Trailing Stops

[Dazz]

over 500 trades? to the penny?

 

[bone]

I look at 15, 18 and 21 tk trailing stops P/L over 500 ES and GC trades vs. a fixed 15/18/21 tk tgt/stop trade. Fixed tgts made far more in my system that trailing stops.

Same here, much longer timeframe.

If my indicator package flips, I’m out right there and I cancel my resting stop-loss limit order.

Scales can be helpful but trailing stops are a disaster for swing trading from my experience.

 

[handelaar.nl]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I will try a bit of what all of you have saying.

As taowave mentioned, backtesting might be the best way of figuring it out. I have TradeStation, so I'll do it on ther platform.

Take,a look at Quantshare(or Amibroker) and backtest a portfolio of chosen stocks and run simulations with different stops,trailing stops,profit targets etc...

For shits and giggles,optimize the levels and then run WFA..

It's the only way to get a decent idea of how stops/trailing stops affect performance..

Keep an eye on MAE and MFE as well as risk reward stats...Not the Holy grail,but it should answer all your questions

 

[murray t turtle]

Exact opposite, almost always trail and almost never use fixed targets because price goes where it wants not where we want it to.

%%
True of most good trends/trends to go much longer than we figure; an exception is inverse/bear moves...………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..BUT bear trend% can easy be bigger/just tends to trend shorter.

 

[SimpleMeLike]

I look at 15, 18 and 21 tk trailing stops P/L over 500 ES and GC trades vs. a fixed 15/18/21 tk tgt/stop trade. Fixed tgts made far more in my system that trailing stops.

Hello Dazz,

I been tracking a trailing vs fixed as well.

What are your thoughts on keeping profit target the same as risk amount for 1RR trades?

 

[bricklayercowardice]

I think there will be many people who use trailing stops. I have never used it but am planning to use it for my benefits.

 

[Bad_Badness]

Adjustable stop are one tool. Trailing stop are another. You can combine them too. Adjust then trail. But frankly, they are sort of a last resort. Using either alone is like trying to walk in a potato sack. Better to work on maximizing profits first, and use these as "worst case" backups, imo. It all depends on how your tactics fit into your strategy.

 

[Dazz]

Hello Dazz,

I been tracking a trailing vs fixed as well.

What are your thoughts on keeping profit target the same as risk amount for 1RR trades?

I always - in any strategy - at first compare some 7or so different bracket trade P/L values, where risk to reward is always 1:1; some 3-4-5 trailing stops; moving stops to BE +1 after tgt 1 hit or not, pullback analysis for superior entries, difference for 5 days of the week. This effectively defines beneficial vs detrimental attributes, bearing in mind the easiest way to make more money in trading is to ask for it.

 

[SimpleMeLike]

I always - in any strategy - at first compare some 7or so different bracket trade P/L values, where risk to reward is always 1:1; some 3-4-5 trailing stops; moving stops to BE +1 after tgt 1 hit or not, pullback analysis for superior entries, difference for 5 days of the week. This effectively defines beneficial vs detrimental attributes, bearing in mind the easiest way to make more money in trading is to ask for it.

Thank you Mr. Dazz,

I appreciate your response and a good response. Good to see I am not the only one manually and tediously and tirelessly recording all this data day to day.

Questions please:

1. How many trades do you record all this data for? You mentioned a week, but is that enough data to make a significant ongoing profitable decision on what exit strategy work best.

 

[SimpleMeLike]

Take,a look at Quantshare(or Amibroker) and backtest a portfolio of chosen stocks and run simulations with different stops,trailing stops,profit targets etc...

For shits and giggles,optimize the levels and then run WFA..

It's the only way to get a decent idea of how stops/trailing stops affect performance..

Keep an eye on MAE and MFE as well as risk reward stats...Not the Holy grail,but it should answer all your questions

Hello taowave,

This is I can agree with. By doing this a trader will have an idea (win or lose) what exit strategy is reasonable and makes more money with less/more drawdown.

The challenging is programming in the back test software the idea. lol