I do scale into some trades as price goes against me. If I see something setting up on a higher timeframe, I will have a range in which I am looking to enter, and will begin the process of building a position when price initially enters it. I will continue to add through that range with my stops just outside of it, where I know I am wrong about the trade.

For me it's more of an intraday swing technique, not scalping, but one that I have traditionally been good at. It allows me to at least have a dog in the hunt if price turns at the beginning of the range, or get a better price if it penetrates further. I'd say it's not for everyone, and you have to be very familiar with the market you are trading.

Rrrracer 

I do scale into some trades as price goes against me. If I see something setting up on a higher timeframe, I will have a range in which I am looking to enter, and will begin the process of building a position when price initially enters it. I will continue to add through that range with my stops just outside of it, where I know I am wrong about the trade. For me it's more of an intraday swing technique, not scalping, but one that I have traditionally been good at. It allows me to at least have a dog in the hunt if price turns at the beginning of the range, or get a better price if it penetrates further. I'd say it's not for everyone, and you have to be very familiar with the market you are trading.

My question for you would then be why not just add the size from the beginning? Now if I was trading 100 lots or something like that then I'd be on board. Maybe it's just me and I know my emotions would have a hay day if I did this lol.


-P

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MiniP 

My question for you would then be why not just add the size from the beginning? Now if I was trading 100 lots or something like that then I'd be on board. Maybe it's just me and I know my emotions would have a hay day if I did this lol.

A good question. There are times I just go all in, but usually in anticipation of a shorter scalp-type trade. It really depends on the situation.

When scaling, the initial entry is just so I'm at least in the game... many times price goes farther into my range, but there have been times I've missed great moves because I was waiting for a better price and my limit orders didn't get hit.

If I went all in with a full load and were wrong about the trade then the loss would be greater. When I scale, the farthest end of my range is fairly close to where I would just consider the trade to be wrong, but I've given myself significant wiggle room to build a position, got an overall better price on average, and have much smaller risk on the lots closer to the stop.

My process is this... analyze where I think a turn is likely to occur, then determine the range of price that it should do it in. I do the math, my total risk is based on building a position within the bottom and top of that range. Much outside of it, and I'm wrong about the trade, but I know beforehand what is at stake. Very similar to an all-in prospect with a larger stop, just with the opportunity to get a better price and, IMO, risk less. If it turns sooner than I anticipate, I at least have my foot in the door with the initial lots and can still add along the way.


Like I said though, I think you have to be very familiar with how your market moves. I would never try it right off the bat with an instrument I've never traded before


Hope I've been able to make sense of how I view it... I realize this style is not for everyone, but it's something that came naturally to me early on (probably because I spent so much time reading @ Inletcap's threads LOL.)

Rrrracer 

A good question. There are times I just go all in, but usually in anticipation of a shorter scalp-type trade. It really depends on the situation. When scaling, the initial entry is just so I'm at least in the game... many times price goes farther into my range, but there have been times I've missed great moves because I was waiting for a better price and my limit orders didn't get hit. If I went all in with a full load and were wrong about the trade then the loss would be greater. When I scale, the farthest end of my range is fairly close to where I would just consider the trade to be wrong, but I've given myself significant wiggle room to build a position, got an overall better price on average, and have much smaller risk on the lots closer to the stop. My process is this... analyze where I think a turn is likely to occur, then determine the range of price that it should do it in. I do the math, my total risk is based on building a position within the bottom and top of that range. Much outside of it, and I'm wrong about the trade, but I know beforehand what is at stake. Very similar to an all-in prospect with a larger stop, just with the opportunity to get a better price and, IMO, risk less. If it turns sooner than I anticipate, I at least have my foot in the door with the initial lots and can still add along the way. Like I said though, I think you have to be very familiar with how your market moves. I would never try it right off the bat with an instrument I've never traded before Hope I've been able to make sense of how I view it... I realize this style is not for everyone, but it's something that came naturally to me early on (probably because I spent so much time reading @ Inletcap's threads LOL.)

I can defiantly see how this would help, If used properly then could have great benefits.. I just know my chimp brain would go bat shit crazy if I tried this lol.. thanks for explaining your thoughts!

-P

Rrrracer 

I realize this style is not for everyone, but it's something that came naturally to me early on (probably because I spent so much time reading @ Inletcap's threads LOL.)

Yep, this is the exact @Inletcap method.

I can understand it, I just can't do it.

Bob.

bobwest 

I can understand it, I just can't do it.

I think I learned how to do it early on by messing things up really, really badly... would enter a trade, it wouldn't go my direction, kept adding and adding... eventually it would blow up in spectacular fashion and my account would catch every last bit of shrapnel.


That was when I was a loose cannon behind the charts though.. there has been much learned about volume, structure, trade placement/expectations, the behaviour of EUR/USD, and myself since.

I should revisit those @ Inletcap threads... maybe pick up on some nuances I hadn't noticed before!

I know there are others here who scale in, and I know it's been argued ad nauseam, but I would love to hear more from both sides.

Rrrracer 

I think I learned how to do it early on by messing things up really, really badly... would enter a trade, it wouldn't go my direction, kept adding and adding... eventually it would blow up in spectacular fashion and my account would catch every last bit of shrapnel. That was when I was a loose cannon behind the charts though.. there has been much learned about volume, structure, trade placement/expectations, the behaviour of EUR/USD, and myself since. I should revisit those @ Inletcap threads... maybe pick up on some nuances I hadn't noticed before! I know there are others here who scale in, and I know it's been argued ad nauseam, but I would love to hear more from both sides.

any chance you could drop the link to the thread you are talking about.

-P

You got it buddy... definitely worth a read. He was a super accessible guy, and knowledgeable... wish he still hung out here. It was interesting to see how his style developed over time.

Floor Pivots, Price Action, Point & Figure, Chart Patterns &Fibs Welcome to my Journal and feel free to post your thoughts. I'm using this thread to keep track of developing patterns and setups that I find throughout the trading day going forward. Most of my posts will be pictures and maybe a one line thought …

InletCap's Random Collections I'm opening this journal as I feel I need a home on FIO to put stuff. As the title implies, this will be a collection of random thoughts, images, posts from other threads, and things I want to keep track of in one place. I post in a lot of places …

... and he hung around the Spoos thread and Scalper's Journey a lot... but I'll let you do your own digging there

Rrrracer 

You got it buddy... definitely worth a read. He was a super accessible guy, and knowledgeable... wish he still hung out here. It was interesting to see how his style developed over time. Floor Pivots, Price Action, Point & Figure, Chart Patterns &Fibs Welcome to my Journal and feel free to post your thoughts. I'm using this thread to keep track of developing patterns and setups that I find throughout the trading day going forward. Most of my posts will be pictures and maybe a one line thought … InletCap's Random Collections I'm opening this journal as I feel I need a home on FIO to put stuff. As the title implies, this will be a collection of random thoughts, images, posts from other threads, and things I want to keep track of in one place. I post in a lot of places … ... and he hung around the Spoos thread and Scalper's Journey a lot... but I'll let you do your own digging there

Thank you!

-P

Also, if you're looking for more on scaling in, you should check out Big Mike's thread here, as well as this one by @ GaryD:

Catching Big Waves - a trader's journal of surfing the the markets And I just grasped a little better what I mean by "stretching". How do you become not afraid of something that you are afraid of? You push yourself into it, and it it not comfortable. You have to become numb to losing money, so that fear does …

Both hugely amazing journals. Let me know if you find any others