who knows 6-tick stop loss is better or tight trailing stop? that is just after-fact. I do not know which trade should be applied to 6-tick stop, why another trade should be applied to tight trailing stop. I did not see your point. you got stopped out with 6-tick stop in the first trade, then the next trade, but you changed to tight trailing stop in the third trade, why changed? because 6-tick stop does not work?
N, I hear you...I'm not talking about trying to hit a home run...but somewhere in between home run and +35 for the day...as I said previously, I usually try and keep my opinion to myself, because I have had(still have) many of the same issues. It's easy to give advice, your journal is proof of that, you get more advice in 1 day than most get in 3 months... To sum up my original thought...reading your journal in the past few months makes me think of being handcuffed, in a small dark room, with mouth taped...time to bust out and give a yell... good trading...I'll be a silent observer again...
David, I moved the initial stop because I wanted to lock in a profit. The fact that I had a decent profit showing that more than exceeded the prior loss made me react too quickly. A professional trader treats every new trade as just that: a brand new trade. Had I treated the second entry as a brand new trade, I would've moved the stop to break even once I had that 3 pt profit showing, then trailed it until the next support level was reached (my bad for not having the 2-week chart there to see 998.00 as that level). Instead I exhibited standard noob behavior of allowing the residue of a previous trade affect my handling of a new trade, and quickly locked in profit before the move, that was clearly in my favor, played out. The residue of previous trades can hurt in many ways. One of most dangerous ways even experienced traders end up realizing huge losses is by thinking, "It's always done that, so if I just wait long enough it will do it again". I appreciate all the help from you very experienced traders for whom daily large profits is basically a given, and who wonder how I can possibly not be making money hand over fist, but keep in mind I never even saw a direct access trading platform until July 2008, and just a few months before that had no idea how to even buy a stock.
IB displays it's server time on the order management window to the second. Not sure if it is there by default.
Nod, When i suggested STOP LOSS of 6 ticks, i meant that as an exercise. Now for live trading, since you seem to have lit a fire all of a sudden. (yes, i agree with steve i think it was, you can make me dizzy, when you flip flop now and then) You will only know what sized SLoss to place when you tie a specific SL to a specific trade objective. EXAMPLE: as a BO trader the placement of a SL is easy because either the BO works or it does not. BO traders have it easy in that respect..........they see where they are looking for a BO and if it happens they are cool on their stool and if the BO is a failure they know real fast the trade is a dud. There is no buts about it. You are either right or you get gone. As kids in Chicago we did not use fire hydrants but we did play games at some corners where the CTA buses (Chicago Transit Authority) stopped to pick up and drop off people. On the benches we would place a bag with shit inside, wrapped in aluminum foil or waxed paper so not to smell to bad. Some people would actually look in the bag, the funny part was when someone would see the bus coming and just before getting on the bus, grab the bag and get on the bus. Another Stop Loss example: say you are range trading which requires Buying weakness and Selling strength within the range. Range trading is actually just BO trading but from the defined range parameters. So again, you know very fast if you are right or should get gone. Same for channel breakouts. When someone is having trouble with STOP LOSS placement they are not waiting for a proper well defined setup. Stop placement is not a difficult nut to crack open in trading, The trick is to wait for your setup and then you know what you want and thus will know real fast if it will work out............this all ties in with the truism of a winning trade will usually immediately work or the trade is immediately suspect. Dogs will sniff a hydrant and either lift a leg and mark it or just move on to the next one. Traders like their info up front and assume it is correct but dogs prefer to get as much info right from the source and take a different approach, they just drop back and stick that nose right to the main source and take a deep inhale. We humans would call that "information overkill" but it works for Fido. Stops are no problem when you wait for a good setup and have the Stop in tune with the trade. PS: But i promised myself i would not comment on steves describing what pros do. my head got dizzy. PSS: Speaking of ancient, i passed on the songs and here is a bit of my real heros. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP8WUshbYDo&feature=related
I'm still dizzy from steve's post, too, but I secretly believe it's wormed its way into my subconscious much the way Alan Farley's book did long before I had any clue what "slow capitulation of the rising wedge" meant. Hog, when I traded ES today I really was in the "now". I just grabbed that signal and ran with it, then grabbed it even faster on the second run. It was a period of time very much in the zone for me. It wasn't until the second entry quickly became profitable that I started thinking (wrongly) about the residue of the first attempt, instead of staying in the here and now. Would you say that a 3 pt gain is good time to move the stop to break even? That seems like a solid plan and is what I should've done, but I overreacted, letting the initial loss influence me.
nodoji: Would you say that a 3 pt gain is good time to move the stop to break even? That seems like a solid plan and is what I should've done, but I overreacted, letting the initial loss influence me. ============================= an example of stop loss http://www.sierrachart.com/userimages/upload_2/1250215271_2_UploadImage.png
there is no flush tank nor toilet paper. so for a newbie the place is small enuf to get choked on the toxic fumes but here is where the regulars get their morning high