Overtrading
Taking too many trades — either too frequently or too large — beyond what your edge and account size can support.
Overtrading erodes edge through transaction costs, forces entries at sub-optimal conditions, and floods you with so much noise that pattern recognition breaks down. More trades do not mean more profit; they usually mean more commission paid to your broker.
It stems from boredom, FOMO, recovery-mode urgency, or a simple misunderstanding that "being active" equals "being profitable." The best setups are rare by definition. If you are trading ten times a day on a daily-chart strategy, you are not trading your strategy.
Track your trade count per session. If it consistently exceeds what your backtested edge warrants, you are overtrading. Tighten your criteria until the count drops.
Related Terms
Discipline
The ability to execute your trading plan without deviation, even when emotions scream at you to do something different.
BeginnerEdge
A statistically demonstrable advantage in a specific market setup — the reason your strategy should make money over a large sample.
IntermediateFOMO
The anxiety that everyone else is profiting while you sit on the sidelines, driving impulsive entries at the worst possible price.
BeginnerGreed
The emotional drive to squeeze every last tick out of a trade, often turning winners into losers by refusing to take profit.
BeginnerPatience
Waiting for your exact setup before pulling the trigger — the skill of doing nothing when conditions are not right.
BeginnerRevenge Trading
Taking impulsive, oversized trades immediately after a loss in an attempt to win the money back — almost always making things worse.
Beginner