Ok PB................finally found some time to answer.
Front and centre is your quote..........." how to get out as close as possible to the top which I admit I rarely do."......PB
Probably the best idea is to forget trying to get out at the top (or close to), and for that matter, getting in at the exact bottom. For a trader, the trend in the middle can offer plenty of trades without the almost impossible task of getting in at the bottom and out at the top and the angst and worry of trying to do so. If you follow some social media posts you could be forgiven for thinking that picking the tops and bottoms is easy.......it's not......and hindsight plays a big role for those posters who try and outdo each other with such posts. As there are very few real traders, there are very few that can see through these kind of posts. So the myth exists that picking tops and bottoms is the only way to trade and as a result so much wasted effort goes towards this.
In my view, a far, far better approach is to simply record each trade, the reason you entered, the reason you exited, the profit (loss) from the trade and add all those profits and losses up to give you an overall return % wise each year. And then it becomes a simple matter of trying to improve (increase) them as time goes on. It takes all the pressure off worrying about one single trade, that so many here seem to do, and puts the emphasis on having a successful system, which is what you really need to survive and prosper.
Another huge misnomer in the social media world is the idea that trading is not successful. Whilst it is 't easy and takes a lot hard work to trade, and not many can do it, those kind of comments are usually made by those that haven't tried it (or can't do it). Usually the big players, which, because of the size of their portfolios, don't have the luxury of being nimble, like us. Most of the mainstream commentary is directed at investors, not traders, as most funds and media commentaters don't have a clue as to how it's done. Try and keep your own counsel and work out what works for you. It's the only way. If you do get good, you may soon not worry about what the DOW does day after day, and simply just keep an eye on your own stocks. You can't control the DOW or the XJO, so why worry............the only thing you can control is the computer mouse to buy, hold or sell...................concentrate on that.
(20min delay)