Real DayTrading Question

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by diligentia, Jun 9, 2009.

  1. i play and i play and i keep banging my head against the same questions.. someone please toss me a bone here.

    my method consists of scaling in to intraday trends. i seem to be managing risk rather well. what i cant wrap my head around is...

    after im into a position and its profitable... how do i balance between taking shorter term profits and/or scaling in to the position.

    it goes good, then it retraces as i anticipate... all is well, untill it retraces past my entry and i get stopped out wishing that i had taking profits when i had the chance.

    although the idea is that by riding out the retracements ill eventually be in a position as to where i can get leveraged up and make up for all the small losses...

    so which is it? and is there any balance?

    please help!:confused:
     
  2. Buy Al Brooks book. The only one he's written.
    "Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar".
     
  3. bighog

    bighog Guest

    Have you read that book? Are the charts for ES candycane charts or BAR charts as the title suggests?

    Sounds like a good book for a couple friends that use KISS and follow the LESS IS MORE style.

    Thks

    ( i only use bar charts )

    PS: i see it is candycane charts............will pass on the book.
     
  4. I"ve read most of the book. He uses Candlesticks, but says one can use Bar charts too.
    Very simple Price Action trades. KISS indeed. Less truly IS more.
    ymmv
     
  5. MarkBrown

    MarkBrown

    your method is terrible! duh typical.

    when the market turns even slightly against you - it comes like a big hammer because of your scale. do you have an education? get rid of it quick. you now have to be educated by the markets which are doing a wonderful job right?

    the sky is blue what say you? i know you can't help it, your trained very well. what is all this say you? assaults, insults why how dare someone wake me from my comma!

    m
     
  6. Listen to the other guys' posts...

    Scaling in rarely works in day trading. That would mean that there is one consistent trend all day. The markets are fairly choppy now a days. Obviously not like Oct 2008, but more so than Jan 2009. Watch the Vix to better gauge volatility.

    Scaling out and averaging down... although I do not condone it, works better than scaling in... provided you are willing to take small profits.
     
  7. Wilt

    Wilt

    Don't daytrade. You're trying to create order out of ostensible chaos. The market makers are there to shake you. They can let stocks linger and go the other way simply because they have a master plan, more time and patience than you. You need an edge to defeat this. That means knowing what a professional money manager would be doing; buying or selling. All the rationale, technical indicators, and layers of crap that one can come up with boil down to that. If a stock should be bought it will go up and vice versa. That will get you through the apparent randomness of intraday trades. Learn about companies and fundamentals which are not shaken by the intraday noise. Then you will succeed.

    Wilt
     
  8. t1ck3r

    t1ck3r

    Most technical analysis is based on what is most probable to happen next. With that in mind, I got an idea trade more products. Don’t cherry pick your opportunities and wonder why it didn’t make money you need a larger sampling.

    That and always know your standard deviation for each product to figure out the spacing of your layers and when to cut bait when it goes into no mans land. (Above or below 1 StdDev)
    …happy trading…greg
     
  9. this is another idea, samesame but different. try to have a certain amount of profit in mind before you get into the trade. it may be helpful to determine the ATR of your financial instrument so you have an idea as to how much it may move in a day(like if stock A moves only 40 cents in a day compared with stock B's $2, a 25 cent move could be quick for B but you're unlikely to ever capture it once intraday with A.) after that, counting commissions are not cost prohibitve, get rid of half of your position with whatever profit you have determined and hold the other half for the bigger move, also known before you get in.
    from there, you can either add that half back if it comes back to your entry or just lose the other half if it hits your stop. it may sound mechanical but until you gain more experience and confidence, it is best to try to keep things as objective as possible, avoiding the fear/greed thoughts, or more, ignoring them to the discipline of your automatonic trading plan:D
     
  10. MarkBrown

    MarkBrown

    some good advice posted here !
     
    #10     Jun 10, 2009