If the fundamentals of this thread don't improve in the next 8 minutes I will forced to leave and visit 3 bars. Weekends have purpose.
This is a great topic, I hope it doesn’t die prematurely. Thanks for starting it Lukas, and thanks for your comments about your rules. Well done for ignoring Gotcha, who had nothing worthwhile to contribute. I think time stops is a worthwhile subject for newbies and experts alike. Their use is far from commonplace and open to debate, so to dismiss it seems simpleminded. (I didn’t take you literally when you said professionals don’t use charts, probably just that they don’t rely on them predominantly/solely to make decisions with billions of dollars of other peoples’ money) When I was a professional HF manager (and using charts, he he), I never explicitly used time stops. But indirectly, I did, because I would always be thinking about the best use of my fund’s capital. As a result, I would always be looking at the stocks going sideways, not going up as expected, but not going down enough to make me consider closing. These always seemed like the best source of funds for a new idea, especially if it was more compelling. And when I reviewed a stock on this basis several times, it usually got closed. In the hundreds of investor meeting I did, I was regularly asked about stops but never once about time stops. Not a widely discussed topic. In my private trading now, I don’t use time stops yet but I would like to consider this question a lot more closely, for 2 reasons. First, like the above, to ensure the efficient use of my capital. Second, to impose a discipline, to make sure I don’t hold onto trades that aren’t working. I am good at this if I have a better idea, I will close without hesitation. But without a better idea I get lazy and hopeful and hang on a bit longer. This is undoubtedly in conflict with the reasons/expectations I had when opening the trade, as I would have expected it to work more quickly than it has. I don’t have any statistics on my trading, but my feeling is that I would be better off using time stops and always closing trades that haven’t worked in a reasonable amount of time.
I would say it depends on your timescale and style. I do a lot of mean-reversion / contrarian trades, and I find that if things don't rebound quickly, they never will, so I do use some time stops. For trend following strategies I probably wouldn't use them.
I suppose i am different than many other traders. At times I will adjust my stoploss and or my profit target AFTER entry as market action unfolds. I WOULD ADJUST MY ENTRY SOMETIMES BUT CANNOT...ROLMAO. So, yes if market is taking too long to move in my direction i will declare "mutiny" in the markets and take control of my money again....I will rebel...i will...yes i will!