This is because you are placing stops within the noise---of course they will get taken out. Stops are to be placed outside serious reaction highs/lows.
That's my last resort, but you must still have that option. Here's the hard part. 500 shares of SPY= 1 es 500 shares of SPY = $62,500 25% margin = $16,000 per contract You can figure out the equivalant for IWM and QQQQ. Not favorable, but IF all etrading goes down and you need to hedge....you gotta do what you gotta do. You can, also, trade options on the SPY's, etc.
Trade with less leverage and the fail safe programs of selling something else to offset become irrelevant --as in not needed. I believe you guys are working too hard at making this too complicated. Trading is very simple--notice I didn't say easy--.
I am with you on this. The initial SL of 2 pts is good. Moving to BE -1 when the trade is BE +1 seems to be good. The place where I've lost the most, is when I move the stop to BE +1 when the trade is BE +1.5. At each level the stop is 2 pts away until here when you move it to 0.5 pt away. So far it's been hit every time and locked in my profit at 1 pts. I don't want to tinker with this so early though. I've only been trading this method for a week and a half. twink
"as in not needed" I am friends with a few other traders who felt the same as you until unforseen circumstances took place that gave them a beating that they didn't need to take. I would not wish the same on anyone, thus the cautionary note of making sure you are not leveraged to the max and have "offset" protocols in place in case of an emergency. Best to you in your trading. BTW, I see you have posted over 3,000 times since January. WOW, you should write a book...you probably already have. LOL
If I interpreted 4re's method correctly, you should only move that stop to 1 point if the momentum gets flaky and looks like it's hesitating, pulling back. This is a discretionary move and requires experience and vigilence to nail it. To me, it's the hardest part of the system. Maybe it's just best to move that stop to b/e + .25 if you're uncertain.
The information in my posts is free of charge, but comes from many years of experience. I offer it to you as help. My advices are good and well thought out.
If the initial stop of 2 pts is within the recent noise (look at longer frame chart), then the 2 pt stop is not good. Once profit is at a tiny 1.5 pts, that is way too early to be moving a stop unless you see a bonafide reversal. I go days without moving my get out point, surely you could let yours ride an hour or so--