what in the world are you talking about. I dont care how you rationalize it with poker comparisons, cftc quotes, you dont need 100k for 1 ct. Hell if strictly trading futs you can do very well with 100k acct. It sounds to me you need to improve your edge or its reliability. You mentioned for traders to add more money to thier acct to control emotions?!?!?,, WTF? ,,, THe goal in this game is to take money from your account as needed, not add money as some type of emotional stop loss mumbo jumbo. Good luck buddy, EF
Yes exactly. Without a calculated defined risk and reward for each trade we would be gambling. As to the size of the account, it should be sufficient to cover the style of trading plus a bit.
Exactly. The best trades tend to work out almost immediately. The rest are not worth the financial and emotional strain. Of course, there is the small matter of timing. It goes without saying that the better you time your trade, the smaller the required protective stop, all else being equal.
Exactly, but backwards on all counts. Not incorporating structure, and adding to your account to hold on to a losing position is the best way for the market to control your mind.
Can anyone recommend some good reading material on adding stops? or maybe on using/not using stops? Thanks.
Here are two articles that describe how stocks hurt mean reversion strategies, particularly strategies that hold overnight: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/etfs/commentary/best-of-the-battle-plan-stops-hurt-951402.html http://epchan.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-interview-stop-loss-and-principle-of.html
What EMG is trying to say is.... a) He does not know how to enter, so he enters with extreme underleverage and b) He does not know how to lose so he thinks every trade must be a winning trade for him to have positive expectancy That's pretty much the bottomline.
There is a no-stop, always-in system using 2 MA crossover. Curtis Faith talks about it in his book "Way of the Turtle."