points targets?

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suggy

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lo all.

was just wondering if you aimed for a certain number of points per day and then stopped trading, or whether you just traded all day and see what you had at the end.

am gutted as was short from 9884 on the DJ and exited for my 30 points. if i'd stuck at it there was 100+easy there. am still a beginner so am just happy to have got a + trade at the moment. what do you guys do?
 
Personally I dont have profit targets because all I am interested in is the risk of what I may lose if the market moves against me. If the market moves in my favour I stay with the trade until I get stopped out on a market reversal to my trailing stop.

But if you had a plan and stuck to it then pat your self on the back. Ask yourself this question, if the market had moved against you and starting eroding your profit how would you feel about it now ?

The fact is that you dont know what may happen and the most important thing is that you stuck to your plan.


Paul
 
suggy - as you get more experience, you'll realise that there are days to take a target, and days to let the trade run.

Yesterday was a narrow range day, so today was more likely to be a trending day than a sideways day IMO. There's no definitive rules for this (well, none that I know of), it's just a feeling for the markets, but whatever happens trading what you see is always the only way to trade.
 
Suggy
I just lost 20 points on the Dow going long with what looked to be +ve divergence off a lower low and around support at 9790. That was my stop and I stuck to it which is something I'm only just getting to grips with. You should feel good about your trade and I SHOULD feel good about mine!
Which do you think is easier to do?
Cheers
Quercus
 
Trader 333

How many points do you use for your trailing stop on the DJ?

Also FTSE ?

I too am new to this game and have been 'caught out' with a sudden reversal and not having a stop in place.

Regards

Jay Kay3 :eek:
 
Suggy/JayKay
Can I suggest you down load the dow intraday archives that Newton Bomb posts every week. Trading the DOW can be learnt very quickly. One of the finer points you will have to learn is when the indicators are telling you a small move is weak ( time wise) and when it is strong. Another is calculating target moves, so that you can anticipate the price NOT making target and THEN diciding whether to close or not. Tracking targets is very rewarding, both psycologically and financially! It allows you to "run the winners" which is very important. Follow my dow thread on the indicies board....
 
Quercus Read my report tonight and you'll see exactly where you went wrong.....
 
Thanks Chartman

CAN YOU GIVE ME A LINK OR TELL ME WHERE TO LOOK FOR AFOREMENTIONED ARCHIVED INFO PLUS YOUR DOW THREAD.

Reagrds

JayKay
 
jaykay3

I dont trade the Dow and was just giving an example that you can trade with trailing stops.



Paul
 
CM - I'm an avid reader of your summaries. However, it's a lot easier to read than to do :) esp real time

tbh im still working on a strategy that i feel comfortable with, and in reality if i could nail 30 points a day i would be laughing. its just balancing all out the losers :(
 
suggy:

when you enter a trade, do you always know how many points you'll lose before you get stopped out? The more time you spend waiting for the lower risk set-ups, the better your winnings will be.

I trade ES, not the Dow so it may be slightly different for you, and find that the lowest risk set-ups are usually in the middle of the day. The downside is that the moves are smaller so you will need to wait longer to complete the trade.

The middle of the day is often dismissed as not being worth trading, but when the morning has gone sideways then the small trends usually start in the middle of the day, and combined with the lower risk of entries and exits, then it makes a good learning ground to bank a few winners per day.
 
well to a certain extent. I always enter as near to S/R as possible, and am aware of secondary S/R levels. Generally if it breaks then I get out, but there are exceptions. eg. the Dax yesterday. was short, the price went through the resistance but it was on the back of the DJ skyrocket. I should have got out when it broke primary R but was fairly sure it was gonna drop again - held on to close out for -2 or something. Am a bit wary of stops atm. I have had them taken out a couple of times blatantly by the big boys, and if I'm screenwatching I reckon I can close it out better than stops. The level of stop you need in the DJ is really beyond my comfort zone, so I would rather close early than risk taking that kind of hit. A bit contradictory but hey :)

Discipline and patience are still areas I'm working on - esp staying out of markets when their are no setups. I think I'm over the steepest bit of the learning curve (hope so anyway) but obviously you never stop learning.
 
Have you tried just exiting a trade when you have, say, 15 points under your belt? On sideways days I do this on ES - just go for the 1.5 points here and there. 1.5 points will equate to around 15 points on the Dow. Sometimes it's easier to take the profit, then leave the screen for a break and then come back. All you need to do is this twice a day - I know it sounds easier than it is.
 
Good thread this, it made me stop and think a bit, and I believe I've had a helpful realisation that it's the points that matter and not necessarily the $$!
Cheers
Quercus
 
yea that is pretty much what i do now bu I have my target at around 25 points if im on the DJ. thing is I dont like getting fixatated on how much I want the trade to deliver (if you see what i mean).

quercus that was actually my next question - does anyone have a £ target for the day rather than points?
 
if you set a target for profit or points each day you are going to affect your screw up your discipline in excercising your strategy

some days you make more than others - your strategy should keep you in a positive P&L, but there is no way to control the amount that you can make

nor do you want to create a ceiling on your profits on a real profitable day
 
Quote "I don't have a $ target per day - I just take what the market is offering me that day "

A comment from a real trader..

I am a 1% guy myself but will take what I am given by the market boss..
 
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