Pre committing with limit orders so I can't hesitate at the trigger

[Fairman]

Pre committing with limit orders so I can't hesitate at the trigger

I have a habit of seeing a good setup, waiting for the entry, and then freezing when it arrives. I'd think about it a second too long and miss it, or I'd hesitate and take it later at a worse price. Then I'd feel annoyed and take a bad one to compensate.

What helped was pre committing with limit orders. When the setup is clear in advance, like a retest of a level I've marked, I place the limit order with the stop and target attached before price gets there. Then I walk away or do something else. If it fills, great. If not, nothing happened.

The decision is made when I'm calm and looking at the whole picture, not in the heat of the moment when price is moving. I also found that I'm less likely to cancel or move it, because I have to make a conscious effort to do so.

It doesn't work for every setup, since some need confirmation from the candle close. But where I can use it, it removes a lot of the emotional part. I still check the order is valid before the news and around session changes.

[Fairman]

I do this a lot for retests. The order goes in with the stop and target attached, and then I set an alert to tell me if it fills. The thing I had to learn was not to look at the chart every minute while the order sits there, because watching price approach my level made me want to cancel it. Walking away is part of the method. If I cannot walk away, I am not really pre committing, I am just placing an order I will probably interfere with.

[Fairman]

One caveat I would add: before news, I always cancel pending limits unless the plan specifically includes the release. A limit that fills during a spike can fill at a terrible moment and the stop may slip. Also, check the order is still valid when the session changes. A level that made sense in London might be meaningless by the afternoon. I treat pending orders as having a shelf life and cancel them when the reason for them has gone.