Yes! In my SIM trading that is the difficulty. Taking a scalper type profit vs holding a swing "portion" as Brooks says. I know you're not a Brooks trader. Just using his terms because that is what I am now used to. Very good to see you talking of this.
I think a fixed profit number is suicide for a day trader. Each day is different and some days may only be very small profits ( if any). Dont ever force a trader unless its compelling.
Hello Laissez Faire, What is the underline is the best statement I have read on ET forum in a long time. Especially the part in along time. Its about winning, not about big runners and big profits.
Appreciate the compliments, but let's just say I did finally get that losing day (and then some). I was trading with very high leverage, but the entire account was considered risk capital, so that's okay. The problem with scalping is that you really, really need to maintain that high win-rate. Depending on your actual risk/stop, you may very well need a > 80 % win rate to have a positive expectancy. On average, I'd say it's hard to get a 1:2 risk/reward scalping ES. Usually, your risk/reward is inverted such that you need to risk more than you stand to gain. So, if you can't maintain that consistency/high win rate you'll get in trouble eventually. A lot depends on how you deal with that loss when it first hits you and/or how much you made before you take your first loss. Meaning if you have 10 wins in a row that first loss ain't gonna sting as much as if your 2 first trades are losers putting you deeply in the hole. This strategy and approach still holds some attraction, though. Particularly the part about getting quickly in/out, target oriented, etc. Are you scalping yourself?
This is a great post LF. You do have to maintain a high W/R - so your chart reading / timing has to be consistently high level. If you get good enough at this style you can let a certain % of the contracts run beyond your scalp point. For example I typically scalp out of 75% of my total position at 1 point on the ES and let the other 25% run. You'd be amazed how much catching a couple of nice runners can really change the math and clean up some of your trades that stopped out for a full loss. It works but it's definitely a skill you have to master like anything else.
Yeah. I'm sure the concept of runners can help the math quite a bit. Another solution could be to trade with low leverage and increase your size if you're wrong. For a skilled trader I believe this is feasible assuming your initial loss was fairly small. Scalpers, by default, seems to be fairly highly leveraged though. So, not a good idea to double down if you're already trading with a very high risk profile.
When you leave the table intrady scalper? This guy has a reasonable perspective on the question... and a bookend for it as well... cued... https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...t-right-here-baby.335635/page-27#post-5562273