Anyone scalping the FTSE Futures??

[barjon]

Does anyone here have any sage advice how they handle their emotions, the stress, the strain, the "what if?" of letting their winners run?

Obviously (like many on here) if I hadn't cut my DAX longs over the past 10 weeks or so, I'd be up about a zillion points/pounds by now. Obviously this is hindsight because the market could have and still can crash by a few hundred points at any given moment.

But regardless any pointers as to how other weigh up the pros/cons of holding longer term and avoiding the temptation to take a bunch of points profit would be welcome!

Odd, isn't it, we find it easy peasy to let our losers run yet snatch at our winners before they've even got started.

I suppose putting in a trailing stop at the point where you start screaming to take profit wouldn't cost much. Or just sticking an order in and walking away.

 

[tokyojoe]

Does anyone here have any sage advice how they handle their emotions, the stress, the strain, the "what if?" of letting their winners run?

Obviously (like many on here) if I hadn't cut my DAX longs over the past 10 weeks or so, I'd be up about a zillion points/pounds by now. Obviously this is hindsight because the market could have and still can crash by a few hundred points at any given moment.

But regardless any pointers as to how other weigh up the pros/cons of holding longer term and avoiding the temptation to take a bunch of points profit would be welcome!

Good post, it took me far longer to deal with my emotions than I even contemplated, I'm very mechanical now with hard stops & much wider exit targets.

It's still difficult if the price chops around too much, but having dropped my £pp & instead targeting points rather than £'s i've found has helped me

 

[NickBk]

Gonna be a lot of fireworks this week with options expiry, dax can swing 350 down next few days...

 

[postman]

Does anyone here have any sage advice how they handle their emotions, the stress, the strain, the "what if?" of letting their winners run?

Obviously (like many on here) if I hadn't cut my DAX longs over the past 10 weeks or so, I'd be up about a zillion points/pounds by now. Obviously this is hindsight because the market could have and still can crash by a few hundred points at any given moment.

But regardless any pointers as to how other weigh up the pros/cons of holding longer term and avoiding the temptation to take a bunch of points profit would be welcome!

1. You should know where your going to exit before you enter.
2. Go back and look at when you did exit vs when you should have (according to your strategy).

Simply looking at the numbers should give you the confidence to hold on, because after all (lack of) confidence is what is causing you to exit early.

I used to enter too soon and have difficulty with that still, so I am scaling in over a longer timeframe.
Maybe try scaling your position out until you build confidence in 'your system'.

 

[f2calv]

Ok thanks for that - I have tried a trailing stop a few times, but as with all stops it's either too tight or too loose. I guess I need more practise on setting them. I especially find it hard to detach my eyes/thoughts from the rapid and mesmerising movements of the "latent gain" indicator :/

I do also scale into positions, like this morning, but maybe I scaled in too quickly because I just bottled it when I'd hit a profit (not point) target and by the looks of it about 100 points too early :/

I guess I will attempt to plan my exit more as you say postie - or just try and mentally convert a short term trade into a longer term momentum trade.

...does anyone else talk to themselves out loud whilst trading? :}

 

[pingpong1965]

I understand markets can be irrational for longer than you can stay solvent, but a 350 point pullback on a 2635 point rise isnt too much to ask. (Is it?)

I totally agree a 350 pullback isn't too much to ask, but how many people have been asking the same question for the last month !!!

 

[postman]

Did anyone else notice that the whole of the British public combined over 20 years (or was it 25 years) of comic relief, managed to raise the same amount of money £1bn as Apple makes profit in one week.

Something wrong there.

 

[SuddenDeath]

Did anyone else notice that the whole of the British public combined over 20 years (or was it 25 years) of comic relief, managed to raise the same amount of money £1bn as Apple makes profit in one week.

Something wrong there.

its about £1/per person in UK

 

[SuddenDeath]

March 2055 pivot. last 3.8 above

pivot worked well,

2070.3 now

 

[postman]

Is Dax really going to 12,500????

Glad I only put 1/3 my regular trade on.

 

[postman]

At least we know FTSE cant follow as usual.

 

[SuddenDeath]

At least we know FTSE cant follow as usual.

only 16 away, and do is just getting into gear

 

[neil]

Hang on in there buddy

Odd, isn't it, we find it easy peasy to let our losers run yet snatch at our winners before they've even got started.

I suppose putting in a trailing stop at the point where you start screaming to take profit wouldn't cost much. Or just sticking an order in and walking away.

A bit like premature ejaculation. Takes practice to hold on
(Well- that's me banned for a while)

 

[SuddenDeath]

A bit like premature ejaculation. Takes practice to hold on
(Well- that's me banned for a while)

what is "premature ejaculation" ?

cant find it in my trading tradepedia

 

[postman]

Short Dax 1/3 again 12110
Stop 12145.

 

[neil]

what is "premature ejaculation" ?

cant find it in my trading tradepedia

It's a bit like "Sudden Death" - Unexpected and unwanted

 

[SuddenDeath]

Anyone want to guess where the Dax topped out?
-400
Who says algos dont hunt your stops.

they have to go and find customers.

 

[Dinos]

Got a short signal on the DAX, but the Ha's aren't playing game at the minute,

 

[tokyojoe]

been hovering over the sell button, but there is that sneaky 1 min 5 min PA going on

BTFD

 

[Dinos]

been hovering over the sell button, but there is that sneaky 1 min 5 min PA going on

BTFD

Yep, I need to see a momentum break down before entering.