Could you post a chart (2 or 3 would be better) of a trade that you took, showing your entry and planned exit (or planned trailing stop strategy)
Here's a chart of this morning's action so far. There was one long at 721 with a stop of 720. You either scalped out a few ticks or watched it get stopped out for -1. There is now a short trade in effect at 719.40 with a stop of 720.40. It remains to be seen what will happen. Exits are difficult. You could either set a target or let the volatility stop take you out and reverse. This is a pretty crummy morning so far with no big swings in either direction.
Then why are you talking about it being a crummy morning? If you are not daytrading , then you must be thinking about it. STOP DAYTRADING --a friend
Why not try a bigger stop and bigger target? That way, if the stock doesn't go your way, you will have time to get out before it hit your stop. If you are not sure of the price action, "take out half"--Steve Cohen. You could always re-enter when the price is going your way again.
Just out of curiosity jasper, did you paper trade this current strategy at all before jumping in, or did you backtest this strategy at all? How long have you been trading this current strategy realtime?
this too might be very good advise, whilest you still have your savings cushion, in order to buy out time to get into another career, job or endeavour... or, stick around, waste down, and still have to do the same, against the (gamblers hope) that you'll hit it big, this time....
Right off the bat, I would hope you are checking the higher time frames to make sure that you want to be taking long trades. Secondly, going on the chart you posted (which is only giving me a limited picture of what happened leading up this period) you are trading a fairly choppy market here. Your stops are not outside support/resistance. Instead of deciding your entry and putting a tight stop 1 pt away, work out your stop first, put it in a safe place (above support/ below resistance) and enter a limit order 1pt away from the stop (wait for the market to come to you). If your stop is above a good support it is more likely that buyers will come to support the price whenever price gets near. You will miss out on trades this way but at least when you get in one you have a fighting chance of hitting your target before getting stopped out.
I'm hesitant to answer any more questions in deference to Buy1Sell2. The original idea was to setup asymetrical bets - betting one point to possibly be involved in multipoint swings. I haven't paper traded this or backtested. I don't have the means to backtest with the range bars. My main problem has been switching between different size range bars and different parameter volatility stops looking for the holy grail which doesn't exist. I guess my backtesting is mainly lots of screen hours watching this chart/indicator set.
Jasper, A few observations since my last post in this thread. First, are you trading ER2 because it has the most "potential" (range) or because it seems to be the market best aligned to the method you are currently using? I think your priority should be the market(s) that best accommodates the method you are using unless you plan to alter that method. Second, I agree that trading methods should have a simplicity about them, and the method you describe is certainly simple. But it strikes me as somewhat incomplete. If you are taking entries based on your volatility "indicator" irrespective of the surrounding price action, then I think your approach may be a tad naive. You may wish to consider that possibility. (As an aside, I'm not a fan of range bars and prefer the standard price/time chart, but that's a matter of preference. If you believe that your logic is sound and that the range bars fit within the context of that logic, then who am I to question it? Just that, within the context of my own limited understanding of how the markets "work," range bars obfuscate what I believe to be important information.) Third, and finally, you have received all kinds of advice, some of it being diametrically opposed to one another. Getting agreement on trading, and especially here at ET, is like herding cats. Just remember what they say: Opinions are like assholes -- everybody has one.