Stop Loss question

I sometimes prefer not setting a stop loss because the price could always go in the reverse direction and if it hits stop loss, I make a loss where I could have made a profit stop loss wasn't set.

If I could explain clearly, how do you see this scenario? What are the disadvantages of not setting a stop loss hoping it will turn around to my favor?

take all your money, take a flame, combine them.

you are welcome.

I see this as extremely dangerous to your account. However, it does depend on your discipline. You should have a point and which you determine your trade is not working out and you exit. The easiest and most reliable is placing a stop loss, however you can do it manually but ask yourself the following:

1. Do I really have the disicpline to exit when I'm supposed to? (many do not)
2. What will I do if the power goes out and I can't access my charts or broker?
3. What will I do if my computer crashes? or my internet stops working?

The point being that a stop loss is an emergency measure to protect your account from disaster. People also use it as a strategy to lock in profit. Perhaps you should examine WHERE you are placing your stop or the timeing on your entry. If you stop is alway getting hit but then the market later turns in your favor...how much longer? Could you be entering in a better place or timeing your entry a little better? Is your stop too close?

Not knowing your method to enter/exit it is difficult for anyone here to say definitively how to resolve your issue, but I can tell you with confidence that keeping your trade open with no stop is like downloading on the internet with no virus protection. It will probably work 99 times but that one time you get burned...the whole thing comes crashing down.

Then you either stop trading or get your check book out. Trading is serious business...take it seriously...we're here to profit...not lose.

I will just say dont play with fire.... I got more than 50 mails last week.All guys have a same accounts,no SL or big SL according TP.If you always back when you took a trade and hit a SL,change strategy or learn on demo how to use it good...

Cheers and happy piping

it is extremely dangerous way of trading when u are poor at money management.

try with small money on micro lots. and see how it works. some people generalise my no stop loss method as suicide. well what works for me may not work for them. but that doesnt give them the right to judge me. if i were to adopt their type of argument i would say putting a stop loss is equivalent to burning your own $$ with a flame.

there was a thread long ago titled your stop loss as your entry point. people put a stop loss at a level cos thats a level where they feel the market has/or will go against them. since thats the case then y dont u enter from there? i use that as my 2nd entry point.

no system in the world is perfect. they all produce their losers once in a while. the difference in traders come when u are able to convert ur system's losers into winners. e.g today i was short for E/J. totally wrong rode a bull ride of 80pips upwards holding shorts all the way. my lvl 3 entry struck the top of the downfall n i was out with +$70 at -25pips. if i left it alone it would have been +$600 now thanks to that crazy fall since london open.

as for petar.. i wouldnt cruxify your need to put a stop loss. and i hope u would also not criticize my need to do away with stop losses. as we are both consistently profitable. i tried your renko system for gamers before. it was not bad about 70% success with it. 5win2losses(if i used stop loss). but i converted the losers that ur system generated into my own winners. cheers. 47wins 0losses and counting ever since i stopped using SL. will post back again when i hit 100-0 as proof whether this recovery system is pure LUCK or pure genius. max drawdown ever achieved stil stands at 7%

If you don't put your stop loss then your whole account is your stop loss.
With that scenario, no matter how many times you win, someday you will lose all your money in that account when market finally go against your position longer that your whole account can hold.

Hi Senior Traders

I also have issue about setting SL on Daily tf.
See the image - showing my trade taken a week ago.
Can senior pls. advise where should the SL to be set?
Thank you.

P.S. I am a newbie.

u dont need sl if u have the ability to get out when things are not working ur way ...

this is true.

that day will come when the market moves against me for 2-3k pips with 0 retracement inbetween. once i find any 25% retracement im out on breakeven. any more and its my profit. when was the last time u see a 3k pip move without a retracement. i believe it happened once that was a interest rate release. moved 2k pips steeply. if such important news does come out i doubt i will be trading against it anyways.

Every trader must have a stop loss. When you don't set one then you must have at least a mental one that you execute without fail when price goes against your position.

If you don't have a stop loss then all other smart traders are going to take all your money out of your account.


Regards,
G. Fast

The only reason I get stopped out and this is raerly on my DEMO acct is because I play the shorter time trend 4 hour charts but I have to get out of the trade accordingly so I can take my profit off the table instead of hitting a reversal point in my trade.

Looking at a bigger time frame will give you the overall trend. This is well tought to me by another kind member on this board and it is a huge eye opener. You find the trend (long term) and you will know where it is safe to get in and yes set a stop anyway however you are most likely not going to get stopped out if you dont fight the trend.

There are tons of people that play 5 minute charts and 10 minute charts and frankly this is too risky for me as I wouldnt want to get stopped out. So I have to play a longer time frame and strategically place my trades at the either support area or resistance area on a longer time frame.

Keep practicing, and if its the piece of advice that I can hand down to you which given to me by another on here,

The trend is your friend, identify the bear/bull struggle and go with the winner.