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Study the winners in whatever setup you trade. (Every day.) If your trade doesn't look like that, get out ASAP.

Love it!

I won't bother with any philosophical b.s., just facts. First I will agree with Damir, then disagree. Agreed: exits are so critical, that they make or break the method. Disagreed: that a carefully chosen entry cannot enhance the success of the method. "Proof": I trade pullbacks...

Here's a link to a free simulator: TSim+. Score a profitable month in the simulator first. Keep a notebook. You'll learn a lot.

price and volume The shorter the time frame, the worse...

Have you studied your exits in a systematic way? I have many different exit indicators, but by far the best is "stops to b/e and take a nap". At least, I usually aim to hold a portion of my position for a few days, if it is profitable.

If that was heaven, hell is really going to suck.

You can estimate your worst case scenario drawdown by taking all your losing trades for a month and adding up the points. (Leave out all the winning trades). Then you can pick a safe trading size by taking the max drawdown in $$ you could still feel OK with, and dividing by the number of...

Ok then, what is your probability of winning, and how did you arrive at the number? To gain 8 points while risking 20, you'd need 5 wins for every two losses to break even, or a success rate of 71%. I keep track of my trades in a spreadsheet so I can do this. For one method, I have a 33%...

There are three kinds of missed trades I know about: Sleeping (literally, or figuratively) during entry signal Used limit order for entry, not filled Outside of system Hopefully you are not worried about this third one. If it leads to trades outside the system, it is destructive...

Roger that, it depends on the vehicle. For me, the only ones I let hang or move against me are dividend bearing stocks or bonds. To become profitible with futures I had to learn to quicky exit in the beginning if it didn't move my way right away. So while I will hold some NQ/ES winners for...

Not disputing your system, just that you read "sideways" and you are short. When my system says "sideways" I am out, or if I already have a profitable position, have a very tight stop on it.

The law of nature being: if you teach, you learn more about what you are teaching.

It could be happening right now.

If the seminar is about a trading method, I would pass. If the seminar is given by a big-wig, about trading and market behavior in general, it might be worth it to hear the great one speak.

Not a bad idea Flash. That's what Jim Wychoff always says anyway. I usually do market orders just because stop limits are much more of a pain in the ass.

Your second question first: on profit taking. The answer depends on your trading method. Here's how to get the answer: get on your simulator that uses real time data for the next two weeks. Trade two contracts. For the first contract, use a set profit target for the whole two weeks (your...

Hi TS, great topic, as you can see a ton of suggestions. There is an answer, which depends on how you are trading. Keep track of what each chart you are following says for every trade you take. At the end of each month, compile a table of the results. I don't know what you'll find, but...

Sorry, that's all I got. Also, I will say, the tool is not for figuring out "how fast you are losing your ass". It's to get a "second opinion" on what size you should be trading. It can warn you of danger that may not be readily apparent after a profitable month.

The "risk of ruin" technique is one i've heard about but have yet to try. Once you have a list of "x" trades and results, you have the computer randomly rearrange the trades and re-plot the equity curve. There will be some arrangements where the losses really clump together and draw...