I don't subscribe to the 4 tick above the bar high rule so my entry is 4065 and my stop loss is 4062 - one tick below the signal bar's low. The second long has a 15 tick risk.
I'm not an SLA trader so I don't need to exit on DL breaks.
I think you could reasonably expect between 41 ticks (measured move at 4074.25) to 54 ticks depending on how you manage the trade. I think an exit at 54 ticks would be based on the TL break, moving below 20 ema, time of day, distance already moved, sluggish momentum, failure to make a new high in 17 minutes...
Interesting. So you're using the 1 tick, as ND does. Its curious how the thing that scares a person, and the things we do to prevent the fear, often can end up causing more harm than good. I absolutely believe how given enough testing, the gain of 3 ticks profit (via the 1 tick vs 1 point entry), and the gain of 3 ticks less loss, more than likely offsets the times where you might be sucked into a bad trade. This would take hardcore testing, but this is what I'm reading between the lines and I believe what ND saw with her testing on her own setups. So by using an entry further away from the signal to prevent bad trades and the fear of losing money, may in fact not have the effect of keeping loses smaller or making bigger gains.
In terms of your stop loss, this is juicy as well. I often see that on 5 minute bars, this stop loss works really well. The 1 minute bars tend to be a bit erratic for me, but I really need to explore this more. For myself personally, I can remember so often holding trades for 7 or 8 point losses, which was not only a loss of money but also emotional energy. By taking the quick loss, one is able to be prepared for the next trade if he has his solid plan at the ready. I hear over and over again to cut losses short. I think this preserves both capital and mental energy.
One of the things I really gained from your insight is that you
a) waited for the right setup after the BO from the range, even though this is well above the BO level now. And
b) you took your exit where you should have but had no problem re-entering again.
Lastly, in terms of your exit, all wonderful ideas, and all horrible because the testing for this would be horrendous. I mean how the heck does one define distance already travelled... espeically when this has to be in relation to something (ie. some days a 20 point move is the entire move, other days 20 points is done in the first 5 minute). Then sluggish momentum is almost not something you can even see on a chart. The failure to make a new high in 17 minutes is golden, but once again... you'd have to test 10 minutes, then maybe 15 minutes, etc., just to see how long is too long.
But I like it FeetFirst... I really like everything you say! You can post in my journal too... and please do!
(well anyone can... even Blotto, but not if his intention is to crush me emotionally!
)
) On the other hand, its good to have such a good mix of charts. The last thing you'd want to do is a trade a plan that only works 20% of the time. So as long as I make something that keeps the losses small on the bad days, and captures most of the good, this should be that holy grail.
