The real damage done by taking a large loss is not necessarily the financial damage, but rather the psychological damage. Holding a loss past the stops digs a hole that psychologically is very hard to get out of. The real damage done by exiting a trade for a small profit and then watching it blast off without you, to what could have been the trade of your life, is not financial - lost opportunity didn‟t cost you any money. Rather, the real damage is psychological. The damage through watching a profitable trade turn around and go right through breakeven to exit at the maximum stop is not financial, but psychological. We are human, so single trade errors will happen. However, the worst mistake of all is allowing poor money or risk management to continue beyond that one trade, eroding our capital and placing us into a large drawdown. The psychological damage here is often overwhelming, and is what will take many novice traders right out of this game.