Unless one is automated, all trades are discretionary. One can elect to not take a setup. If by “discretionary” you mean trading without a tested trade plan with defined rules, ie improvising as you go along, then that is a dangerous road to go down.
%% IT did both today nicely. ]Fed day] To avoid whipsaw stop trading or stop trading so much. AS far as trading derivatives i make 200% sure i never get a margin call or forced sell or buy
I suppose I fit the definition of a discretionary trader. So if you are asking how I avoid losses the answer is that I don't. I can't tell you my worst loosing streak because I don't keep records. I would guess it would be four or five trades. My rule is three losses means I don't know what the market is doing so I stop trading until I figure it out. Sometimes I resume trading and still have a loss or two. If you are batting less than 50 you need to look at your methodology. I should add that I have no trading plan. I make it up as I go based on what I see. Most of the traders I know do the same thing.
Agreed. I always use limits for entries. My bad fills are always because of slippage when an exit stop is triggered. (Stocks, not futures)
This past 4 weeks has been fucking terrible with whipsaw, news of war, inflation, hopes of Fed Put, Put hopes dashed, etc etc etc. Couldn't get any better than the last 4 to 6 weeks.
Man, You are a piece of work! No records, no trading plan, "make it up as I go", and best of all got money in pocket. Goes to show, there's more than one way to skin a cat! Good on ya.
%% WIDE bid/ ask spread can sometime can be good ; dont see much point in doing that short term , but i have + not much competition / volume LOL. No wonder[I meant for swing or position trades] Actually that could/would be part of a good plan \not trading after 3 losses in a row. Assume its not a real low hit rate; in that case may want to keep going non stop.
Maybe I should clarify: I don't have a detailed plan because neither does the market. In my opinion having a plan only locks you into course of action that would probably be at odds with what the market is thinking. I find it much better to observe and see where the orders are likely to be, including the stop orders. Then formulate my tactics around that and it's going to be different everyday. Remember the market is just a bunch of people reacting to each other and to a certain extent economic news.