[zdo]

Engimatics,

Mulling over what it is I do well and what it is I don't. I've long maintained that one of my weaknesses as a trader is not maximizing trades when they go in my favor. I tend to take profits quickly. The previous 2-3 weeks were chalk full of trades that I took profit early on only to have the stocks go up quite a bit more. So this week, I tried adapting .... tried scaling out of stocks or riding thru dips. The end result was a red week working through some of the "chop" we saw.

Obviously as a trader I'd like to be able to stomach dips better. I'd certainly like to utilize scaling. But if I'm hitting my modest profit goals on a daily basis just playing the first pop on the setup I trade ..... well then why get away from that? I would assume in time that as I continue to build my portfolio, I might be able to take more advantage of scaling and riding thru dips. The largest net can absorb the most risk right?
…

Entry is not the issue. It's the sell. I commonly sell too early, even though technically I am hitting my profit goal for the trade. Should it matter that I'm missing the larger moves? I'm wrestling over it because it seems like I could've traded "longer" in that uptrend we had all during October but I didn't. I got a little frustrated with that kind of missed opportunity. Now that I'm trying it the first week here in November when we've been choppy, I actually took a step back. So is it better to just play the pop at all times until I better learn market trending .... or better yet until I've sufficiently built my account up even more?
…

See that's what my thinking was. Part of that lies in the fact that I'm still growing my portfolio. Even though I want the "bigger" profits, I'm not at a point portfolio-wise where I feel I can pass up the chance to lock automatic ones. I can imagine that people who've really groomed theirs can more comfortably let the "trade off" take it's course.

re “I'm not at a point portfolio-wise where I feel I can pass up the chance to lock automatic ones” etc...

Two thoughts (purchased for myself with much pain and costs and time)–
1) it’s system specific
are you ready to really to embrace “it’s system specific” for real?…
really replacing “where I can feel…” and “like to be able to stomach dips better”, etc.,
to really test and find your odds and near optimal sizing and trade close to them regardless of how it ‘feels’,
to use ‘feels’ in a different way - to develop/find new systems that fit instead of trying to get the current system to fit to your ‘feels’

ie “take profits quickly” and “hitting modest profit goals on a daily basis just playing the first pop on the setup I trade”
is just the only way some systems ‘work’.
Your system may or may not be that way.
Find out!
Then, if you know the odds and still have conflicts executing then it’s time to move to a different system AND do some trading syschology work.

2) ...any change to any parameter of a system, entry, exits, sizing, scaling, etc. is NOT a tweak or adjustment!
It is a whole new system!
This is another of those thoughts that is easy to ‘get it’ cognitively; but practically, can take forever for it really sink in deeply and really be implemented…
... keeping your current great entry methods and tweaking the exits and thinking you are still trading the same system would be an example of this... WHOLE NEW system ...different resultant risk levels, different optimal scaling, different optimal sizing... WHOLE new system I tell you

gotta go… hth… all the best… zdo

[whiteEagle]

$1 compounded at 20% four times over a span of time doubles it's value.

So, keep on doing what you can do well! Shoot for 20% on your quick trades and compound the results over a period of time, and after four 20% gainers, you'll have twice as much.

Double $1,000 ten times, and you have $1M!

It seems to me that you want to capitalize on your strengths - that's doing what you can do best - then simply learn to manage position sizing and set some goals for doubling.

I agree that it would do you some good to analyze what gets you into a trade and what gets you out, and if you think you're exiting early, adjust the exit but don't change the system.

Part of the analysis is to discover what you do well and find a way to keep on doing it.

[mohsinqureshii]

Trying to Simply trade with GTC orders. For an example when you are in trade Just Put a stop loss and Limit profit set on your software with the help of OCO (One Cancel Other) order type. And Always place your limit @ double of your Stop.its mean if you place a stop @20 Pips away and place a limit @ 40 pips away of current market Price and after a day or Week you make 10 decisions in which with the ratio of least 50%/50% you Lose 200$ in your Stops and earn 400$ in your limits. Result will be in your favor.
The only key is Plan your trade and trade your Plan.