Difference between Loss and Risk

Can you trade without a loss ? No one can assure that every trade will be profitable. But for a trader losses are the cost of doing business... And as long as losses are not eating up your Capital , it is not a loss actually.

A loss occurs because of careless money management. The trader is fully responsible for such careless behavior. You must trade with the objective of zero losses.

Alexander Elder, in his book - Come Into my Trading Room, gives an example:

Imagine you’re not trading but running a fruit and vegetable stand.You take a risk each time you buy a crate of tomatoes. If your customersdo not buy them, that crate will rot on you. That’s a normalbusiness risk—you expect to sell most of your inventory, but some fruitand vegetables will spoil. As long as you buy carefully, keeping theunsold spoiled fruit to a small percentage of your daily volume, yourbusiness stays profitable.

Imagine that a wholesaler brings a tractor-trailer full of exotic fruit toyour stand and tries to sell you the entire load. He says that you canearn more in the next two days than you made in the previous sixmonths. It sounds great—but what if your customers don’t buy thatexotic fruit? A rotting tractor-trailer load can hurt your business andendanger its survival. It’s no longer a businessman’s risk—it’s a loss.

The Successful trader respects his money. She will never allow losses to overwhelm her capital. Many trades will not work out, and there will be small losses. Sometimes, there is a run of losses when several trades do not work out. That's trading.
The amateur trader will throw his money at wild ideas. As beginners luck, he is likely to make money initially, then lose his entire capital when the market refuses to give him money for his stupidity.
Understand the difference between loss and risk. trading is about management of risk, and zero allowance for losses.

PS: My biggest mistake ... I had bought 2 lots ( 2500 ) of GMR infra from 165 which I did not book @ 170 high for that day and carried them till 95 ... I kept ignoring all market clues and assuming every downfall as bottom price. I keep on writing cheques to my broker every week and margin ate up all my capital :)