Exiting a trade

[mark77418]

How do you guys exit a trade. How do you set you're stops to limit losses and when do you take you're profits. Do you have a profit target and close the trade when it is hit or do you use a trailing stop?

I've been looking at my records and I find that when I lose it is always because I did not follow my stops or I did'nt take a profit when I should have and it turned into a loss. I'm realizing that how you exit you're trades is the most important part of trading. The other part is having the discipline to follow you're trading rules. Those things seem to be my main problems with my trading and it costs me lots of money. Have you guys had these problems and how did you fix them?

Mark

 

[Spectra]

I exit a trade when my profit target or stop his hit. I dont exit before hand based on wiggle. If I'm using multiple contracts and am up a few points I will take profit on a few of the contracts.

Geoff / Cajun

How do you guys exit a trade. How do you set you're stops to limit losses and when do you take you're profits. Do you have a profit target and close the trade when it is hit or do you use a trailing stop?

 

[heavyhitter78]

I use trailing stops, and like Cajun only exit my trades when the price hits my target or my stop is hit.

You are right on point when saying that exits are the most important thing when it comes to trading your plan, having a solid exiting plan will allow you to keep the profits you have already made in good trades, and keep your losses to a min. when the trade does go against you.