using Heiken Ashi & ATR .....

[md2324]

To keep me in the trade.
I am trying to find an indicator or even a set of Indicators, to help Keep me in my trades.
A quick Summary.... I entered Short, on the EUR/USD back around the first week of May of this year ( 2014 ) based on the Weekly chart.
Well, from that point, until now, it has plummeted in pricem which was my initial thought when I went short back in May.
What happened was, it consolidated from June - the end of July, and of course, I tightened my stop, and was taken out of the trade, and then wham, the EUR/USD just tanks, and I miss all of that drop ( profit in Pips )
Looking back, I am trying to find a way, that I can avoid getting " Nervous " and tightening my stop and getting taken out of a trade again, right before a huge move.
I have been looking at Heiken Ashi and the ATR indicators, to use as a basis for leaving my stops more " Lose "
I trade on higher Timeframes usually ( Weekly charts, where each candle represents 1 weeks worth of trading ).
So given that, what would be a good setting to use on the ATR ( a 14, 21 or a higher lookback setting ? )
And what is a good guideline when using the Heiken Ashi, to help confirm a strong trend, that also filters out a majority of any whipsaw ?
I have heard that if your Short in a trade, some traders will tighten their stop or even exit the trade, if you get 3 consecutive Blue bars ( representing Buying strength )
Thank you for any insight and help.
I just can't stand to be on the sidelines on such a big move, when my initial entry was correct, but I let a consolidation of price make me nervous and I then miss all of those Pips
Thanks again

 

[loyek590]

I get stopped out all the time, that's all I do is take losses all day long, all week long, sometimes all month long

as soon as I get stopped out the first thing I do is look for a place to get back in

most of the time on the same side, but sometimes on the other side

sometimes I add to losers, it just depends, but I always add to winners until I get a full load on, and that is the trade that saves my ass and makes me money

Like the Good Book says, "A wise king counts the cost of war."

 

[swingtrader123]

Have you looked at using the lowest low for the last 3 bars for longs and highest high for shorts?

 

[wrbtrader]

1) You should only use an indicator to help with your trade management after entry if you've been using an indicator to signal an entry into the trade.

2) Your trade strategy is flawed if you didn't get any additional Short signals or re-entry signals in the Forex EurUsd from May to September because that's a huge price drop for you. Simply, you need a re-entry trade signal for situations like this when the market shakes you out of your trades early...prior to the big move.

For example, that price action (consolidation) in late April prior to your trade entry around the first week of May is very similar to the price action (consolidation) in mid June prior to it rolling over southward in early July. Yet, you missed that as a re-entry signal or a signal to add to your Short position in early July. In contrast, you decided to tighten your stop...why ?

Note: Price action analysis of the "consolidation" via the daily chart...not the weekly chart because the weekly chart has poor information about the consolidation.Also, your re-entry signals should contain variables from whatever it was that got you into the trade in the first place.

3) If you're "consistently" being taken out of trades early before the big move...you need better trail stop management and/or re-entry signals. In contrast, if you're just looking at a low percentage of trades that you're taken out early...don't worry about it...trading will never be perfect involving you being able to ride every trade for a big profit.

Note: Price action analysis after the EurUsd dropped below 1.37500 and giving you a very nice profit...your profitable trail stop should have been placed around the 1.37500 price area. In contrast, you didn't mention where you tighten your stop too but its obvious you tighten it to a price below the 1.37500 price area.

4) Try scaling out. Thus, bank some profits and leave the remainders in the trade with a breakeven stop.

5) Know the market context of your trading instrument. The Euro news, economic news and banks reactions to the Euro since May has been negative and just plain scary. You only get situations like that once a decade. These are the trades you just let it ride because you should have smelled blood in the streets sort'uv speak especially with all that negative information.

I remember a similar like situation in the past but on the bullish side of the Euro...way back in early 2002. Some guys talked about their big Long positions while tons of bullish news was hitting the Euro. Yet, they tighten their stops and then their stops got hit for small profits in April 2002.

They didn't re-enter and just sat on the sidelines watching the Euro go higher and higher with a few consolidations until early 2008. That's ridiculous...watching in rise for 6 years with no re-entry signals to the Long side.

Ironically, some of them posted here at ET back then (late 2002) wondering about indicators to help keep them in the trade when in reality they just needed to have better understanding of the market context and have a plan B for how to get back into the trade if shaken out early.

P.S. Its all just hindsight analysis when we're on the sidelines (not in a trade) and the price action develops into a HUGE price movement. If this is not a consistent problem...don't worry about it because we'll never be perfect in our trading. Yet, if it is a consistent problem (small profits versus large profits)...we just need to better understand the market context that's moving the price action.

P.S.S. I do understand that these types of big trades can easily turn a losing or breakeven trading year into a big profitable year. It's the reason why we as traders we are so fascinated with these types of big movements that occurs after we've been shaken out of the trade for a small profit.