Confusion.. Trade trend, or wait for retrend?

I'm fairly curious how you all trade.

There seems to be 2 camps when it comes to trend traders..

Camp 1) When you see a trend, jump in with both feet until the trend stops.

Camp 2) When you see a trend, wait for it to wobble a little bit, (retrace) and then when it's flipped around in the direction of the trend, THEN jump in with both feet.

I'd love to hear from you all about which camp you are in, and the reasons why. I'd love to hear the pros and cons..

I am in camp 1. I don't like the longer time frame trend where people wait for a retracement. I don't like to hope that the current trend is still going and this retracement will turn around.

I follow which ever side the US open is going and try to break even as soon as possible. I miss out on many great opportunities but it's ok. I just want to get 1 trade per day.

Does trading with MA only count as trading naked or do I have too much on?

I'm in camp 1 as well. I always balk at the though the retrenching might be the reversal..

There are those that would say even a simple MA on our charts is too much clothing ; ) . .

. . .That said, when i first stumbled upon Jame16's price action areas and seeing how he was using one or two MA's not as crossovers, but rather as moving-trend-lines (of sorts) i was blown away. The combination of PA and this S/R use of a moving average is about as "naked" as my psych can handle.

What can i say. Guess i'm a bit modest and like to have at least some BVDs on when i go out.

grin.

Thom

I like the idea of entering a trend as soon as I see it or as soon as it looks strong.

Rather than 'buy low, sell high', try 'buy high, sell higher'.

My strategy is to watch the chart, enter a trade and watch it reverse. I then sit for 6 hours waiting for it to go back doing what it was doing before I entered.

Exactly 6hrs and 5 mins after entering the trade I exit, win or lose (normally lose) but I find I have been remarkably consistent with this method. I have very strict rules on this.

If anyone wants me to post my system I'm happy to do so, as long as you promise to do exactly the opposite to me.



Peter

lol, sad but true. I also have been buying tops and selling bottoms in the past. now I'm in camp 2. I wait for a retrace are a dip and only then enter if I'm not already in. As often as I have jumped fast moves mostly it did turn around and ate me. so for now, if I see a trend down, i look for a top to sell.

Somehow Vegas 4H method is in camp 2 and it has helped me a lot.

Yes I could miss a move or a part of a move, but I'll know what I'm doing.

All this just indicates to me how important my framework is. If you apply the Absolute Fibonacci Framework, you can see where the sticky points and reversals are going to be, and you don't have to freak out at the odd retracement.

I think my strategy doesn't fit in any of the 2 camps you mentioned...I trade trend continuation (Which is camp 2), and I trade trend reversals as well (Which is camp 1), so I don't know how to classify myself...

In my opinion & the way I analyze the price action, if I identified the price action saying I am reversing, I will go against the current trend...For example, if the trend is down and the price action is telling that a reversal is highly probable, I will go long the pair...To me, this represents one of the best risk/reward positions..

Sometimes the price action doesn't tell you that the trend is probably going to reverse & doesn't tell you that the trend is going to continue, so I stay flat.....For example, take our current condition & the current price action in the EUR/USD & the USD/CAD....EUR/USD is in a short term downtrend, I caught the move down last week and I was out also taking profits...The current price action is not telling if the trend down is going to continue or is going to reverse, so I am staying flat...Once I get a clue, I will take the right position....Same with the USD/CAD, nothing is telling if it's going to continue up or reverse....

The last case is when the price action is telling you that the trend is going to continue, in this case I am long or short on retracements, because once again this gives the best risk/reward trades you will ever get...If I am wrong, I lose so little, if I am right, I book large profits...


Thanks,

Nader