Quote from Achiever:
Just curious to find out what fellow trend traders think about the following:
Trade with the trend - Which phase of the trend would you open your position in? Do you use retracements to initiate trades or do you use breakouts?
Cut your losses fast - How fast? Do you use a multiple of ATR? Moving Average? Percentage? Support/Resistance? etc.
Let your profits run - How do you determine when to take profits? Where do you jump back in if it resumes it's trend?
Last one: What is you money management plan?
RE: Trade with trend: Think of the trend as a current in a body of water. There are times when you can go against it and live, other times you will drown. In most cases its easier to let the current carry you, even the strongest of salmon die when they swim against the current. I will only trade against the trend, if the opportunity I see offers a higher R/R ratio, and the larger trend conflicts with the one I'm looking at. In the perfect world, when all trends are the same, which is more frequent in extreme up or down trends, I play the trend regardless of timeframe. In consolidations, in times of uncertain and ambivalent bias, I use other momentum indicators to fine-tune entries and exits. Most breakouts will fail, so I find myself entering more on retracements, and that allows me to enter with tighter stops, which I can be more flexible with.
RE: Cutting losses and letting profits run: I have predetermined entries and exits. I never open, manage or close a position without having these points pre-determined.
RE: Money Management plan: I have a "global" and a "daily" money management plan. The core of my plan, is a minimum R/R ratio of 1:2. On the "daily" plan, I'll take some plays with R/R of less than 1:2, and I reduce my exposure, if the R/R ratio is better than 1:2 I increase my exposure. For example if my primary exposure is 2,000 shares, this is the scale I use:
1:4 + = 5,000 shares
1:3 = 3,000 shares
1:2 = 2,000 shares
1:1.8 = 1,000 shares
1:1.5 = 500 shares
1:1.2 = 200 shares
On plays with R/R ratios of less than 1:2, I scale and increase exposure as R/R improves. If the R/R based on the net average price, is at least 1:2 I scale into 2,000 max. If the R/R improves I follwo the scale. This keeps me in more trades, and preserves my exposure.
Hope that helps.