Quote from ProfitTakgFool:
The best trading advice I ever heard was, "Take Profits Relentlessly!"
There's a couple different methods for taking profits:
Method No. 1: "You can take modest profits frequently."
With this method you need to have a Reward to Risk Ratio
of 1 to 1 or better and a Win/Loss Ratio of at least 66% to 70%.
Example:
7 winning trades with +1 point of profit each (total +7 pts).
3 losing trades with -1 point of loss (total -3 pts).
Net Gain: +4 points profit total per every 10 trades.
Method No. 2: "Large winners and modest losers."
With this method you need a Reward to Risk Ratio of 2 to 1 minimum and a Win/Loss ratio as low as 40% still creates a decent net profit.
Example:
4 winning trades with +4 points of profit each (total +16 pts.).
6 losing trades with -2 point of loss (total -12 points).
Net Gain: +4 points profit total per every 10 trades.
Notice that both methods produced the same Net
Result: +4 points profit per every 10 trades,
but Method No. 1 requires a lot greater Win/Loss accuracy.
Wish is best?
That's a matter of a person's risk tolerance and one's individual trader physiology.
With many traders frequent consecutive losing trades can de-moralize one into wanting to quit trading.
The higher your win/loss ratio is, its less likely to have too many consecutive losing trades.
The lower your win/loss ratio is, its more likely to have many consecutive losing trades.
Match your trade personality to the suitable methodology.