Ahhhh, the long sought after 1 point stop money management technique! More power to those claiming that it works for them, but I could never get a 1 point stop to work for me (or a .75 , 2pt., or any other number) stop to work for me. I think you are really stacking the odds against yourself if you have a stop that is too close since you almost always have to swallow the spread to enter and exit a trade. Furtheremore, oftentimes the tight stop will take you out right before price jumps back to your entry, or even worse, towards a profit that you now missed. I've basically come to the conclusion that the purpose of the ES is to take all of the money of the tight stop people. I've found it much easier to have a wider stop based upon a multiple of the ATR of the ES on a 1-min chart. I typically use 4 x ATR, which right now is around a 4 point stop. HOWEVER, this is more of a catastrophic stop (OK, so a mini-catastrophic stop since 4 points really isn't that much). This hard stop only gets stopped out every couple hundred trades. Most of the times I'm scalping for a couple points here, a couple points there, or maybe just a tick--It all depends! Sure, I take 1 point loss all the time (or sometime 2 points, or sometimes 1 tick). However, its only after the market has confirmed that I'm wrong based upon price action. At least for me personally, and I suspect many traders, it is an emotional and mental crutch to rely too heavily upon a stop for exit. Its as if one wants to enter a trade when requirements xyz are fulfilled, then you can just sit back with your 1 point stop and 3 point exit and wait for something to happen. I only became profitable when I focussed less upon some systematic entry with rigid stop/profit objectives and more upon being flexible in watching the price action play out. Each trading moment is unique, so you have to constantly adapte, assess, and possibly change your opinion/bias about market direction. Nobody ever said it was easy!
lmao.. you are one condescending bastard AA. Like i said to the original poster, do what works for you and dont allow people to tell you that your approach is wrong if it works. Futures is a very dangerous game and if you think 1 point stops will help you with money management (though i only use when i scalp) and your security than do so. win/loss percent i think is very important when it comes to scalping. I keep track with a journal and excel sheet of every trade i make and i use that as an indicator of my success so why dont you go shove your arrogant ass elsewhere AA. I am very disciplined and thorough when i trade and you have no right to judge me or anyone esle in this forum. and yes i paper traded for over 3 months before i even attempted to trade future, but no i do not anymore. I just wish i was as smart as AA so i can use correct terminology as it would indicate whether or not i am successful. what a prick.
Read his comment VERY carefully. A 1 pt stop between 930-1030 is very different than a 1 pt stop over lunch time. I would only use ATR based stops vs a hard number. Lets you stay flexible. Just like you use different clubs to tee off on a par 3 vs a par 4-- they're both golf holes, but the approach taken is much different.
This guy's got it. This is exactly what you should do. You may even find yourself blowing out of the position or just reversing after a .5 stop. Once the chart begins to act against your forecast, get out. If you need some further explanation to understand our point (no offense here, i know it sounds snooty but i don't mean to) stop trading immediately, grab a technical book and re-start the demo. Seriously. If you're not forecasting or envisioning market moves based on technical rules, stop trading
during the day, 3 tick stops are indeed difficult but possible. i like to use a 1.5 -2 pt stop at that time. however, after normal trading hours, 3 tick stops are very easy to profit from ( due to the small ranges)
Presto my ass. What makes you think its 4-1. I haven't wasted my time reading this thread, but 1 point is BARELY NOISE. Its a fart.
opinions about what? evidently somehow you thought your title of the thread also carries to the first comment starting the thread.... wrong, if you can and did get this basic, simplistic format wrong, what else about trading, both in assumptions and objectives can you get or will you get wrong? you just might be better off, (waisting time) trading in simulated mode.....because to place real money behind careless work like this, well the outcome might not be profitable.... details, that is what makes a trader successful, details to the 'inth degree