I disagree with all in or all out because there is no way for you to know if your trade is going to take. In fact, one of my "base" cases for a new strategy is whether it is better than random entries with the same money management. Taking little wins allows you to offset little losses which lets you take big wins that are the sweet spot for your strategy.
I guess it all comes down to individual psychology. For me, seeing it keep running into "unreasonable" territory without me is unbearable Have to keep at least 1/4 runner however low odds(trailing with wide stop - 50% retrace is ok). Screw the stats, gotta have some excitement!
6. Others (please mention in the comment) For trend trading, it is the reversal (or at least, weakening) of the trend that takes you out. If you're fancy about it, you might have a time directive, too (like, "Take me out after 2 days if not positive...") "In with a shout, out with a whisper." YIPES! {below} qlai alerted me to re-read. Should've chosen: #4 Trail Stop-loss and let market run.
Hold on there a second, we are talking strictly profit taking exits, right? Break Evens and/or loss exists is a hole different animal ... Deserves a separate thread altogether
I day trade and considerable movements( 3x or more than my risk) more than my profit target are very hard to come by, instead i take the trade the next day and consider it another trade.
jesse livermore has busted his account multiple times and i don't have a stomach for that at this point of time. i don't generally add to my winning positions for me in day trading less than 8hrs, adding to winning positions doesn't make any sense.
after a lot of backtesting, with my previous trades, i came to the conclusion . as long as i am making money, no need of tweaking something just to squeeze more from the market. i will stick with "all in all out- put trade and forget" method as it is mentally relaxing for me. There is more than one way to skin a cat. so i will skin it peacefully with my old method. Thanks guys for the ideas. It means a lot to me.
First, your mindset must be right. If your mindset is not right, forget about trading. You must always remember there is absolutely no way to predict the market. Market might not move in your favor, or market might move just a little, or market might move tremendously. NOW let's say you enter with 3 lots. When market moves in your favor, close 1 lot with Reward : risk ratio of say 2. When market continues to move in your favor, close another lot with Reward : risk ratio of say 3. And for the last lot, hold on for many many hours, and adjust your stop to somewhere around end of last retracement point.