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Where do you set you're stop loss?

  • #21
  • Nov 25, 2008 8:29pm Nov 25, 2008 8:29pm
Quoting Bemac
I you Ever Enter a Trade with No Stop {max risk} in mind; then congratulations are in order. You have [obviously] learned to ride the bike. You just haven't learned how to steer yet.
Good luck & remember "Do Not Look @ Your Front Wheel. Look at the point you are {hopefully} Heading to."
Steering and not falling off. Still learning and still falling off my bike more than I should
Not all sins are created equal
  • #22
  • Nov 25, 2008 9:27pm Nov 25, 2008 9:27pm
Quoting Bemac
I you Ever Enter a Trade with No Stop {max risk} in mind; then congratulations are in order. You have [obviously] learned to ride the bike. You just haven't learned how to steer yet.
Good luck & remember "Do Not Look @ Your Front Wheel. Look at the point you are {hopefully} Heading to."
&, Just to add to that. "If you Ever Enter a Trade with No ADD positons marker. You may be delegated to the boiler room. Just sayin'

Stops alone are a Breed that need to be tamed.
How Important can Entries {or Position Adds} be?

Stay Tuned.

A Trade may not neccesarily Open & Close without the Lot Size Being Altered.
  • #23
  • Nov 25, 2008 9:42pm Nov 25, 2008 9:42pm
Quoting Jay Walker
I change it along the way.
Always use S/L but why to set it up in 500 pips and then change it? You first risk a lot and then you realized the opposite, it isn’t necessary to lose so much (in case you start losing). Or how do you see it?
I see the goal and it place it (As Bemac say) with the T/P and the S/L and accept if the money is taken away.
  • #24
  • Nov 25, 2008 11:53pm Nov 25, 2008 11:53pm
Quoting MilliMu
Always use S/L but why to set it up in 500 pips and then change it? You first risk a lot and then you realized the opposite, it isn’t necessary to lose so much (in case you start losing). Or how do you see it?
I see the goal and it place it (As Bemac say) with the T/P and the S/L and accept if the money is taken away.
Because I base my stops on the parabolic SAR. I didn't say it wasn't risky. Damn it, I didn't even say that it was sane or normal. But it's been working for me
Not all sins are created equal
  • #25
  • Nov 25, 2008 11:59pm Nov 25, 2008 11:59pm
for me its in the 30-50 range, but the number of pips isnt important, as your account grows/ or shrinks, the number of pips you should risk per trade should be based off a percentage, not a flat out number... if your account is 2k, at 3% per trade, dont risk more than 60....if your account is 20,000k, dont risk more than 600 pips. 600 is obviously a lot bigger than 60, but its the SAME % risk...thats what you need to pay attention to.
  • #26
  • Edited 2:28am Nov 26, 2008 2:14am | Edited 2:28am
Everyone has a different strategies as how to exploit price and what TF to do it on. Traders are going to have all different types of stops loss sizes to suite their styles/strategies. You are going to have to figure out what type of trading strategy/style you are implementing, that might help in determining how many pips you are willing to lose..LOL

Are you a momentum trader, buy when prices are rising and sell when they are falling? OR on the contrary do you buy when prices are falling and sell when prices are rising?

I assume you already now there are different types of stops and order types as well. For example if you like stop orders, stop orders in the driven dealer markets can accelerate price changes by adding buying pressure when prices are rising and selling presser when price falls, learning how to exploit that can be helpful. You can stand behind the market with a limit order and put a small stop on it to reduce your uncertainty, this will also give you some time to abandoned the trade : ) if unexpected fundamentals were not considered. You can pay the spread and buy price at he best price currently available and set your S/L @ 100 while risking 1-2%,, blah blah....But again there are so many strategies and ways to implement them.

Hell.... some people are so afraid of stop hunting they don't even use stops,

Don't forget the pros and brokers are always watching and waiting for their cut so place them wisely ...


Regards,

Quoting mitjar
Whats the most pips you are willing to losse one one trade?
It's me...
  • #27
  • Nov 26, 2008 3:17pm Nov 26, 2008 3:17pm
Quoting big_pipin
for me its in the 30-50 range, but the number of pips isnt important, as your account grows/ or shrinks, the number of pips you should risk per trade should be based off a percentage, not a flat out number... if your account is 2k, at 3% per trade, dont risk more than 60....if your account is 20,000k, dont risk more than 600 pips. 600 is obviously a lot bigger than 60, but its the SAME % risk...thats what you need to pay attention to.

thats a weird way to base your risk percentages. instead of changing the pips you should change your lot sizes. for example

on a $2000 account with a sixty pip stop loss, 3% would be 0.1 lots

for a $20,000 account with a sixty pip stop loss, 3% would be 1 lot.

it's better to just change the lot size instead of the pip size, because with the other way, you have to gain a ton of pips to make any bit of profit. my way you would get the same amount of pips on a 2K account as you would on a 20K account, but you would get more profit (even thought the percentages remain the same).
  • #28
  • Nov 26, 2008 5:35pm Nov 26, 2008 5:35pm
Quoting AgentFx
Everyone has a different strategies as how to exploit price and what TF to do it on. Traders are going to have all different types of stops loss sizes to suite their styles/strategies. You are going to have to figure out what type of trading strategy/style you are implementing, that might help in determining how many pips you are willing to lose..LOL

Are you a momentum trader, buy when prices are rising and sell when they are falling? OR on the contrary do you buy when prices are falling and sell when prices are rising?

I assume you already...
I dont set stops when entering a trade(cause they almost always go against my trade at 1st) I use an EA to trade and it sets a stop just above break even at a set number of pips when trade goes into profit. It then moves the stop up(trailing except I dont use the MT4 trailing stop as it is unreliable).This saves my trade from STOPHUNTING and that rogue mystery spike most evil brokers throw at us from time to time. I have saved thousands of dollars by NOT placing stops. Of course, its a white knuckle ride till the trade shows a profit-lol. I do want to say that I have almost given up on FOREX as it is SOOOOO unregulated and chock full of theives and bad (Brokers).If the stock market ever comes back Im taking my money there.Good luck all and God Bless!
FF = Forex Faggots
  • #29
  • Nov 26, 2008 5:46pm Nov 26, 2008 5:46pm
Quoting Jay Walker
It depends

Most of my trades are on the daily chart which is what I try to stick to. My stop loss is routinely in the 500 pips range at the start of a trade...but there's a catch.

Some people are stupid enough to trade without a stop loss. I'm stupid enough to trade without a take profit. How that works is that I move my stop loss (up on a long, down on a short) every day. It takes a few days but I manage to lock in profits most of the time.

So I always get stopped out of a trade, but usually at a profit
I dont think Im stupid (no initial stop loss set) and my bank statement proves it! My style is to take profits as soon as they are offered (at a reasonable amount for timeframe traded) and let my EA wait for the "next setup". Even though I use an EA, I still dont trade unless I am right in front of my computer or a stop loss has been set on a winning trade.(then I go and harass the nice folks down at ManhattenBeach Trading Co-I live so close to my Broker its scarey!)
FF = Forex Faggots
  • #30
  • Nov 26, 2008 6:44pm Nov 26, 2008 6:44pm
Quoting 8fingers
I dont think Im stupid (no initial stop loss set) and my bank statement proves it! My style is to take profits as soon as they are offered (at a reasonable amount for timeframe traded) and let my EA wait for the "next setup". Even though I use an EA, I still dont trade unless I am right in front of my computer or a stop loss has been set on a winning trade.(then I go and harass the nice folks down at ManhattenBeach Trading Co-I live so close to my Broker its scarey!)
If trading without a stop loss works for you, great! I'm happy for you and wish you many years of successful trades and profits.

Since you are right in front of your computer babysitting your trade, it's a different story.

However, would it be fair to say that trading without a stop loss is something you would not recommend to most?
Not all sins are created equal
  • #31
  • Nov 26, 2008 9:13pm Nov 26, 2008 9:13pm
Jay walker I would agree. I think when people discover Forex-they naturally think of only making money. Only the experience of losing fixes that! I lost about 6 grand my 1st 90 days of Forex. That was with stops(and FXCM) so its hard to tell if it was bad trading or bad broker. I have witnessed price spikes of 300 pips + by some brokers(IBFX-FXCM-Forex.com and a few others I am forgetting) and this is the kind of shady broker behaviour I try to avoid by Not placing Stops. But u better believe that when Im not "babysitting" my trades I make sure their IS a stop placed! I have to say that 1 of my current Brokers(FXPRO) hasnt proved unfaithful(yet). They just added Instruments and lowered their spreads on most majors! And best of all, I havent witnessed any price feed "adjustments" either. I also wish u success and high profits!God Bless!
FF = Forex Faggots
  • #32
  • Nov 27, 2008 1:42am Nov 27, 2008 1:42am
Quoting mitjar
Whats the most pips you are willing to losse one one trade?

it depends on what a pip is worth...
If I traded a micro lot, with a pip value of .10 cents a pip, I would start to be concerned if I were down 100,000 pips.
If I had a 10 million dollar lot (1 pip = 1K) i would not want to lose more than 15 pips...

Its not about the # of pips, its about % of your acct. I never risk more than 1/2% of my acct on one trade.
There was a week in July where I had 6 losing trades in a row, so I lost 3% that week. I didn't like it, but! I didn't lose any sleep over it.

When I take a trade, and risk 1/2%, I am looking for a setup where I expect to gain at least 1%. If I don't think I stand to gain 1%, I will pass on the trade. there are always plenty of trades
  • #33
  • Nov 27, 2008 1:58am Nov 27, 2008 1:58am
I rarely use hard stops, only mental ones. Using low leverage there is no need for stops for me.

Stops are useful for some kind of strategies, but they should never set as a fixed pips value but always in relation to volatility.
  • #34
  • Nov 27, 2008 6:35am Nov 27, 2008 6:35am
I put 1/2 of previous days range as initial stop, then adjust as the market moves, move it to break even if possible.
{Promotion Removed}
  • #35
  • Nov 27, 2008 7:13am Nov 27, 2008 7:13am
There are only two logical methods of stop placement that I can think of:

1. Behind potential support/resistance.

2. Based on some measure of volatility.


It is not a question of how large of a stop can you afford, it is how much of a position you can afford with that stop placement.

Personally I favour the support/resistance method. If I am long and a level of support that I deem to be significant is breeched then my bias has changed, it must do or I would not be listening to what the market is telling me. Therefore, the theory that I have based the long bias upon is no longer valid and I am out. Exits are just as important as entries - the same amount of money is involved in both transactions after all, and therefore should be based on the same criteria. This is the way it makes sense to me, far from perfect but the most logical method I have encountered.

Not using stops at all is crazy IMO. Brokers don't need to run your stops, most traders lose all their money without any assistance. You might get away with not using stops for years but one day something will happen, whether it be a powercut, your broker goes AWOL, central bank intervention, a terrorist attack etc., and you will lose a lot of money. These events are unlikely to happen you might say but if something can happen, sooner or later it will happen, and the longer you are a trader, the more you are exposed to the probability that these extreme events are going to devastate your account.
  • #36
  • Nov 27, 2008 12:36pm Nov 27, 2008 12:36pm
Quoting birdt
Not using stops at all is crazy IMO.
No necessarily. If you trade with a leverage of 1:1 you can wait forever. But waiting forever isn't such a smart idea. I don't use stops and trade with up to 5:1 using multiple entries. I don't care about 200, 300, 400 pips more or less...
  • #37
  • Nov 27, 2008 12:51pm Nov 27, 2008 12:51pm
Quoting Xaron
No necessarily. If you trade with a leverage of 1:1 you can wait forever. But waiting forever isn't such a smart idea. I don't use stops and trade with up to 5:1 using multiple entries. I don't care about 200, 300, 400 pips more or less...
That is very true Xaron, so at least the threat of imminent catastrophe does not loom so close. Still though, I do not see the point in holding a trade so it goes 200 pips in the red - every single tick it is moving in the opposite direction is telling you to get out and that your theory is wrong, even on the higher time frames I'd say that sort of drawdown is excessive. Better to get out cheap, dust yourself down and get in at a better price should the opportunity present itself.......

......BUT, I understand and accept there are probably an infinite number of approaches, each has validity in its own right and I wish you every success with yours.
  • #38
  • Nov 27, 2008 12:53pm Nov 27, 2008 12:53pm
My opinion is to set stops where price is most likely to bounce in your chosen time frame. Support/Resistance seems like a logical solution. A set deviation from a median average price would be ideal as well. Having a set stop of say 20pips does not allow you to adapt to the different conditions the market will throw at you.
  • #39
  • Nov 27, 2008 5:31pm Nov 27, 2008 5:31pm
I say Damm the Stops and pull the trigger! Just do alot a prayin before n after!
FF = Forex Faggots
  • #40
  • Nov 28, 2008 12:42am Nov 28, 2008 12:42am
Quoting Mysticdiver
Lat. 41 20' 48" N
Long. 071 58' 04" W
Mystic,

Is this where you've buried your forex treasure ? Don't worry, I'm not a good swimmer.
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