Thanks. I did look at them before but I will give it another try now that I am actually looking for something. DbPhoenix mentioned something about "rules" somewhere but I have been unable to locate them (5 of them); you specifically have rules too I guess.
From the SLA file "1. Track the balances between supply and demand with straight lines. Don't hug price like Spandex. Otherwise your line is guaranteed to be broken for what may be nothing more than a stumble. 2. When price takes off in one direction or the other, wait for a retracement. 3. Enter on that retracement, a few ticks above the trough of a \/ retracement or a few ticks below the crest of a /\ retracement, and stay in until your line is broken. And by "broken" I don't mean that price pokes the line. As long as buyers are in charge, stay long. If sellers are in charge, stay short. 4.When the line is broken, exit and wait for a retracement in the opposite direction. 5. Continue until you enter chop (two consecutive trades that don't go anywhere and are accompanied by a higher low and a lower high, i.e., not trending). 6. Wait patiently. Quit when you get tired and start to lose focus"
I am not sure why you've posted the "SLA" rules here. I was looking for the (now imaginary) 5 rules for scratching because for some reason I was (wrongly) under the impression that the scratching exercise you did was based on them. I must have misunderstood some posts in your journal and in the Ghost thread; as I have mentioned before you guys sometimes exchange information in the chat that does not make it into the journals so it's not always clear if one is missing part of the context or not. I for one would be interested in a post from you about what you did, how and why. I do have some ideas on a scratching drill but it's a bit different from what you did. Why would I want to do a scratching drill? I have fairly wide stops now and it might be better to enter/scratch/reenter 2-3 times than to let that stop be hit. Right now I am not nimble enough to see a change in price behavior that allows me to exit manually within a point or so (a stop size often mentioned by the other guys learning "SLA"). I need to overcome some fear issues when entering, especially after a run of winners. Any advice appreciated, of course.
If you learn to scratch fear of entry diminishes greatly. And a question. What is the difference between 1 point loss in an open position and a 1 point loss in a closed one, is the first one not a loss?
Just for the sake of clarity as you are not the only one who was thinking there were 5 scartching rules.
I'm curious why you settled on 1 point versus 1.5 or 2. Is it because of the increased chance of being stopped or are you planning on going live with a 1 point stop?
No particular reason, I needed to test a parameter and in the meantime found out 1 point was emotionally digestible as "business risk" for me, other traders migth be less risk averse and will allow larger drawdowns. I might Change it in the future tho.
There was a disconnect for a few of us. You're not alone with thinking there were 5 rules. I inquired with Niko today and he did indicate (unless I misunderstood), that he uses a stop of 1 point from entry to take him out if the trade doesn't immediately move.