The importance of taking profits through shorter term trading

Really, It depends on when you enter a trade and how you trade. If I am trading support and resistance I would feel comfortable with a 20 pip stop or so. If I am trading with the trend I like to set my stop just outside the trend line. So key to a good trend trade would be to wait for a pullback to enter to allow your risk reward to be comfortable.

If you are new to the game and want to be profitable for the long run i would suggest to be ready to put hours on end into understanding what you are doing and why. (this may take a few years). Hopefully you truly have a passion for trading if so the learning curve will come a lot faster.

As i have been trading for a few years i know why my system is profitable which allows me to have true insight on where to place my stops. Risk reward
to me is a guideline. Max risk per trade is fixed.

Maybe some other traders can chime in with some good advice!

thanks a lot,,,,i hope i can be a better trader than yesterday,,,,,

Don't know if this is the article, but breaks down high probability vs high profit styles of trading. Enjoy.

http://www.sfomag.com/ArticlePrint.aspx?ID=1360

BroncoCap

Thanks man! I'll read the article tonight.

Thanks for the article link, it was really nice, i read it completely and found the content of article quite beneficial for traders like me, i just started my career and it is best for me.

I went ahead and added my demo account results from Feb 14 this year. Since it is only a demo account i am risking 3% per trade (my live account I max 2%).

You will notice that my max losses are around 3%. My take profits are 3% and lower.

Just wanted to show that you do not have to stick with your initial reward. I have a time expiration of 24 hours. I believe new probable trades are always forming. If 24hours has gone by and a move hasn't been made in a trade that's running I usually cut it short. I believe there are new higher probable trades ready to enter.

If I am in an elevator and my destination is up. Why would i stay in an elevator that's not moving up.

Also as i have mentioned taking profits is essential to the compounding of the account. Good entries, taking reasonable profits with a fixed stop = success.

Note: I always set my stops outside the daily range I am trading. So my 3% stop can be as large as 200 pips for my bar break (reverse pivot previous daily bar)or as low as 30 pips for my bar cover which basically utilizes support and resistance. I may risk less with my bar cover technique to minimize my draw down as I am adding exposure with 2 different strategies in 1 account.

I don't play support or resistance I only enter after confirmation of support and resistance. I will set a limit order after support or resistance has been verified within the bottom or top third of the consolidation range or trending range depending on the direction of entry.

This is a fairly easy way to trade and have had success with this method for a year and a half.

A slight edge and sound money management is all you need. Of course the edge part can be difficult.

I also fully understand that this is a very young demo account. I expect my win rate to decrease to around 65%.