Disliked{quote} Hi Oldtraderman, May I ask why are there 2 trades you have results +0.5R? Maybe this is something you've rarely mentioned in your journal but did you take profits early? Was it a mistake or was it in your plan? Have a good week end.Ignored
Hi diamond1011,
That is an excellent spot, I did not explain the +0.5R trades in the post for reason of not wanting to distract from the main point being made. You are correct, these are rare for me, I usually like to wait for a trade to go the full +1R or let it come all the way back and scratch at 0. The two trades in question were fairly rare situations for me that just so happened to come up in this sequence:
Week 1 +0.5R was a range edge failed test & reversal trade but entering against the direction of the flow going into the range. Normally I only like to work one edge of a range/consolidation, that being the side against the inbound flow, I feel I am still trading with the flow that way. This trade I did the opposite, was immediately uncomfortable and so cut for +0.5R as soon as it started to lose momentum through the range. It would have been a -1R loser had I stuck with it.
Week 3 +0.5R was chasing what looked to be a powerful breakout from a consolidation. However, price quickly got stuck very close to +1R and could not drive on materially further so I cut for +0.5R once it started to fall back after a couple of attempts. Had I held on here I would have had to endure the trade going almost all the way back to my -1R stop before it exploded out again and would have made +1R and more. For a cautious trader like me that is a bit too much to bear!
I trust that explains OK.
I would also note that you can deduce from the above that I do keep a reasonably thorough trading journal so I know what happened to all my trades: why I took them, how I managed them, and what the outcome was. I think it is a good idea to do so because you can then go back at your leisure to review your trading, otherwise it is quite difficult to learn and improve as a trader.
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