I'm gonna be real...got really 'pounded' today trying to 'scalp' Forex...I do not think 'scalping' Forex is for me...I am way too aggressive at the screen watching...BUT...I did have a winning trade on my one and only set and order and exit and go on my way type trade...got filled driving home from the office...I am like batting 100% when I do these type of trades and not very good on the 'up close' scalping...anyone else relate?
for me NO MORE SCALPING FOREX...only ALL automated type orders (enter or order to enter and set exits!!)...DON'T LET ME SCALP AGAIN...OKAY GUYS!!!
for me...NO MORE SCALPING FOREX got the point hey..anyone riding the AUD/USD down...?...looks like .8000 might become new resistance?
I think all this 'risk:reward should be xyz' stuff is nice on paper but it doesn't work in practice, intraday trades rarely work out that way. I'm not picking on you in particular, similar examples are everywhere, it's just your last trade was a good example... Short at 1.3250 Stop at 1.3315 (65 pips) 1st target met, closed half for 55 pips 2nd half closed at break even. So overall for that trade you gained 27.5 pips (55 pips on half the position) for a risk of 65 pips on the whole position. The risk:reward is skewed. Then there are trades like Ivans short Eur/Usd, where a trader has multiple attempts and takes multiple losses before eventually getting it right. Are all those attempts and losses taken into account on the final trade's risk:reward? Shouldn't they be? Intraday I don't think it's realistic to have set risk:reward ratios, there are too many events and unexpected short-term moves to mess things up. Apart from that, if a trader has a high win:lose then risk:reward can afford to be skewed, and for an active intraday trader a stop is there as an emergency in case a trade goes disastrously wrong, most trades are traded out of for less than the original stop loss on the whole position (as in the example above). There are an infinite number of ways to profit from trading, there isn't one exclusive method and approach, which method he chooses is down to the personality of the trader a lot of the time.
Hi Cable, I try to take trades where there is a 1:1 between my first profit target and my inital stop. Yes, many trades are as last night (and possibly my current EJ short) where the final reward to initial risk falls far short of 1:1. Also, I wasn't trying to tell anyone to trade like me - increasenow asked, and I answered. I agree with you that we each have to find our own way determine what works best for oneself. I believe that I probably agree with everything you said. I would only like to add the point that for some, "intraday trader" means trading off 5 minute or 1 minute charts and hitting many trades each day for quick 3, 10, maybe 20 pips. For another trader, intraday may mean trading off of a 15 minute chart, and doing 1-2 trades and trying to hit for 50-100+ pips. R/R considerations, presumably, are less relevant to the first trader than the second. Afterall, as you point out, the first type of trader will usually trade out of losers for less than the inital stop. However, the second trader needs to give price a bit more room to roam. As such, risk/reward considerations would seem to be a bit more relevant due to the increased risk from spending a longer time in the market per trade. Good Luck tomorrow (or is it today)