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Binary options trading is a form of investment where traders can bet on an underlying asset’s price direction, such as currencies, stocks, commodities, or indices. The trader’s winnings are based on a predetermined or fixed payout rate. If the prediction made is correct, they receive the payout. However, a wrong prediction will lead to total forfeiture of capital invested.

For many binary options traders— beginners and experts alike, binary options trading is their primary source of income. Due to this, they usually need to devise ways to ensure they maximise their trade earnings. In addition, many of their financial objectives, targets, and goals rely on the income from trading binary options. What this means is that every trader has expectations for binary options trading. These expectations can either be long-term or short-term. 

Short-term Expectations

Short-term expectations are widespread with beginner traders. Many consider binary options trading because they see it as a get-rich-quick scheme. Short-term expectations for traders vary due to individual goals, personal mindset, trading experience, trading style, etc. The trader’s risk tolerance, strategy, and time horizon may influence these expectations. 

Many traders expect that in the short term, they should be able to:

• Make quick profit: Binary options trading is often seen as an easy way to profit quickly. Many traders want to earn a huge Return-on-Investment (ROI) in a very short period.
• Take advantage of the market’s fluctuations and volatility, often caused by fundamental and technical analysis signals. 
• Limit losses: Several traders believe they can easily limit their losses and control their risks by knowing how much they can win or lose before entering a trade. Traders expect to limit losses and protect their trading accounts from significant drawbacks.
• Portfolio Diversification: Many binary options traders use binary options as an alternative or complementary strategy to diversify their portfolios and hedge their exposure to other financial instruments.

Long-term Expectations

In the long term, binary options traders’ expectations may change and become more stable. This may be due to factors like experience, age, career growth, etc. Therefore, achieving long-term expectations will require a lot of patience, discipline, and perseverance while being consistent with trading binary options. Some of the most common long-term expectations of binary options traders are:

• Consistent Profitability: Several experienced traders reach certain heights in their careers where they expect consistent profitability. This is usually due to developing and consistently applying a well-defined and tested trading strategy that can generate steady returns over time.
• Capital Growth: Most traders expect to grow their trading accounts or portfolio over the long term. Many traders do this by reinvesting their profits and compounding their returns.
• Diversification: Many traders expect to diversify their portfolio in the long term by trading various assets like currencies, stocks, indices, commodities, etc. This will help them spread the financial risk over several assets and reduce their exposure to any particular asset.
• Financial independence: Traders develop expectations for achieving financial freedom through binary options trading in the long term. They may expect to build a sustainable and consistent income stream to support their lifestyle.

Traders should be willing to learn more, adapt to the fast-paced market, and refine their strategies over time to achieve these expectations in the short term.

Balancing Long-term and Short-term expectations

Balancing your short-term and long-term expectations from binary trading is an important for a successful binary options trader. It helps to increase your chances of success and achieve your goals over time. 

Some of the tips that may help you to balance your long-term and short-term expectations are:

• Set realistic long-term and short-term goals: Setting simple and attainable trading goals is essential. Before you begin trading, determine what you want to achieve in the short and long run. Ensure your goals are realistic and attainable.
• Develop a trading plan: After setting your long and short-term goals, a well-defined one will bring them to life and balance them. The plan should include your risk management strategy, trading strategy, and so on.
• Use a mix of short and long-term trades: Short and long-term trades can help to set off your desire for quick profits and your need for sustainable income. While short-term trades provide quick returns, long-term trades generate more profit over time.
• Evaluate and Review your trades: It is important to monitor your trading performance, evaluate your trading strategy for weaknesses, and adjust your trades as necessary. This helps to refine and balance long-term and short-term trades strategically.
• Discipline and patience: Trading binary options mandates being patient while being disciplined. You should avoid trading with emotions and always stick to your trading plan.