(Excerpt from Think & Trade Like a Champion by Mark Minervini)
Everyone has an “emotional stop-loss” whether they like it or not. The point at which you can’t take it anymore is your emotional stop. For most investors, your emotional stop is far beyond the point that makes mathematical sense. Instead, it’s a loss large enough to do significant financial as well as psychological damage. Allow enough trades to hit your emotional stop, and you will surely do damage to your confidence in addition to your capital, and as a result, you will be less likely to make sound trading decisions going forward.