The Exit Rule That Stops You From Chasing 1 Last Percent
🚨 Profit Panel is live at 9:30 a.m. ET🚨
Ready for Friday’s session? I’m breaking out my scanners to hunt today’s best trades, giving out my daily watchlist, and evaluating which swing setups are worth holding into next week [tap to join us for Profit Panel]
People ask me all the time: What’s your profit target on trades?
Here’s the truth — I don’t set percentage-based targets on options. And I think you shouldn’t either.
The reason is simple. If you tell yourself you want 100% on an option, you’ll probably hold past 96% waiting for that last few percent. Then the market turns and suddenly you’re sitting at 20%. That’s the emotional trap percentages create, and it’s exactly why I avoid them.
I walked through this on a recent show because it’s one of the most common mistakes I see — and one of the easiest to fix. The fix isn’t to guess at a better percentage. It’s to stop using percentages altogether and let the chart tell you when to exit.
Let the Chart Set Your Exit
Instead of profit percentages, I use price levels on the chart to manage trades. That way, my decision isn’t emotional — it’s structural.
These levels aren’t random. I build them by looking at three things working together: price action, volume shelves and, when relevant, options flow.
For example, if a stock has a clear support shelf created by heavy volume at a certain level, that becomes a meaningful line in the sand. Price structure sets the level, volume confirms it and market flows often reinforce it.
When all three line up, that level deserves respect. Combining option flows with chart structure makes the chosen exit levels far more powerful than using either alone.
Take a stock consolidating around $50 as an example. If you see a cluster of put open interest and a strong volume node sitting right at $45, that $45 level becomes your absolute line in the sand.
That number isn’t chosen just because it looks round — multiple structural cues point right at it:
Price action marks historical support and resistance.
Volume profile confirms where big money accumulated.
Option flow validates where market makers and buyers are positioned.
Your P&L doesn’t matter if the chart no longer supports the trade. Don’t worry about the specific winner percentage on your option. Worry about whether price is still respecting the structure that justified your entry.
A Simple Rule You Can Copy
Here’s the rhythm I stick to: Before I enter any trade, I mark the price level that would prove me wrong. Not a percentage. A price.
Above that level at the close? I stay in.
Close below that level? I’m out — no second-guessing, no hoping for a bounce.
Because when you start hoping, that’s when you say things like “I’ll exit at 100%,” skip your exit at 96% and then watch your position collapse to 20%. Price-level exits shut that down.
This approach is especially clean on Friday expirations because the clock forces the decision. Either the level holds or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, you cut and move on.
Mark your line. Respect your line. Let the chart do the rest.
To better trading,
Alex Reid
WealthPin
Follow along and join the conversation for real-time analysis, trade ideas, market insights and more!
- Telegram: https://t.me/+MKMN30kDmVkwMDdh
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@heywealthpin
Important Note: No one from the WealthPin team will ever contact you directly on Telegram.
*This is for informational and educational purposes only. There is inherent risk in trading, so trade at your own risk.
P.S. Want Free Access To Oracle?
Insiders have moved their sneaky bets to the prediction markets…
Oracle helps track those bets and finds the stocks that could explode because of them!
Disclaimer: The trades expressed are based on signals from Oracle in real time. While we have been using this tool with great success in our own trading including an 85.57% win rate, a 28% average return of winners and losers over a 4-day average hold time, and a profit factor of 5.94 on real money trades between 5/7/26 and 7/17/26, there’s bound to be winners and losers along the way. Since Oracle is a tool for traders and not a trading service, profits and performance will vary among users. Trade at your own risk. See our Terms on the homepage for more information.