Over-optimising the entry by one tick

[Fairman]

Over-optimising the entry by one tick

A setup is valid. The price is right there. But a trader waits for a slightly better entry, one tick lower, maybe two. The market moves away, and the trade is missed.

It is a classic perfectionist trap. The difference between the actual and ideal entry is tiny compared with the profit at stake, yet the desire for a perfect price blocks the trade.

Scalpers feel it keenly because every fraction of a pip is a visible share of the target. Waiting seems rational until the pattern shows up in the log: the missed trades are the winners, and the filled limit orders are disproportionately losers.

That is partly adverse selection. A limit order fills when price comes back, which often means the setup is failing. A market order fills immediately, in setups that are working.

The log can answer the question. Compare the results of trades taken at market with those taken on better-price limits, including the ones that never filled.

A rule that cuts through it: if the setup is valid at the market price and the cost of waiting is more than a quarter of the target, take the market price.

Has the quest for a better entry cost more than it saved?