In what circumstances do I close trades before their Stop Loss?

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Table of Contents

The rules are
Examples from today

The rules are #

If the entry is terrible and the SL is in a non-sensical place – in this case, try and get out at BE and plan a better entry.
If I realise that it’s a non-existent setup, close the trade with minimal accoount damage – if the trade is going well then just remove risk from it.

I do not want to get back into the habit of closing winners and fiddling about with trades so that I end up with lots of small losses. But today I did close some crap trades I was glad I did so – but these results distorted my thinking and then I started fiddling with trades again. Much better not to take crap trades in the first place.

Examples from today #

This was a classic example of poor discipline: I had planned only to sell if I saw a move outside the second Bolli Band, without that, there is no edge – but I saw the open, got FOMO and sold. At first the trade working so I kept hold of it, but once the selling dried up, I was out of the trade.

And here I open a trade without a setup. When I do this, I must get in the habit of closing, even though it’s uncomfortable

Closing crap trades reflects the correct mindset: profits come from consistency not fannying about hoping a dodgy setup will be a winner. Not only is this poor practice but it distracts me from seeinmg good setups.

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Updated on 12 February 2019

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