🧩 Narrative Trading — When You Make Up Stories to Justify Bad Trades
🎯 The Lesson
Sometimes the chart says no, but your mind creates a story that says yes.
You start convincing yourself:
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“It should bounce here.”
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“It must reverse soon.”
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“It already dropped too much.”
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“This candle looks like it wants to go up.”
These are not signals.
They’re stories you create to make a weak trade look strong.
That’s narrative trading — entering based on imagination instead of evidence.
🧠 What Really Happens
Your brain hates the feeling of missing out, so it creates a story that supports the outcome you want, not the one the chart shows.
It searches for anything — a wick, a shape, a color — to justify your bias.
But markets don’t move because of stories.
They move because of structure, volume, liquidity, and order flow.
Your story doesn’t change the trend.
It just blinds you from seeing the truth.
💡 The Fix: Use Facts → Not Fiction
Before entering a trade, ask yourself:
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“What evidence supports this?”
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“What evidence goes against it?”
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“Would another trader see the same thing?”
If the answer relies on imagination or “feelings”… it’s narrative, not analysis.
Good trades come from objectivity — not from creating plots in your head.
🔑 Practical Rule: The Screenshot Test
Before entering a trade, take a screenshot and imagine you’re sending it to a friend:
Would your friend understand why you’re entering?
Or would you need to “explain the story” behind it?
If you need storytelling, the setup isn’t clear.
Skip it.
🚀 Takeaway
Your mind will always try to protect your bias.
Your job is to protect your account instead.
The more you stick to objective setups, the more consistent you become — no stories needed.
👉 Join my MQL5 channel for daily trading psychology insights:
https://www.mql5.com/en/channels/issam_kassas
