Taking Profits: Should You Take Partials or Let it Run?

As you evolve as a trader, you’ll cross several important hurdles.

First, you develop an edge — your philosophy and framework for understanding the markets.
Next, you determine where to place your stop loss — defining your risk.
Finally, you refine how you take profits — defining your reward.

These three components — entry, risk, and reward — collectively form your trading strategy. And when it comes to reward, one of the biggest debates is:

Should you take partial profits… or not?


What Does Taking Partial Profits Mean?


Imagine you enter a trade targeting a 1:5 risk-to-reward (RR) ratio.

As price moves in your favor and reaches 1:3 RR, you close a portion of your position — securing some gains — while leaving the remaining volume to run toward your original 1:5 target.

By reducing your position size mid-trade, you are taking partials.

It sounds simple. But the philosophy behind it is where things get interesting.


Five Profit - Taking Models


Traders generally fall into one of these categories:

Model 1: Set and Forget

You set a fixed RR (2:1, 3:1, 5:1, etc.) and allow the price to either hit your stop loss or your target.

No adjustments. No management.

The pschology: The less trade management, the better. You want to avoid the temptation to tinker with your trade and let your edge play out as intended.

Model 2: Fixed Target + Breakeven

You set a fixed target but move your stop to breakeven once price reaches a certain level (e.g., 1:2 or 1:3 RR, or 30–50% toward target).

Once at breakeven (factoring in spreads and commissions), the trade becomes risk-free.
The psychology: Minimal trade management, if you can avoid a loss do that when the opportunity presents itself.

Model 3: Breakeven + Partial Profits

Here, traders:

  • Move to breakeven at a predefined level.
  • Take partial profits (10%, 20%, 30%, etc.) of the volume at specific RR milestones.
  • Let the remaining volume run to the final target.
The psychology: Active trade management, avoid loss as much as possible and get some profits while doing so.

Model 4: Locking Profits Without Reducing Size

These traders:

  • Move to breakeven
  • Then trail their stop to progressively lock in profits.
  • Do not remove volume.
  • If the trade reverses, the stop captures gains.
  • If it reaches target, they capture the full RR.
The psychology: Unlike Model 3, they maintain full size until stopped out. They prefer to let profits run while ensuring they don’t give back gains.

Model 5: The Inconsistent Switcher

This trader jumps between Models 1, 2, 3 and 4 depending on recent outcomes.

- One week: full targets.
- Next week: partials.
- After a few losses: aggressive trailing stops.

Then they wonder why performance is erratic.

If this is you, the issue isn’t your strategy — it’s your inconsistency.

The psychology: Based on the trade at hand, the recent wins and losses. They let emotions dictate their management style, which leads to unpredictable results.


Techniques to Improve Profit Taking


Psychology of Taking Partials

Your reason for taking partials matters more than the act itself.

Taking partials out of fear

  • “What if it reverses?”
  • “Let me secure something before I lose it.”

This signals a lack of trust in your system.

If you don’t trust your edge, partials won’t fix the problem — they’ll mask it.

Taking partials strategically

  • “At 1:3 RR, statistically, this move has achieved a reasonable expansion.”
  • “Rewarding the system here aligns with my tested data.”

This is intentional, data-driven behavior. The key is consistency:

  • Same level.
  • Same percentage.
  • Same conditions.
Without consistency, your long-term expectancy becomes distorted.


Profit Builds Momentum

Some traders prefer:

  • Small, consistent gains.
  • Moderate RR targets (1:3 or 1:4).
  • Frequent wins.
Others prefer:
  • Larger RR targets (1:5+).
  • Fewer wins.
  • Larger individual payoffs.
Neither is superior.

But understand this: A trader who has won 3–5 consecutive trades typically carries more confidence into the next setup than someone who has lost several in a row.

Confidence compounds.
Momentum compounds.
Execution improves when belief is intact.

If taking partials:
  • Builds confidence,
  • Reduces psychological pressure,
  • And keeps you consistent,
Then it may improve your overall performance — even if it slightly reduces theoretical maximum RR.


Let Your Data Dictate The Answer

Many traders guess which profit-taking method works.

They:

  • Don’t collect performance data.
  • Don’t simulate alternatives.
  • Switch approaches after short-term variance.
Instead:

  • Backtest your system.
  • Forward test in simulation.
  • Compare:
    • Full target only.
    • Breakeven model.
    • Partial profit model.
    • Trailing stop model.
Measure:

  • Win rate
  • Average RR
  • Expectancy
  • Maximum drawdown
  • Psychological comfort

Be careful to avoid data-mining bias i.e. overfitting to simulation data. Your goal is not to curve-fit but to understand your system’s natural and repeatable behavior.

Your optimal profit-taking model is already hidden in your data.


Conclusion: There Is No Universal Answer


Taking partial profits is neither inherently right nor wrong. What truly matters is whether the approach aligns with your trading edge, improves your consistency, and is supported by your data. You must also be able to execute it the same way every time. If you perform better taking partial profits, then incorporate them into your system. If your strategy works best by allowing full positions to run to target, then stick with that. The real mistake traders make is inconsistency. Design a model that fits your strategy, test it thoroughly, commit to it, and allow the law of large numbers to work in your favor. In trading, clarity beats complexity—and consistency beats everything.