HELP ! Exiting my trades to early

[RobinHood]

Hi there fellow traders!

I write this post with great dismay and almost disgust in my lack of ability to see trades through to the end. I have my entries down cold and all the risk/rewards calcs done in a realistic manner before each trade.

My stop losses are placed as each trade is entered and I have no problems with discipline with regards to sticking to them and not adjusting them when things turn bad.

My problem is getting out of a trade with to few pips in comparison to the intended lute. I would recon that 80% of my winning trades usually exceed my modest targets and I have to watch them do this while already on the sidelines with just a pip or two in my pocket. This honestly makes me depressed even sometimes.

The problem this creates is naturally an imbalance in my risk/reward ratios. Although practically and realistically they are sound, due to my inability to see trades through to the end, is totally messing up my money management and disgracing my trade system.

I accept this for what it is namely a psychological problem/barrier that needs to be beaten dead with a stick ASAP. Please, if there is any experienced traders out there, who has some sound advice of techniques I could try/practice to correct this last major hurdle in my trading career, I would be for ever in your debt.

I also accept that beggars may not be choosers, but please, no Mark Douglas, I guess the idea behind the book is sound and he is a swell fellow, but I find the overdose of analogies to distracting to absorb the quality of advice and guidance the book offers, sorry Mark.

I go through a routine in the mornings before I trade to clear my mind of all the nagging little voices in I, calm the nerves and get focused. If only I could do something to stop the fear I experience when in a winning trade, the fear to give back something that is almost nothing, yet it seems so real and so much.

Please help !

Kind regards and happy trading to you all.

[vidda]

I agree I need help on this too. Anyone?

[el cid]

Tried trailing stop losses ?

Looked for trending pairs to trade?

Aren't you playing a game of fear and greed?You take on an overleveraged trade then start fearing the the whipsaws and potential losses.One solution is to trade smaller lots in position sizes u feel comfortable with rather than fearing those position sizes.Trade less because something is not right and it is not working.In the current market start with half the normal position size ..........and add when the market goes in your favour.....or against you.Maybe it will work for u

UNFORTUNATELY AT THE MOMENT the market is tied up an a narrow range between euro zone and u s ....and short trends are unpredictable.

[mwbro]

great topic im also having issues with fear i hit the panic when trade is going against me and pull out only to find out the trade would of given me another +40 pips, but im not too hard on myself im new at this i think it takes much time to learn to sit in a trade with patience, i believe pros learn to sit in trades all day knowing they are simply riding the current trend and they expect market noise. im still trying to get use to market noise and treat it just as market noise. its all a learning experience lately ive had a lot of losing trades sometimes tempted to quick all together and join the 90% losers but every weekend i spend hours backtesting and preparing for monday trading, inspite of my loses im learning from them and still exciting about trading soon i will have the edge.

peace,
mwbro

[forextrades]

Had the same problem when I first started trading. Try this: scale out of your positions. Exit half and set the S/L on the other half at breakeven.

[fxmarkets.us]

hmm, o.k so your getting twitchy watching these small bars form and dance, when in.. up, down, down, down, up. pulse up, down down down etc now when in try to then focus on a bigger frame up from the one you usually focus on , get in how you usually do, but then switch up a higher trading off 5 min bars? shift to 15 , 1 minute bars shift to 5 minutes after entry... then when the picture looks or is changing on the higher frame shift back down and exit on your smaller timeframe........... Might help, also discipline to stick to your plan..... literally sit on your hands..... if you have to, trading is discipline to perfectly execute according to plan? the pips are whatever they are secondary, by product of your discipline.

its hard to do maybe but must be done and you'll get used to it, the reward in a way is knowing that you followed Exactly what you planned to do.

Also, it might be as simple as a momentary pause, and saying "Am I doing what I planed to do?" yes or no....... this feeling of knowing you are doing something that you know you shouldn't be doing is what you need to work on . am I doing what I planned to? if you are in it and feel the no side, maybe remind yourself thats not professional, I am professional , I'll be professional and hold to the exit is given according to my plan, the result secondary, will be what it is, depending on what the market does.

Keep on... enjoy the challenge.. fx

[RobinHood]

Hi there folks,

Thank you very much for all the interest. It is somehow and in a weird way comforting to know I was/am not the only one who have this problem.

el cid

"You take on an overleveraged trade then start fearing the the whipsaws and potential losses."

If only but no, I am on my mini account trading up to 3 lots max, 2 mostly. I figured it would be best to sort my psychological problems out on the mini account under less pressure than wait till I hit it big time on the larger accounts...

"UNFORTUNATELY AT THE MOMENT the market is tied up an a narrow range between euro zone and u s ....and short trends are unpredictable."

Hmmm, this is very very true... this might have some effect, I trade of the 5 min Eur/USD chart and the swings are very small mostly and the long ones are very unpredictable as you say...

Forextrades

Yes, scaling out is definitely an option yes, thanks for reminding me of that, I think your suggestion in combination with that of FXMSARKET.US’s might just put me on track – thanks !

fxmarkets.us

This sounds like easy to try and good practical advice. I like the idea of momentarily switching to 1 time frame higher... the small little mini volatility is getting to me perhaps...what you suggest makes a lot of sense. Come to think of it, I sometimes stand back at the end of the day and am dumb struck by how much I got disconnected from the bigger picture. Lately I have a separate 30 min open with at least 3 days bars on it...

This coming week, I will take my trades as normal, and then flip up to the 15min chart and monitor things from there still based on my targeted exit, I think the small moves on the 5min might not be so obvious there and I might just get away in fooling my mind.

Thank you very much for this suggestion, I will report back daily on how it progresses.

Apparently there seems to be quite an interest in this kind of problem, any other suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Once more thank you very much to all for taking the time to post there thoughts so far.

Kind regards and peaceful weekend to all.

[FXSniper]

1) Make sure you're risking an amount you're comfortable with. I only risk 2% on every trade taken...I trade cable (gpb/usd) and use (balance*.02/stop)...If I have a losing trade, no big deal, it's only 2%...That helped me a ton, psychologically. Before I lowered my risk to 2% max, my itchy trigger finger screwed me out of huge chunks of pips...

2) I personally never set a TP (Take profit level). I always let the market take me out...I trail stops and let lower lows on longs and higher highs on shorts terminate the trade...

3) I don't stare at the market when I'm in a position...It's too tempting to "take the little bite" the market gives you rather than wait on "the big feast" when I'm staring at the computer screen "tick by tick"...I put in trailing stop and reversal orders then walk away for a while. I come back later and adjust the orders if another "wave" has occured...

The above works for me, perhaps they'll work for you...

G/L G/T