Jasper - I think that's a common problem among traders. When you dig that hole you just want to get out of it. And then of course, your system produces. I do not use the system you are using, but I have similiar situations - I am in trades, sometimes 'early', but when it moves, I need to remain in the position for as long as possible. You just have to take each trade, it's the only way to make money consistently.
Hi, No expert here, but if you adjust your system just because there was an abnormally volatile afternoon then are you not just setting yourself up for a tough day on lower to normal volatile days ? I mean you system looks fairly simple which I guess is good; however, are you saying you plan to just take every single signal it generates and it should be profitable ? Wouldn't this be the Holy Grail which does not exist ? Just thoughts, I wish you every success Cheers
This has been a long standing problem. I have been using volatility stops on range charts for some time. I am having a hard time to commiting to a particular TF and indicator setting. Yesterday was hard when you see what you could have made if you just stuck with it. Getting hammered in the morning didn't help. I am going to leave the VS at 3 on a R60 and a R30 chart for today. I'll take the R60 flips. I may trade the R30 for the first half hour when things are more volatile. I also wanted to add that my hoped for goal of $1000 per day is not based on trading one lots. It's based more on the idea that if you can net out 1-2 points per day on a single lot that you can ramp up over time to trading 5 or 10 lots and make that kind of money on that type of net points.
I don't recommend setting profit target goals unless your already a consistent profitable trader. If your a breakeven trader or losing trader...your daily goals should involve following your trading plan or dealing with the psychological aspects of trading. Simply, you could be putting stress on your trading when its not needed...causing other trade problems. Mark
Jasper, I am an Ensign user too and have found using Howard's built-in Parabolic SAR too be far superior to the volatility stop. Speeding up the default Par-SAR seems appropriate for the ER also. Still single-indicator simple FWIW
Jasper Thanks for the thread - appreciate your honesty I don't think you mention whether you have backtested your strategy. Given the system is so simple, it should be relatively easy to do so. For me, backtesting was the ultimate confidence booster. It tells you (a) whether you have an edge which you obviously think you do; (b) which range bar size and indicator value has worked best in the past. Once you have these answers, at least some of your psychological stresses should be reduced (not all!!) Knowing these facts about my own systems has helped me enormously to be confident enough to take all my trades and to resist other evils like selling at my breakeven point just to ensure I go home flat. It also gives you a basis for trying out all of the suggested modifications on this thread without initially risking your money on them.
Today wasn't great. I ended up over-trading, taking 10 trades and netting out a little over a point. I have never been able to get the Parabolic to look great on a chart - range charts, anyway. No, I haven't backtested. Would need more data for that . Haven't looked into what it would take to purchase data that can then be charted in range bar fashion. Ensign seems to have the capabilities, but I haven't explored them much.
Here's a LT chart - R120 with the VS (15, 4). Ensign shows it as profitable, although I don't completely trust their numbers.
Jasper, Best of luck and hope you succeed. I know how difficult it is . You must be pretty strong mentally to continue to persevere.