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We're doing a Third Annual family cruise (my wife, my folks, and my sister) on the Mexican Riviera out of L.A. -- actually it leaves post-Thanksgiving on Saturday. Been to Mexico so many times, this one is pretty much stay on the ship and veg out for a week. I'm bringing Brooks' price action book along and plan on having some time to sit and digest it LOL.
We've also got the Caribbean booked in late Feb. Have been there before a few times, but there are a few new ports we haven't been to. Plus, Princess's Jerkolo Club deal was just too irresistible to pass up, not to mention a use-it-or-lose-it Southwest credit that's gonna expire. The planets were in alignment. (That's for Gio...good trading today, Dude.....glad ya got yer money back).
Awesome! I expect lots of pictures when you get back. I've been eyeballing the Oasis of the Seas, but trying to decide if I really want to be on a ship that big...
But I digress, we should continue this in off-topic.
Can you share some wisdom regarding the following topics:
- Moving stops further away after entry
- Doubling up after a losing trade
- Multi-target, x ticks to T1, xx ticks to T2, runner T3 type thing
- What you do after taking a stop
I ask because I think it will help a lot of traders reading this thread.
Be nice to George. You two have a difference of opinion, nothing more, so no need to make it more.
I agree to your "terms".
For me:
- I have long since learned to NEVER move a stop further way after entry. I haven't done it in at least a year. Trading is hard enough, making decisions while INSIDE a trade are that much more difficult to get right, you should have those things worked out BEFORE you enter a position. So while I am using larger stops these days when trading CL, I never move a stop backwards "hoping" it will go my way at some point.
- I never double up. I did it a handful of times a couple of years ago (not since) and in every single instance it ended up being one of my worst days ever.
- It is easier to lose your ass when trading lots of contracts, but it's also easier to make your nut with multiple cars too. So basically it all comes down to wisdom, with which requires experience and discipline. Trading 3 to 4 targets can be so much easier than trading one, but you've got to be far enough along in your trading journey to do it right. I like to make my first target relatively small, maybe 6-8 ticks on CL, and second target is about 16 to 20 ticks, third target is a runner that I try to leave on as long as possible, often it gets 50 ticks or more.
- Taking stops: again, this is where wisdom is crucial. It's also important to have this scenario worked out and well rehearsed prior to "game time", for the same reason I mentioned before --- it is not smart (and very hard to do right) to make decisions in the heat of battle. You need to have your plan before going into battle, and stick with it, at least until the battle is over. Then you can revise your ultimate War plan if the battle didn't go well. Taking stops is part of trading, and often times if you force yourself to arbitrarily take a 10 minute break, etc, you miss perfect trades. So for me, I have no rule to walk away after a single stop, but instead my rule is to be able to explain why I got stopped, and if I can't, then I don't trade until I can or until enough movement has occurred that the trade is now well behind us. If you can't see the chop, if you can't see the reversals, if you can't see POC's or pressure points and etc, entering the next trade is the wrong decision. So for me, if I take a stop, it usually means I was wrong about the direction. Not wrong about not being in chop, not wrong about S/R levels, etc. Just got in at a very bad time, didn't get to my targets, and flat got stopped. It happens, but I will take a trade 2 bars later if I can convince myself I clearly see everything in front of me and have identified the reason I was stopped in the last trade.
when i put on a trade i have an automatic 3 point stop - the only reason i do that is so if i lose my internet connection and i get stopped out i only lose 3 points - of course, i can call my broker, who answers the fone on the first ring, to pull the trade - but i dont take any chances cuz i trade many contracts
i have a predetermined place/zone (price) where i intend to do battle such as a support or resist level or a certain price pattern or in my case a certain astro occurence - but, the price moves so dang fast sometiimes and i might be taking heat on what/where i expected to happen
so, the answer is , hell yes, i move my stop - just cus i move my stop doesnt mean that i screwed up - just means theres more wriggle room that i thot there would be when i put the order in - i have so much faith in what the hell im doing that i know i will win - if you dont have faith in your trade then you're just plain gambling and might as well just throw crap on the wall and see if it sticks
that brings to mind - you need to have some emperical evidence (whew big words) in what you are doing or else dont trade it real and stick to sim trading
