Markets will move, and you will NOT be able to act

GoldHawk
GoldHawk
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

If you’ve been a trader for some time, then you probably experienced the following situation: the markets are moving, you are mentally prepared, but there’s nothing you can do. you are physically unable to act.

Maybe there was a power outage or your internet provider went down. Maybe you’re on the road with no connection or an emergency takes you away from your keyboard.

Truth is the market doesn’t care about you or the circumstances that you had to solve. In fact, the pros will love to eat your profits while you’re AFK. The story I’m about to share is of a similar situation.


I had made my trading plan the night before and was ready to execute as soon as the markets opened and confirmed the reversal, and it did. I entered a short position on USDBRL Futures, placed my stop-loss and then went to work. Prices didn't move for most of the day, but while I was heading home, it began to crash really fast. I wanted to take my profits… but I got stuck on traffic for more than 3 hours and couldn't access my broker.

In the end, I arrived home 10 minutes before the markets closed exiting my position instantly. USD was strong that day and the BRL had sinked more. I made tons of money in that trade, four times what I’d get on my most optimistic target, actually.

Side Note: the market opened the next day up 100 points, which was higher than my entry. Had I arrived 10min later, all that profit would turn into a loss.


The luck was with me and I appreciated the extra gains. However, relying on luck is foolish gamble.

Since that day, whenever entering a position I ask myself: Can I still follow my trading strategy to a certain degree even if everything goes against me? If the answer is no, It’s time to go back to the draw board and revise the strategy.

In case your plan requires you to be online constantly changing stops and entering new positions, you could try to make it more autonomous. Personally, I started placing multiple progressive exits on both sides of the trade, instead of exiting everything simultaneously. This way, even when the unexpected happens, you can still rest assured that your position is safe.

Hope this was good advice.


Plan the trade then trade the plan.

GoldHawk

GoldHawk

Written by

GoldHawk

ForEx and futures trader from Brazil. Longterm HODLer of Bitcoin. Providing educational articles and Technical Analysis

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