I was stopped out by 5c!!!!!!! O tell me the trading gods, why do you hate me so much? Am I using wrong trade management, not moving stop to break-even quickly enough, not trailing.. what is it? My risk was this measly inside bar. It was small and I was happy because it was so small. I was gonna make 10x that risk, ok maybe 5x. I watch the trade go 1R, then 2R in my favor, then give it back and stop me out by 5c and resume downfall!!! Where did I go wrong? To the astute reader: please go back to the trading setup I posted and tell me where in your opinion I went wrong? How would you manage this trade? Would you give say 10c buffer above the high of the inside bar? Or maybe this is just one trade and I shouldn't whine?
I don't know what number of contracts you trade, but if you consistently get stopped out on a pullback only to watch the trade then move in your favor, why not scale into the trade with, say, half your position size. Then when you're thinking it's time to get out, commit the other half of your position and see what happens. In spite of what many people say about doubling up like this, it is I believe it's a responsible way to manage risk if you're objective about the trade and not kidding yourself about the movement taking place.
You were looking to reach the target, so I assume your goal was the target. So you exit at the target.