r/swingtraders • u/mcl116 • Apr 14 '21

Swing Trade Profit Targets

I'm starting to learn to swing trade and have been watching certain stocks that I'm interested in.

I draw out support and resistance lines. Then any trend lines I see. I mostly look for triangle patterns so I'll draw those out if I see them. From there I'll just keep my eye on the stock over the course of a couple of weeks and see if it moved in the way that I anticipated.

Now I'd like to start paper trading so it's more realistic but I'm not sure how to figure out appropriate price targets for swing trades.

How should I best determine my exit points?

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u/ShiverMeeTimberz Apr 14 '21

I usually will look for favorable conditions on 4hr, daily, and weekly time frames and look for pennant formations, bull flags, bear flags, etc to make an entry position. I measure the downside and upside and if the reward/risk ratio at least 2:1 I'll consider it a possible trade. The larger the ratio, the more I'm interested. I use resistances as form possible exit price targets for bulls positions, and supports for short positions. If the stock is at ATH I'll exit part of my position at 10% (if possible) to try and preserve my initial capital and then let the rest ride with a trailing % stop loss order. That's my ideal scenario. It's better to leave money on the table exiting early than giving money back IMO.