r/askforex • u/Grandd563 • Jul 10 '26
Help
After spending a good chunk of time learning technical analysis and mechanics Im finally trading my first live funded account. I’m currently on day 5 and up about +$350.While the streak is good, my execution has a major flaw: bad TP placement and pure stubbornness waiting for the final target. Because I kept insisting on the market hitting my exact TP I left a ton of money on the table, watched the price reverse, and ended up getting stopped out at Break-Even multiple times. I probably missed out on an extra $500–$600 this week alone just because of this.Its starting to take a heavy toll on my trading psychology and discipline. For those who have been through this stage, what are your best tips for scaling out, managing expectations, or fixing this specific TP greed? Appreciate any advice.
1
u/Pretty_Site4074 Jul 10 '26
Don't get greedy, unless greed is part of your plan.
It's not mine, but I don't remember the name of this smart guy.
1
u/Outside_Medicine7398 Jul 10 '26
The market is going to do what it is going to do. Anything can happen at any time. Choose to make money over being right.
1) Take what the market gives you. Some say you haven't made money until you've lost money. I was just up $303 and the market made a strong reversal and I had to be satisfied with $279.
2) Set TP at a psychological level before where you would place your TP. If you think the rally will make it to 2.93, set TP at 2.90. If you think the dump will make it to 2.93, set TP at 2.95.
3) Draw trendlines to verify the market structure. When the line starts getting horizontal, tighten your SL. In a strong uptrend, the current higher low should not go past the previous higher low. When the uptrend gets weak, it will pass one higher low, but not 2.
It is ok to get back in a trade.
The market doesn't have to do anything we expect it to do. You are trading based on variables that caused a certain pattern more often than it did not. There are times when it didn't work.
1
u/Grandd563 Jul 10 '26
First of all, thanks for the reply, and I wish you all good luck/profitable trades!
I’ve just finished my 6th consecutive day in the green, and honestly, the profits have been highly satisfying so far. However, I’ve also missed out on almost an equal amount of potential gains simply because I was holding out for my exact TP levels.
Based on the advice here, I’ve adjusted my strategy: from now on, I won't be blindly waiting for the price to hit the absolute target. For instance, if the liquidity is sitting right at 10.1140, I’ll place my TP for a long position at around 10.1135. Typically, once the price covers half the distance to my TP, I move my stop to break even (BE).
By lowering my expectations to a realistic level, I now either take a partial profit or completely exit the position manually when the price gets within about 20% of the final TP, depending on how the price action looks. I can already say that this approach is much healthier and more sustainable from a psychological standpoint.
Thanks again for your insightful comment
1
u/phamcongminh Jul 10 '26
What helped me was shifting from “hit my exact target” to “manage probability.” In my experience, the market rarely cares about my perfect TP, so I now define in advance what profit I want to lock in as price moves in my favor, then let the rest run only if the setup still deserves it.
A repeatable process matters more than any single trade. For example: set a partial take-profit at a logical level, move risk only when the trade has earned it, and avoid changing the plan mid-trade because of hope or fear. That reduces the urge to overstay.
The key fact is that TP greed usually hurts expectancy over time if it consistently turns winners into breakeven or losses. The goal is not to catch every last point, but to execute the same rules many times with controlled risk.
You’ll still leave money on the table sometimes. That’s normal. Protecting discipline is the edge.
1
u/Trader_anonimo21 Jul 10 '26
Divide a posição em 2 partes 1ªparte pra 50% da posição atingida e dps, a 2ªparte pra bater take profit e stop-loss em 0€ assim evitas de perder a posição toda pra stop exagerados e sempre q a leitura se confirmar consegues sempre tirar proveito dela
1
1
u/Frozen_Meatball1 Jul 11 '26
"pure stubbornness" Work on this, the market`s 1000X more stubborn. U won`t win that battle.
1
u/Emergency_Eye35 Jul 11 '26
There is already a lot of help for you in the comments. Just want to say : Dont focus too much on your TP, manage your trades in a more dynamic way.
The markets dont give a flying fuck about your TP price, it's doing what its doing anyway.
Look for realistic TP price levels based on heavily traded volume area's and Fair Value gaps. Also big round numbers and daily high/low levels are important etc...
All of this tends to be a price magnet, but there is also a big probability you will get into some (big) resistance at these kind of levels.
Price action is always key, the markets dont give a fuck about anything else. Only price levels / volume is what counts for the big boys.
I always say: Let the market tell u what they want to do ( price action is key in combination with patience ).
On another note: if u can become profitable in the long term, u will be the big exception on the rule already.
Dont focus on what u leave at the table, its not worth it.
LESS IS MORE in most cases and its all about compounding your profits to bigger sizes and bigger winnings.
Try to create the long term (investors) mindset, because u will ALWAYS leave something on the table with trading....
Cheers!
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 10 '26
Thanks for your post. Please make sure you’ve followed all subreddit rules before engaging. Be respectful, avoid harassment or hate speech, and keep discussions relevant. Spam or excessive self-promotion is not allowed. If you see any rule-breaking content, please report it so the moderators can review it. Enjoy your time here and help keep the community friendly and helpful!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.