Some of the best trading advice I ever got was to trade around a core. My old trading Elliot Wave teacher many moons ago said he trades in tranches of 3. Some of my most successful trades have been doing that. Sometimes you sell an early profit, let 2 tranches ride, sell a second one at a secondary target, it dips, you were still holding a third tranche, you reloaded on the dip with the cash from the two you cashed out... just keep that ball rolling. Trading around a core can work beautifully, especially in the stock market where its only open for parts of the day, being able to swing options positions around on the gap downs and gap ups from futures movements can really help you better than selling all or holding all.