I must confess Oldtime, I haven't taken a loss in over two months. I'm afraid - really really afraid. What will I do when I finally need to take that loss? I guess I should avoid tall buildings.
like the man said (he was talking about women) let them hurt you, but don't let them wreck you. you won't make it very far if you don't have a loss prevention program in place.
True, but every single EUR/USD trade that has gone against me has bounced back and become a profitable trade. I have decided to make my account my loss prevention; I am not willing to lose more than what is in my account. So, I have only $1000 in the trading account at any given time. As I profit, I transfer the money out and into my stock trading account which is actually a buy/short and hold account. Next week I will double that $1000 to $2000 and double my position sizing.
you can make a lot of progress on a warm summer night (or a cold winter night for that matter) just thinking about how differently you treat your losses from your winners. Most of us are quick to take our winners because we don't believe we deserve them since we have lived such evil lives. And we are slow to take our losses because after all, we have tried to be good. When it moves against us we are hardcore, courage out the ass, nobody can scare us and as soon as it moves in our favor we are like scared rabbits, take it and get the hell out of there
Which is a wise position to take with EUR/USD right now The best you can hope for is a couple hundred pips in your favour before it retraces and goes back against you. Consider that when I began this EUR/USD trading at the beginning of march, it has barely moved at all. Holding it with the hope of getting more wouldn't have netted me anything. The approach of getting a little, getting out, getting back in, seems to work quite well, for now. My current average take on any given trade with the EUR/USD is 60 pips approx. But, yes, in many cases you're quite right.
ok, been nice talking to you. You are just an accident waiting to happen. Too bad, because I liked you. Many are called but few are chosen
Lol, ok, and why is that? See Oldtime, a major pair like the EUR/USD has a very defined range(approx 8000 pips). There is only so much you can actually lose. If it steps outside of this range on the low side, I would suggest we have a lot more to worry about than my measily trading account. This allows for very wide stops. It also means that over the next several years, a long is a stronger trade if you are prepared to buy, hold and be patient. There is also an implied stop. Because I spend in Canadian dollars, a significant collapse in the Euro is offset by a rise in the USD/CAD (Panic results in a rush back to the USD). This is why I invest in US denominated stocks. That's my safety net. This gives me a lot of leeway in my EUR/USD trades.
The account is the stop loss. I am risking what I am willing to lose. I allow 1 mini lot per $1000. Margin requirement is about $391 at 33 to 1. So my stop loss is about 600 pips.