I use a stop and a time stop. The time stop sometimes varies depending on the market and the reason I took the trade. If I am looking for a quick move, short time stop. The hard stop also needs to give the trade some room to breathe. I used to place them too close and watch them get hit most of the time and then watch the trade go where I thought it was going. that sucks. Don't rethink the trade after putting it on. Unless you get new reasons to rethink it. I know I sometimes would think through the trade, place it, then think I was wrong even though I did not have any new information to base it on. Nerves? Doubt? Thats why having a trade plan with a hard stop and a time stop, and sticking to it, helped me out.
You think that's a joke? That's the most fu@king difficult thing in trading. I challenge all traders to present a more difficult thing.
Nice Jack, very nice. I would love to reach that level of understanding the market, and myself in the market
Except for this paragraph, the reply has no value and this paragraph teases the OP. Just cut the back-patting and tell the OP what your display encompasses and be done with it. Is that too much to ask? For a person who obviously loves atttention you would get a lot more of the positive variety if you cut to the chase instead of making yourself out to be the Wizard of Oz by putting yourself on a pedestal.
Quote from brocklanders: Just out of curiousity, why 27 minutes? Is it just an arbitrary number or is there any specific reasoning. I understand if the reasoning is "top secret" but thought I would ask anyway . Thanks. Haha!! Exactly, I'm so tired of these services making their system sound so technical. It's all a bunch of BS. Best way to decide to stay in a trade is to watch the futures, $advn/$decn, $tick, $ticki, $prem, xlf, xle, xlk, xlb, xli, xly, xlp, xlv. See if new highs or lows are being confirmed in each of the sectors. Watch price action at pivots, watch mclellan oscillators for overbought, oversold extremes, see if the current engine of the day is leading or lagging, watch the tape to see if there's and large bids or offers stepping up or down, determine if it's going to be a trend day, or chop day by the price action and volume in the first hour of trading....etc. Overall, pay attention to the tape, get a feel for it, and you will see whether they are going to run stops, or make a trend.
jbob, Every trader will have a different opinion on this based on their trading plans. Sounds to me like you have to do some more work on your setups (entries are important despite what philosophers say) and get a better understanding of price action. However, if it's obvious that a trade is not going to move in your favor, then of course you should cut it loose; why wait for the inevitable stop out? It seems to me you need to spend a lot more time behind the screen observing supply and demand as your setups take hold in the market. Wish I had something more concrete for you, but what works for me probably won't for you because our setups are different.
Caveat: Only my opinion. Immediately exiting the trade would be a better choice for the following reasons: You'll have more opportunities to either make or lose money, presumably the former. If the trade goes against you and then comes back to your entry point, the natural tendency would be to exit the trade at this point thereby breaking even. You will be a nervous wreck due to all the preceding action and will gladly settle for status quo. Also the more the trade gets away from you the less likely you will be to exit the trade. If you're one of those individuals that honors the initial stop with rigidity, then you'll be alright. However, many will start monkeying around with the initial stop and start moving it back . It goes without saying that you'll save yourself unnecessary stress, energy depletion and make yourself available for forthcoming trades with potential.