Reply To: When to exit?
Hi all, just to throw my tuppence worth in on this excellent thread…
I’ve been trading live for a month now, trying to stick as rigidly to the FXBA way as possible.
I’m concentrating on trying to get good at picking exit targets (more than entry signals) so I was very interested to hear your thoughts, Lewis.
This is my main learning point from my first 12 live trades (where I am just under break even). Going over my screenshots at the end of the month, by far the biggest factor in losing trades was grabbing at what looked like good entry signals (stonking engulfers!) without having thought enough about my exit. I had an exit on paper, but when I was in the trade it looked a lot less convincing than before!!
Funnily enough I found the really strong engulfers out of the DOR came in some of the most cramped situations, so double whammy, (big candle, smaller position size, smaller potential pips). There’s a lesson there I’m still trying to figure out.
So I knocked that on the head and started working back from where I thought the market my start “fighting back” as Lewis says. I like thinking this way round because the targets aren’t changing rapidly and I’ve got plenty of time to make my mind up and I’m trying to think more about the big picture than entry signals and what my afternoon might be like after a hastily pulled trigger in the morning!
So that’s where I’m at the moment. Just a bit of background about what works for me so far, in case anyone is interested. I only trade FXBA 2 or max 3 times a week. I do my analysis (just what Rich teaches) early in the morning and get alerts on my phone for the bid above/below DOR etc and take it from there. Then I shut down the PC and do other things. If no alerts, then no trades. If I’ve got a trade running I put another alert in for break even, if it doesn’t come, c’est la vie, if it does I start the computer again to see if I can trail the stop and decide where to put the next alert to lock in some profit etc. repeat until a stop is hit. That way I only go to my computer to actually do something. I find it works much better for me that way, I’m not second guessing my own decisions etc. I’ve also got the platform on my iPad and phone which works fine for managing out and about but that’s about all. As for waiting for an order to be filled, I give it 90 minutes. There’s no scientific reason, but I think if you’re working the M15 chart, 90 mins is plenty. Lunchtime if using the 1HR.
Its just the way I’ve found works for me so far (early days still).
Regards,
Simon