One of the biggest challenges I faced as a newer trader was learning when to quit.
I’m not talking about quitting trading altogether (obviously).
I’m talking about knowing when to close down your trading for the day…
So that you can live to trade another day.
Trust me, I know — the urge to keep trading when your trade plan tells you to stop is hard.
Sometimes, it’s a matter of simply walking away from the computer altogether.
Perhaps a rule of never taking more than 2 trades a day? Perhaps not trading outside of a certain time period? Perhaps it’s a particular gain and/or loss that triggers you to stop trading?
You have to enact something that tells you when you’re done for the day.
This is a crucial part of your trade plan. Whatever you decide your rules are going to be, I encourage you to write them down and place that piece of paper in front of your computer.
Those rules should never — under any circumstances — be violated.
It’s hard, I get it. It’s designed to be!
But the stock market will be there tomorrow and the opportunity to take trades will be, too.
If the stock market goes out of business, we’re all in a great deal of trouble.
It’s not uncommon for folks to feel like they’re missing out (FOMO) and it’s definitely something that a lot of traders struggle with.
Writing down every intricate component of your trade plan and creating a checklist that helps you follow it will serve you well.
If you don’t follow it, you’ll likely learn a hard lesson. Either way, that trade plan / checklist should be holding you accountable.
If you sit for the period of time you’re going to trade and a trade doesn’t pop up, it’s ok. Not taking a trade during one session is still trading.
I’m usually done for the day once I’ve surpassed a certain dollar amount.
If I make that in the first trade, I’m done for the day.
If it takes a few trades to get it done, then so be it. If I’m in a trade and it offers me more than that, all I care about is that my stop is at my entry.
If I trade and I don’t get to my desired $ for the day, it’s ok, too.
After doing this for a DOZEN years, I don’t fight the market. I’m not going to be able to force it to do what I want it to do.
I can only recognize what it’s doing and try my best to use it to my advantage when and if my trade plan allows me to. It’s just that simple.
If you’d like a closer look at the Big Energy Profits trade plan and strategy, click here and I’ll walk you through it step by step.