I ended up taking 2/3 off at 213.96 for +1347. The remaining 1/3 is riding out the rally for now. I have a stop in at 217.33. If ADP was any indication of tomorrow there should be plenty of money to be made although I'll most likely be flat going in. I had 3 standard lots on this trade. I usually have from 1 - 5 depending on whether I have other positions on. I also trade GBP/USD, CAD/JPY, AUD/JPY, EUR/JPY and AUD/USD. Once in a while I'll dabble in CHF/JPY, USD/CAD and NZD/USD. Other than that I trade the YM and play around with penny stocks.
Good stuff. Very nice trade at 3 lots. I really need to increase my lot size this year. I suppose success breeds confidence to do so. On another topic I sold eur/cad at 1.4620 today. I think its overbought. I also think the eur will crash later this year when it dawns on Trichet he must cut rates to stimulate. But thats a few months away. So will keep an eye on euro strength.
Just increase in direct proportion to account size. My fatal error is/was my success breeding arrogance. In the past, after a nice win like what I have going right now, I'd pile on the lots for the next trade with a "let it ride" attitude. It was pure gambling. Got smacked a few times and got past it although the tempation is still there. Now I adjust lot size using a X# of lots per 1000 and only adjust (up or down) only when I'm flat. Haven't traded EUR/CAD in quite some time but I shall have a look.
I agree with you. You get a few good trades then you overleverage and wipe out all your other gains. Yes, i have done that in the past. Definately a psychological thing. My stop gets hit, only to be proven right 1 day later. Thats the most annoying thing.
Very nice.. Do you trade with market orders during big news or do you let the market digest the news for the first 15-30min then take a position?
I'm curious - why not just move your stops down once in profit. There is still downward momentum. Not that there's anything wrong with a clean 90 pips.