Hi Trendie
Don't need much encouragement to discuss the approach
What do your rules say about MAX loss for a trade ?
Not definitive values but I try to keep it around 25 i.e. 20pts + 5 spread. Less if there is SR near.
Also, if trade becomes profitable, do you allow it room to breathe, ie; allow it to go negative, with expectation for bigger profit later ? Or do you not allow a profitable trade to go negative.
If it goes > 10 in profit I'm likely to move the stop to BE. I feel safer that way but of course it sometimes goes wrong i.e. takes the stop and reverses. If there is another indicator after the stop has been taken I would probably re-enter.
What if the "obvious S/R" is far away ? Do you scale down entry?
Or dont enter at all ?
I'm less likely to enter if I can't see a nice position for the stop.
That said I do tend to split the trade [or double it if you like] if it goes against me and another entry presents itself. Quite often a Rule 1 is followed by a rule 3 [or 2 & 4] in which case I would end up with 2 trades [or 2 half trades running].
On the subject of splitting trades I have sometimes taken a trade and rolled half the amount to a BE Stop and cashed the other half for say 10 or 12 points. Not sure if this is the best way as some of the back testing [very simplistic] suggests that it's better to wait for a proper exit for the whole stake.
As I keep saying, this is experimental and trades are simulated on capitalspreads [although I have run it real once or twice] until I either scrap the idea or can consistently average 20points per day.
The stops and money management schemes are constantly being changed and hopefully improved so I'm always open to suggestions. The one thing I am more and more convinced of is that the 100ema +-15 channel plays a significant role as support and resistance in day trading. The trick is to convert that into successful trades.
Thanks for asking Trendie
Regards Bill
🙂