Most Forex traders are so obsessed about finding the right trading method to get them into successful trades, they forget to learn how to exit the trade. In my experience, Forex traders need to spend more time defining their exit strategy if they want to be as profitable as possible.  As a matter of fact, the exit strategy might be more important!

Of course… you want to know when to get in to a Forex trade with the best probability of success.  (This is why you should use a proven price action trading system or indicator based trading system).  But once you identify this entry point, do you know how to get out of the trade with profit and protect your gains during the trade?  Many traders forget about this important part of trading until it is too late… hurting their trading profits in the process.

Here is why focusing on your exit strategy is so important:

Learning when to get into the market is easy and mechanical.  After all, you can learn from pros to figure out when a potential trade is forming.  But since there is no money at risk BEFORE the trade is placed… you can look at the markets with all your wits about you.

But after you place the trade you do have money at risk. The trade suddenly becomes emotional.  And you don’t want to manage your trades with emotion!

So, you see?  Learning how to get into the trade is simple compared to executing the exit with success.  Therefore, I think learning a great exit strategy (and sticking to it), is much more difficult.  So, don’t you think it wise to spend some time defining, practicing and executing your exit strategy to perfection?

Now, I don’t claim there is one perfect exit strategy for every trading system.  There are a lot of things to take into consideration.  But I would like to encourage you to find the right way to get out of the trade based on the system you are currenctly trading. I think you’ll find that by focusing more on your exit strategy, than your entries, you’ll see your success rate and profits increase.

If you are looking for an example of a good exit strategy, you can check out one of my favorites: My Favorite Exit Strategy

And of course, once you have your favorite exit strategy, I would suggest using the Forex Trading Troll to manage the open trade. Once you set the Troll up, you can walk away from the trade and avoid having your emotions come into play.  I’ve found this is the best tool to stick to your trading plan!

Click Here To Learn More About The Forex Trading Troll

When I had the Forex Trading Troll programmed, I wanted to be able to have 3 opportunities to scale of of trades (3 price targets) and 3 opportunities to move my stop loss (3 price levels).  I use some exit stategies that have 3 targets and I wanted the Troll to manage the trade for me without having to sit at the computer.  But what about exit strategies with less than 3 targets?

You can program the Forex Trading Troll to manage those trades as well!

Watch the short video below to make sure you set up the Troll correctly…

Click here to view the embedded video.

IMPORTANT POINTS:

For Partial Profits…

• Make sure the partial lots you program into the Troll equal the ORIGINAL lot size of the trade.
• If you are using less than 3 targets, set the remaining targets to 0.0 Lots… and a pip value HIGHER than the previous target!

For Stop Losses…

• If you are using less than 3 targets, set the remaining values HIGHER than previous targets.

As you can see, the Troll can be programmed using a lot of different exit strategies. You do not need to use 3 price targets or move your stops 3 times.  All you need to know is how to set up the Troll to do what you want with less than 3 targets.

I hope this video and post has helped.

Recently I purchased the Forex Mastery Home Study Course because it is one of the most complete courses out there.  It uses custom indicators, market scanner and important price levels (called Bias and Key levels) to identify low risk, high profit, high probablility trades.  And the great thing is, you can use the SAME system regardless of whether you are a scalper, day trader or position trader!

If you want to learn more about Forex Mastery, I’ve started a blog to document my experiences here: Forex Mastery University

OK… so what does this have to do with the Forex Trading Troll?

The Forex Mastery strategies use a scaling out and stop loss movement strategy that is a perfect match for the Trading Troll! To understand this, I am going to explain how many of the Forex Mastery students are executing this strategy… and then why I think the Troll is better (at least in my opinion).  But first…

Why Use 3 Take Profit Levels?

The explanation they give for using 3 take profit levels is one of the most straight forward and intelligent ways of showing the power of scaling out of trades.  Here is what each Take Profit level means…

Take Profit 1 – Builds Your Stop Loss Account. (This means you are putting money into your account at this level so you can take more trades in the future.  At this point you also bring your Stop Loss to Break Even +1, so even if price comes back and takes you out, you’ve already banked enough profit to fund your next trade.  Smart, huh?)

Take Profit 2 – Build Your Account Balance. (Since you are using proper money management principles in your trading (RIGHT?), you can only use about 2% of your account per trade.  So when you take profit out at level 2, you are building this account balance so you can use bigger lots in the future.  This means more profit per trade!)

Take Profit 3 – Builds Your Wealth And Cash Flow. (This is the best part.  When TP3 is hit, it can be used to increase your account balance or you can use this money from something in the real world.  You can treat yourself with these profits.  Isn’t that why you got into Forex trading in the first place?)

IMPORTANT: One of the greatest things about the Forex Mastery system is it teaches you how to turn even a scalping trade into what’s called a GRAVY TRAIN which can run for hundreds or thousands of pips. Imagine getting into a trade with a 18 pips stop loss where your Take Profit 3 target isn’t hit until it reaches into the hundreds.  Talk about excellent risk to reward ratio!

OK, now that you know why the Forex Master system uses 3 Take Profit levels, let’s talk about how most of the members are executing these trades.

Most of the students are using a script that they found on the Internet that when activated places 3 separate orders at the same time. Then they go in and modify the Stop Loss and Take Profit levels for each one to reflect the 3 TP levels.  Then, once the TP1 level is hit, they manually go in and change the Stop Loss on the remaining 2 positions to Break Even +1, eliminating risk and locking in at least 1 pip of profit on the last 2 positions.

Some problems that I’ve notice by the comments during the live trading sessions are as follows…

• Having trouble setting up the scripts.
• Orders are executed at different price levels.
• Or simply, the scripts don’t work.

And I would like to add…

• You have 3 separate orders for each 1 order you place… which can be confusing.
• And you have to manually enter the remaining 2 positions and set the Stop to break even +1 when TP1 is hit.

This is why I feel the Forex Trading Troll is better.

When I place a trade I place one order that is divisible by 3.  For example, 3 mini lots.  Then I set up the Troll to take profit at the appropriate take profit levels.  I also set up the Troll to tighten my stop when price goes in my favor a number of pips, move the the stop loss to BE+1 when take profit 1 is hit and lock in profit when price is between take profit 2 and take profit 3.

If the setup looks like it might turn into a Gravy Train, I set TP3 hundreds of pips away.  As the trade progresses I can keep going back and modifying the Troll to trail the stop and lock in profits.

For me, Using the Forex Trading Troll to manage my Forex Mastery trades is MUCH easier than trying to do it manually or using scripts. As a matter of fact, it is a perfect fit for the Forex Mastery trading system.

Click Here To Learn More About Forex Mastery

Click Here To Learn More About  The Forex Trading Troll

This is a question every trader that uses the Forex Trading Troll to manage their open trades on Metatrader4 needs to answer for themselves. But since I have more experience using this Forex trade manager than anyone else… I’d like to share my thoughts. (This is just my opinion… and I urge you to come up with your own trading plan and way to use the Trading Troll that fits your trading system, trading style and personality).

Let’s say you just placed a trade on the EURUSD short, and then you set up the Trading Troll to manage the trade.  You looked at the charts and set levels where you want the stop to be moved and where you want partial profits to be taken.  So, the trade is running and the Troll is set up to manage the trade. Now, you have two choices…

1. You can let the Trading Troll manage the trade… and what happens, happens.
2. Or, you can watch how the trade progresses… and them make adjustments to the settings in the Troll, or manually take action (micro-manage the trade).

Which course of action is best?

After using the Forex Trading Troll to manage my Forex trades for months now, I am starting to lean to the option of just letting the Troll manage the trade and what happens, happens. More often than not, I find myself misinterpreting price action and making modifications than work against me in the long run. Then I end up kicking myself and saying, “I should have just let the Troll manage the trade like I had originally programmed it”!

Here is the point…

I get into the market for a reason.  (Currently I am trading using what I’ve learned inside Strignano’s Forex Signals).  So, I enter the market for a reason and place my initial stop loss accordingly.  Now it is time to set up the Troll.  And I do that with reasons as well. I pick levels to move my stops and take partial profits according to what I see on the charts. These are not just random numbers I make up on the fly… there are reasons I set certain levels.

Now comes the hard part… letting the market “prove” or “disprove” what I programmed into the Troll.

More often than not, if I go back and make adjustments to my original setting, it is based on EMOTION, not REASON. Price starts to go against me and I freak out and make adjustments.  And that can be a real problem.  So, when I set the Troll up I do so with reason… and when I make adjustments it is normally with emotion.  And since I want my trades to be traded with reason and not emotion, I should just let the trade run and let the Troll manage the trade as originally programmed.

This is one of the hidden benefits of using the Forex Trading Troll!

You see, if you are trading a manual trading system that tells you when to get in, when to move stops, take profits, etc., then emotion should not enter into the trading.  You should NEVER deviate from the trading plan. But we as traders know that is easier said than done.  What happens if you just had a trade where you thought of getting out early, didn’t and the the market went against you?  You start saying to yourself, “I KNEW I should have gotten out when I had the chance!” Then on the next trade the same thing happens so you get out early… only to have the market move in the original direction.  Then you say, “I KNEW I should have let it run!”

The point is… you DON”T know. Nobody does.  That is why you are trading a system… not your hunches.  So, in order to be able to tell how well the SYSTEM performs you need to trade it EXACTLY.  Don’t change things on a whim.  Then if you think you can make improvements to the SYSTEM, make changes to the trading plan.  However, if you keep second guessing the system, there is no way to evaluate your trading plan.

I hope you see how important a point this is.  So, I’m thinking I should just trade the system by letting the Troll do all the trading once I set it up. Then I will be able to see how well my trading plan is working… without interference from my emotional whims. Very powerful knowledge to have… all made possible by using the Trading Troll.

Click Here To Learn More About The Forex Trading Troll

There are two key factors that keep coming up when trying to figure out how to be a consistently profitable Fore trader.  The Forex Trading Troll EA can help you with BOTH! Regardless of what manual Forex trading system you choose to use, there are a couple things you will hear over and again as keys to trading successfully…

Have A Plan

If you are following a manual Forex trading system… that is your plan.  It probably has entry signals and ways of managing the trade to exit targets.  Of course, there are many ways of managing the trade after it is placed when you take into account moving stops and taking partial profits. And obviously you’ll be looking for the strategy that is both the most profitable and the one that fits your trading style.

If you are not following a plan… you really need to start.  Don’t just place trades based on “feelings” or “emotions”.  That is the fastest way to get yourself into trouble and lose a lot of money.

Stick To The Plan

This is where most Forex traders run into trouble. While you might have a plan, sticking to it can be quite a challenge.  When emotions like fear and greed creep in, getting off your plan is very easy to do.  So, while some of you might say you have a plan, I believe very few of you are trading your plan accurately and consistently. And when you deviate from the plan… you really are not trading with a plan at all.

This is where the Forex Trading Troll can help!

First of all, if you are not currently trading with a plan, using the Trading Troll can help you develop one.  Many traders focus so much on ENTRY that they completely forget about managing the trade after it is place. You have a lot of options here (especially when you take into account moving stops and taking partial profits), and they should be explored.  More often than not, picking some arbitrary number of pips to go after is not the best course of action.

The Forex Trading Troll allows you to set levels where you want the stop loss to be moved and when to take out partial profits.  Then the Troll performs these actions whether you are watching the charts or not. So, if you plan to use the Troll to manage your trades, it forces you to come up with a trade management plan.  The process of coming up with this plan can lead to a lot more profit and more efficient trading.

Furthermore, and maybe more importantly, the Troll can help you stick to the plan. If you place the trade and make decisions about where to move stops and take partial profits… that is your plan for the trade.  If you do NOT want to deviate from the plan, just let the Troll manage the trade as programmed.  This will keep you from making decisions based on emotion and greed.

A lot of successful traders say a SUCCESSFUL trade is one where you stuck to your trading plan… regardless of whether you profited or not.

I think you’ll find using the Forex Trading Troll helps you both come up for a trade management plan and then stick to the plan.  These are important steps in your Forex trading journey. Steps that can ultimately lead to consistent and profitable Forex trading!

Learn More About The Forex Trading Troll

Since today was Friday, I set up the Forex Trading Troll to manage the trade I took a little different.  I wanted to be in and out of the market rather quickly because I didn’t want to be caught in a trade on Friday.  All in all, everything worked out rather well!

I’m not going to go into detail on WHY I got into the trade.  If you want to see why I entered the market when I did, check out this post: Head Fake Plus Trend Reactionary Numbers Equals Quick Friday Profits

Here is a snapshot of the trade I took on the EURUSD this morning…

• I took the entry because of a Head Fake set up off a Trend Reactionary Number (part of Strignano’s Forex Signals) with 3 positions
• My stop loss was 32 pips
• I set the Troll to take off 2 positions at 16 pips (at this point the trade was break even and could not lose)
• I aggressively set the Troll to move the stop loss up to 0 (locking in the profit) when price hit 25 pips
• I set the Troll to take the final position off at the Daily Range (BLUE line) because that could have served as support.

Like I said, I was more aggressive than normal with the setting of the Forex Trading Troll because it is Friday and I didn’t want to be stuck in a trade for hours or let it run over the weekend.  I had other price targets  for the final position of the trade, but decided to be conservative. Worked out pretty well with some nice profit!

Here is one of the hidden benefits of using the Forex Trading Troll…

It makes you be proactive!

There are a lot of Forex systems out there that focus almost exclusively on ENTRY.  Then, you might take profit at some arbitrary number, like 20 pips.  Why 20 pips? Nobody knows… just 20 pips.

When you place a trade and you use the Trading Troll to manage the trade, it forces you to think. If you buy into marketing hype, “thinking” is something bad in Forex trading.  A lot of these trading systems boast the fact that you DON’T have to think. But don’t fool yourself… thinking and reacting is part of being a successful Forex trader.

For example, when I placed the trade this morning I had to think about what I wanted to achieve.  Being Friday factored into the equation.  I also had to decide where I wanted to take profit and move my stops up.  This was done by looking at PRICE ACTION on the chart… not using some arbitrary numbers.  You see, using the Troll helped me get INVOLVED with the trading process… something that is part of being a real Forex trader.

I hope this gives you some ideas as to how using the Forex Trading Troll can help you become a better and more profitable Forex trader.

Any questions?  Leave a comment below…

As you know, I created the Forex Trading Troll to help me manage my manually placed Forex trades on Metatrader4.  This frees up my time to do other things important to me… like SLEEP! That is how I used this EA last night.

Looking at the charts last night I decided to take 3 trades.  I make my trading decisions based on what I’ve learned inside Strignano’s Forex Signals.  (Don’t get the wrong idea, this is more of a mentoring service than a signal service).

Here is a video of the trades…

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you can see, I used the Trading Troll on all three occasions to manage the trades after they were placed.  I set up the Troll to move the stop losses at levels I decided and take partial profits at levels I chose according the what I was seeing on the charts. Once everything is set up, I’m free to do what I want.  Since I didn’t want to stay up all night babysitting the trade… I left my computer on and connected to the Internet and went to sleep.

I very happy with 190 pips profit. Some of you reading this with the “glass is half empty” attitude might say I could have made more if I was watching the charts.  That may or may not be true.  Just because more profit was POSSIBLE on some of the trades… that does not mean I would have captured it even if I was looking at the charts.

One thing the Trading Troll helps me do is keep to my trading plan.  Last night I made a plan for each trade and programmed it into the Troll.  And the Troll kept me to my plan.  And in my book, sticking to your plan is a win.  (But it is better when your trades equal 190 pips of profit while I slept!)

In Forex, everything doesn’t turn out as planned.  That is why you need to be proactive and reduce risk or get into a “free” trade as soon as possible.  This is why I use the Forex Trading Troll to manage my trades.  I set levels where I want my stops to be moved and levels where I want partial profits to be taken out.  Let’s look at this example to understand better what I mean…

One of my favorite trades is to trade the bounce off Trend Reactionary Numbers. These “magic” levels are only available to Forex traders inside Strignano’s Forex Signals.  They are VERY important price points where price is draw to and reacts off of.  In this trade, I was looking for price to bounce off the Trend Reactionary Number and go short.  Here is a photo of the trade…

Trade Details:

• I placed a short trade with the intention of playing the bounce off the Trend Reactionary Number (Orange Line)
• I placed my stop loss above the upper TRN (Orange Line)
• I set up the Trading Troll to move my stop loss to reduce risk, eliminate risk and lock in profit.
• I set up the Trading Troll to take partial profits at 3 price levels (In a perfect world, price would run down to the next TRN [not shown] and I planned to take profits at 36 pips, 85 pips and 113 pips

Here is what happened…

• Price moved 15 pips in my favor and the Troll moved my stop loss to -15 (15 pips of risk)
• Price moved 30 pips in my favor and the Troll moved my stop loss to 0 (breakeven)
• 1st price target was hit at 36 pips
• Price went against me and stopped me out at breakeven (boo)

So, all in all, a winning trade.

My first goal using the Forex Trading Troll is to get into a free trade as soon as possible.  Then I want to lock in some profit.  Then no matter what happens… I can’t lose.  This is a perfect example of this.

Hey, I don’t need to tell you that every trade doesn’t work out exactly as planned.  That is why I am proactive and have the Troll manage my trade by moving the stop loss and taking partial profits. And while sometimes you might get stopped out at breakeven or for a small profit… it is a lot better than losing money!

This time I was aggressive with moving my stops up, which might have prematurely gotten me stopped out.  There is another strategy I’m going to be testing where I us the take profit option to get me in a “free” trade and I keep my stop loss in the original position. This might have worked out better in this case.

However, this was still a winning trade… and that is what really matters!

Go to Forex Trading Troll to learn more about this Forex trade manager.

Go to Strignano Forex Trading to learn more about this Forex service and Trend Reactionary Numbers

I just wanted to write a quick post today about something that might help your Forex trading immensely.  It is about getting into “free” Forex trades as soon as possible. And frankly, this should be your number 1 goal every time you trade!

But I need to make one thing clear…

EVERY time you place a Forex trade you put some of your money at risk.  There is just no way around that.  There is risk involved and you have to put some money at risk in order to reap the rewards.  So in that respect, there is no such thing as a “free” Forex trade.

But just because there is risk doesn’t mean you can’t be smart about how you trade and be proactive to reduce that risk, eliminate the risk and lock in profit as soon as possible. Just don’t place a trade and throw your hands up in the air and hope for the best.  There are things you can do to make your trading less risky and more profitable… if you do them.

Here is one of the biggest problems…

Most of you reading this are no strangers to Forex systems.  There are a lot of them out there.  But the problem to me has always been they were focused on ENTRY signals or identifying when to get into the market.  They focus on when to get in and the win rate of following the system.  And then they say something like, “And make sure to follow solid money management rules.” And even when you do find a system that talks about money management  they tend to focus on how to determine the proper lot size to use with your account… and say nothing about what to do AFTER you place the trade!

It is what you do after the trade has been placed that can get you into a “free” trade!

Let’s suppose you BUY a currency and place your stop loss 30 pips away.  Then what do you do?  Do you just sit there and wait to see what happens?  NO! You should have a plan to reduce risk and get into a risk free trade as soon as possible.  This should be your first goal… even before making profit.

When you first place your trade, you have money at risk.  You should strive to get your money OUT of risk as soon as possible. You can do that any number of ways (I’ll be exploring a lot of strategies here on this blog), such as move your stop loss up, take out partial profits or a combination of both.  What a great feeling it is to be in a trade where you can PROFIT… and have no way to lose.

This is why I created the Forex Trading Troll.  After I place a trade, I need to manage it.  By this I mean determine levels where I want to move my stop loss up and take partial profits.  I don’t just sit back and wait to see what happens.  I have a plan, and use the Trading Troll to help me carry out the plan.

So, I want you to give this some thought… “What are you doing to get into a “free” trade as soon as possible?

If you said nothing, I suggest you reevaluate your Forex trading plan.

And even if you do have a plan… how accurate are you at executing it?

Many times I’ve determined levels I want to move my stop loss up to reduce or eliminate risk and I missed it because I was away from my computer, looking at another chart or distracted in some way.  So, even though I have a plan, I wasn’t executing it accurately. That is why I use the Troll to carry out my trade management plan.  No more missed opportunities to get into a “free” trade!

Think about it…

Welcome Forex Trading Troll users,

The Forex Trading Troll can even manage your pending orders if they get hit.  Let’s say you set a pending order to trigger at a specific price.  You can then set the Troll up to manage the trade by taking partial profits and moving your stop loss.  If the order gets triggered, the Troll will start managing the trade according to the settings you set.

Here is a quick video to show you what I’m talking about…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Written Instructions

• Set up your pending order in Metatrader4 with price to Buy or Sell and Stop Loss
• Set up the Troll to take partial profits and move your stop loss at the levels you decide

That’s it.  If your order gets triggered, the Troll jumps into action!

This is great for those Forex traders using a system where they place Limit or Stop orders to get into the market.  You can set everything up, and then go about your business and the Troll will manage the trade if you get into the market.  Now you don’t even have to be there to set up the Troll after you place the order… you can set everything up beforehand.