Between you and me:
When I get the time I update the table showing the results of various exits strategies vs the exits I've actually done. There's a lot more work to do to get it up to date but I came upon this set of results that stunned me. I know I've missed out on a lot of profit on certain trades but I didn't realise I'd missed this one.
This was a trade in ALL, a larger priced stock that I like to trade in order to grab quick profits to keep the growth ticking upwards. ALL went up with the market and I grabbed the +1.1R when it opened higher than my limit order. This trade is similar to what I'm currently doing with the trades in ANN, MMS, CTD, MND (grabbing a few R's while the market is rallying).
However, the demand for ALL was a lot stronger than the market and price continued to rise, even when the index dipped. The 2xATR(21) EXIT strategy earned +3.4R and the 3xATR(21) earned a lot more (+7.6R). At the time, an R unit was ~$800.
I don't worry if the price goes higher after I sell so long as the sell was planned. However, I don't like that I took my eyes off the ALL chart and didn't re-buy any of the subsequent BO-NHs. Clearly ALL was stronger than the index (RSC(XAO) in top pane).
My TP has a re-entry rule that I overlooked on this occasion and the opportunities were missed.
Discretionary exits may save $00's but mistakes can cost $000's.