The Problem With Moving Targets

Moving your target every time price gets close can damage your trading consistency.

Suppose I enter a trade with a predefined target.

As price approaches it, I become excited and decide to aim for a larger profit.

Then the market reverses and the original target is never reached.

This can happen occasionally even with a good strategy, but repeatedly changing exits based on emotion makes performance difficult to evaluate.

If I want to use a trailing exit or a structure-based target, I should define the rules in advance.

The purpose isn't to take every possible point out of the market.

It's to follow an exit process that has been tested and that fits the strategy's expected behavior.