A few days ago I almost blew my demo account to ZERO because of two problems I’m dealing with right now:

1. I don’t know how to set my take profit properly.
I usually set my stop loss 1000+ points below my entry (I use the EG Money Management Indicator), which normally works and helps avoid premature stops. But I still don’t know how to define a good take-profit level. Many times price reaches good profit levels but not exactly where I expected my take profit to be, and I end up not closing. Often the trade goes into profit first and then reverses and hits my stop loss anyway — sometimes even after moving strongly in my favor.

2. I sometimes ignore my own rules.
One of my rules is: if I realize I entered at the wrong time or in the wrong direction, I should close the position immediately to avoid a bigger loss. But what actually happens? When price gets close to my stop loss, I move it further away, hoping the market will turn back in my favor — which usually makes things worse.

Because of these two issues, last Saturday (31.01.2026) I nearly wiped out my demo account on a BTCUSDm buy position.

NB: I USE - MT5 XARD - Simple Trend Following Trading System
But removed it so you guys can see where i bought and where I had to remove my position.

I’ve been trying for a long time to understand how the market works and turn it into a source of income, but unfortunately I’ve been on and off since 2017, often quitting halfway through the journey. Time doesn’t forgive — it flies — and I don’t want to look back in the near future with regret for not dedicating myself enough to overcome my own limits and weaknesses. If others can learn it and make a living from it, why can’t I? See you in the next post.

3. Lack of market understanding

Another problem is that I rely too heavily on the XARD system. From what I’ve read here, that can be risky because the semafor indicator repaints, and without proper market reading it can lead to major problems. Right now I’m considering opening a SELL position (DE30m 03.02.2026) based on what the chart shows, but if the indicator repaints, I could end up in serious trouble. Because of that, I’ve decided to focus more on studying technical analysis so I can better understand how the XARD Universe system works, instead of just opening trades whenever the semafors change or give a signal.

Correct. If your sat nav is telling you to drive off a cliff what do you do?

The largest of the signal dots and arrows are an indication only that price may have turned, they will keep repainting until no longer proved incorrect by which time you might have made many losing entries.

Concentrating on the largest signals means your are trying to pick tops and bottoms and that is a very difficult strategy to master but can be done, just not that way.

Top and bottom picking is done by using larger time frame support and resistance levels and putting a small bet on a reversal with a tightish stop loss, expect a low success rate but the key is the tight stop if wrong and the plan is to follow and good entry for as long as possible adding all the way, low expectancy, low risk but high return when you get it right.

Which is not XARD, his system is encouraging a trend following strategy which is the only real way forward for beginners. Trying to get in on a trend at a pullback. That's it, so if there is no real obvious trend then stand aside until there is. Random signals when price is consolidating rather than trending need to be ignored which is why one of the basic rules was to wait until the second small dot with price obviously moving in an upward or downward for entries.

rei wrote: Tue Feb 03, 2026 10:15 pm 3. Lack of market understanding

Another problem is that I rely too heavily on the XARD system. From what I’ve read here, that can be risky because the semafor indicator repaints, and without proper market reading it can lead to major problems. Right now I’m considering opening a SELL position (DE30m 03.02.2026) based on what the chart shows, but if the indicator repaints, I could end up in serious trouble. Because of that, I’ve decided to focus more on studying technical analysis so I can better understand how the XARD Universe system works, instead of just opening trades whenever the semafors change or give a signal.

Santa Maria! Is anyone even profitable with this system without changing all the colors and signals? Pack that "system" in a nice box and put it somewhere you won't see every day. Then, browse this forum and learn the classic indicators: ADX (the original) and TDI. You won't need anything else, trust me. Add Oracle for extra peace of mind. ADX will show you the real trend and direction and TDI will help with your take profit. Good luck.