The Tenth Cardinal Mistake:
FAILURE TO REMOVE PROFITS FROM
YOUR ACCOUNTIt is almost a natural law that the commodities markets over a given period of time will allow you to make only so much money and then you are going to have to start giving some back. Yet, probably no more than 1% of all commodities traders I know have a rule to take profits out of their account. (But, they never fail to put money into their accounts as they meet margin calls.) Almost always, they leave profits in their accounts and go for the "big trade" - the one that will give them a real "killing" - and usually kills their profits.
This can be overcome by predetermining an equity level at which you remove profits from your account.
When you make profits in the commodities markets, take some money out and put it somewhere else. The commodities markets are not a cornucopia. You, as all commodity traders, will move in cycles. You will make some, lose some, make some, lose some. By taking money out of your account when you are profitable, you will not make the mistake of losing larger amounts of money when your down cycle begins.Next: The Eleventh Cardinal Mistake: Changing Your Strategy During Market Hours