That us why I always have a SL in the market when scalping. It may be wide or dynamic but it is there and if I have to take it because of sudden momentum against my position I get out as quickly as I can. Then I try to get it back on the next trade. You said you were trading In a trading range. 1) Were your initial entries in the bottom 1/3 or 1/4 of the range? 2) How do you know it was a trading range? Definition? 3) Every TR will end with a successful BO. What will you do when it does? 4) successful BOs of TR very often ended up being a MM (measured move) with at least wo legs. Do you see a MM in hindsight starting at the BO point? When there is a successful BO (and a trader has to have that defined for himself) and a plan on what he will do when it happens and he has a position on. A scalper has to have clear in his mind what he will do to mitigate a violent fast move against his position. Especially a scalper. A swing trader that may have a position on over several days can absorb such moves but not a scalper. I would be willing to look at a screen shot of your chart and entries (aprox just to get a visual perspective) if you like. That is up to you.
My comments here in this post especially apply to a scalper. You can absolutely lose with R:R more than 1. Plenty of scalpers do. Sorry but a scalper can lose his shirt and pants even with a 5:1 (reward to risk) if his methodology doesn't produce enough wins. Or gets close to his reward on a probe and he doesn't grab it then seconds later it is back to BE and seconds after that down the drain. I care little about initial R:R although I put them in there with bracket orders on every trade (except when I forget to lol) as a way to protect my position against an unbearable loss and to lock in a profit. In the event of a sudden move against my position or a sudden move to my reward. I am way more interested in actual risk. That is, how far the market moves against my entry after I made it before it goes in my favor and "how" did the move occur not just that it occurred. Or how far did it move in my favor towards my reward before in moved against my position. Did I lock in a profit when the market gave it to me? We can put in a projected SL and a projected reward but that in no way means the market will respect them. Those things are for us as we try to wring certainty out of an uncertain environment. There are plenty of traders out there with a bigger reward than their risk (mathematically they can't lose) but they are losing traders. The market is not subject to mathematical equations nor can it be boxed in with math. Math is exact but the market is dynamic. We can never know all the variables. Scalpers have to respond usually with binary decisions quickly (yes or no..long or short) to the market dynamics. Using math is no guarantee the market will render us profit. There are situations where math can be applied but even then there is no guarantee only tendencies. For instance in MM moves and the tendency for markets to move that way under certain conditions because of momentum...profit taking from early traders in on the initial BO...late traders coming into the move...etc. Another one is the tendency to reverse directions after around a 50% PB of a previous move. These are more based on psychology of traders and human tendencies than math. For a scalper no math provides certainty. He has to grab what the markets gives him when it gives it him. If the market continues in his direction he can always enter again. I know commissions are the con. I only count my R:R after the trade is said and done. That is all that matters to me. Never my initial R:R.
Then what good was his advice if most had no idea what he was talking about? Why were they following him? Was it because he showed some profit on a few screen shots. If one is going to give advice then for it to be effective the communication should be clear or it is a waste of time for the communicator and for those receiving the communication.
Exactly that goes without saying. Any paper loss becomes a real loss when taken. And I will convert any paperloss into a real loss before the market close. I will not hold a leveraged product overnight. Win or lose I am out before the close. I am a scalper not an investor.
Was not replying to address to me from you. I was replying a concept you put in my journal regardless of who you were addressing. That is the concept that a trader can't lose with R:R > than 1. It took 700 words (if you say I didn't count them) to explain why. Maybe you still don't understand? I had rather over explain than under explain lol. How is this for short: A trader can lose his shirt, pants, underwear, shoes, socks and wife betting that a reward greater than his risk is the road to $$$ in the market. That R:R in greatly overplayed by the gurus and they love to sing that song.
I didn't state/imply/put it in your journal. chef did. I am throwing his words back at him. Try and keep up. Cue the whining.