I've found that setting a daily goal like I have has limited my earning potential. My goal for the long term is to average 1pt. out of the Mini Russel each day. I believe by doing this I'm putting limiting beliefs on my possible performance.. Today for example.. got short at 625.90.. bailed at 624.90.. And the market is clearly telling me it looks weak. I'm trying to focus on the process of trading itself but am finding it very hard to get that $$$$ target out of my head and trade properly.
Why not take just a portion of your position off at 624.90 (if your doing more than 1 contract) and let the rest run? That way, you can work with your $$$$ target AND expand your earning potential. Have your cake and eat it too. Kermit
Hey Kermit.. Thought about that too.. but those times when I didn't cash out at my price come floating back in my head telling me to take all the profit now before any of it is loss again.. Its that old ringing the cash register cliche.. feels so good till you see your position move another 4 - 5 pts in your favor..
Take kermit's advice, for the longest it was hard for me not to ring the cash register, but the best thing for me was the simple strategy of closing out half the trade at the target price and setting a stop a BREAKEVEN on the remainder that way a win will never turn into a loss. You satisfy your need to ring, but leave the opportunity open for your winners to run.
I've just started reading Kiev's "Hedge Fund Masters". Apparently this book talks a lot about setting (daily) goals and letting go.
With all due respect Flashboy, it seems like I've read this same post any number of different times from you. Always the same thing, cutting your winners short. What's new? Obviously if your "goal" is to "average" 1 point, this implies that some days you do better and some days you don't. There's nothing in this goal the way you phrased it that requires you to take a 1 point profit. We all have our own methods, our own beliefs. I don't happen to believe in targets of any size, because I think they limit winners. However, I'm not going to go so far as to say that some people don't do well with setting targets. Maybe they do. But in many cases, the desire to leap out of your winners simply reflects a fear of the market. Fear of loss, maybe even fear of success. Whether this is true of you I wouldn't know. But what I do know is that you continue to post this same problem. So evidently you think it's a problem and evidently you can't control yourself when the market is moving in your favor. Frankly, I wonder at times whether this has something to do with your entry points. Certain kinds of entry points entail higher risk and more patience, while at the same time giving the potential at least of higher reward. But the trader using these entries needs a certain psychology. Idle speculation on my part since I don't know your methods. I wonder to myself how exactly a "goal-setting exercise" focused on making a certain number of points is supposed to work to begin with. I mean, when you set this goal what did you expect yourself to do? I would think the goal leads directly to the problem you have. But how do you set a point goal anyway? You have no control whatsoever over the market. It will do what it does. It's your job to observe, analyze, and then go with it's movement, whether that be a point or two, or more. At least that's what I think MY job is. If I were setting a goal I might be more tempted to set a goal focused on things I can control....like sticking with my plan for instance, trading my method. Because IF I stick with my plan, THEN I might end up "averaging" a certain number of points over time. OldTrader
Never limit your upside. If you're having a good day, then set a downside below which you will not let yourself go, so you bank something at least. But listen to me again, never limit your upside, run your winners, cut the losers. You will not make money in this bsuiness if you can't do this.