trend fader, everything you said is totally right. but you say this from a point at the end of (or beyond !) that learning process and bronks is on the starting point of it. i think, it is not possible by now for him to really implement all that elements. at that point he is struggling with entry, so why not help him out with that first...dont get me wrong... trading
Mike, Woody and others-- While I agree with everything you guys say, and believe me, I appreciate the guidance, I personally find it extremely difficult to replicate to the T what you are recommending me to do. I'm equating it to stopping on a dime. Not an easy task. After all if I could possibly do those things, I'd be a professional and probably not needing of advice. Not making excuses, just seeing it for what it is. So what I will try to do is incorporate your rules and strategies one by one, a little at a time so as not to get too overwhelmed. Tomorrow I will concentrate on targets for both exits and entries. We will see how it goes. I know the advice I'm getting is extremely valuable and I'm trying my best not to squander it. The last few times I tried to change something, I got my legs whacked out from under me so I'm a little jittery. The more I think about it, the more I feel exits and entries are intrinsically inter-twined with no one more or less important than the other. I think where the exit gets the high regard is in the fact that people lose more actual money in blowing their stops then blowing their entry OR getting stopped out regularly because of a bad entry. Nobody seems to talk about how much money is left on the table on a bad entry (not necessarily stopping out) OR how much money was made because of a good entry that never banged your stop. I don't know. Never really thought about that much until after all this talk about stops. Yes stops are tricky but so are entries. It's late and I'm rambling so goodnight 'till tomorrow.
hardcash-- Sorry, I didn't see your post until after I posted mine. I kinda posted the same thing as I think you hit the nail on the head. But I'm trying! Thanks for putting things in perspective. Goodnight all.
bronks, the hardest problems you probably face are psychological problems. you cant overcome them with information/knowledge, i think, just with experience, routine... look at that basic lesson. its about reading + classifing market action. http://www.mrci.com/lbr/charts/20011111/index.htm might give you same "structure" good luck
Candle this comment intrigues me even more than Nihaba's. Who are you quoting and do you know what he means?
I am not quoting anyone... I just gave my own take on the eminis... the emini's, for some reason, lend themselves to the most psychologically difficult approaches, simply because the guys trading em are amongst some of the smartest sharks in the business...
Whew, what a day. I decided to implement the hard target method encouraged by Mike and others. I got completely torched. At one point I lost on 5 trades in row (one was a flip) and was down by 12 points. I was also a 1/2 point away from my daily stop loss. At that point I threw in the towel and went back to my same old routine. But I was desperately in need of a winning trade. Luckily I got one on the next try. Put on a few more and ended basically flat for the day. The kicker was, I was profitable with the first three. The first two by 4 points each. But since I was keeping with my profit target of 5 points per trade, both turned into 3 point losers. It's amazing how they both turned back after exactly 4 points. Watching eight points evaporate sucks and it probably influenced the next few trades I did, as much as I hate to admit it. I think this is the part where an experienced discretionary player would have looked at market conditions at that time and adjusted for it. I did blow the end of the day ramp job though. Got in @ 952.00 and sold @ 956.50 even though market was still trending strong. However I was so elated at breaking even, that I prematurely pulled the trigger. Emotions stink. This is not to say that I have disregarded everything the pro's are trying to tell me. On the contrary, I strive to be able to trade like that someday, I can work on it, but I really don't think I can force it. +1/2 point / 9 RT's / acct: $4070.40
sorry to jump on your thread bronks, but questin for the gurus, in bronks' case, if he was 4 points in the money would it be advisable to move the stop at that point to a break even or slightly higher, simply trailing the current price by some fixed number that trader is comfortable with? any suggestions how to handle his particular two trades, 4 points in the +. ???
Janko, I don't want to pretend that i'm a guru, but if mytarget is 5 points, I would never let a 4 point win turn into a 3 point loss. the basic problem, however is that the ratio between stop-loss and tarhet isn't favorable enough. Bronks, why don't you consider trading the Es? It's really easier, because it doesn't chop around as much as the NQ
janko-- no problem, jump in at anytime. My thread is your (and everybody elses) thread. I know I didn't manage the trade well. Yesterday, I would have not let that turn into a loss, but today I was trying something new to me. Ditch-- I've spent so much time and effort trying to learn the NQ that I wouldn't feel comfortable jumping ship at this time. *snagit chart of today will be late. Gotta bunch of stuff to do today. Not the least of which is attending the Chili Pepper concert tonight. Lets rock! (sorry Candle, couldn't help it <G> )