How do you figure its HARD hehe? when on the chart The bar you sold was the LOW of a 30 minute period? Sure wasn't the HIGH or the MIDDLE of a 30 minute period. Give it some thought
Got me there. probably not experienced enough. But this PM did 2 quick trades for $540.00 profit. But the way the Mini Indexes are running [basically short] It doesn,t take a genuis to make a little $
First of all I would like to apologize to you, I noticed you had some questions and having some struggles, trust me I have had my share of confusion and struggles. as I mentioned in my first post I just turned 50 a few weeks ago and have been trading for many years. I thought by posting some of my charts and throwing out some trades I could demonstrate that an independent home based trader could compete successfully. I was testing you, see if you would humble down and ask for some ideas. This was wrong of me to take that approach. I am also reminded of how important it was to carve out my own road. My desire to reach out and pull some one up was selfish and a mistake. I wish you great success, and hope you consider my apology.
Interested in your plan. It seems to be the prevelant trend that there are more losers than winners. Probably. My own experience is that my paper trading is close to 75-85% successful. What I ran into was 3 out of 4 loses a few months ago. So the fear factor kicked in. Whoever said you can start with about $ 5000-6000 & make money[you'd have to be pretty lucky]. So with 10% of my acct. down you trade scared. So then you look for a trading system that shows entry, protective stops & keeps winners running. $250-to whatever a month or join a trading room.About the same.So I guess I,m in a quandry.This Am I paper traded & lost $390.00 Where to place a stop & give enough room for trade to run. Of course it turned & money was to be made. Did 2 trades in Pm[e-mini,s] & made $540.00. So that,s the beginners task, getting the confidence to come in after a loser & letting trades run.
Selling the high or middle of a 30 minute period would be counter trend trading. This thread is about trend following.
I've tested stops quite extensively, it comes down to how well can you pinpoint the entry (how much MAE you get on a trade). Some systems will die with tight stops others will only work with tight stops, it really does depend on your entry criteria and its quality - it cannot be answered with just "near" or "far" universally.
I'm just trying to come up with something that is psychologically easier to deal with than "holding on for dear life until the trend changes."
In that case its probably just best to look at the important sup/res levels and give some room so you won't get trapped. ATR multiplier stops also often coincide with these levels.