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Swing trading drawdown

  • #1
  • First Post: Jan 21, 2010 2:36pm Jan 21, 2010 2:36pm
I trade daily/weekly/monthly charts on a variety of pairs as I've found trending to be truer and S/R to be easiest to decipher. That said, everything comes at a cost and the cost in this case is drawdown while waiting for the trend to move back in my favor.

I consistently see pip drawdowns in the 500-1000 range and overall account drawdown between 5-25% - on a 5k account. This, of course, is subjective to my individual risk appetite but I'm wondering what other swing traders work with from a drawdown perspective.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to a great discussion.
  • #2
  • Jan 21, 2010 11:49pm Jan 21, 2010 11:49pm
1.5-2.5% drawdown.

i hate going in the red. so i use 5min/15min charts to take entries at swing levels...the only goal is to be able to shift the s/l to b/e asap. after that i let it ride on the weekly.

obviously i can get s/l a lot at b/e. but every now and then i'll get very low risk high payout entries that can run for weeks. as long as the long term trend is in place i use levels on the 1hr 4hr, zoom in to the 5/15min to find as many "free" tickets to ride the monthly and weekly
  • #3
  • Jan 21, 2010 11:53pm Jan 21, 2010 11:53pm
btw, you'll prob get more replies if you place this in the discussion section of the forum
  • #4
  • Jan 22, 2010 12:36am Jan 22, 2010 12:36am
Quoting pursuit_21
1.5-2.5% drawdown.

i hate going in the red. so i use 5min/15min charts to take entries at swing levels...the only goal is to be able to shift the s/l to b/e asap. after that i let it ride on the weekly.

obviously i can get s/l a lot at b/e. but every now and then i'll get very low risk high payout entries that can run for weeks. as long as the long term trend is in place i use levels on the 1hr 4hr, zoom in to the 5/15min to find as many "free" tickets to ride the monthly and weekly
hi, was wondering if you use tp's, or if you move/manage your stop losses on winning trades
  • #5
  • Jan 22, 2010 1:09am Jan 22, 2010 1:09am
Quoting Clouds
hi, was wondering if you use tp's, or if you move/manage your stop losses on winning trades
replied to your pm
  • #6
  • Jan 22, 2010 1:14am Jan 22, 2010 1:14am
Quoting pursuit_21
replied to your pm
Thanks, just read it. Completely agree about protecting losses with B/E. As far as T/P or managing stop losses, I guess that's up to trader. Maybe the S/L's could be moved to low of previous day, or something- Maybe it not have be moved everyday, but could be a good place.

Are there any swing trading threads? It would be nice to have an active one.
  • #7
  • Jan 22, 2010 1:27am Jan 22, 2010 1:27am
Quoting Clouds
Thanks, just read it. Completely agree about protecting losses with B/E. As far as T/P or managing stop losses, I guess that's up to trader. Maybe the S/L's could be moved to low of previous day, or something- Maybe it not have be moved everyday, but could be a good place.

Are there any swing trading threads? It would be nice to have an active one.

i'm not sure, the trading discussions would be the place to go i guess. i spend most of my time browsing DT's gu,gj thread and the rookie forum.

the lines between swing trading and the trend following threads do get a bit blurry at times, especially with the infinite styles of trading. but i think a thread for discussing optimizing entries and exits from a trade management view would be interesting. most of the threads i've read on exits will zoom down to the specific PA. however i have yet to read one where managing multiple entries and exits is discussed from the perspective of trend/swing trading.

personally, for the last 6months i've been working on breaking a mental barrier i have -- where if i'm short on the daily and weekly, i'm very slow and reluctant to go long on a smaller timeframe -- even though the 4hr and 1hr have began to shift and a good entry on the 5/15 may give me the optimum entry for a swing/reversal/retracement/trend change. rationally...its the same as just closing one trade and opening another...but emotionally i have this strange mental block.
  • #8
  • Jan 22, 2010 1:35am Jan 22, 2010 1:35am
Quoting pursuit_21

personally, for the last 6months i've been working on breaking a mental barrier i have -- where if i'm short on the daily and weekly, i'm very slow and reluctant to go long on a smaller timeframe -- even though the 4hr and 1hr have began to shift and a good entry on the 5/15 may give me the optimum entry for a swing/reversal/retracement/trend change. rationally...its the same as just closing one trade and opening another...but emotionally i have this strange mental block.
You are spot on about using B/E and swing trading. When to take profit is difficult for me as well. I guess it really depends on time-frame and the probability, some pairs go 1 way for months, while some pairs have been zig zag 900 pips up down for months. The worst that can happen is you open trade with good timing, set B/E, and wake up tomorrow being stopped out. Also if you set S/L below previous candle wick, or above (long or short), being stopped out of a trade the following day could encourage to re-evaluate.
  • #9
  • Jan 22, 2010 1:43am Jan 22, 2010 1:43am
Quoting Clouds
You are spot on about using B/E and swing trading. When to take profit is difficult for me as well. I guess it really depends on time-frame and the probability, some pairs go 1 way for months, while some pairs have been zig zag 900 pips up down for months. The worst that can happen is you open trade with good timing, set B/E, and wake up tomorrow being stopped out. Also if you set S/L below previous candle wick, or above (long or short), being stopped out of a trade the following day could encourage to re-evaluate.

mmm...thats something definitely worth considering. will give it a try and see if it helps.

as of yet i haven't been able to completely swing trade, though i'd like to, at this point i still need to supplement my returns with some range breakouts and intraday trading. though in the years ahead i would like to shift my perspective and my mental focus towards the longer tf's---i guess this will have to do for now.
  • #10
  • Jan 22, 2010 1:52am Jan 22, 2010 1:52am
Quoting pursuit_21
mmm...thats something definitely worth considering. will give it a try and see if it helps.

as of yet i haven't been able to completely swing trade, though i'd like to, at this point i still need to supplement my returns with some range breakouts and intraday trading. though in the years ahead i would like to shift my perspective and my mental focus towards the longer tf's---i guess this will have to do for now.
Swing trading may or may not be a slower way for returns. Have a great 2010.
  • #11
  • Last Post: Jan 23, 2010 11:16am Jan 23, 2010 11:16am
When I swing trade, I typically only allow a 5% drawdown.
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