Deciding when to take profits (I let most of my winners turn into losers)

Quote from magicz:

I think you're using lagging indicators for your signals. this is not a good way to go when there is a lot of volatility. better when the underlying is trending.

Bingo, no trend stay out. This is were traders loose big time. They think they need to trade everyday.
 
Quote from IronFist:


So does anyone have any cool algorithms for solving this problem?


Yes. But you can find your own if you understand that short term trends are best entered mid morning and later afternoon.

Backtest this with hard stops and profit targets and you'll eventually get it.

Trying to play the trend game between 1100 and 1500 is wasting your time and money. Set your stops and targets and take a long lunch. Unless you're on Pacific time like me, then go back to sleep.
 
Quote from ssbc19:

Do you actually trade this or is it a program?

If all you had to do to make money is write a program to buy when price crosses above 60ema and sell when it crosses below we would all be rich.

And why not just program it because a computer would be a lot faster with the trades.

I think if you incorporated some analysis of the tick charts you could find better entries and exits

Forgive my ignorance but what chart am I looking at on the top half of your attachment?
 
Quote from Aaron Copland:

Bingo, no trend stay out. This is were traders loose big time. They think they need to trade everyday.

Not really true in all cases. I get killed in trends but do great in a choppy directionless market. It all depends on your trading style. If I had it my way, there would never be any trends longer then an hour.
 
Perhaps try looking at inversion instead of cross-over (aka, when does the 60EMA hit an inversion point?)

I find this works well if you use two moving averages -- a long term one to define the trend, and a short term one to define the trade (this is similar to the Day-Trader 2.0 thread strategy, I believe). Large peaks and valleys are normally found when price moves several deviations away from the lagging trend indicators.

Also, you should look to normalize for volatility somehow. This can be done by altering your stops or changing your entry methods (for example, using two trading moving averages and pyramiding your position).

Best of luck...

By the by, I think this works MUCH better with volume or range bars instead of time...
 
Quote from NQscalper:

Not really true in all cases. I get killed in trends but do great in a choppy directionless market. It all depends on your trading style. If I had it my way, there would never be any trends longer then an hour.

I don't suppose you want to tell me how you do this, do you? :)
 
Quote from Corey:

Perhaps try looking at inversion instead of cross-over (aka, when does the 60EMA hit an inversion point?)

What is an inversion point? Maybe i know it by another name.

I find this works well if you use two moving averages -- a long term one to define the trend, and a short term one to define the trade (this is similar to the Day-Trader 2.0 thread strategy,

i will look into that thread.

Also, you should look to normalize for volatility somehow. This can be done by altering your stops or changing your entry methods (for example, using two trading moving averages and pyramiding your position).

Best of luck...

By the by, I think this works MUCH better with volume or range bars instead of time... [/B]

What do you mean by "normalize volatility?"

I will look into tick charts. I think OEC's demo has them. How do i go abut determining what tick size to use?

PS. sorry for any typos. i'm posting from my Blackjack.
 
Quote from IronFist:

What is an inversion point? Maybe i know it by another name.
Inflection point, perhaps?

Quote from IronFist:
What do you mean by "normalize volatility?"
BY volatility. Set your stops based on ATR. Analyze distance from moving averages based on ATR. Basically, change your strategy relative to volatility. More volatility means taking less risk on trend changes -- trends might not last as long.
 
Quote from IronFist:

is it possible to identify when it is or is going to be chop and just sit out on the sidelines, then?

Or is this the reason successful traders scalp; so trends dont matter?
:

Utilize ANY form of volatility ...
try this
 

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