Don't worry about it. It's a common thing when you first start out, that as soon as you get that winner you want to book profits. As you get more confident in your abilities you'll feel more comfortable about letting them run a bit. Good job by keeping your losses small. Never be afraid to take a small loss; that's what kills a lot of newbies. They don't want to book losses so they hold them and they become larger losses.
Hello I am sorry I couldnt post the journal because I had desease (my lumb had a hole.) It was really painful (I thought I had heart desease!!! just like in the movie " John Q"!!!) and I had to stay at hospital till yesterday (Japan Time) the Doctor said it could have taken longer to cure it but I didnt want to stay the hospital any longer...(anyway I just to stay calm thats all :>) Also I think I am going to change my trading stock to KLAC from INTC. this way I can trade with 100 shares rather than trading 500 shares of INTC since the range is wider... :> Now I am going to review KLAC chart since I havent looked at it since Aug, 2002. thank you for viewing ojo
Today there was something I REALLY REGRET In this morning, even thought I was down abit, I was really confident. then Finally I had my setup and shorted KLAC @ 36.24 100 shares. The price went in my favor and KLAC was struggling @ around 35.90. I added another 100 shares to my short position because DJI and COMPX at the moment looked really weak. At this point, my enteries were almost perfect and as the price was going down, I got more and more over-confident. My profit taking target was @ around 35.40 because I thought there was a support line around that price level. Then the price suddenly change its direction before reaching 35.40 and kept going up but still I was thinking blindly I must *yes must* wait until the price reachs my profit target..... the price dropped once again. It was around 35.55!! One of my ear heard voice "cover it!! Cover it now", the other heard "hey the target is 35.40, you must wait you must ....... must ........ .remember the words, let the profit run!!" I listened to the 2nd voice. the resuft was my profit $100+ was gone and I even took some loss!!! after that my trading was really horrible and I couldnt forget what I had done!! lucky, I didnt lose anymore and, gradually and slowly, I made P/L even....before commission. Today I learned what I should do when the price goes in my favor (also I learned that setting and executing stop loss is much easier than profit taking)....I must set some kind of profit taking STOP. I must make rules to protect my proft and not to prevent my profit run. But I have no idea what kind of rules I have to set.... The last trade I made gave me some kind of idea and I think I did it successfully....but i did it by almost instinct...... If anyone who is reading my journal and have some suggestion and if you dont mind sharing it, I really appliciate.... THank you for viewing... ojo
I think that the reason I exited the last trade was because the closing time was near.....not because of instinct.... Anyway I made my first biggest profitable day (% base) be the first losing day.....I am really sad. Now I am going to sleep soon. I hope I wont dream about it.... See you tomorrow ojo
Knowing when to get out is the hardest part of trading, imo. If you watch the market all the time eventually you will develope a feeling for when the market is going to turn. Until then its a bitch.
Good evening, Easytrader. Yes Im kind of getting that feel but Its really by instinct and havent found the set of rules which I can tell myself in a language. I think there is no correct answer in the market, but all I could do today was following my strategy *keeping the stop loss I had set before I entered the trades.* Maybe this kind of feeling is more like sports than studies. Thank you to Easytrader. I feel better. Maybe I just need more time examining the market. :> thank you ojo