Tuesday / March 31, 2020 / 12:00 Noon
The trades I made this morning reinforce the importance I attribute to monitoring and managing my positions (if I have the time to do so) when it comes to implementing my system profitably. Had I simply placed my orders and walked away, I would have probably been stopped out of almost half these trades for losses.
In fact, that I suffered only one literal loss is due in part to my having actually violated one of the cardinal rules of trading, that being—
do not widen your stops!
In the words of the School of Pipsology:
"Traders, especially the more inexperienced ones, often question themselves and lose…objectivity when the pain of losing kicks in and brings in negative thoughts like, 'Maybe the market will turn right here. I should hold a bit longer and then it will go my way.'"
However, trading using the Cycles, Waves & Envelopes version of Numerical Price Prediction paints a very clear picture as to which direction rates are headed, the ranges of amplitudes and frequencies that fall within a realistic realm of possibility, and when the market is evidencing dramatic changes in dynamics.
When I saw my positions about to be stopped out without a dramatic change in dynamics, and without violating the ranges of amplitudes and frequencies that fell within a realistic realm of possibility, I adjusted my stops (and take-profit targets) accordingly and waited for the almost inevitable reversals to manifest, which they eventually did within the projected parameters/limits forecast by the system.
Again, according to the School of Pipsology:
"If the market has reached your stop, your reason for the trade is no longer valid and it’s time to close it out."
But, this is true only if I set my stops at the most extreme levels of all the possible options, which I do not. This is because, rather than select entry and exit levels on the basis of reward-risk ratios (such as 3:1), I do so based on the sole objective of
walking away with a profit.
If I can do this with a 3:1 reward-to-risk ratio…wonderful! However, the numbers in which I am
primarily interested have to do with mathematical odds and statistical probability, and it is these figures that dictate my actions—not reward-to-risk ratios or a dogmatic rule such as “stick to your stops,” which is wonderful for helping traders avoid making decisions based on emotions, but does not necessarily apply to situations where the rationale for one’s actions is based almost totally on logic.