What is Overtrading? (Beyond the Surface Definition)

1. What is Overtrading? (Beyond the Surface Definition) At its core, overtrading means entering more trades than your tested, structured trading strategy requires, or trading at a volume that compromises your risk management rules. It manifests primarily in two ways: Frequency-Based Overtrading: Entering too many trades in a short period. This often happens when a trader lowers their entry criteria just to "get skin in the game." Size-Based Overtrading: Allocating too much capital or leverage to a single position, exposing the account to catastrophic risk. When you overtrade, you stop acting as a business manager executing a high-probability edge. Instead, you become an employee of the broker, generating commissions while draining your own equity curve. 2. The Mechanics of the Trap: Why We Overtrade To defeat overtrading, you must first understand the psychological and physiological engines driving it. The human brain was not evolved to trade financial markets; it was evolved for survi...