Did I get taken by robot?

comagnum said:
I always use a bracket order with a stop loss and profit target. There are top traders that use stops, and those that don't. For those that don't use a stop I hope their discipline is perfect, they can stare at their monitor all day, and their data feed never goes down. In most cases the stop less did protect me from suffering larger losses, in those times when a stop is hit but price bounces back in the direction of the trade I simply reenter, so what it cost a few dollars more to play it safe. I never enter a trade having a deep "conviction" or "complete commitment" that the trade is going to be a winner, in fact I always assume each trade will be a loser.

As far as your stop getting hit - we have all been there many times - your just more honest than some. There are some tactics that can help with that, but it will take some time to acquire the skills.

* Use a conditional stop loss based on another symbol such as an index or sector ETF that is moving in synch with the stock you are trading. This is very effective.
* Try using an ATR trailing stop if your platform has this. This is a favorite of many quants and fairy easy to use. It adapts to real time volatility.
* Learn how to use market profile if you platform has this. It can help greatly to find optimal exit areas that are outside of the noise and the obvious places where stops are resting. Once you use market profile you will never want to trade without it.
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Thanks for advise.
-You mentioned ART trailing stop order. My query is how to set a proper volatility tolerance? What steps I should do that can take me to a right number?
-What is market profile? Do you have any picture or sources I can refer to?
 
BillKey said:
Thanks for advise.
-You mentioned ART trailing stop order. My query is how to set a proper volatility tolerance? What steps I should do that can take me to a right number?
-What is market profile? Do you have any picture or sources I can refer to?
More...

Simply put you can take any average volatility-measurement and choose which number to multiply with. Ie. 3xSTDDEV or 4xATR added/subtracted to the average has statistical meaning about probabilities. Bonus if you do this in log-space instead of linear numbers to account for percentage growth and declines, and avoiding negative price levels.

Be prepared for psychological devastation having to ride out swings in the markets, and learn to cope with that.. Also learn to cope with inevitable losses and failures, there are NO "right numbers" per se.

Just search for: volume profile and action market theory

No source will tell what you need to research yourself, just provide tips and pointers. In fact, be very wary of already-defined solutions to your problems. You'll have to do the work yourself..
 
BillKey said:
View attachment 166838

I opened a short position on this stock. And made a buy to cover protection near open price. The trends in later proves this thought was right. But, before that, I was cleaned by a sharp price in 1 minute. My question is what happened at that moment? Did I be detected by someone and then swapped out? What I should do next time?
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Give your stop more room.
 
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