Different strategies of setting a Target ProfitSetting a Target Profit is an inalienable part of every individual's trading strategy, and each trader has his own plan and tactic of integrating a Target Profit into his or her trading style. While there are different ways and types of setting up a Target Profit, we are gonna go through four common and most well-known ones.
1. Key zones
Setting a TP at a crucial zone of support or resistance is a strategy used mainly by swing traders. If the market is ranging, buying a security at the lower barrier of the rectangular box and aiming for the upper barrier of it and vice versa is commonly implemented in the market by middle or long-term speculators.
2. Risk-to-reward
This technique is mostly utilised by day traders and it implies setting a fixed risk-to-reward ratio for every trade and use the "set and forget" logic. On the illustration on the top right graph, it can be inferred that even thought the price has more potential to drop to the downside, a fixed RR of 1:3 has been set.
3. Logic and intuition
The more you trade, the more experience you gain. After some time on the markets, you will easily spot some patterns and price movements in advance, without being in need to have more confluences than usual. On the 3rd chart, we can observe that the price is forming a "Triple Bottom" pattern on the 50% Fibonacci retracement level. Our intuition tells us that after some consolidations, an impulsive move should take place, and there is a high possibility for the price to keep rising and reach the zone of the Higher High illustrated on the graph.
4. Open Target
Lastly, there is a group of traders that prefers having an open Target Profit and letting their trades run for weeks or even months. This tactic is commonly used by position traders, where they set a Stop Loss, but leave their Target Profit open, making it possible for them to hold a transaction open for long periods of time.
Targetprofit
The Art of setting a Target ProfitHey, wizards!
Happy 2022 and welcome on the first Educational Post by Investroy for the new year. Today we are gonna be talking about different ways of setting a Target Profit (TP), and scrutinizing the benefits and drawbacks of each. Though there are many ways to set targets, as it varies depending on ones trading plan and strategy, here are 3 of the most popular ways of placing a TP.
1)Confluence based
Reading the chart and analyzing different timeframes of a certain security, we can use different confluences to spot potential zones of price reversals. On the graphical illustration demonstrated on the chart, we can observe that a rectangular range has been formed and the price is sitting at the lower boundary, in other words at the crucial zone of support. It is highly likely that traders will start going long on this setup and anticipate for the price to keep rising and reach the area of resistance. On the other hand, it is never 100% sure that the price will be able to bounce off the local zone of demand, and therefore risk management should be strictly followed.
2)Risk-to-Reward based (Fixed)
The other name of this method is “set and forget”. One group of traders prefers to follow same risk-to-reward ratios for all positions opened (For ex. 1:2 or 1:3 fixed). Another group favors setting different RR ratios for different trades and let the positions run until they hit TP. All in all, the technique implies setting a certain RR Target Profit and letting trades run. On the figure displayed on the screen, it can be inferred that the sentiment of the market is clearly bullish and the price is expected to keep rising. One of the disadvantages would be the following: sometimes due to greed, traders set their targets too high and the price results in not reaching the intended TP.
3)Intuition/Logic based
As strange as it may sound, there is actually a number of traders implementing this approach when setting a Target Profit. Moreover, it requires experience to sense where the market is about to move. As illustrated and interpreted on the graph, the market repeats historical actions from time to time. Experienced investors tend to notice some specific patterns and make decisions out of it.