Maximum profit?

[brewski1984]

Not really.

In order to take 4 consecutive trades as separate unrelated actions, I would need 4 separate entry signals. for me, these would be from TA to confirm the trend and the timing of the entry.

Is the first of the 4 trades at a quarter of the risk or full risk from the start? If you could have banked 1R but then open another trade (with or without entry signal) and move to breakeven, you're still using that 1R profit to fund the second trade ie, you're still risking more capital even if it doesn't seem like it in your head because "it's still unrealised and only 1 trade not 4". You still have to pay 4x spread/commissions.

 

[tomorton]

Is the first of the 4 trades at a quarter of the risk or full risk from the start? If you could have banked 1R but then open another trade (with or without entry signal) and move to breakeven, you're still using that 1R profit to fund the second trade ie, you're still risking more capital even if it doesn't seem like it in your head because "it's still unrealised and only 1 trade not 4". You still have to pay 4x spread/commissions.

Yes, full risk from the start. As many times as I pyramid, no loss can be larger than the original £ risked. And pretty quickly, this deduction represents a reduction in profit, not an actual loss.

You could be right, maybe I am fooling myself into the ability to take multiple profits from the same instrument. But if that's what it takes....

 

[Jason101]

You still have to pay 4x spread/commissions.

For trend followers the spread/commissions are really no matter at all, when a winning trade will usually be measured days.

 

[Jason101]

You could be right, maybe I am fooling myself into the ability to take multiple profits from the same instrument. But if that's what it takes....

Yes, multiple profits but at the same risk % as your original account %R at the time of the original trade.

"fooling myself" But if that's what it takes"....
Fooling myself, I think we need to fool our self, in order to overcome our own in built emotional biases.

As trend followers we need to concentrate on running winners and cutting off losers.
This is not confined to the two dimensional aspect of TA. This philosophy probably has an even greater impact when used in money management and psychology.

EDIT: Once you are profitable, the number one question every day, again and again, is how can I 10x my profits!!!

 

[wisefoolx]

As trend followers we need to concentrate on running winners and cutting off losers.

This

 

[Jason101]

This thread is why signal services/gurus don't work, because it's all in the execution.
Even robots can't yet compete on creativity and knowing when to alter or break rules.

 

[Illodius]

I know there is no point in seeking profit. Trading should be first and foremost enjoyable.

 

[tomorton]

I know there is no point in seeking profit. Trading should be first and foremost enjoyable.

Hilarious.

 

[progix]

I know there is no point in seeking profit. Trading should be first and foremost enjoyable.

I believe earning from forex trading is really hard and is not that easier as it looks like which is the reason that we need to control our emotions too. So i think we can only enjoy trading till the odds are not moving against else its your bad time started dude.

 

[tomorton]

I have started pyramiding every trade now as unrealised profit reaches break-even. The trend TA only comes in for the first trade, after that the profit or lack of tells me whether the trend continues or not. This has enabled me to get into some trends at an early stage that actually started more weakly than results would have suggested. Which just goes to show. Wish I'd done this sooner.

Update on my own position as from couple of months back.

I am continuing to set a pyramid order as soon as every trade is opened. When that opens, I set another order and so on and so on. Its working well though disappointed that the maximum number of trades open on one instrument at a time has not yet passed 5. Nevertheless, I am commonly getting stopped out when I have 2 or 3 trades open per forex pair or index, which is 2 or 3 times better than before I started pyramiding.

So much so that I had to introduce a new rule this month - when unrealised net gain reaches +25% of the account, close the basket of trades, take a week off and then start again.