ANDREW GIOVINAZZI
November 19th, 2025
Hey there, Andrew here.
I asked my room what’s harder – getting into your trade or getting out.
The answer was unanimous: “Getting out. Much, much, much harder.”
After 35 years of trading and 15 years as a market maker, I can tell you this is the one thing that separates profitable traders from everyone else.
The Entry Obsession
Most traders spend hours hunting for the perfect entry. They’ve got indicators, patterns, alerts – the whole nine yards.
Getting in? That’s the easy part.
You see your setup, you pull the trigger, you’re in.
But then what?
Where Fortunes Are Lost
Here’s what I see happen over and over:
The trade moves in your favor. You’re up 25%. You start thinking about how much more you could make.
Then it gives back half those profits.
What do you do?
Most traders hold on. They want to be right about their original thesis. They want that full move.
Big mistake.
My Simple Rule
When I’m up 25% and the trade gives back half those profits, I’m out.
No exceptions.
The market is telling me it doesn’t want to keep going in that direction. I listen.
The Current Market Reality
Take what we’re seeing right now. I’ve got trades that should be paying with VIX at 24. But the market won’t cooperate.
I closed a SPY put spread for a modest gain. Could it have gone lower? Maybe.
But once something’s up money in this market, you mark it to close.
The Psychology Problem
Here’s the thing – we all want to be right about market direction.
I used to be the same way. Market maker habits die hard. I’d watch options decay to zero thinking I knew better.
But profitable trading isn’t about being right. It’s about taking money when the market gives it to you.
What Getting Out Actually Means
Getting out isn’t just closing positions. It’s:
- Taking profits when you have them
- Cutting losses before they get ugly
- Reading when momentum shifts
- Accepting that you don’t control the market
The 35-Year Lesson
You can have the best entry system in the world. But if you can’t exit properly, you’ll give it all back.
I’ve seen brilliant traders blow up accounts not because they couldn’t find good trades, but because they couldn’t close them.
The market gives you windows. Small ones. Sometimes just minutes or hours.
If you’re waiting for the “perfect” exit, you’ll miss them all.
The Bottom Line
Master your entries to get in the game.
Master your exits to stay in the game.
Speaking of staying in the game…
Option Pit is giving away $250,000 in matching funds right now – whatever you spend on upgrading or extending your membership, we’ll match it. Want the full details?
– Andrew “Taking Profits” Giovinazzi