If you know the vast majority of setup are so so...why would you take them in the first place ??? Also, define what you call a great setup ??? wrbtrader
No, set ups need to be taken, or not taken, in context. For example, time of day is important for day traders.
There are dozens of amazing setups every single day! Some of them do pass by quickly but others take a bit of time to go in your expected direction. For me today, this was shorting NFLX & AMZN mid-day, profit:risk 2:1. It took longer to dive than expected and I almost caved in to close the trade.
The setup exists, but 1minute later something might of changed, I closed out 4 trades on NQ today -3pts area, better to lose $30 then have SL hit and lose $80 area. I do tight SL, but if direction changes then I look for a cheap out as odds are SL will hit, money saved is money I haven't got to make back later Fixed SL and TP and walking away is where this becomes a 50/50 game, got to keep human brain in the loop, where EA's fall down Exit side!!
There are plenty of great setups, but a trader needs to find their edge. I don't FULLY agree that the magic is after the entry as my guess is most people's entries are sub par, so most people should still be on Step 1. If someone has not defined what sets them apart from other traders, then they cannot begin to build a successful trading methodology. We are in a world where people follow, don't think for themselves, and much creativity, spontaneity, and insight are squashed by not having the courage to break from conformity. This unconsciousness plagues our trading as well. Technical analysis books can offer lots of value, but if someone just trades what someone else has told them, even if that strategy is successful, it may not be successful for them. For example, trend trading has SOME place in profitable trading and for some may be their edge, BUT there are way too many trend traders, most of which are following others footsteps but don't have the skill to be successful. If someone really wants to be successful they will need to find their edge, which very well may mean doing something different than the rest. I do agree and wish there were many more books on exits. My guess is that it is a skill that few people have really deeply analyzed and come to excellent solutions. Regurgitating the stuff from some other books (e.g. basic entry points), where people just learned from others without really checking it out for themselves, I think may be much easier. Just my guess.
I’m not even close from it, But maybe it should be exposure based. Depending on potential upside / downside, One should be exposed x% to the favorite side, Simply update as new informations become available. No targets. Just dynamic position sizing. Exposure can be lowered to 0% when uncertainty is maximal (1/n) This might be utopia. Can be automated but one can’t process continuously. Discrete bet such a set and forget are best for discretionary traders.
Straight forward question. Because they are trading educators, not professional traders. there are many things to focus including when to trade when not to which futures to trade which session to trade how to get in / get out how to stretch profit mind and money management etc etc
Are you complaining about the set-ups or the educators. Set-ups are easy to teach. If/Then scenario; If the instrument you are trading does this; you enter. Exits are a little more difficult; too many alternatives depending on what you are attempting to accomplish. Can you give a specific example of an educator who doesn't give exits to go along with the entry set-up. I'm limited to books but usually I've seen exit strategies that go along with specific set-ups.
Good question, and to your point I'm complaining about the educator placing so much emphasis on setups that, like you just said, are easy to teach. Mostly what I've been seeing online is educators saying, enter on this specific setup and go for twice your risk or 1x your risk with stop below the setup like a flag or breakout or whatever. (Like Al Brooks for example who writes novels about setups that can be summed up in about 20 minutes, lol) Some rudimentary manual backtesting, it doesn't work without a more involved trade management plan. A simple place stop here and profit target there and walk away until the trade is over, does not work. Its all 50/50
Use your own trade setups / involved trade management plan and don't worry about what others (educators or any other trader) are doing. If you need to think about them considering you believe their setups do not work...be happy that they will be on the other side of your trades. Yet, its starting to seem like you're complaining about signal calling trade alert rooms considering the word educator can involve many different sub categories (e.g. book authors, program/code designers). Assuming you're now using your own trade setups...put all your time / energy into that and forget about others. wrbtrader