Does my bum look big in this ?

[danpayne]

Morning All

Ive been trading about a year and currently hold 5 positions
Couls some one with more experience than myself answer the question
Am I overtrading ?
I work full time mon to thur
I feel comfortyable manging all 5 positions but it does eat up a lot of time
Was wondering how many positions the average trader would run with ?
And wether I would be better off just having say,,,2 or 3 trades running at any one time ?
Maybe just increase the size on those rather than risk spreading myself to thin so to speak ?
I never trade more than 1% of my pot so I know Im not over trading from a money management perspective
Any thoughts ?

Thanks

 

[jackolan]

Ive been trading about a year and currently hold 5 positions

I can't comment on the quantity of trades, but I am wondering why you hold them for so long? The longest I've ever held a position was a week, and that was because, at the time, I didn't know what I was doing!

 

[GCC]

Well, who cares if you are making money?

Actually, it all depends on the time frame and how many markets you are playing. Suppose you trade 2 markets, and you have 1 position trade, 2 swing trades, 1 intraday trade and a hedge trade in a related market then I think that's normal.

Of course, it all depends if you find it taxing or not. If you think you are starting to be able to handle then it may be a good idea to stop some of your trades.

 

[danpayne]

Well, who cares if you are making money?

Actually, it all depends on the time frame and how many markets you are playing. Suppose you trade 2 markets, and you have 1 position trade, 2 swing trades, 1 intraday trade and a hedge trade in a related market then I think that's normal.

Of course, it all depends if you find it taxing or not. If you think you are starting to be able to handle then it may be a good idea to stop some of your trades.

Dont find it taxing just worry about spreading myself to thin.
Really trying to gauge how many positions average trader would hold
thinking out loud, I suppose given ive been trading just 12 months I should be concentrating on developing trading skills rather than to many trades, but then more trades equals more experience and skill develepmont
1 the markets I trade at present
2 ftse 100 (various stocks)
3 the ftse (indice)
4 crude,and crude futures
Have been thinking about maybe trying forex have been watching and paper trading
so far so good .
I read somewher that the best way to trade forex is to find 2 pairs that you stick with
and trade those only ? your thoughts would be apreciated
Dan

 

[danpayne]

I can't comment on the quantity of trades, but I am wondering why you hold them for so long? The longest I've ever held a position was a week, and that was because, at the time, I didn't know what I was doing!

How long do you think Ive had these positions ?
Maybe I didnt explain very well ive been trading a year I havnt had the positions for a year

 

[Charlton]

Morning All

Ive been trading about a year and currently hold 5 positions
Couls some one with more experience than myself answer the question
Am I overtrading ?
I work full time mon to thur
I feel comfortyable manging all 5 positions but it does eat up a lot of time
Was wondering how many positions the average trader would run with ?
And wether I would be better off just having say,,,2 or 3 trades running at any one time ?
Maybe just increase the size on those rather than risk spreading myself to thin so to speak ?
I never trade more than 1% of my pot so I know Im not over trading from a money management perspective
Any thoughts ?

Thanks

I do not think 5 positions is overtrading, if you feel you can manage them all. I would regularly hold that number whilst daytrading.

If you decrease the number of trades then you might make it easier to manage them, but at the same time you will increase your risk if you swap number of trades for higher position sizes.

It sounds as if you are holding these positions for some time, although you have not said. The fact that you are asking the question suggests that you do have concerns over the number of trades you can manage, so perhaps you should review your exit strategy, stop-loss and money management controls to make your task easier.

Charlton

 

[Chartergas]

Don't bet more than 6percent of your account at once

Ie if you where using 2 percent risk then 3 trades would be max