Many traders have experienced this strange phenomenon—prices drop immediately after they enter, buying the dip results in being caught, and even the points where they cut losses are just barely pierced through. Over time, they start to doubt whether they are "born with a contrarian indicator" or if the market is specifically targeting them.

But actually, there’s no mysticism here, and it’s not about bad luck. To put it simply, it’s just that your timing for entering and exiting is off.

Think about it—when do you most want to place an order? Usually when the market is surging, everyone around is discussing it, or when your account is deep in the red and you just can’t bear it anymore. These moments sound perfectly normal, but they are precisely when emotions are at their strongest—when the desire to chase the rally is greatest and panic is deepest. You think you’re making a decision, but in reality, you’ve already been led by the price fluctuations.

Every price level in the market isn’t just appearing out of nowhere; it’s a consensus built on a large volume of trades. The buy point you choose is often a spot where many others are also rushing in. The place where you hurriedly cut losses is usually where the selling pressure is strongest and panic is most intense. Once emotions settle down, the price naturally rebounds—this isn’t the market fighting with you; it’s just the emotional cycle completing its course.

The main players and quantitative institutions have long seen through this. They don’t need to know who you are; just understanding the typical habits of retail traders is enough. Shake things up, wash out those driven by emotion, and those who stick to their rules will survive longer.

So, if you think you’re "always doing the opposite," it’s not because your judgment of the trend is poor. The problem is that you’re too easily affected by short-term fluctuations—lacking a clear entry and exit plan, lacking patience, panicking at the slightest pullback, rushing to buy during a rally. This kind of approach is very likely to lead to losses.

That’s also why data analysis and quantitative strategies are so important. It’s not that they can magically predict future movements, but they help reduce emotional interference. When you follow a set of rules for entering and exiting, instead of jumping around based on real-time profit and loss changes, your win rate naturally improves. Rules protect you and help you stay rational when emotions are at their peak.

To put it plainly: the market has never targeted any individual. The movement of prices simply follows the nature of most people. The more impatient you are, the easier you are to be shaken out; the more patient you are, the less likely you are to get caught in traps.