Try using an audio alert for your exit strategies and you wouldn't have to stare at the monitor and go through the emotional turmoil. Works wonders for me.
Rocko1.. This works for me but I don't use it near enough... After I unduly uproot a trade, though profitable, I look at the daily and the stock has done absolutely nothing wrong.! I think it's a bit of anxiety of the the overall markets as it is challenging for swing traders in these volatile times.. At it's root is a lack of discipline.. You plan a trade and then don't follow. And this come from emotional highs and lows..
I have the same problem at times, too. At the moment I have a post-it next to the computer with "Stick to the F&*$ing Plan!" and get down to do push ups when I think about closing positions early. Maybe this approach'd help you, too.
You need to remove the "s" at the end of push-ups..<ggg> As a swing trader I have found 80% of the time watching markets before 10:30 is lethal.. Today I actually canceled my pre-planned orders and sold manually and an hour later every one hit the pre-planned targets.. As I have a full time job I lost in 2 places. I have done this for years so I will do it for years more... The ensuing lack of peace is the highest cost mentally.
Now, ask yourself what will you do if SPY went to $130.80 instead of $131.30? Will you hit the exit button or hold on?
I think the answer is "it depends". It depends on the person and their trading style. When I first started my main concern was entry points. And I would hit the entry point and sell up a point. Well, that ended up to be my style. Everyonce in a while a trade runs and I get a lot more (about once a month). But other than that I mostly hit up a point and out (on 100 contracts). So I think YOU have to find what best fits your trading mindset. And forget what everybody else thinkd you should do.
I always find myself taking small profits. I prefer to do that and not have the market go against me thereafter.
Everything is relative. You have to know the following: What is my win rate? How much am I willing to risk on each trade? If you only win 50% of the time you better make more than you are willing to risk on average for each trade.
Was a huge problem for me. I use a scale in and out system now. Some don't agree with this strategy, but works for me. I scale in early in the play if it looks to succeed, and always based on a lower time frame set up within my initial entry time frame. Sometimes I get my max risk on this way, sometimes not. Take first gain on trailing my entry frame, and then move the remainder to a larger time frame (5 to 15, or 15 to 60, etc) when it's trail is break even. Once on a larger time frame, I may scale in again. Once in great while, the entry time frame stop matches the larger, and I'll move the front trail to that. If the market cooperates, it makes for a great day. Even make it to the target once in awhile. My "holy grail" is keeping my risk in perspective. If I play too large, I will always get out too fast on the profit and sometimes stay too long on a loss. Second is waiting for my entry frame to complete the setup. Trying to get in early in the past has cost me a lot of money. Last, not a good idea to move to a bigger time frame to justify staying in a loser! On the other hand, you could just set your stop and target, and come back at the end of the day. That keeps the emotions in check.
Exactly. When I first started trading, I was trading the ER2 and looking for 4 pts profit, and would exit regardless. I was making roughly $330 / day on an $18,000 account. Consistently. Hell, i went two weeks without a losing trade. Then... I started reading, researching, figuring out how to become a professional at this. Losers take profits early, you will go broke exiting too soon, 3 to 1 profit to loss, etc. (I was using 1/1) So... I started letting the market run, moving stops under market support, and started losing about $500 / day. I was profitable on my original strategy, and confident, with little emotional involvement. I was a loser after changing, and lacked confidence. I continued to try and follow the expert advice and continued to lose out. I figured I wasn't applying the advice correctly, so I read the turtle methods... the market turned choppy. Continue death spiral. THEN, i found out that a 4 pt move on the ER2 was not considered taking profits early, exiting scared, etc, it was a larger profit target than most. Plus, my entries were lower risk, so 1/1 profit/loss was ok. What I was doing was just fine. What happened was, I read one thing, people were telling me another. Chasing advice completely screwed me up for a while. Everything is relative, trade what you see, only apply advice to what works in your overall plan. When you make changes, make little ones. AND, be very specific when seeking advice. VERY specific.