My exit strategy is to sell when the trend is broken or if it fails to breakout and I get stopped out.
I learnt a few lessons today: #1 Don't post during the market session. There is no time for analysis during trading hours. #2 Don't dwell on a bad trade. If I do then I will miss other potential good trades in the process. If I miss one, I need to move on to the next. #3 I need to have skin in the game for effective trading. $1k is not enough skin. So I am going to increase my position size to $3k. Question: If I spot a potential good trade half way thru the move. Should I still jump in or let it go? Suggestions are welcome.
To answer your question it would be helpful to know yiur trading/money management plan. Generally the answer would be no do not enter ,but it does depend on things like whether or nit you scale into a position.
At this stage of your development, you should not be jumping in on trades. Even later, you have to know exactly why and how you missed the trade. Examine your motives, not just the surface ones. Letting go has proven to be probably the most valuable tool this trader has. You'd be surprised how the market often comes back to that exact spot. Then you can reassess. Sometimes you find that the market has changed in the interim. Right now it looks like you are just discovering that you react to things that happen. That's just the very, very beginning. It takes a lifetime to really know yourself, another to learn to act on your knowledge. It requires a level of patience, persistence that most people never develop. But it can be done.
It wasn't until I traded and lost, traded and lost that I started to realize that It wasn't the market that was doing this. A missed opportunity is mostly in my mind. I believe that the world is abundant, that opportunities arise every day.It sort of frees me up to just move on and look for the next opportunity. I mean, sometimes I get stuck in a marginal trade and I catch myself acting as though there aren't any more trades left in the universe. I'm holding on to this dog for dear life. Then I just puke it out. Feels so much better.
Generally, when I make a mistake, it triggers fear. My old friend by now. I think if you look at it, it's what it comes down to. I mean, in the beginning I didn't know what a mistake was.
Thank you for your feedback. Yes I think it is fear which comes from not enough practice and not enough trust in myself. Like when I first learnt to drive I was pretty sure I would have an accident. I have been driving for over 10 years now and not a single accident. All the while I have become a more confident and better driver. I don't agree though about letting trades go. I have a problem with under trading which is also caused by fear. So I am trying to get over this barrier.
What happened to the "Psychology Journal?" I don't see either one right now. Still available for consultation. My fees are very, very reasonable.