[Soultrader]

I decided to open a new thread on an interesting topic from:

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/for....html#post1081

The question is: Which is more important to you? Entry or Exit?

Traders get split evenly. There are traders like myself who focus more on entries while other traders focus on exits. I would love to hear your opinion on this topic and the reasons why you prefer exit or entry.

[Follow The Trend]

To me the entry point is far more important than the exit point - as they say :-

"You need to buy a ticket to win the raffle"

If you have not taken the plunge to buy a stock, then how can you make money?

Even if I make 5%, 10%, 50% etc and miss a massive rally after selling, I would not be too bothered......a profit is a profit.

[carter]

I would have to say the exit is more important. A profit is a profit but you can never get rich that way. Here's a good quote:

"You'll never grow poor taking profits... If taking one-point profit in five or siz years is a way to keep out of the poorhouse why not sell apples on the street corner? It ties up less capital." - Wyckoff

[are_mai86]

haloo

i have problem dunno when to exit after entry..~

[bunkerdoo]

I would have said the exit strategy is more important as it dictates the size of the profit or loss. But even more important is the position size taken/money management aspect of the trade, as even random entry systems can be made profitable with appropriate money management rules.

[Trade Up]

I also think that the entry point is more important than the exit point.

Until you have an entry point, you do not have a position to trade, no position = no potential profit.

After taking the plunge to buy a stock (assuming you have bought the right stock at the right time) it is up to you how greedy, or fearful you want to be.

Greed = potentially holding on for too long
Fear = the fear of losing, or reducing a profit

Fear and Greed are what makes the market go around.

[Soultrader]

Originally Posted by Trade Up »

I also think that the entry point is more important than the exit point.

Until you have an entry point, you do not have a position to trade, no position = no potential profit.

After taking the plunge to buy a stock (assuming you have bought the right stock at the right time) it is up to you how greedy, or fearful you want to be.

Greed = potentially holding on for too long
Fear = the fear of losing, or reducing a profit

Fear and Greed are what makes the market go around.

Nicely said Trade Up. I have predefined exit target points and stop loss points on every trade to reduce the emotional aspect of trading. This allows me to control fear and greed.

[ant]

I trade market development and market structure based on the Market Profile graphic and my goal is to identify trades with excellent trade location and excellent risk/reward. When a market is in a trading range, I would say that entries are more important than exits. For example, I would not want to enter in the middle of a trading range because that offers poor trade location. However, for a breakout trade, I would say that the exits are more important because these are the trades that can lead to a stellar week, month, or quarter. My goal with breakout trades is to ride it as long as the trend is intact. I do not want to exit too early. I do hold breakout trades overnight since these are the best trade opportunities the market offers, IMO. With a breakout trade, the goal is to just "get the trade on." Trade location will improve as the trend progresses.