I recently found myself in a day trade in USD/CAD that I’d like to talk about. The exact reason for my entry actually doesn't matter for this article but the idea was to buy the pair at a support level where I expected it to at least temporarily bounce off nicely. The best case outcome for this trade was that it would hit my profit target that I had set shortly after the entry. It would give me a nice profit of more than two times my risk and I set it at a price where I was expecting the potential rally to run into sellers again.
For sure I’ve been lucky with this one as shortly after the entry the market rallied nicely straight up for hours without any significant corrections. So the next morning (entry happened during the night) I was pleasantly surprised that USD/CAD was already approaching my profit target, see below on the first chart the market looked like at that point in time.
USD/CAD was just about 7 pips short of reaching my profit target while my stop-loss was still at the initial stop loss level. I think I’ve read a similar story in one of the market wizards books, but in a summary, the situation was like this. The market was trading very close to my profit target that I had set because I expected sellers around that price level. At the same time, the trade could still turn into a full loss as I hadn’t moved my stop loss.
So, in other words, the potential for further profits was just about 7 pips while my risk was about 53 pips! That’s when you simply cannot be stubborn in a discretionary trade, you got to act!
As this had been such a nice, stress-free rally to that point and I’ve been already so close to the profit target I decided to simply take my money and run. I just got out at the market.
If the profit target had been slightly further away I might have chosen another option. Go down to a lower timeframe and use a tight trailing stop to either get stopped out with a nice profit or have the market run into the profit target.
On the right chart, you can see what happened after that. The rally fizzled and USD/CAD plummeted. So don’t be stubborn in trading!
CFTC RULE 4.41 - HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER-OR-OVER COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFIT OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD extends its optimism past 1.1900
EUR/USD retains a firm underlying bid, surpassing the 1.1900 mark as the NA session draws to a close on Monday. The pair’s persistent uptrend comes as the US Dollar remains on the defensive, with traders staying cautious ahead of upcoming US NFP prints and CPI data.
GBP/USD hits three-day peaks, targets 1.3700
GBP/USD is clocking decent gains at the start of the week, advancing to three-day highs near 1.3670 and building on Friday’s solid performance. The better tone in the British Pound comes on the back of the intense sekk-off in the Greenback and despite re-emerging signs of a fresh government crisis in the UK.
USD/JPY bounces off lows, back above 156.00
USD/JPY is starting the week markedly on the defensive, sliding back toward the 155.50 area where it has met some decent contention for now. The move lower in spot follows FX intervention chatter after PM S. Takaichi scored a landslide win in Sunday’s election..
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD gets ready to punch through 0.7100
The intense sell-off in the Greenback underpins the solid performance of the Aussie Dollar on Monday, motivating AUD/USD to add to recent gains while challenging the key 0.7100 barrier, or fresh YTD highs, at the same time.
EUR/USD extends its optimism past 1.1900
EUR/USD retains a firm underlying bid, surpassing the 1.1900 mark as the NA session draws to a close on Monday. The pair’s persistent uptrend comes as the US Dollar remains on the defensive, with traders staying cautious ahead of upcoming US NFP prints and CPI data.
Gold picks up pace, retargets $5,100
Gold gathers fresh steam, challenging daily highs en route to the $5,100 mark per troy ounce in the latter part of Monday’s session. The precious metal finds support from fresh signs of continued buying by the PBoC, while expectations that the Fed could lean more dovish also collaborate with the uptick.
XRP struggles around $1.40 despite institutional inflows
Ripple (XRP) is extending its intraday decline to around $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid growing pressure from the retail market and risk-off sentiment that continues to keep investors on the sidelines.
Japanese PM Takaichi nabs unprecedented victory – US data eyed this week
I do not think I would be exaggerating to say that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s snap general election gamble paid off over the weekend – and then some. This secured the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) an unprecedented mandate just three months into her tenure.
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