Trixx, at the end of the day we trade the Eb & flow of the daily price moves, we all read & interpret the tape in slightly different ways, but it does boil down to one thing when all said & done, & that is how we deal with the trade once we enter & are at the mercy of the market (& lets face it we are all at the mercy of the market no matter what our ability).
No matter how good our analysis is or how perfect our entry, if we suddenly find ourselves pear shaped or the price slowly grinds away in the wrong direction, I have found it much better to cut & wait. This doesn't necessarily mean panic, it is simple account protection.
Sure you may give away a few points here & there, but it puts you in the driving seat for the larger moves.
The Algos, moon & stars, wizard of oz or whatever makes the markets move changes every day
Price structure (which I have mostly focused on) is good one day and not so good the next.
As we all know, often a slow grind away in the wrong direction from your entry, may lead to a spike even further from your entry, as more longs/shorts are collected for the slaughter.
I am only giving one scenario here, but my point to anyone reading this thread is this :
DO NOT HAVE WIDE STOPS.......NEVER EVER !!!!
I've learned to trade using no fixed hard stops (no point in telling them where you are) it takes an enormous amount of discipline to do, but trust me on this, you will be tempted to hold on with prayer & hope.... THIS IS PURELY THEN A GAMBLE !!!
My stop loss has to be an acceptable amount for the given situation
I may lose the battle to win the war as it were, because my money is never at the mercy of the grind or chop.
I trade similar size to you Trixx, or at least what you have generously shown on screenshot (I usually trade £20 per point, a little less than you) I will aim for approx 3 to 10 trades per day.
I won't be able to be involved in this excellent thread next week as I have other business commitments (bl@@dy typical)
I am slowly transitioning to full time trading & hope to become more involved in the posts & with the other guys on the "Anyone/ftse" thread.
Trixx you are a strange one mate, so much to offer, but man you are an aggressive bugger.
I kind of get the impression that you may be frustrated that no one is getting where you are coming from.
My best friend is one of the top traders for a large institutional bank, & I mean seriously wealthy, my £20 per point is chicken feed to his personal trading accounts (yes he can, he lives off shore) but even he is not nearly as aggressive as you.
Having said that, I do hope you continue, people can learn alot from your experience and wealth of knowledge.
good luck with your fun & games next week
