Staying in longer

[easyrider]

If your winners are larger than your losers on average your in good shape. I have no problem making $100 to $200 (I'm only trading one contract) most days but every few days I will lose $300 or $400. Sometimes this will happen a couple of days in a row and your down for the week. You can only settle for $100 to $200 a day if your losses are averaging around $50 to $100 a day and I find this nearly impossible trading the eminis. They can move against you so fast that you can be down in a hurry. If you set your stop that tight you get stopped out all the time. I must make more money when a trade is going my way. I have widened my stop to 3 pts on ES and 7 pts on NQ and checking my position every 15 minutes and trailing a stop and staying in the trade until I get stopped out. Only been doing this a few days but I feel I'm on the right track. I've stopped trying to scalp and am concentrating on trades that have the potential to move a decent amount to get my risk/reward more in line.

 

[illiquid]

Originally posted by bungrider


On an intraday basis (I think this is the only one that really matters for this topic, since that is the timeframe where losses can be most tightly controlled by the trader . . .

Successfully trading around a position will of course require full attention on an intraday basis, but I think "learning how to stay in longer" will only apply to trades initiated which would naturally encounter one or more pullbacks on the way to that trade's ultimate objective -- trades which would more likely last from an hour to several days. I think if one is initiating trades for .10-.50 gains per trade on a stock which normally has say a $2 range, you should most likely always sell out the entire position if you feel the position is about to turn, as the benefits of scaling on such a tight level is minimal to none. Just because a stock runs $3 past your .50 scalping gain doesn't mean you should have "learned" to hold longer; just as a climax bottom buyer who catches a 10% move on a multiday bounce would not look back at the stock one month and 20 points later and think, gee, I should become an investor since I missed those extra 20 points -- it's a totally different game at that point.

Learning to hold winners longer is a skill everyone wants to improve on; however, eventually you reach objectives/time frames that go beyond the type of trading you're accustomed too. This is why its difficult to go from scalper to position trader and vice versa -- one must accept the dis/advantages of either style and realize its near impossible to get the best of both worlds.

 

[TraderBob]

I usually use a trailing stop via a price alert (on TS6) and cover my initial cost as soon as possible such that I get out at a breakeven in a worst case scenario. Depending on the stock and the time interval you're using, set your alert to allow for some wiggle room. Do I always get out at the top if I'm long or at the bottom if I'm short ? Absolutely not, but I usually get the majority of the move and thats fine for me. I also try to trade in the same direction as the market and/or sector whenever possible.

Good luck.