Target missed by one tick

I had a position trade (so not day trading) on one of the grains. I had a profit target and i put a limit order to exit if it hit that. The market went to 1 tick of my order and then retraced. Today, I was stopped out at my trailing stop, so still made money, but only half of what i could have made.

Suggestions please on what to do when a trade almost hits your target, but doesn't.

 

Don't set the price target. Let the market get you out of the trade, i.e., exit when the odds are no longer in your favor.

I am anxiously waiting for this response from the local jokers: "Lower your target by 1 tick".

 

+1

 

Depends on what % of your target that tick is.

 

how many pullbacks / retracements has the trend made ? If it fails to hit your target while having already retraced 3 times in the trend, i would consider exiting.

Assuming u are using candles, are the up bars contracting in length ? Numerous contracted candles spells exhaustion for me. I play the odds when exit during trends. When odds start to tip against me, I dont get greedy, I exit.

Inverse hammer followed by down bar, i cut my loses. Wide ranged up bar after an extended uptrend i always exit.

Those are just a few examples. Always have an early exit plan.

 

for good measure
lower your target by 2 ticks just to make sure.

 

What if the whole target is 6 ticks?

 

If you followed your plan, then pat yourself on the back. Some trades works as anticipated; some won't. You shouldn't adjust your trading plan to accommodate the outliers. Plan your trade and follow your plan; its the key to success.

 

So the solution is not to set profit targets.

But my targets are quite far away from my entry. If they go anywhere near them, that means a big profit. To surrender large chunks of that ... is very demoralising.

 

in this case, it was 1/2 of one per cent of my open profit at that point.