hello, the way down from 10.00 AM to 11.30 AM was great "retracement" trading...on this kind of downtrend you can find often an A-B-C corrective wave up or "bearflag" for entry. dont hook on the EMAs too much (there is always an EMA waiting), just watch the patterns. but what did i tell you... and forget about to look at your trades by the light of "what would have been possible..." DONT KILL YOUR WINNERS TO SOON, because THAT is what decides the game... (ok, i was joking at that point, the real thing is, you have to trade with multiple contracts. if you trade with 2-3 contracts, you are better of for psychological reasons in the first place, getting more relaxed, and therefore it is easier to let winners go...) greetings from germany peter
@janko "The way that i like to get into some of my trades i first look at the 60 min, then 30 then 15 then 5 and then 1 in for entry." ok, but what is the timeframe, you trade on ? what i want to say is, you can look at all the timeframes, but first you have to determine the timeframe, your accountsize allows you to trade on, because the accountsize determine your overall risk, and your risk determine the (largest) timeframe, that you can trade on... for example: account-size is $10.000, risk 1% = $100 = 2 pts. with 2 pts risk you can not trade on 60min timeframe, because that would require a risk of - lets say - 10pts for setting reasonable stopps... happy trading
As everyone has already seen on this thread I only use 1pt stops and sometimes a maximum of 1.5pts. This works for me. If you know where to put your entry that is all you need. I do not understand how a % of your bank makes any difference. If you put a trade on to go short at a double top regardless of your account size being $5,000 or $100,000 you only need to put your stop a maximum of a couple of ticks over the double top. If you get stopped out so be it, the reason for taking the trade has been proven wrong. Its no longer a double top so get out of the trade. Why you need a huge stop to prove that is beyond me. Ok sure the break could prove to be a false one but then what does that tell you, go short again with a close stop. Good trading
1p stop on ES doesn't allow any wiggle room at all, you have arrived. On average how many trades you take a day, fix number of contract or is it depend on trade situation? and your win/loss percentage if you don't mind.
nkhoi, I have posted charts here previously giving examples of trades with 1pt stops. I trade 1 to 2 contracts and average 70% winners at this stage although have only been trading real time for 2mths but have done shit loads of study. Number of trades per day depends as I only trade the good setups which takes alot of discipline. Anywhere from 2 to 8 trades a day but usually 3 to 4. It may be beginners luck but if it is I'm not complaining. Why do you need wiggle room?? If the entry is right shouldn't you believe it will work straight away. Why give yourself the slow stabbing pain of watching a trade go against you hoping it won't hit your 3 to 4pt stop then bang, the blood starts to ooze. It is the way I trade and I know not everyone agrees with tight stops. So be it I don't care, I only care about what works for me.
Diz I find it pretty impressive if you have a 70% win rate using a 1 point stop. Have you calculated your average gain/loss figures?
No I have not. I try to make 4-6pts then I stop trading. Lets not get carried away here, as I said its only 2mths big deal.
I know alot of people won't like what I say because they can't believe people can make money with tight stops. It doesn't matter to me what people believe. I am not here to prove anything to anyone. I will just keep doing what works for me. This didn't happen overnight its taken years of study and watching screens and taking it all in. I have only started to post here because I saw what Huios was doing and I like his style. Its very similar to mine trading with tight stops. So I just thought I would show him some of my trades on the 5min chart. I think he now sees the value of the 5min.
I lost count of how many time I see it spikes thru my tight stop then turn back immediately hence the need for wiggle room. At least now I know there is hope for 1p stop order, thank.