» Exit Signals

Taking Profit

Kirk — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:51:49 +0000

There are several approaches to taking profit. For example some traders will put on several lots on a trade then when the market reaches a predetermined level they will close a small portion of the trade. They leave on the remainder lots so they can continue to be in the market and gain profits.

Then there are the traders that put on a small number of lots, add to the trade when they get additional entry signals and when the market tells them that the current trend is coming to an end then they close all of the positions.

If a trader is making money we can’t say the way they take the profit is bad. As long as we are trying to make money while trading, why not maximize the profits on a trade. We have been thinking, when the market reaches the point that a trader wants to take some profit and the market is still moving why not put a stop loss at the predetermined exit point and let all of the lots continue to run. There are a couple of ways the trade could be ended with a maximum amount of profit and a minimum amount of loss.

The stop loss could be moved up as the market moves up to protect even larger amounts of profit. When the market gives a strong exit signal then close all of the lots on the trade. If the market retraces then continues in the original direction of the trade, at that point the trade can reenter the market and make profits all over again. We know there is no wrong or right way to make money. Pick the way that fits your emotional ability, and trading style.

In any event continue to make money and have fun trading.

How To Become A Smart Loser 3 of 7

Kirk — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:14:27 +0000

If you have learned a good trading system and know the mechanics of entering and exiting trades and you
can make money on a demo account, this does not meant you have the temperament to trade successfully.
Most people can learn the mechanics of trading and talk the talk but they cannot walk the walk because
they do not have the proper attitude. It is the attitude that makes the difference between the
successful traders the not so successful traders. If we do not know how to lose then pain and the lack
of logic along with follow through on the trading mechanics will take over and you will lose and not know
until the trade is closed what is happing to you.

The advantage a trader has is to be able to spot trades that will give them a greater chance for success.
Since trading cannot be 100% then we have to be concerned about the 15 to 25% of the time when we are going
to be wrong. To have a better gauge of how successful a trade might be one has to get knowledge,
experience, and practice. To become a successful trader it is not so much about having big winning trades
but having more winning trades than losing ones. Trading is a numbers game so you can expect to win some
and lose some. It has a great deal to do with how you manage your trades. When a losing trade is managed
properly it can be a small loss rather than a large loss. When a winning trade is managed properly it can
become a larger win if you don’t get greedy.

To become a good loser you need to learn the difference between experienced losses and losses that cause
suffering. We first need to get the education and logic behind trading then we need to strengthen the
emotional side of trading. Having a trading system the gives exact entry and exit points can do this.
Systems that move with the market to let you know when to get out.

A Hole New World; Moving From Demo To Live Trading 2 of 7

Kirk — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:59:42 +0000

Trading is not a natural endeavor for us. We have no basic skills or understanding of how it works when
we first start out. We have to learn from scratch. Everyone has to start somewhere. Some new traders
have the all or nothing attitude with little or no training and soon lose some of their trades. Once they
experience some losses then fear and pain set in. Most traders who trade without preparation are on a
course of destruction. They will destroy their trading accounts and or emotional strength so as to not
be able to stay in the trading game. So the first order of business in avoiding the fear and pain of
trading is to get some education. Not only technical education of knowing when to enter and exit trades
but, an education in understanding who you are as a trader, the physiological side of trading.

One of the basic laws of trading is to use and stick to a trading system. That
means you use a trading system and have done enough paper trades to know what win-loss ratio to expect over
a span of at least 100 trades. This can be done in increments of 20 trades and keep track of the results in
the trade tracker. If you need to do 100 trades after you have figured out what works then the extra time
will be well worth it. Once you have figured out what works for you then you must use the same criteria
and procedures on every trade. No exceptions. Paper trading makes it safe because there is nothing to fear
because there is nothing to lose. You just won’t sit there and lose money in order to experiment to see
what works if you are trading real money. This is one reason that 80-90% of new traders fail; they do not
learn how to trade before they try to become rich. This is one thing for sure if you want to be successful
at trading you need to study and practice. If you don’t learn how to trade before you start trading with
real money you will go through a great deal of fear and pain.

Once you have developed the skills to follow a mechanical system. Knowing how to pick a high probability
trade, set your stops, and manage the trade, whichever way it moves then you are ready to move to the next
lever. You are ready to open a live account. This is where you will encounter loosing real money and
having to admit that you were wrong on a trade or two.

A Trading Plan and Discipline = Keys To success

Kirk — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:58:42 +0000

“Only a trader with a solid, tested trading plan and the total discipline to execute that plan,
in all its aspects, will be equipped to take advantage of market opportunities and be a
consistently successful trader. All others will fail.”

Now ask yourself a couple of questions.

QUESTION 1:

How many times have you done a little chart work and you just “knew” that market was going to
take off? Then you hesitated, for whatever reason, to pull the trigger and the big trade slipped
away… again!

Problem: You have not created a solid trading plan you could trust and feel confident in
enough to make your move when you should have.

Solution: Learn what a “solid” trading plan IS… which includes a style of trader that fits
you, a heavy dose of money management and risk management (two separate things!), and a tight
entrance and exit strategy… then make yourself a trading plan, test it, run it on a demo
account, fine tune it then repeat it until it becomes second nature.

QUESTION 2:

Have you ever had a nice little winning streak, where you had 3 or 4 nice winners in a row,
only to put on that “final” trade where you watch all your profits go down the tubes?
Because you did not have a stop loss in place nor a trading plan to remind you to put a
stop loss on.

Problem: You’re out of control when things go “too well”. Your overconfidence gets the
best of you and you put on a trade that’s not a “high probability” trade because “you’re
on a roll”, or worse, you “load up positions” so you can really take advantage of your
“streak” without proper money management.

Solution: Train your mind (and I mean change your subconscious patterns, because your
subconscious beliefs control your actions) to stick to the “high probability” trades and
to honor your solid, tested trading plan. Treat your trading like a business, not a game.
Unless you get really honest, with yourself and where you are mentally and emotionally
with your trading and equally as honest with the “tightness” and quality of your trading
plan then you will NOT BE READY to take advantage of the opportunities that will soon be
upon you in the markets.

Here is something you need to know. The volatility that is present when trading the foreign
currency market will shake out those without a tight trading plan and solid discipline.

THE GOOD NEWS…

Like most traders, we struggled in our first few years of trading. We were not willing to
admit that the problem with our trading it was not the market and that the problem was ours
because of our lack of discipline. We even got to the point where I “personified” the
market … and felt that it was “out to get me”.

Then I did something that most traders are not willing to do, I looked in the mirror.
I got honest with myself. I realized that by going around thinking that I had many years
of trading experience and all I needed was more “experience”, I accepted the TRUTH… I was
a trader with 1 year of experience repeated several times!

I wasn’t changing. I wasn’t improving. I was lying to myself! That realization
changed EVERYTHING. Well, not the realization, but the ACTING on the realization.
I decided that I was going to get some help. I found some successful traders that had
been down the road and learn what I could from them. I also committed to myself that I
was going to be disciplined in what they asked me to do.

Here are some ideas on what you can do to turn your trading around.

FIRST:

Develop a tight plan of action (if you don’t know how, learn how). Review all that is
in the trading systems forexstrategysecrets.com has opened up to you. Then write out
your tight trading plan from the instruction you have available to you.

SECOND:

Understand that if you are not TOTALLY disciplined right now, you CAN be in a matter of
months, if you are trained properly.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Big opportunities require big commitments. And if I’m right… you may vary will build
the fortune you have been dreaming of. The time is right, right now.

You can contact our Student Advisory Board and ask for an explanation of our affordable
coaching programs. I know this will light the way for improved trading.

800-961-6212 or support@forexstrategysecrets.com.

Answer To A Question # 17

Kirk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:49:37 +0000

Question:

Your site looks great and seems very informative. I was wondering what the difference is between
the Jump Start and Launch pad system that costs money? I’m sure there is value in spending the
money on the system, I am just looking for some more details. Also, can you map out an average
day for yourself using the system, times and such?

Answer:

Here are the differences

JUMP START

How to use two confirming indicators
How to trade with indicator signals not price movement
How to do Simulated trading
Learn how to trade with Indicators so you can trade all of the currency pairs.

LAUNCH PAD

How to do demo trading
How to trade in multiple time frames
How to take more profits per trade
Learn where to set a stop loss
Learn How to Identify a trend
Learn how to trade in the present not in the past trying to predict the future
How to spot break out moves and how to trade them
How to trade a side ways market
Get additional entry signals
Get additional Exit signals
How to deal with their emotions, greed, and pocket book
How to trade the NEWS in relation to the trend
Money Management
How many lots to trade with
When to start trading live
How to use multiple signals
Indicators
time Frames
How much information to analyze
Candlestick movement
Learn New trading Patterns
How to create a trade journal that works if you use it.
Get trade journal sheets with instruction of how to fill them out
How to print out the details of the trade
How to spot trading strengths and weaknesses
Do all of the above in small amount of time
Risk Management
How to group currency pairs to save time and find more trades
How to make a trading plan and why
Learn how to do visualization trading
Learn how to trade by spending less time in front of the computer

JS is a strategy to teach people to enter the market using indicators. LP is a complete
trading system for beginners. Some traders say they do not need anything else; others
would like to have our advanced product Nth Degree.

I trade mostly with the 4-hr 1-hr and 30-min time frames. I start looking at the market
at 6:00 am Mountain, 8:00 am Eastern. I will also Iook at the market again around 5 pm
to 6 pm Mountain, 7 pm to 8 pm Eastern.

I look for the trend or a change in anyone of the indicators on the 4-hour charts on 6
to 10 currency pairs. I use our alert program and let it monitor the charts on all the
time frames. When the alerts give me a signal I check the trend or change of an indicator
on the 4-hour and 1-hour charts, then I go to a smaller time frame or the time frame that
I received the alert and look for a 4 or 5 alarm trade

If there is not much happening by 9 – 10 am then I will go do other things away from the
computer. Some days I do not trade other days there are plenty of moves so I trade for
a longer time. While I am waiting for an alert to go off I do emails, write posts and
do correspondents.

By using our alerts I have all the trades I can handle. This makes it possible for me
to spend less time in front of the computer. I can trade when I have time, I don’t
have to waiting for the market to have a big announcement to trade.

Sometimes I trade the smaller time frames if there is nothing happening on the larger
time frames. I use the15-minute time frame to get the short-term trend and enter in
the direction of the trend when I see a 5 alarm trade on the 5-minute charts for a
quick 5 to 20 pips.

The same technique a trader uses on the larger time frames is used on the smaller
time frames. The size of the trade has to be adjusted. For the Larger time frames
expect larger numbers of pips per trade. For the smaller time frames expect smaller
numbers of pips per trade. Just look for the trend on the largest time frame you are
trading with and then enter on a 5-alarm entry signal on the smaller time frame you
are using during each trading session.

Before we developed the alert I would look at the computer every 30 min to see what
was happening.

I hope this helps.

Kirk

Objectivity

Kirk — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:00:27 +0000

Objectivity or "emotional detachment" also depends on the reliability of your system or methodology. If you have a
system that provides entry and exit levels that you know have a high reliability factor, then you don’t need to
become emotional or allow yourself to be influenced by the opinion of others and outside sources who are watching
their levels and not yours. Your system should be reliable enough so that you can be confident in acting on its
signals.

It comes down to becoming a mechanical trader. You see an entry signal you enter a trade, you manage the trade,
you see an exit signal and you close the trade. You start the process all over again. When you become a
mechanical trader you will see the market for what it is. You will not be fighting it. You will go with the
flow. Controlling your losses and managing your wins for maximum profit, with no emotions, just execution.

You get paid to wait (2 of 26)

Kirk — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:22:13 +0000

When you are waiting for the market to set up and give you the proper entry or exit signals you are showing discipline. When you exercise discipline you will make more money and lose less money. There is one constant truth about the markets and that is discipline will increase your profits. Let the trade come to you. The first time you wait until the trade sets up properly you enter by the rules and manage by the rules you will see how much fun trading can be. It does not have to be frustrating and emotional.

8 of 10: “A Go-for-Broke” Attitude

Kirk — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:13:55 +0000

Awareness # 7- “A Go-for-Broke” Attitude

Demo trading can be fun and we believe it definitely has its place when you are learning to trade the Forex markets. It’s also appropriate when practicing your entry and exit signals.

BUT trading forex in a demo account is NOT a video game where the entire purpose is all “fun and games”. Remember: Demo-trading forex can be fun when it reinforces skills. When a trader has a go-for-broke attitude in a demo account it will short cut their learning process.

What you do in practice trading will transfer to your live trading. If you are serious about trading for profit then trade your demo account like a life account and put all your energies into developing your trading skills.

A trader can not put it all on the line and wait to see what happens. If they do We all can probable tell them before hand what will happen to there account. So we can sit back to wait and see what happens with their trading career.

False Sense Of Security May Cost You

forex — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:16:28 +0000

A trader can be in a trade that goes down but is only a little against him. He has his stop on at a comfortable level but he knows the trade is wrong but stays in because the stop has not been hit. Since he has not been stopped out he holds on thinking it is a good trade. Since he has his stop set he thinks he is on the right side of the trade. This can be dangerous thinking.
When you are in a trade and it is not going the way you thought it should and you start to feel uncomfortable about the trade get out of the trade and forget about what you thought was a good trade in the beginning. Just because you have not been stopped out does not mean you are safe. You don’t need to wait to be stopped out take a smaller loss and get on with the next move. If the trade starts to look wrong then get out no matter if you are a little positive or a little negative. This can save you a lot of money in the long run.
If you placed a trade because of a market movement and some good signals but the market fails to follow through and starts to linger exit the trade. There is no need to wait until the market hits your stop level to get out. If it isn’t working as it should, odds are that eventually it will hit your stop so why not take the small loss now and look for another trade.
Exiting trades when the reason your entered the trade has changed is good money management. It is also a sign that you are maturing as a trader. You are in tune with the market and will probably make money on another trade that is just around the corner. If you can cut your losses by 25% you are way ahead when the good moves come along for a pip saved is a pip earned.

Types of Exits

forex — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:32:40 +0000

When exiting a trade, you can do so under four different assumptions. In the best of worlds, exit technique number one is the profit target. Exit technique number two is the trailing stop, which comes into play when the market is starting to move against you after you have accumulated an open profit. Number three is the stop loss for the occurrences when the trade goes against you right off the bat. Finally, you also can exit with a time-based stop, possibly in combination with any of exit techniques one to three. The time based stop is setting a time like at end of the day or when you leave for work etc.

Just a note:

A “margin call” in not an exit strategy.