the market should go — but if price isn’t agreeing, the market isn’t wrong. You are.
8. It’s not about timing the market; it’s about time in the market.
For investors, maybe.
For traders, timing is everything.
The entry matters. The exit matters more.
The time you spend in a trade has to be in sync with your system and market conditions.
9. Know thyself.
A system is only as good as your ability to execute it.
Even the best strategy will fail in the wrong trader’s hands.
You need to understand your strengths, weaknesses, and emotional tendencies — and build a system that works for you.
10. Every mistake is a lesson.
Only if you study it.
Only if you change your behavior.
Pain in trading is tuition — but you only get the education if you pay attention.
That’s why journaling and review aren’t optional.
The Real Truth Behind All Clichés
Clichés stick around because they capture truths that can’t be ignored.
You can hear them a hundred times — but until you live them, they’re just words.
The faster you understand the truth behind these sayings, the faster you’ll stop wasting time fighting them.
But you’ll still have to earn your own scars.
Your turn:
Which cliché has hit you the hardest in your own trading?
Which one do you think gets ignored the most?
Let’s hear it in the comments:
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