Active day and swing traders

[bracke]

Hi Bracke,

My new method uses a very tight filter to find strongly trending stocks. it only selects a small number of possible trades with highest probability of showing gains. the number of possible trades it throws up is small enough that I believe I can take them all, for now.

Getting the exit strategy right is another important part of trading: obviously you want to maximise your profit but get out before losing it. For me, the best way is to look for market signals to exit, rather than setting a specific target, which may or may not be reached.

Everyone must find their own way of trading . What works for one person may not for another..

Good trading!

Mark

What are your filters based on?

Regards

bracke

 

[Windowsill]

Why limit your profits??? How can you know where/when a share will stop moving up. You have to have an end point but why does it need to be a 2/1 RR!...how do you know that 50% of your trades will be on the positive side. As a medum to longer term trader I would look to get stopped out on an sma. I agree with Marben.........you must limit losses but give the share the room to breath & then don't just cut the seedling down before its had time to flower! I would expect more than half of my trades to fail. Maybe, because I have a longer term perspective i'm missing the point here.

 

[Euro_d]

If no target when do you close the trade?

If no r/r ratio calculation how do you decide if the trade is worth taking?

If stoploss moved up rapidly do you not find that you are regularly stopped out as the price ranges?

Regards

bracke

Mornin Bracke et all
I think that is not quite the same question: "How do I select a stock" is not the same as "do I set targets" ,

I trade exclusively (after trying lesser stocks and failing) the FTSE top 350 and major European indices. I "find" likely candidates using a variety of coarse filters like: trend line break, bounce off major support, outside Boll bands and 5/20ema crosses, MACD etc.I have not had too much success with RSI so at the moment I do not consider it as a major indicator.
My trading style is short term for stocks and intraday for the indices.
The above filter usually returns in the region of 5/10 possibilities per day, sometimes none..
I then look to see if there is potential for a reasonable move by looking at the volatility, sell of from the last high/low, Fib retracements and so on. If I select a stock I set an initial SL of 3% and trail that to break even or slightly above. At that point I then let the trade run more freely and use a combination of Fib retracements, rule oe eights, trend line break, bounce off resistence etc as the stop.
Do I get stopped frequently?
In August, for example, I entered .18 stocks (light month due to hols) of which 5 were closed and subsequently continued to rise. Of those 5 I closed 2 incorrectly due to setting tight stops as I was not able to monitor. The other 3 dipped below my 3% before rising again. If I had been around I would possibly re-entered on a higher high.

When I enter a stock I do not have a target as such, I will let it run until it changes direction.

For indices my style is quite different and a little too complex to describe here.

Hope that answers your question.
I am not saying my method is "right" as I do not believe in any holy grail and agree with Mark in that each has to find a style that fits the individuals personality. I also believe continual tinkering is necessary to improve ones successes. For example, I am currently reluctant to enter short trades (on stocks) as I have in the past been spectacularly unsuccessful.

Dave

 

[marben]

Warning Flag

'morning all,

Don't want to be presumptious but I think this thread is starting to drift off-topic (look at khi's first post at the start of the thread for its intended purpose). I think the occasional discussion of or question about trading techniques is fine but there are more appropriate threads to go into details.

I think we should try to keep this thread mainly to discussing & reporting specific trades in UK stocks.

I certainly don't want to discourage newbies from posting but let's try to keep it on-topic.

Feel free to shoot me down if the majority disagree .

I'm looking at possible REX long today, if price breaks above yesterday's high.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Euro_d]

'morning all,

Don't want to be presumptious but I think this thread is starting to drift off-topic (look at khi's first post at the start of the thread for its intended purpose). I think the occasional discussion of or question about trading techniques is fine but there are more appropriate threads to go into details.

I think we should try to keep this thread mainly to discussing & reporting specific trades in UK stocks.

I certainly don't want to discourage newbies from posting but let's try to keep it on-topic.

Feel free to shoot me down if the majority disagree .

I'm looking at possible REX long today, if price breaks above yesterday's high.

Thanks,

Mark

Certainly not Sir,
You are correct, we (and I am probably more guilty than most) have drifted off topic.
I agree we should stick to the spirit of KHI's first post. Trading techniques could be addressed but only in relation to specif trades.
What do you think?
From now on I will only post specific trades.
BTW, do you (or anyone else) consider that index trades are also off topic?

Good trading to all
Dave

 

[marben]

BTW, do you (or anyone else) consider that index trades are also off topic?

Good trading to all
Dave

Thx Dave - not too fussed either way about index trades, though not in Kim's original remit.

Best regards,

Mark

 

[marben]

Hi PitBull,

Glad to see it looks like I was wrong about timing on CCL . They got a broker rec this morning from Morgan Stanley & price has risen nicely as a result.

Good trading!

Mark

 

[techst]

The price of CCL has risen due to it breaking a trendline on high volume 2 days ago. The trend creates the news in my opinion. Not the other way round

 

[Splitlink]

I got stopped out of my short SCTN on Monday morning. No surprise, I was pretty close on Friday's close and opening spreads are designed to catch whatever is close. Can't get anything to come to my prices this week.

Split

 

[techst]

I've watching something that's setting up very nicely on the short side. CPI, check it out. Entry is possible for today. Look at the huge volume of selling a few months back.

 

[Splitlink]

I've watching something that's setting up very nicely on the short side. CPI, check it out. Entry is possible for today. Look at the huge volume of selling a few months back.

Thanks for that one.Looks nice on the day chart with, what I see, is a failed high. There is a bit of support at 368 that it keeps bouncing off today, though. Will look tomorrow, if it's not too late.

I've been trying to short CBRY this morning. I guess I'm too tight! It won't come up that little bit more!

Split

 

[marben]

I've watching something that's setting up very nicely on the short side. CPI, check it out. Entry is possible for today. Look at the huge volume of selling a few months back.

Hi Techst,

Well, over a 2-4 week timeframe, I'd rate this one as a "buy" rather than a "sell". Weekly MACD is climbing nicely from a low in late July. It is currently at the bottom of it's stochastic. Not on my radar with my current methods though (it's not trending strongly over a 1 year timeframe and if anything, the overall trend has been up rather than down). I think its trajectory will depend on that of the market as whole though: if the market continues to drop then you could well be right, if OTOH it recovers then I reckon I'll win.

I would not buy in, however, until price exceeds previous day's high (if MACD & stochastic still favourable). That is 371 for today. I'll treat this as a paper trading exercise and will advise when I would enter, stop loss and when I would exit.

So please let us know your entry, S/L & exit, for comparison purposes.

Good trading!

Mark

 

[techst]

CPI

I'm looking at a close below 364 to enter. Indicators are good as secondary tools. But they are just that, secondary tools. Obviously price and volume are more important. And that's what I'm studying here. The long term uptrend has been broken in Mid June. And volume to the downside like that shouldn't be ignored. It also keeps using the 100SMA as a ceiling, and that's what holding it from moving foward. Situations like this are interesting, because the best time to trade a stock is at these 'make or break' areas. Was this an interemediate correction? or the beginning of a bear market? I would think the latter considering it's behaviour. But only with a close below 364 (recent low). Sometimes I'll make this a 2 day close or just one day depending on volume. Otherwise it could move to the upside. Indicators do find me setups but price action gets me in.

 

[PitBull]

Hi there Marben. Thanks for the encouragement. Limit order triggered and now in profit.

 

[marben]

Hi Techst,

... It is currently at the bottom of it's stochastic. ...

Correction! I think i must have been looking at the wrong chart date: stochastic is middlish, however, Elder Force Index (FI) is -ve so I don't change my stance - yet. If FI reaches a new multi-week low (and it is approaching it) then I won't enter.

 

[marben]

CPI

...Obviously price and volume are more important...

There's nothing "obvious" about it. Indicators are simply a way of interpreting price & volume movements. Nothing more & nothing less.

We each have to use our own methods: and judge them by their success or otherwise.

Best regards,

Mark

 

[marben]

Closed EMG short trade for a small loss @ 1660. Originally opened @ 1648 on 24/8. I'd been looking for an exit on this one as it was entered using my "old" methods & wasn't behaving itself - and certainly doesn't confrm to my new trading rules! I perhaps should have held on a bit longer: there may be some more mileage in recent falls but I'm not prepared to take the chance, so cut my losses.

 

[marben]

Hi there Marben. Thanks for the encouragement. Limit order triggered and now in profit.

Hi PitBull,

You're welcome!

When you say "limit order triggered", do you mean you've taken profits on a limit being reached or added to your position?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[techst]

Just out of interest Marben. How come you've changed your rules? What's the jist of your new trading rules? I love to chat about what works for me in trading and hopefully you can do the same to help some of the guys who are coming through the ranks.

 

[PitBull]

Marben

I put in a limit order to go long if price triggered. It was from the recent high, unfortunately, as I dont day trade it has turned round from being nicely in profit to breakeven. I also put in a limit sell order if 50 points in profit. Best way to control my trades whilst I am at work.