trailing stop methods

hi all i have a question i have a good mechanical way of trading defined entry points, defined exit methods if all goes wrong, now what im missing is a good way to trail stops. I use the 1 hour chart almost exclusively sometimes daily what do all of yous use for trailing stops a safe distance behind your trades? or if not trailing is there a better way to control my stops?


regards damien

First i'd like to say that entries are the easy part of trading, the fact that you have also worked out the profit point exit method is a success in it's own right.

So now you need to work through the same process to find the right exit point for trades that failed. it's just another form of exit and only if you understand the method can you decide the exits, good or bad.

so purhaps an outline of the method would help other understand and offer some advise.

ideas of the top of my head
1 - 50% trail
2 - 50% fib
3 - high/low of the entry candle (depending on long or short)
4 - hide stops behind S&R points
5 - move stops to points just behind the bounces of the direction of the trade
6 - and so on

if you look at the system when you enter the trade, how long before you know it's going the wrong way - what signs are there - use them to exit

not sure if this helps, but hope it stirs a thought for you and leads you somewhere in the right direction

regards

MPP

well its a price action setup i look for mainly on the eur/usd just after big news comes out the red news on ff calender. right now ive been in a trade on the eur/usd for 3 days, my stops are still originally where i put them because firstly i dont want to cut my trade or myself short, and secondly i cant think of a mechanical way to trail my stops. i was thinking perhaps at swing highs or swing lows but im not so sure because of retests that most of the time take it out...

regards damo

I would be very careful with trailing stops. There are a lot of systems which are actually performing worse when a trailing stop is employed.

So, test it out yourself, if your profitability suffers with using a trailing stop.

there are different methods to trail. I think trailing by fixed pips or % of account is probably not the best idea since market vola will change from time to time.

It's best if you use technical trail i.e s/r trail.

I never said anything of fixed pips trailing stops. I talk about any kind of trailing stop. There are some systems that simply perform worse (in terms of profitability) when employing any kind of trailing stop.

i know what you mean when i look back any trailing stop i can think of would cut me short alot if it was used i just dont like seeing that much profit on the table without it being protected lol

regards damien