In Friday’s Daily Accelerator, I talked about panic selling when your stock position goes up, which stems from the fear of losing your unrealized gains.
Today, I want to follow up on that with a discussion about what to do after you adjust your mindset and learn to ride out that fear…
I want to talk about how to let your winners run.
And again, as I mentioned on Friday, having the right tools can make the planning and execution of your strategies so much easier.
For example, our proprietary trading algorithm Oracle, is fantastic for guiding your trade entry and helping you set your stop losses and targets.
Of course, having the right trading platform is key and StocksToTrade covers all the bases.
Watch my video to learn more about how I use it.
So, let’s get into it…
What do you do once you’ve got a winning trade on your hands and you’ve overcome the urge to panic sell?
Table of Contents
Have a Plan Before You Enter Your Trade
This rule really applies to all trading but it bears repeating…
You should know exactly what you’re going to do before you even enter a trade. Every trade plan should have three things nailed down—your entry, your stop loss, and your profit goal.
If you’re reacting on the fly, you’re not trading your plan; you’re just winging it.
If you just tell yourself, “I’ll cut losses quickly,” define what that really means? A penny down? 5% down?
Set Conditions, Not Just Goals
Good plans are conditional.
For example, let’s say you enter a stock at $10 per share with a stop loss of $9 and a target of $11.30. Now suppose that stock gets to $11.10 and starts moving sideways, do you know ahead of time exactly how long you’re willing to hold that?
An hour? 3 hours? A day?
If it’s already in your plan, you’ll have no hesitation in deciding what to do.
Every successful trader has a well-constructed trading plan. Do you have one?
Know the Quality of Your Stock and Adjust Accordingly
Different stocks need different strategies.
A volatile, low-float stock should be treated differently from a larger, high-quality swing trade stock.
This is where it really matters when deciding whether or not to let a winner run…
If you’re holding a well-researched position in a “real” stock like NVDA, for example, and it’s green but not at your target, hold on—this is an instance where you let the winner run.
You bought this stock based on solid fundamentals, and if it’s moving in your favor, give it the time to deliver.
On the other hand, you’ll want to have a tighter timeframe for a penny stock in the same situation…maybe hold it for another 15 minutes or half an hour before selling..
Have Contingencies, and Stick to Them
Even with a goal in mind, there are always conditions to consider. Set these conditions before you enter a trade.
If you find yourself in a winning trade and you’re tempted to take small profits, ask yourself why. Why do you want to cash out early if there’s no negative news or other catalyst?
Remember the golden rule: let winners run and cut losers.
Losses Are Part of the Process
Let’s be real here. If you’re in this game to win every single trade, you’re in for a reality check. I talk about this a lot…
Losses are part of trading, period. You have to get comfortable with that. No one has a 100% win rate.
Basically you have two choices: get comfortable with the fact that not every trade will be a win, or quit trading.
Playing the long game means taking losses here and there and building your account slowly so you can capitalize on more and more opportunities as your capital grows.
My Final Thoughts…
If you’re ready to get serious about trading, you need a structured and specific plan for each trade—entry, stop, and goal—and contingencies for different scenarios.
This discipline is the difference between trading that builds profits over time and chasing small wins that don’t stack up.
Get comfortable with letting your winners work for you. It’s not about locking in quick gains every time; it’s about playing for long-term growth and managing the inevitable losses with confidence.
As I said before, having the right tools to do much of the heavy lifting makes planning and executing your strategies a lot simpler.
Yes, you still have to do the work with continuous education and practice but good tools and resources can make the going less tough.
I’ve mentioned Oracle and the StocksToTrade platform as some of my favorites, but there are tons of others…
My IRIS Analytics AI swing trading system, StocksToTrade Advisory, Daily Income Trader Service, Squeeze Master Pro for short squeeze alerts, and my newest trading technology, the Flux Algo.
Buying each one of these separately costs $139,857, but imagine if you could get all of this in one package for a fraction of that price? And no renewal fees!
There’s some bonus stuff in there too but I’ll let you check it out for yourself…
Click here to learn more about Trader’s Unlimited!
Have a great day, everyone. See you back here tomorrow.
Tim Bohen
Lead Trainer, StocksToTrade
P.S.
The market is insane with post-election plays! I’ve been shouting this from the rooftops since last Election Day…
But there’s something else that happened…
November 5th triggered the biggest trading catalyst of the decade. Election Day opened a three-month window for a certain group of stocks to surge in epic fashion.
We’ve found that in the past, around 1,500 stocks have returned on average 3,700% within 90 days of the election.
On November 20th at 8 pm Eastern, I’m hosting The 2024 Election Alpha Surge Summit.
I’m going to dive deep into this post-election catalyst, its history, and how our AI bot is locked and loaded to capitalize on this massive opportunity.
Plus, I’m going to share the five stocks our AI system has already picked.
But you have to reserve a seat now!