Lesson #1: Slowly establish your line, first move never more than 10% of total outlay. Objective here is to get engaged so that you are locked into the tape and you can have a much more coherent understanding of the dynamics involved in your speculation.
#2: Always devise a hedge application that would result in net neutral without closing position, so that you are not as you say, "switching gears in two days...". This type of trading is very diff't than your hyper-trading intraday and does not involve buying at the top and selling at the bottom. In fact, the Nas is only 18 points above my initial line, but the hedge was applied after 9 points, so there is no real loss at this juncture except for hedge carry costs and some margin interest. When a trader goes net neutral, they are not "switching gears", they are merely using a more dynamic instrument for risk control. Additionally, your hedge application will need to adjust based on the markets activity almost every 10 minutes. It is critical to keep your hedge constantly updated so that when it needs to be applied, it accurately reflects your real market risk. This type of hedge is applied rather often as it is not unusual for the position to move against you initially. In fact, the greatest risk at any time is the point of initial execution (I'm sure you know why). This qualifies the intent of opening with a mere 10% in order to significantly offset the initial risk. Think about it: If you full position is to be 1000 shares, opening with 100 is relatively equal to not being exposed at all, so the nas moving 9 points against you on 100 shares equals my daily lunch cost. Be more receptive to logical reasoning for as you know, the sport of trading does not benefit from emotional ranting and raving....
#3: If hedge is applied, stay neutral until you can clearly decide which part of the trade you want to lift. This is almost my favorite part of any trade. The greatest challenge to more sophisticated traders is their ability to accurately calculate the appropriate off-set that results in a true neutral profile. Once neutral, you can watch and just like having a bullet or in the old days, keeping a box, you can quickly go net either side.
#4: If initial outlay does not immediately move in your favor, do not hesitate to execute hedge and go to neutral. This is critical.
#5: See #4
#6: Stay focused and remain patient. Once move is clear, lift appropriate side and go net directional and look for first chance to double exposure (i.e. go from 10% to 20% exposure). Once you do this, again calculate your appropriate hedge strategy and keep it updated every 30 minutes or so. When engaged in choppy markets and expecting a large move, this is the most efficient way to stay engaged without risking yourself to loss. But for a hyper-active trader like yourself, this type of trading is perhaps out of your league? I don't mean this in a bad way. Many things remain out of my league to this day.
This type of trading strategy in fact results in a rise in your Sharpe ratio, but I'm not quite sure if you know what a Sharpe ratio is. If not, I would be more than happy to explain it to you. When you trade institutional capital, your Sharpe Ratio is your holy water.
Pejman Hamidi