letting winners ride

R

rjlund

Anyone have any advice on letting winners ride? I know it's probably a psychological question and the answer has to come from "within," but this last one was tough to take. I sold the ES at 1149.75 around 7:30 am CST and got out with one frickin' point at 1148.75. I've since watched it move 23 points in the direction of my original trade! I did get in after the A-Down and sell a few more times, making it a decent day, but this just blows. Any tips on controlling early withdrawal, or tradus interruptus as the Romans would say?

Also, I realize it's pretty ridiculous to complain when you've made money, but this actually feels like a loss. It seems that a guy has to jump all over opportunities like this to build capital while he can. Especially a beginning trader like me, who could use as much "tuition" money as he can get.
 
What kind of trader are you?

are you a scalper or do you go for bigger moves intraday?

were you risking 1 point to make 1 point?

where was your stop/profit tgt?

what is your normal risk/reward on this trade setup?

whats your plan?
 
If you have a plan and it told you to sell, then you did what you were supposed to do. If the results are unsatisfactory, revisit the plan.

If you have a plan and it didn't tell you to sell, then follow your plan.

If you have no plan, then what's the complaint?
 
I think that is part of the reason I bailed on this one early... no real plan. I've seen the market jump in response to reports at 7:30 twice in a little over a week, and saw it again this morning. I had an R2 level at 1149.5 and just took a shot. Risked 1 point with an initial 3 point profit target. Simply an intuition trade, no application of a system whatsoever. Again probably the reason I jumped ship early.

I normally trade breakouts on the ES using a 10-minute opening range with an emphasis on time and price. I'd like to stay in trends longer, but it is a recurring problem with me that I cut winners short. I'm not shy about cutting losers quick (10 minutes, not going my way, I'm out) but that's definitely only a small part of the equation. How could it possibly take more discipline to stay in a winner than to cut a loser? Oh well, I've been doing this for 6 months and am still around to ask these stupid questions.
 
Quote from rjlund:

Anyone have any advice on letting winners ride? I know it's probably a psychological question and the answer has to come from "within," but this last one was tough to take. I sold the ES at 1149.75 around 7:30 am CST and got out with one frickin' point at 1148.75. I've since watched it move 23 points in the direction of my original trade! I did get in after the A-Down and sell a few more times, making it a decent day, but this just blows. Any tips on controlling early withdrawal, or tradus interruptus as the Romans would say?

Also, I realize it's pretty ridiculous to complain when you've made money, but this actually feels like a loss. It seems that a guy has to jump all over opportunities like this to build capital while he can. Especially a beginning trader like me, who could use as much "tuition" money as he can get.
More...


Meet me in the live "ET Chat Rooms" tommorow morning under the title "Ride the winners". I'll be glad to show you a realtime example if you are interested let me know.

Be Encouraged.

T-REX
 
Quote from rjlund:

I think that is part of the reason I bailed on this one early... no real plan.
More...

You're welcome to start with my journal (below). If that doesn't suit, there are plenty of options available here.
 
One thing I do -- if your account is large enough -- I put on 2 contracts, then trail a stop on the 5 minute on both -- if the market begins to move swiftly in my favor, I downshift to 1 minute and trail my stop based on 1 minute bars on 1 contract, while continuing to trail on the 5 minute with the other contract. Today, I was only trading 1 lots -- and like you got out too soon, then hit the gym (boy was I suprised when I got back -- but I've been getting too chopped up in the afternoons, so part of my money management is just walking away). Anyhow, I was trading the Mini Russell -- had I trailed on the 5 min, I would have captured 80% of the move down....and would have been in from 10 AM to 4:20'ish.

That's just one idea -- it satisfies your instinct to lock in partial profits, but leaves you open for bigger moves -- change time frame combos as it suits you (15 min/5 min for example).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top