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Strategies & Market Trends : DAYTRADING Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cloudless who wrote (5900)	12/8/1999 6:17:00 PM
From: TraderAlan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

cs, <I'd be interested in what type of rules about how many eighths or sixteenths to let something go against you before closing the position?> Doesn't make much sense (at least to me) to sell based on a flat dollar or point loss when a position goes against you. It's much better to sell when you know you're wrong. The trick is to only enter positions where the point you know you're wrong is within your risk tolerance. My own systems use bollinger bands, MAs and support/resistance levels to tell me I have a loser. But yours may be different. Alan

To: cloudless who wrote (5900)	12/8/1999 7:56:00 PM
From: TheKelster	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

Alan's reply was the voice of wisdom. I don't know who posted it or when but someone posted an absolutely hilarious list of Day Trading rules (or something). One of them said something like "what are afternoons for?" answer, "to lose what you made in the morning." This was not anywhere near a direct quote, but the concept, always, always, always applies. The list is somewhere on this thread and is a must read, if you can stand the pain from all the laughter when you read it. Premium Hands, KK

To: cloudless who wrote (5900)	12/9/1999 8:17:00 AM
From: Don Pueblo	Respond to of 18137

I agree with Alan; Message 12228281 Whatever discipline you use to get out of a bad trade, dollar lost limit, point limit, or whatever, your primary goal should be to get a good entry. A good entry negates the need for any hassle on the exit if the trade goes the wrong way. That is what Alan is talking about I think. If you enter a trade at a point where it has to go the wrong way one point before you know you are wrong, you got a bad entry in the first place. So, if you are starting, set whatever limit you need to set, however you want to set it, and pay more attention to your entry and how you do it. For example, if you tend to chase an entry (and nobody ever does that, right? <G>) you might want to hone your discipline. If you tend to bail out too fast on a winner, try getting out of half instead of all of it. You get the idea...everyone has their own little things that prevent them from being consistently successful. You have to observe your own behavior and teach yourself to get out of any bad habits. The principal rule is: Don't lose all your money before you learn how to make more of it.