At what point do you start thinking to take some profit off the table?

[achilles28]

Here's another chestnut - the reason many traders never encourage riding winners: they've never done it....


Ride your winners, as an experiment. Just do it for a couple weeks. Yes, you will have more break even stop outs, perhaps some more losses, and fewer winners. Tell me what your PnL looks like tho.

If you take small profits, just sit on that same trade for a week. Not an hour. Not a day. One week.

 

[Sam Farmagham]

Here's another chestnut - the reason many traders never encourage riding winners: they've never done it....


Ride your winners, as an experiment. Just do it for a couple weeks. Yes, you will have more break even stop outs, perhaps some more losses, and fewer winners. Tell me what your PnL looks like tho.

If you take small profits, just sit on that same trade for a week. Not an hour. Not a day. One week.

lol I am able to sit on a trade for a week or so, but still if I see around 3% profit, I check out!!!
I do small - steady profits until a giant loss wipes them out.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

I always get tempted to take profit off the table as soon as I can make 3%

I have regretted many times after seeing how I got left behind if I had a bit more patience and had held onto my investments a bit longer

...Woulda, coulda, shoulda...huh...that's the benefit of 20/20 hindsight trading

But in all seriousness, you should Reevaluate your ideology and trading viewpoints;
And just generally expand your horizons and wisdom -- both in trading, and in life,

Trading is an art and science -- your question is kind of difficult to give a flat, basic answer to,

 

[xandman]

Does any of this worry have to do with the Yellen?

You could always buy a temporary hedge. I am thinking it will be a non-event.

 

[prc117f]

I took profits today on a position I initiated Friday. Closed out 30 minutes before market closing.

 

[drcha]

As you probably know deep down, you've got to figure this out in the cold light of day when you do not have a trade on. This is a decision that should be made before placing the trade. Make some rules that work with the rest of your trading system, then follow them. No coulda-would-shoulda.

 

[Handle123]

Much depends on overall cycle of stock market, it was in down trend like 2008/2009 and you buying in 2009, you simple don't get out of good dividend type stocks and trading off weeklies helps. If you looking to add on, your back testing should show where you can have a makeable target and take a percentage off and leave the rest to try to add to your already long position.
We been in current Bull market a very long time, so getting in for core position based on former bull markets would be unlikely but can still take a percentage off and build up smaller position to try to keep for longer term trade, this is how I been trading, thousand different ways.

 

[java]

Trading Rule #1 Never Take a Profit (or at least not until they make you an offer you just can't refuse.)
$300 isn't much of a profit. $300 in less than 3 minutes aint bad. Time is money.

 

[water7]

trading decisions (scaling, adjustment, closing) should be made before you start the trade
just like a saying:

"Every battle is won (or lost) before it's ever fought"

 

[drcha]

If I am trading a trend, I do not try to anticipate its end. With a trend or momentum approach, I know I won't get in at the bottom and I won't get out at the top. I have to be content with a piece of the middle, hopefully a decent-sized piece. Also, if trading trends, I need those big outliers (the biggest wins) to carry me over the many small losses. So, best not to cut off the upside.

The sooner we admit to ourselves that we do not know the future and that no one else knows it either, the more successful we can be with our trading/investing.