I didn't know where to ask this question so I put it here in the Psychology topic. Anyhoooo, if you're a discretionary day-trader or at least semi-discretionary, what do you do once you're in a position? Are you glued to the screen waiting for a signal to add/liquidate to your position? do you walk out of the room and check up on the position every once in a while? Turn on music/youtube/movie and keep one eye on the charts... Or do you not have to worry about it because you set your profit target/stops and just wait for one of them to get hit?
That can only be answered by you defining what kind of trader YOU are. If you are comfortable placing in hard stops and targets, you could probably walk away. If you feel the need to be fully discretionary, and adjust stops and targets based upon what you "see the market doing", you'd prolly' want to stay glued to the monitors on your trading desk. You have to define the kind of trader you are, and what you can tolerate.
I tried drinking gin. Then I tried tequila. Then wine. Then beer. Then vodka. Then rum. Then gin again. I think gin works best.
I dunno.. something along the lines of "if the market is slow, I'll surf the internet while I keep the charts open, otherwise if it's volatile, I'll watch every tick"?
I am, myself ... I do relatively fast-moving intraday trades (not scalping), and am watching every trade, and ready to get out of a losing trade and/or sometimes to add to a winning one. (I'm typically "in the market" for a significantly smaller proportion of my "potential trading hours" than many people are, I think.) That, too, to some extent, but I'll sometimes exit a trade before the stop-loss is hit, and sometimes remove a target and let a winner run further, depending on the price movements and volatility subsequent to my entry. I very rarely leave the computer while a trade's open.