Why close position after a little gain? Is it also affecting you?

[Oshosondy]

As bitcoin fall to $58040 yesterday, I opened a long position using $250 on an exchange and also using $50 on another exchange. As I gain little amount yesterday, I closed the position before I slept for the $250 which has been a problem for me because any little profit, I will close the position.

I saw the $50 long position gained more today as bitcoin went above $60000 again and it was around $60600 when I later closed the position because I do not know if bitcoin price will fall back.

This has happened to me in the past. Good examples was the time that bitcoin first fall below $60000, it later when above $70000 and even went to almost $83000 but I sold when bitcoin was $62500, it rose far more.

If you are a trader, are you able to successfully be a swing trader or you are like me that will only make small amount positive PnL and close the position?

Many traders are affected like me despite that only little amount of money is used to open the position in a way that I can still be able to average it up to $1000 if the price goes south.

[Zaguru12]

Many traders are affected like me despite that only little amount of money is used to open the position in a way that I can still be able to average it up to $1000 if the price goes south.

I think almost all traders ard either victims of this or where victims of this, personally I have said this is the most common thing that differentiate different traders from each other, like those who make it out big and those who do not. It’s for me a psychological problem, because take from example you’re a very good analysis and have shown that by this analysis and the rest but someone like me wouldn’t be as good as you’re would be earning more profit than you because of having good psychology to be able to hold for long. That’s why to be psychology takes 75% of a trader success.

Personally I have and still get affected by this too, sometimes I will force close early when the market is against me and later I will see it go into my favour or sometimes be like you and close a winning trade early and would be feeling bad later that I could have made more.

Even though little capital been used sometimes doesn’t matter I think it’s actually a case too.

What I do now though in a winning trade is if my entry is $60000 and then the market goes above like $62500 which I emotional to close it there but still believe it might go further up, what I do is to actually set my stop loss at that $62500 and then allow the market run up, this way if the market decides to reverse it will still close at that $62500 and I will still have my little profit

[Cryptmuster]

I haven't traded with leverage for a very long time, these days all of my trading is focused on the spot market. I've also come to prefer taking even small profits, and I especially avoid leaving shortnterm trades open overnight. I'd rather close a trade, lock in the profit, and get a good night's sleep than wake up several times during the night just to check where the price is.

[EarnOnVictor]

Why did I act this way or that way has been as old as the market trading itself, but no one has had any solution to it, and no one will ever have any solution to it. Do you know why? The market is not certain and no trader or any trading system can be perfect at trading it.

The market is too dynamic for any trader to always have that perfect risk/management or settings, which calls for contentment in our trading. Just build your own trading system/pattern and adhere strictly to it. This will not hurt, because you will have the days that it would favour you, just as you would have the days that it will not favour you. With time, the average results would be worth it.

[BitMaxz]

I don't know what strategy or plan you have, but that's a good decision, honestly, to immediately take a profit even below the risk amount because you are against the trend.

I've had similar experiences before; I stopped doing it because the profit target isn't worth it if you're going against the trend, but if it shows a reversal signal and is supported by traders, you might be lucky enough to see the same scenario you described above.
As a trader, I have the discipline to avoid going against the trend with the current price action. I wait for a slight pump and wait for a momentum change before going to entry. What I'm looking for is a short position. As of now I don't see any potential entry; we are approaching the weekend, and Monday is my target because, from what I see here, the market might grab some liquidity first above $60k before it drops again.

Swing traders do not do that; they have a target price or they do trail stops instead of manually closing the position.