How to stop bailing out potential trades

Hello,

what pisses me off is that I strike every time pontential trades that I predict correctly and I bail out just before making profit. Instead I pay for the lots. No loss.

Last night i found found a small gold mine from usd\jpy and it was trending upwards of 100 pips. I knew that was a buy signal at 111.xxx then I bought then I bailed out. It rallied upwards before cooling off at around 112.xxx.

how do I overcome the mentality of bailing out on potential trades. Pls send help.

Trading in the Zone - Mark Douglas
a MUST read for traders. Discusses in depth the psychology of trading.

Treat your profitable trades as they were demos.

this, this, and this, and when you done reading it, read it again.


you suffer from nervous trading.

Solution:
1. reduce your size, most likely you tride too large and overleveraged

2. have a plan and stick to it. Don't even start without a plan. If you don't have one, stop trading immediatly. Develop a plan and backtest it.
Learn, don't copy. Strive for understanding, not "when this line crosses this line you go short" bullshit.

3. don't trade on "hope" "thought" "believe". Trade rational, have rational reason for your trade.

4. measure your trades, entry, stop, TPs, before you place the trade, plan the trade. You MUST know when you will exit the trade before you enter the trade.
Never bend this rule. (this will fix your problem and also the problem of "overtrading")
Stop clicking the monkey button. The monkey button is for... well... monkeys.

5. Learn how to lose. Most people fail because they never learned how to lose. If don't know how to lose, you will never win. Losing is part of the game and must be a part of the plan. If you can't even calculate your drawdown, you should not trade and go back to Step 2 immediatly.

6. Think longterm, and never give up.

and read the book!
you can't learn this shit from watching youtube videos.

I would venture to say you are looking for the solution in the wrong place...you will never find it here on FF. Everyone who responds, including me, will respond from their own personal experience but not from yours. I suspect from what you have said that you are afraid to lose and want the "comfort" of having a position that is "risk free" either by moving your stop too close to the market or too soon. Thus the price action "noise" take you out of the trade.

As to WHY you do this...only you know. This seems like a real barrier to your success and might be worth seeking out the advise of a competent professional to help you unwind this issue.

I'll just tell you one thing, stick it out and believe it

I have never really read this Douglas guy but since so many recommendations I took some time to read it just now and extracted out some info:

"smart risk, high gain"
"right attitude—the right, mind-set"
"losing is a natural consequence of trading"
"market owes you nothing"
"start sensing the flow of the market"

Learning to accept the risk is a trading skill, the most important skill you can learn

The best traders can trade without fear, at the same time, avoid recklessness
and committing fear-based errors

trader with absolutely no fear of the consequences of screwing up
will usually, and quite spontaneously, enter into "the zone."

At that point, you can take full advantage of all your skills, analytical or otherwise, to eventually
realize your potential as a trader

When you accept the risk the way the pros do,
You won't perceive anything that the market can do as threatening.
If nothing is threatening, there's nothing to fear.
If you're not afraid, you don't need courage.
If you're not stressed, why would you need nerves of steel?

Great Traders smile at pain, do not avoid pain by preventing the market from hurting you

Good trader’s kryptonite is overconfidence / euphoria
learned how to create a healthy balance, between confidence and restraint.

positive winning attitude, current result = you current trading level.
embrace the responsibility and stop expecting the market to give you anything or do anything for you.
If you resolve from this point forward to do it all yourself,
the market can no longer be your opponent.
If you stop fighting the market, which in effect means you stop fighting yourself,
you'll be amazed at how quickly you will recognize exactly what you need to learn,
and how quickly you will learn it.
Taking responsibility is the cornerstone of a winning attitude

The best traders stay in the flow because they don't try to get anything from the market;
they simply make themselves available so they can take
advantage of whatever the market is offering at any given moment
let the market tell you.

when not in the flow, the very best of the best can recognize that fact
and then compensate by either scaling back or not trading at all.

The essence of what it means to be in "the zone"
is that your mind and the market are in sync.
As a result, you sense what the market is about to do
as if there is no separation between yourself and the collective consciousness
of everyone else participating in the market.
The zone is a mental space where you are doing more than just reading the collective mind,
you are also in complete harmony with it.

I AM A CONSISTENT WINNER BECAUSE:
1. I objectively identify my edges.
2. I predefine the risk of every trade.
3. I completely accept risk or I am willing to let go of the trade.
4. I act on my edges without reservation or hesitation.
5. I pay myself as the market makes money available to me.
6. I continually monitor my susceptibility for making errors.
7. I understand the absolute necessity of these principles of consistent
success and, therefore, I never violate them.

Build your confidence, you must. Trade smaller you should.

nobody has to act accordingly
who recognizes and acts it is in the advantage
Always remember what the market is giving you
Greed is the biggest loss

A heard from a greater trader once -

If you are in a trade and you are uncomfortable, just get out. It means it is money you cannot afford to lose and it is the wrong way of trading. You should always be prepared mentally that the money is not yours once you place that trade because the market will do what it wants to do.

I also agree, read the book Trading in the Zone.

Exits are by far the most difficult and interesting aspect of trading. but wherever you draw the line and get out, and no matter what criteria you use to place it, there will always be some trades that could have don a whole lot better if you'd held on. That's life.

However, to really maximise gains from high probability trades, pyramid your winners.

It could be a number of things. If your trading system shows trades and you do not take them, then it is your ego getting in the way. You are afraid to lose. But, if it is your system, then you need to work on your exits. Apparently, you do not trust them, and trust yourself instead. Might as well trade a blank chart.

Your trading shows 1 pip is about 1 percent gain/ loss.

I consider myself slight over risk in position sizing. But you are risking 5 times the size of my position sizing.

You have to be a trading genius to trade properly, with that huge amount of position sizing you are subjecting your trades to, with near perfect entries.