I'm getting a LOT of questions on stops. ie "Anek, what kind of stops do you use". Here is the answer to one PM I just replied to, figure it can help some of my friends so posting it here. ........... Notice how I use stochastic crossing for entries. I feel that the stop should be large enough to handle noise and not much else. Since you are using the SIM I will let you be the judge of this. It's very dependent on the type of trader, the better your aim/precision the smaller your stop will get in time. Start with 12-15 and adjust accordingly. No need to rush, polish those skills. Good to hear from you. .............. Bottomline is that as you get more experienced your entries will be more optimal. For now, stay on the sim and you be the judge of what your entries require. You need just enough to handle noise, anything else and it's prob not the type of trade you should be taking. Aside from recognizing the current trend or lack of this is probably the most critical area of my method. Unfortunately, it is extremely dependent on entry and the trader. Use sim to take statistics. For instance.... - What do the good trades usually need based on my entries ? - Will a bigger stop had made this losing trade a winning one ? Is it worth it based on my targets ? Will I be deviating from the initial premise to take the trade ? You need to ask yourself these questions and take notes. Very important. I will rather pass on a trade that requires a big stop than take it. As a last resort, minimal car size then. In the end, if you miss it, so be it, odds are that the next day, market is there waiting for you to try again It's a risk management game. Anek
AHG tough today... 2/5 on the DIA +.21. Could've done better if I had tried to really scalp, but instead I tried to ride the microtrends and would end up getting stopped. Oh well, at least it was a positive day in a choppy market. Tyler
Trades for 08-02-07 Tough day, chop land until the later afternoon. Moves were not as strong as yesterday, except late afternoon. If you broke even, had small losses or small wins today, give yourself an applause. If you made money, you are getting it and I'm proud of you. Means you are trading with caution and taking only what should be taken, or most of it. Longs 1st Winner 2nd Winner 3rd Loser full stop 4th BE 5th Winner 6th Loser full stop, bad stop fill too! 7th Grand slam ! 8th BE Shorts 1st Winner 2nd BE 3rd The one i forgot to mark with the vertical line, full stop 4th Winner 5th BE 6th Winner 7th Winner 8th Winner 9th Full stop Total 9 Winners 4 Losers 4 BE, due to commissions I will count as 1 full Loser ...so 9 Winners and 5 Losers Circles identify chop evidence. Funny how yesterday I spoke so much about the chop, i guess I was expecting it after so many strong move days. Exercise for today, work on spotting the chop on today's chart, yes, again Hint of the day: Study stoch crosses with the trend, check my entries It's a good indicator, fast too, just need to know WHEN to take those crosses. They don't always help, obviously. Real tough day unless you had full focus of those highs and lows. Anek
Guys and Gals, I would like to talk about Winners and Losers. There are only five possible outcomes in trading. 1-)Big Losses 2-)Small losses 3-)Big Winners 4-)Small Winners 5-)Break even Stay away from the first one and the rest will EMBRACE you. When the system fails to produce profits it is probably because the market had no direction and nothing but reversals. When this happens you WILL have a losing day even if following the system. We have yet to see this but when it comes I will most likely post a losing day. However, it will most likely fall in the small losses category and that is what is all about. Remember.... If there are no 2 higher lows and no 2 higher highs, it's not an uptrend. If there are no 2 lower lows and 2 lower highs, it's not a downtrend. Don't anticipate (yet), stick to the plan. Stay with the plan, work on those skills, this is good stuff. Those that has seen me trade live know what I can do. This is most of what I do, nothing else, no magic, no tricks. And last but not least, I'm giving you the tools, the samples, the manual on how to do it. Stay disciplined, practice, and help me make a great thing better. Let me see you work on those skills, show me that you can do it, I ask for nothing else in return. Anek
Thanks Anek for the continued motivation and info, hugely appreciated. As a note I have been trading with a completely blank chart accept for price bars and heiken bars. I will draw in fibs and trendlines at times but that is it, zero indicators. Do you recommend putting on the stoch and using that for entries or if I am breakeven / winning small for right now then try and learn with price only ? Cheers, Ray
Razor, I recommend that you find one and only one tool to help you find optimal entries. It is IMPERATIVE that you keep it simple or you will lose focus. I use stochastic crosses when I feel a trend has been determined with an opportunity to enter with low risk. You can clearly see this on my charts, on most anyway. I use Heikin Ashi to adjust my trailing stops/targets or otherwise known as riding the winners. I use trendlines to gauge the big picture and Fibonacci for prediction. As it is now, I don't recommend much else. However, if any reader has found a tool to enhance the system by all means, share it and I will promise to test it. If it helps I will not only thank you but will use it and recommend it. Anek
Ok this question merits it's own post. How do you feel about averaging down ? I feel it's the devil, and you should never ever do it. It's a recipe for disaster and I recommend everyone following my system to stay as far away from it as you possibly can. Hope I'm 100% clear on this. Anek