Nobody ever sells at the very top. Nobody ever buys from the very bottom. If you made a profit then just be happy with it and move on. There will always be the "what if I sold later" feeling. You traded to the best of your ability and now it's time to stop looking back
Mark Douglas' 4 primary trading fears: 1. Fear of being wrong 2. Fear of losing money 3. Fear of missing out 4. Fear of leaving money on the table You probably succumbed to #4 like I did in NVAX yesterday. I was rewarded by taking a profit too quickly, since the stock tanked again after I got out of my long. Then I missed the next 2 opportunities due to over thinking it and thinking I knew what the results were going to be because of the first trade. One would have hit my target where I would have sold half and gotten out of the rest at break even. The next would have hit my first target in less than a minute, and the second half would have given me a 5 point gain. I ended up having a nice day yesterday, but taking profits too quickly made me lose money consistently for many years. Even after all these years, I still occasionally fall victim to the "lizard brain" and the desire for instant gratification. I'm always working on it, and always focusing on constant improvement. A trader can tell themselves at 9:25 "I'm going to be the most discipline trader on the planet today" (or this week, month or year, depending on your time frame). But we all slip once in awhile. At least you know what the problem. Just focus on constantly improving. When you f..k up, know that you'll get better, and you'll do better on the next trade.
This is a personal experience I will relate because it is relevant to the discussion. NVDA I used to buy calls on it when the premium was still reasonable, $600-$800 range. Now, I cannot afford to trade NVDA because the options premiums are very expensive. I probably, traded NVDA 20 times (more likely, more than 20 times). Now, each time I sold it when I had a $500 gain. $500 x 20 = $10,000. Now, you are going to say that you did great. Not really. See, what about my losing trades. Say, I had losses of $5,000 on my other options trades. That leaves only $5,000 left in net profits. On the flip side, that same call option would have been worth easily $4,000-$7,000 each contract. Even at just one contract, $4,000 x 20 = $80,000. So, I ended up taking teensy, tiny profits where I could have had a huge windfall profits instead. That is why you hang on and let it ride. You will lose profits on pullbacks but, the upside is that much more. "Cut your losses and let your profits run." A maxim we all need to remember.
Kidding aside, the "problem" is counters. Dealing with them is ALWAYS a guess and will always be a guess.
I think it's mostly about doubt. It varies from person to person. I do have this habit of being able to come up with a solid plan, take action and then IF I I dare start looking at intraday price action, I start getting doubting thoughts in my mind. Best solution is always a bespoke one and for me, it's the realisation that I do better at swing trading and my mentality isn't one which is suitable to be a day trader, as daytraders have to deal with much more intense price action swings and be able to not be phased by it. So looking back at some of my trades where I pulled the plug too early on a trade, it was almost always me firing up the hourly charts and BOOM! Doubt creeps in, completely uninvited the fucker! Ability to hold a trade till what you assessed to be the reasonable point of maturity of signal is what makes money for me, not abandoning trades half way through.
exits usually play on the emotions of fear and greed...early close you let fear get the better of you...holding too long is the result of greed. I tend to have an issue with the latter more so than fear. I like what @MrMuppet said on the previous page: trading on P/L instead of sticking to the strategy is no good.
I hear ya, I was long 1200 UVXY night before last, sold 900 yesterday starting 4.6, today it's 5.7, I played too tight
Did you normally have a target zone when you enter a trade? I'm asking because some don't have a target, they tend to go with whatever the 'market offers'.