Ever since you started posting trades in your journal, I have only seen 3 or 4 trades where you got out close to a top or bottom, compared to at least 20 trades that you would have gained much more on. On one of those trades along, you gave up 140+ es points in profit. Unless you can catch near the top or bottom everytime, which in your journal, you have proven that you can't. You will be more profitable from scaling out in the long run.
When applying a trend following strategy correctly, one is not looking to catch tops or bottoms. The frame of mind a long term position trader uses as compared to a short term day trader is like night and day.
given this thread is now 215 pages long, perhaps the best way to resolve if this smileyfaceguy is right or nuts, is to have him post ten trades in the next month and see how they do. i'll even track them on my playmoney side as well just to test the theory myself, but for me, i'm all for scaling in and out, as have most great traders learned, the hard way, over the life of their careers. i'm so lost, i don't even know what the argument is any more except that he should stop using smileys to finish his sentences instead of... period.
Trading is a stochastic process, so are my buy and sell decisions. If I didn't have to account for liquidity, opportunity cost, anonymity, commissions, etc., my buying and selling would be on a continuous basis. So should yours if you care about having the most linear equity curve.
Confidence is having full trust in your own abilities. This trust must be earned slowly with steady small victories. These small victories add up. Small low risk trades allow you to be objective once again. With each small winning trade, you make a little money and simultaneously rebuild your confidence. Confidence is the key to this game. The world looks so much nicer through the eyes of confidence.
To the OP, As you have laid claim to extensive backtesting,what is your "percent of perfect" score???
One must also remember that the trader who scales is attempting to identify the optimal place to scale out. If they scale out more than once , then they will be trying to identify more than 2 places per trade to take profits. Certainly. the scaler is trying to take profits at the best place otherwise why would they be doing it? No one in their right mind would just be taking profits willy-nilly unless they were dealing with being scared (which of course is what scaling is really all about). So, with scaling you have more than one attempt to find optimal exit. This creates more and more decisions that need to be made and more and more chances to be wrong--
Everyone is so keen to discuss about scalping. I feel it is discussed mostly because of its nature as I can offers shortest duration profit. Scalping attract due to its nature. however scalping is not at all advisable to beginners. as it is the most dangerous strategy and you can loose many in no time.