What is Your Trading Style/system?

[tlfx 10]

I'm kinda new so as some of the members viewing. I know there are a lot of trading style such as swing trading, scalping, breakout strategy, trend trading, anti-trend trading and so on. So i want to know which system do you and why?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:missy:

[brownsfan019 17]

http://www.surinotes.com/

 

I recently picked up Suri's book and if you are looking for a place to start, that's a great one IMO.

[tlfx 10]

Thanks. What's yours? I still need to know...

[learningtotrade 10]

I'm more of a swing +trendline trader using candlesticks with s&r and various chart patterns.

[BlowFish 10]

Predominantly dressing gown (or robe as our American cousins might say). Laptop for mobility.

 

How about you tlfx?

[tlfx 10]

I've learned this trading system, it's like breakout+swing trading.The swing would last about 2-3 days. Risk reward 1:2. I like it because it's fully mechanical and the profit taking is 2 times the risk. What do you think?

 

Sorry i'm a newbie and my english is not too good.

[BlowFish 10]

If it works for you that's all that matters. It's hard to make any sort of meaningful comment without really knowing a lot more detail.

[darthtrader3.0beta 10]

Predominantly dressing gown (or robe as our American cousins might say). Laptop for mobility.

 

How about you tlfx?

 

Haha, I just bought a new hat to wear while trading....I wanted one of their stock certificates to put on my wall but damn they are expensive right now.

 

Futures trading wise I would say I'm somewhere between a scalper and position trader...investing wise I just stick with the index or sector ETFs. Would like to eventually have a mechanical swing trading equity system.

[fxlabrat 10]

I'm interested in scalping. Is it a suitable trading style for a newbie? I've read that it's an advance technique but isn't it easier to catch 5 pips than 10 pips?

[Hlm 10]

I'm interested in scalping. Is it a suitable trading style for a newbie? I've read that it's an advance technique but isn't it easier to catch 5 pips than 10 pips?

It all depends on risk/reward and the percentage of success. This is where your positive expectency and potential draw down comes from.

[BlowFish 10]

I'm interested in scalping. Is it a suitable trading style for a newbie? I've read that it's an advance technique but isn't it easier to catch 5 pips than 10 pips?

 

Possibly. Though FX, Scalping and Newbie sounds like a recipe for disaster. I think you might be unaware (from your other posts) that most FX 'brokers' are in fact bookies. Not only that but you are betting on prices that are not centralised so the bookie can manipulate them a small amount for a short period of time. Add in that most times they are the counter party to your bet and I would give you long odds that it will end in tears.

[Hlm 10]

Can someone make money scalping (a few pips here and there) in the Forex Market...to put simply yes. However, due to the makeup of the Forex Market there are many opportunities to be taken advantage of. At this time the only currency trading I do is with larger swings. People have to understand that it's not about what CAN be done, but what is BETTER for the new trader...or any trader. When scalping on the Forex Market you don't have all the tools (DOM, Volume, etc) to compensate and take advantage of the micro time frame that many people call "noise" (smallest time frame that is affected by the spread). For this reason it is much easier for most to zoom out and work off the multiple trends in motion and the natural ebb and flow.

[BennyHey 10]

My methodology is largely based on Linda Raschke. I use Keltner Channel and Stochastics. I especially watch the tape around support/resistance levels. Once a group of traders are trapped either long or short that is the time to hop on the the opposite direction then sell back to them as their stops are being hit.

 

When I first started trading I tried Tape Reading without really knowing what to look for, and I could not see the value in it. Now I find it is the most valuable tool I have in giving me an edge over the other market participants.

 

-BennyHey

[SwingTradinJay 10]

I came up with an easy to follow swing trading style...

 

I follow the cross between a 3sma and 500 sma, 10 min charts (20 or 60 days). I even delete the candles off my chart, I only follow the cross.

 

I started trading like this when I realized most people scalp, when the entries are actually perfect for bigger setups. The signals are limited, but the average gain is in hundreds of pips. I also don't ever over trade now, becuase there are only 8-10 signals a month, perfect...the rest of my time is spent doing my laundry lol.

 

as far as exit, stops, position size, that's up to each trader...

I trade 10% or less of my total account. Scaling out is a good idea too.

[SwingTradinJay 10]

It is actually easier to catch 500 pips in one trade than it is to catch 25 trades of 20pts each. Scalping is a mistake for most...

 

I doubt the bigs sit around to scalp for a few pips...No they do not

Plus you're working against the spread, market makers, and expert scalpers with highly specialized scalping platforms...

 

If all you do is scalp, you leave hundreds, sometimes thousands of pips on the table...

I mean all you need is to swing correctly and you've got a cool 150-500 pips in a few days.

And it's not even WORK! It's getting in, monitor, and wait. To me trading is about doing as little "work" possible...I've already read books, scalped hundreds of trades..i've learned the hard way and paid in cash and screen time: so trust me, scalping is BS (for newbs and risk-averse types).

 

:missy: peace

[OAC 10]

It has always been swing traders bad mouthing scalping and not the other way around. I wonder why ?

May be they don't get much soundful sleep during the night ? :missy:

[SwingTradinJay 10]

Well, I could still argue swing trading is much better to start with. Not all swing systems have big stops actually, which allows me to sleep. Lol. Also, position sizing assures I sleep.

 

I'm redirecting any new traders to stay away from scalping-unless they WANT to be food..aka: Getting Scalped! :doh:

 

If you do good scalping, keep doing what works...I mean professional scalpers need noobs to attempt scalping, otherwise there's a lot less money on the table...as a swing trader, I'm not hitting bids or asks every 10 minutes, thus much less risk.

 

Everyone finds their own style that works, but not if you blowup.

 

I have fairly easy trades which are hundreds of pips, and sometimes it may last hours-days, but I've found waiting to be a better Risk:Reward ratio.

 

Plus, retail scalping is more of a joke, unless your spreads are super tight? I swing gbp/jpy which has a pretty wide spread. Even eur/gbp is too wide...

I could scalp eur/usd, but there's no point. I can do less-work for more reward.

 

I have a buddy who hit 900% since he started scalping 2 min charts: the only problem is his risk reward...at times I've seen him bet the farm, for only 10-70 pts on a currency pair...which tells me he's not the only gambler/trader out there! But hey, keep doing what works...

:haha: It was cool to see his account go from 4.5k-40k lol.

 

 

I believe Jesse Livermore was quoted saying something about how the longer trades made him the most money versus the "small wiggles during daily movement."

 

:missy:

[SwingTradinJay 10]

It has always been swing traders bad mouthing scalping and not the other way around. I wonder why ?

May be they don't get much soundful sleep during the night ? :missy:

 

 

Lol, I can answer this...

Swing traders bad mouth the scalpers cuz' they once got scalped!:o :o :o

 

...and how many scalpers scold themselves because their entry was good for a much bigger profit? Ah ha, the mystery of the markets

[OAC 10]

The first scalp trade I have ever done was with Nasdaq stocks back in 1996 in the days of the SOES bandit. I was working out of this trading firm and we did a form of scalping called fishing. Let say a stock is tanking fast usually due to some news release and is dropping fast from 70s to 50s and currently trading at 51 1/8 ask, 50 7/8 bid. I would submit a bid at 50 7/16. Because of the panic and the large amount of sell orders that came in, my bid at below market would mistakenly get hit because they saw the 7, but mistaken 1/16 for 1/8.

So I would get filled on 50 7/16 for 1000 shares and immediately hit the bid of 50 7/8 for 1000 shares and pocketed for myself $437.50 in about 5 seconds.

It was like free money.

And I felt like a bucket shop operator. Haha

Edited February 16, 2009 by OAC

[Hlm 10]

I take it by scalping you mean aiming for a few ticks, scaling in and out, and possibly trading off the pressure shown on the DOM. There is a lot of space between scalping and swing trading.

[diablo272 10]

...and how many scalpers scold themselves because their entry was good for a much bigger profit? Ah ha, the mystery of the markets

 

The purpose of scalping is to make many small wins instead of one big one. A scalping system is DESIGNED to take small profits, and if you find yourself regretting following your system, you will probably have trouble regardless of your timeframe.

 

I have a few other counterpoints to make regarding scalping. First, you say that by scalping, you miss out on profits. Well if you swing trade, you also miss out on profits, like when a market is consolidating for example. You also mention that lower trade frequency means lower risk, but this is not necessarily true and is completely dependent on the two systems you're comparing (what is the expectancy for the swing system and what is the expectancy for the scalp system?). Finally, you mention that scalping is not good for "risk-averse types", but again this is very ambiguous. While you may be more comfortable keeping a trade open for hours or days on end, it is more comfortable for others to only keep trades open for seconds or minutes at most, but to have a higher trade frequency.

 

It sounds to me like scalping may not suit you, but that you are in no place to be telling others that scalping is "BS".

[OAC 10]

I take it by scalping you mean aiming for a few ticks, scaling in and out, and possibly trading off the pressure shown on the DOM. There is a lot of space between scalping and swing trading.

 

When a scalp trade fails, it becomes an intra-day position trade.

When an intra-day position trade fails, it becomes an overnight trade.

When an overnight trade fails, and you go back to your day job and become a swing trader. :rofl:

[BennyHey 10]

It is actually easier to catch 500 pips in one trade than it is to catch 25 trades of 20pts each. Scalping is a mistake for most...

 

I doubt the bigs sit around to scalp for a few pips...No they do not

Plus you're working against the spread, market makers, and expert scalpers with highly specialized scalping platforms...

 

If all you do is scalp, you leave hundreds, sometimes thousands of pips on the table...

I mean all you need is to swing correctly and you've got a cool 150-500 pips in a few days.

And it's not even WORK! It's getting in, monitor, and wait. To me trading is about doing as little "work" possible...I've already read books, scalped hundreds of trades..i've learned the hard way and paid in cash and screen time: so trust me, scalping is BS (for newbs and risk-averse types).

 

:missy: peace

 

I agree, I think most trading systems for sale out there have an inverted Risk/Reward ratio. That said you need to have a very high winning percentage just to break even. I have spent a lot of money trying to increase my knowledge and find most of these types of courses to not hold up under real world trading conditions. Slippage, commissions, and not getting filled on limit orders chew theses systems up.

I think you are better off starting with a system that has at least a 2-1 RRR and fewer traders per day. This will preserve your capital for a while while you are still learning the ropes.

 

:missy:BennyHey

[Hlm 10]

When a scalp trade fails, it becomes an intra-day position trade.

When an intra-day position trade fails, it becomes an overnight trade.

When an overnight trade fails, and you go back to your day job and become a swing trader. :rofl:

Haha, nice.

 

I just wanted him to clarify because many times when people talk about scalping, they are referring to reading resting orders in the DOM and/or a strategy that is time frame dependent (can't easily and effortlessly be played on longer time frames). For someone who uses a time frame independent strategy, a setup is no different if it's aiming to take a few points over a few minutes or a few dozen over a longer period.

[deadline 10]

Well, since I gave up trying to "let my winners run and cut my losers' I have averaged 300 points per week .. scalping. Other bad advice I have dumped include, "Don't average down" (99.9 percent of the time averaging down has allowed me to get out of jail .. with a profit) One key aspect of my style is to trade small .. £1 per point (spread bet), which I intend to increase after several month more of trading profitably. The reason I trade small is so that even if my position goes bad by 100 points, I'm not sweating .. well I am a bit , but only when I average down. Anyway my style/system is three weeks old, and I'm consistent for the first time in 2 years of trading.