Learning to Exit Early

[Fara Chan]

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Refrain from exiting the market is usually influenced by a losing trade, as people think a reversal is possible and hope to return to a profitable position. This often happened to me in the past because I held onto losses too often, ultimately wiping out my entire capital in a single trade. I used that experience as an important lesson, and now, when I want to trade, I always set a stop-loss/take-profit, so that even if the market doesn't move as predicted, my capital expenditure is much more manageable. It may seem difficult at first, but once we succeed in implementing it with discipline, trading becomes much more enjoyable and less emotionally draining due to constantly holding onto losses.

In fact, holding back from exiting the market because of a loss is not a good thing for a trader, unless they are seeking a solution by deploying additional capital to recover the old capital that has been reduced due to price declines. Because the deeper the minus felt by a trader, the greater the price increase that person must expect in order to reverse the minus capital, so that menus such as stop-loss/take-profit are indeed necessary for any trader to use, even when the take-profit position is set at a certain number, but the coin actually rises even more sharply, that is where the trader must be grateful because his fortune may not be at a higher number but at the number that he has determined himself through the take-profit menu.

[Ishicryptic]

It depends on the coins you are holding and if you are for long term investment or trading for short term profit, if are investing in a crypto with potentials to always recover like Bitcoin you can consider to hold. But trading is risky because cryptocurrencies are very volatile you can consider to exit early to minimize loses, you can always come back another time after watching the market. Trading is risky but sometimes not exiting early can give you profit so you need to be on top of your decision making. To be on a safer side it is better to minimize your loses by early exits.

[Z_MBFM]

Exits used to be emotional warfare. I’d hold, praying for reversals, until small losses grew. Then I learned to exit early not from fear, but from freedom. Early exits preserve capital and confidence.

Now, leaving too soon feels better than staying too long. Freedom beats greed every time.

Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

It is definitely good to exit at the right time. However, if you exit too quickly with a small profit and the price of that coin is moving towards your entry, then you will think that if you had not exited, you would have made a much better profit. These things can make you more emotional and you will keep taking frequent trading entries which can put you under mental stress. I do not like to exit frequently I think it will make my emotions more excited and force me to panic. So I prefer holding and I think holding is the only thing that can keep me relaxed.

[tbct_mt2]

It is definitely good to exit at the right time. However, if you exit too quickly with a small profit and the price of that coin is moving towards your entry, then you will think that if you had not exited, you would have made a much better profit. These things can make you more emotional and you will keep taking frequent trading entries which can put you under mental stress. I do not like to exit frequently I think it will make my emotions more excited and force me to panic. So I prefer holding and I think holding is the only thing that can keep me relaxed.

If you only aim at trading, you have two main tasks for doing.

The first and most important task is protecting your initial trading capital as the capital is most important with you as a trader. You should never lose your trading capital, and if you can protect it, you will have many other chances for getting profit in this market.

The second important task is finding profit, but as said it comes after a first task. So if you have profit, and feel the market is going to uncertain with likely dangerous volatile movements, you can take profit even it is only small profit. As said in the first task, protecting initial capital is most important, so if you can close your trading position, and still get small profit, it's very good.

To do first and second tasks well, always use stop loss order.
One of the best weapons in trading.

[allthebitandbobs]

Early exit will save you from the constant pressure to monitor your trades and make impulsive decisions at the last moment but have you considered that you might even loose profits if you exit early? You might close a position early only to see markets showing rapid growth which will make you panic again and your freedom will be patronized by the profits you lost.

With a proper analysis, you do not need to exit early but be patient. Exiting early shows lack of patience but a strong discipline. I am sure, in trading you need a combination of both so you might want to re-think about exiting markets early instead you can think about re-evaluating your trading strategies and analysing the markets.

[pawanjain]

Exits used to be emotional warfare. I’d hold, praying for reversals, until small losses grew. Then I learned to exit early not from fear, but from freedom. Early exits preserve capital and confidence.

Now, leaving too soon feels better than staying too long. Freedom beats greed every time.

Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

This is actually true. Every time I have made an early exit, whether it be by mistake or intentionally, I have made profits and saw the market dumping later.
But on the other hand, the fear or selling early is for real because I have seen massive pumps on certain occasions where I had decided to sell but couldn't due to some or other thing.
So I guess, we just have to make our strategies better and predict the prices accordingly. A lot of psychology is involved in trading these days.

[Peanutswar]

Exits used to be emotional warfare. I’d hold, praying for reversals, until small losses grew. Then I learned to exit early not from fear, but from freedom. Early exits preserve capital and confidence.

Now, leaving too soon feels better than staying too long. Freedom beats greed every time.

Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

When making a trade, you must need to understand the risk management at the first place now includes the basic concept of the take profit and stop loss, now if you make a trade and without the trading plan for sure you will just waste time, money and effort into your trade when you make an early cut loss already, when making a trade you knew the risk of your position until how much leverage you are willing to take at the same time is how much percentage of your capital you are willing to lose, now if that target is not totally reached for now you dont need to get bothered with the small downwards of the market and you dont need to make an early exit of your trades. Cut losses is normal in trades so you did not lose all of your money at all. But at the end of the day you are the one will seek what are your next move to gain back the losses.

[michellee]

If my analysis says that this condition needs to wait for a while, I will wait but if not, I will close my trade. But at other times, I close my trade sooner because my analysis says that the price will go down. I don't wait for too long to close and don't care about the next thing that can happen. After all, closing too soon gives me profit and even if the price increases back, I can search for my position. It depends on what your analysis says. That is why you need to learn more about trading and also analysis so you can know what you need to do. If you are not sure, it is better to close your trade and not regret whatever happens. You can start trading after you find your entry way.

[maknyos]

Exits used to be emotional warfare. I’d hold, praying for reversals, until small losses grew. Then I learned to exit early not from fear, but from freedom. Early exits preserve capital and confidence.

Now, leaving too soon feels better than staying too long. Freedom beats greed every time.

Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

This is actually true. Every time I have made an early exit, whether it be by mistake or intentionally, I have made profits and saw the market dumping later.
But on the other hand, the fear or selling early is for real because I have seen massive pumps on certain occasions where I had decided to sell but couldn't due to some or other thing.
So I guess, we just have to make our strategies better and predict the prices accordingly. A lot of psychology is involved in trading these days.

Sometimes we're so afraid of exiting the market that there's a significant price reversal that we miss out on potential profits. At the same time, we're grateful if we exit and the price does indeed plummet. However, it's not uncommon for our fears to actually occur when we exit the market.
I experienced this some time ago: I decided to exit the market at a loss because I saw market sentiment pointing to a deep decline. However, I was wrong, as a few days later, the coins I was holding rose by several percent. However, I was also grateful because when I exited, I immediately entered a coin that also gave me a profit.

[GreatArkansas]

(...)
Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

Exit for control! That's trading, you need to stick to your plan if you have any before entering the trade.

This is tough decision sometimes especially if your plan didn't go well, difficult  choice is to close your position with losses.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

In fact, holding back from exiting the market because of a loss is not a good thing for a trader, unless they are seeking a solution by deploying additional capital to recover the old capital that has been reduced due to price declines. Because the deeper the minus felt by a trader, the greater the price increase that person must expect in order to reverse the minus capital, so that menus such as stop-loss/take-profit are indeed necessary for any trader to use, even when the take-profit position is set at a certain number, but the coin actually rises even more sharply, that is where the trader must be grateful because his fortune may not be at a higher number but at the number that he has determined himself through the take-profit menu.

Even with substantial capital, not setting a stop-loss/take-profit isn't ideal trading, despite some arguing otherwise. It's possible to be lucky enough to increase capital to withstand losses by not using a stop-loss/take-profit, but what if we still experience liquidation due to a sharper market decline, resulting in the loss of all our trading capital? In my opinion, stop-loss/take-profit is important because it prevents someone from losing more money. Generally, people who fail in trading are those who push themselves too hard to achieve large profits without having a sound trading strategy that limits their losses.

[Koadharber]

In fact, holding back from exiting the market because of a loss is not a good thing for a trader, unless they are seeking a solution by deploying additional capital to recover the old capital that has been reduced due to price declines. Because the deeper the minus felt by a trader, the greater the price increase that person must expect in order to reverse the minus capital, so that menus such as stop-loss/take-profit are indeed necessary for any trader to use, even when the take-profit position is set at a certain number, but the coin actually rises even more sharply, that is where the trader must be grateful because his fortune may not be at a higher number but at the number that he has determined himself through the take-profit menu.

Even with substantial capital, not setting a stop-loss/take-profit isn't ideal trading, despite some arguing otherwise. It's possible to be lucky enough to increase capital to withstand losses by not using a stop-loss/take-profit, but what if we still experience liquidation due to a sharper market decline, resulting in the loss of all our trading capital? In my opinion, stop-loss/take-profit is important because it prevents someone from losing more money. Generally, people who fail in trading are those who push themselves too hard to achieve large profits without having a sound trading strategy that limits their losses.

Trading without a stop loss or take profit is like driving without brakes or a destination it might feel fine while the road is clear but one sudden turn and everything can collapse stop loss and take profit are not just tools they are part of a mindset that protects discipline from emotion many traders fall into the trap of believing they can recover a loss by simply waiting for a reversal or by adding more capital but markets don’t always forgive and sometimes they punish harder the deeper you go in trying to recover.

A proper trading plan should already include the exit before the entry because profit and loss are both part of the same equation if a trader defines where to get out on both sides of the trade they take away the emotional pressure of deciding in the heat of volatility that control is what separates a professional from someone gambling on chance. Capital alone doesn’t make a trader successful what matters is protecting that capital by managing risk every trade should have an acceptable amount of loss defined before execution because when losses spiral traders often double down in desperation hoping to win it back that’s the road to liquidation.

[Japinat]

Early exit will save you from the constant pressure to monitor your trades and make impulsive decisions at the last moment but have you considered that you might even loose profits if you exit early? You might close a position early only to see markets showing rapid growth which will make you panic again and your freedom will be patronized by the profits you lost.

With a proper analysis, you do not need to exit early but be patient. Exiting early shows lack of patience but a strong discipline. I am sure, in trading you need a combination of both so you might want to re-think about exiting markets early instead you can think about re-evaluating your trading strategies and analysing the markets.

It's not bad to exit early if you have already satisfied yourself with the massive profits from trading. But if your intention is to exit early to avoid future losses and constant stress and pressures, I must say you might regret your decision later when you've start witnessing how profitable the market is.

There's always risk and pressures accompanied when trading, regardless if you are a professional trader. You just need to embrace it and get used to it. Eventually, things may turn out favorable on you and make you enjoy trading more, but it takes countless struggles first before you can say you can navigate your trades well.

[Dickiy]

(...)
Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

Exit for control! That's trading, you need to stick to your plan if you have any before entering the trade.

This is tough decision sometimes especially if your plan didn't go well, difficult  choice is to close your position with losses.

Agreed, the hardest choice is to exit a losing position. Most traders find it difficult to accept the reality of defeat, even among professional traders. But that's normal, as we are social creatures with feelings and emotions that sometimes get out of control.

Essentially, smart traders are those who know the right time to enter and exit, regardless of the situation. While it's not easy, that's the way it should be.

[Awaklara]

Essentially, smart traders are those who know the right time to enter and exit, regardless of the situation. While it's not easy, that's the way it should be.

Ideally, when you open a trading position, you should have already made a plan according to the analysis you conducted. Traders tend to implement take profit and stop loss to keep the trade within the desired control. You might regret not exiting earlier. But if everything goes according to your plan, at least there is some profit gained. The same applies to losses.

[pawanjain]

Sometimes we're so afraid of exiting the market that there's a significant price reversal that we miss out on potential profits. At the same time, we're grateful if we exit and the price does indeed plummet. However, it's not uncommon for our fears to actually occur when we exit the market.
I experienced this some time ago: I decided to exit the market at a loss because I saw market sentiment pointing to a deep decline. However, I was wrong, as a few days later, the coins I was holding rose by several percent. However, I was also grateful because when I exited, I immediately entered a coin that also gave me a profit.

That's how it has been happening in crypto. The thing is that we only focus on the losses.
We tend to hold longer when the profits are rising but sell too soon when we go in losses.
Hence most of our trades end up in losses instead. If we hold longer, the market reverses and go back in profits.
That is the duration which is when we have to sell. Basically we have to sell when the markets are rising and buy when the markets are dumping.
This is what I have started doing after years of losses in trading and so far its going good.

[Hypnosis00]

It feels better to leave trading too early as you can avoid trading losses and pressures, but the whole point of trading is not actually to avoid them, but to turn your trades into profits despite how risky the trading market is. Exiting early could be a personal choice, but if you leave trading without even satisfying yourself on what's the main purpose why you enter trading in the very beginning, then you are not trading the way you planned it to be, and exiting early could only deprived you of your future winning trades and make you not experience anymore the profits you were supposed to reap in the end.

[rachael9385]

Exits used to be emotional warfare. I’d hold, praying for reversals, until small losses grew. Then I learned to exit early not from fear, but from freedom. Early exits preserve capital and confidence.

Now, leaving too soon feels better than staying too long. Freedom beats greed every time.

Every exit shapes the next entry.Do you hold for hope or exit for control?

You can make use of stop loss just incase you miss out om exiting the trade, that is actually part of risk management in trading. People that blow up their trading account carelessly are not following the principles of trading, they just allow greed to cloud their judgement and as such they chase big profits at all times which eventually leads to losses in the long run. The market shouldn't be rushed into.

[Mpamaegbu]

It depends on the coins you are holding and if you are for long term investment or trading for short term profit, if are investing in a crypto with potentials to always recover like Bitcoin you can consider to hold. But trading is risky because cryptocurrencies are very volatile you can consider to exit early to minimize loses, you can always come back another time after watching the market.

You need to understand that trading isn't hodling (investing). It's with investing that we talk more of exiting early because it's expected that one would've bought early too, and not in trading.

Trading, in the actual sense, isn't risky because cryptocurrencies are volatile. It's risky because it's a business. Every business is a risk. Nothing in business comes easy. BTW, the volatility you mentioned as a negative is even what propels most people into trading. We need volatility in the market to get us excited as traders.

[Natalim]

You know what's actually the best exit? It's when you know you had enough, you had experience the best of everything in trading because you have been profitable all the way. So if you take an early exit, then go. After all, you met profit satisfaction all the way, so there's no reason to hold back and doubt your decision.

However for those new traders in the market, keep on trading because there are bigger profit opportunities ahead. But stay trading the most reliable way, equipped with complete knowledge and proven working strategies in the market.