Hey everyone, today I want to talk about one of the most common mistakes in trading, one that I’m sure almost everyone has made at some point. I’m talking about greed, taking profits, and sticking to risk management.
Imagine the following situation: you’ve opened a great trade, the price is moving steadily in your favor, your returns are growing, and your profit is increasing. Then a thought pops into your head: “Why close now? I’ll wait a little longer—the market is about to take off, and I’ll make much more!”
Sound familiar? 😁
But then something happens that many people don’t want to acknowledge. The price reaches the first FTA (First Trouble Area), where it may meet serious resistance to further movement, then reverses and starts wiping out all your accumulated profit
And if you didn’t move your stop to breakeven, a trade that was showing a great profit just moments ago could end up closing at a loss!
And this is where things get interesting. You saw everything and understood where the price might reverse, but the desire to earn even more proved stronger than your trading plan
⚠️ A trader’s main enemy isn’t the market, but their own greed
You might get lucky once. The price could fly through every level, and you’d capture a huge move. But if you make expecting that a regular strategy, sooner or later the market will take back what you didn’t want to lock in
📊 How do I manage my position?
The screenshot shows a great example of one of my trades from today
✅ First take-profit: I lock in part of the profit and move the stop to breakeven
✅ Second take-profit: I increase the total portion of the position closed to 80%
✅ Third take-profit: I close the remaining 20%, completing the trade
Now imagine I decided not to lock in any profit and simply waited for the maximum gain. If the price returned to my entry point, all the accumulated profit could disappear, and the trade would close at breakeven
So why risk money you’ve already earned for a profit the market hasn’t even given you yet?
🧠 Why does partial profit-taking work?
Yes, this approach has a drawback. If the price keeps moving without a pullback, the final profit will be smaller than if you held the entire position until the last take-profit
But it also has a huge advantage. You gradually reduce risk, lock in real results, and stop relying on a single scenario
At the same time, it’s important to understand that even a stop at breakeven doesn’t guarantee an absolutely zero result because of commissions, slippage, and the way orders are executed
And one more important point: partial profit-taking alone doesn’t make a strategy profitable. Its effectiveness needs to be assessed across a series of trades, taking into account the risk-to-reward ratio, how often targets are reached, and the overall results
🎯 So, what’s the takeaway?
In trading, the goal isn’t to capture every last penny of a price move. It’s to earn consistently, control losses, and preserve your capital over the long term
It’s better to regularly take the profit you planned for than to keep watching impressive unrealized PnL figures disappear right before your eyes
Remember this: profit on the screen doesn’t mean you’ve actually earned it. A good trader isn’t distinguished by their ability to predict the entire move, but by their discipline in following their strategy
Manage risk, stick to your trading plan, and don’t turn trading into a casino
Let’s get to work 💪
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