I average up. Not down. Averaging down can work, when trading unleveraged, or with a tight, tight disciplined stop. I spent >10 years trying to locate "perfect" entries. In my experience, they don't exist. Sure, 2B's and round numbers work for bounces some of the time. So does trading with the trend, or trendline break. Precise entries are not necessary for successful trading.....at all. Not to say some haven't "mastered it" (whatever that means). Perhaps some have. And perhaps some are under the illusion of some mythical secret entry forumla only they know, when it's trade management that is the real holy grail. Getting stuck in the maze of "precise entries" and "price action analysis" is a huge waste of time. I wasted ten years in that graveyard. There's only a handful of "price action" setups that are worthy of consideration. And there's really no precision or guarantee in the markets, except HFT. Those that claim exceptional precision with entries take alot of small losses too. Just like the rest of us. SO if they're right 40% of the time, and wrong 60% of the time, like the rest of us, do they really have the secret sauce? Or are they just fooling themselves because they're in the black and think they have something special? Its a fascinating game. I'm 13 years into this and I've researched most everything a discretionary trader can. These are my conclusions. Good luck to all. BTW, ETphonehome is a smart man. Even though he's a lifelong Democrat
As a longtime associate, you don't feel any moral imperative to verify, or have a third-party verify, his claims regarding his expertise in day trading? Keep in mind it's not a personal inquiry but an issue of public concern, as to whether he has the ethical grounds to believe he can, in good faith, teach others to emulate his mastery in such extremely difficult things as averaging down on ES scalps to produce a yearly increasing equity curve.
I am not an "associate", I simply know him and have traded with him. He may be profitable or he may not be. The only performance history I have knowledge of or interest in is my own. I would recommend against trying to copy someone else's trade plan. Trading is too personal and each has to find what works for them. Whether Al makes money or not has little bearing on what someone else may or may not make.
Whether or not his trading method taught in his books produces sustainable income for him would have direct, although probably not predominant influence on the probability of whether students of his material become successful.
Not necessarily. You might find it more productive to work on your own methods than crusading against Al Brooks.
A high winning percentage with a high trade frequency is basically the holy grail. Beside hft that scalps for quarters, if such a system existed the operator would be extremely wealthy. Not posting on elitetrader. Make some calls if u like. Or better yet, what's ur stop size in the es? Ym? CL? Eurusd spot? Even the best trend followers have a hit rate in the 30-40 percent range. This is normal and enough.
Then the sample size is presumably low so difficult to ascertain if it's a real edge Why I'm suspect is were talking price action and precise entries. Theoretically price action works on all time frames. So the frequency should be much higher. I'm not really a price action guy anymore. By that I mean bar by bar analysis on an intraday basis. Precise entries implies a high hit rate. Precise entries with a low hit rate is something we all do. Anyway. Best of luck.