how do you cope when a winning position starts going south ??

[Attila the trader]

when your unrealized gains starts reducing , weeks of gains stars to vanish how do you manage it psychological ?

 

[Smith2525]

Looks like no one answered...
I just forget about it and move on to the next opportunity.
Every trade should be planned and you statistically can not win them all.

 

[tomorton]

If you're long and price stalls, candles signal indecision, and TA suggests more probability of immediate price fall than rise, what would be the reason to hold on?

Exiting now will leave you more capital to deploy than you had the first time round. The best time to ensure this happens is to close a long position in profit at the top of a series of green candles, not at the bottom of a series of red ones.

If a long position has started to show unrealised losses rather than gains, you have more choices -

• exit and take the loss - look for another opportunity
• reverse - exit the long, immediately go short (one click on some platforms)
• double down - add to the loser to lower the break-even price
• hedge the losing long with a short
• start a zone recovery programme - only if you can run such a complicated system and you have enough margin

 

[TickCOM]

Many profitable traders use a 1-2-3 trading style. Trade 3, exit one at the first target, exit another at target no 2, etc. Or something similar to lock in the profits. Alternatively, or in combination, use a platform which can tell you when the market is turning against you.

 

[sharabela]

It happens. A trader must be able to deal with it professionally. There is a rule called " set and forget". After analyzing the chart, we take an entry by setting stop loss and take profit. Then, we should forget about the entry for a while. Let it run by itself. It is never going to change its direction if we keep looking at the chart. We might get emotional and close the position early. Let us rather move to another pair another chart to look for more opportunities.

 

[Farm Yard Forex]

I think it depends on what exactly the situation is. Is it that winning positions are going south and you're not cutting them but then also cutting winners short as well or just not cutting out losers that fundamentally invalidate your entry reason?

 

[bredon]

Simple answer, you have to cope with it. Its part of the job

 

[HeavLeighGill]

I try not to fixate on the loss and do something relaxing, like reading, taking a walk, bubble bath, etc. Then I come back and look to see what went wrong, but move on.

 

[Jungletrader]

That's why I set partials but yeah it can negativity impact you best to head to the gym and if your using proper risk management you'll be ok

 

[Resolve]

I remind myself to accept it. That’s how it is. You can’t do anything about it.

You will need to close the trades with the profits as soon as you can.

 

[Happy2trade]

I try not to fixate on the loss and do something relaxing, like reading, taking a walk, bubble bath, etc. Then I come back and look to see what went wrong, but move on.

Yea that would be a good thing. Although bubble bath would sound so nice. I try to keep myself busy with gym and exercising

 

[BigRob]

when your unrealized gains starts reducing , weeks of gains stars to vanish how do you manage it psychological ?

You've got to use money management at ALL times. Stops or options should always be used - no ifs ands or buts! if you refuse to do so don't expect to be successful in your trading endeavor...

 

[Chart_Hopper]

If the reasons that underpinned my trade had changed I'd get out the trade. If not then I'd let it run and leave my stop loss to inform me if I was wrong

 

[in4abuck]

when your unrealized gains starts reducing , weeks of gains stars to vanish how do you manage it psychological ?

That's what the Sell button is for. You'll never go broke taking a profit.

 

[BigRob]

It's as easy as 1,2,3. Use STOPS or OPTIONS. Keep hope and fear out of your decision process! Otherwise you will run out of trading capital. No one likes stops and many don't know how to use options - Learn!

 

[in4abuck]

The Stop Loss Myth
Using stop losses is risky, usually an unncessary exposure, since MMs can see them all. You're showing the dealer your cards. There are actually a few tricks MMs use to skip filling standing stop losses. Having a stop loss doesn't ever guarantee a fill, fyi. There's a much longer explanation as to how it's done, but it is and it's legal to skip filling a stop loss, in certain conditions, which the MMs also control.

If you insist, the best use is simply a sell order for one share, with an alert attached, to let you know when a certain price is hit, so you can make a decision, meanwhile your position stays off the MMs radar, since a lot of algo moves are calculated on standing stops.

 

[in4abuck]

Unfortunately, all stop losses and TP's can be seen by MMs, so regardless of where you set them, they can be skipped at the open, unless you set them so far away from where the price is that it doesn't matter if you have them there or not, in which case, why show the dealer your hand? Set a 1-share SL or PT if you must, as a alert, so at least they can't see all your shares and put them in their algo to take them out of your hands and flip them.

 

[Jasonn]

In situations like these, it is best to be calm and make decisions logically. If you think there is no option just exit the trade.

 

[tomorton]

Unfortunately, all stop losses and TP's can be seen by MMs, so regardless of where you set them, they can be skipped at the open, unless you set them so far away from where the price is that it doesn't matter if you have them there or not, in which case, why show the dealer your hand? Set a 1-share SL or PT if you must, as a alert, so at least they can't see all your shares and put them in their algo to take them out of your hands and flip them.

While its true that whatever orders you set using the broker's platform can be seen by the broker, if they use this knowledge to run your stops its a great argument for using brokers regulated by a really tough regulator, such as the UK's FCA.

All brokers and CFD and spreadbet providers in the UK must be regulated by the FCA, and stop hunting is illegal for regulated firms.

If you use a broker based on some small, dusty, sweaty island far away, don't be surprised if they're crooks.

 

[in4abuck]

All the larger brokerages do this, especially on accounts under $100 K. Orders from all small accounts never leave the brokerages own desk. It's called "in-house trading," they all do it, so they see and fill all orders sent in by these traders, using the brokerage's own inventory to fill the orders. They own a lot of it under the current bid/ask, so it's easy to get around the SEC, FCA, or any other regulator since in-house trading is done within the confines of the law.

They simply never let orders from small accounts ever hit the open market, it's too profitable. You have it a bit backwards, bending of rules is much more common in "legit" large brokerages, since they have the financial muscle and legal leverage to wiggle out of any "gray area," especially MMs, who can "naked sell" and "naked short" every day, dealing shares they don't even have. They are allowed to do it as long as they will cover the cost of it if they can't square their books by days' end, which they always do. It's a great racket.

Regulatory agencies don't always have criminal law enforcement powers. The SEC does NOT, any criminal act must be built as a case and turned over to the FBI, which almost never happens, the fish are too small on these little nuances, so they go on, business as usual.

The SEC is a regulatory agency, not a law enforcement agency. I imagine it's about the same for the FCA, as they all model off the NYSE. No far away island required, though I guess if you're in Europe, Manhattan would qualify as a small, dusty, sweaty far away island, which it is, since I've lived on it for 25 years.

Happy trades!