March 3, 2008
Update on Long Yen Idea
You’ll recall that the Box suggested getting long the FXY above 92.65 back on February 15th. The good news is the Yen is rapidly approaching the target levels. The bad news is that following the ABC stop method, the trade would have been scratched at breakeven back on February 25th. Anyone who stayed with the original protective stop would still be in the trade of course. I’ll continue to study different ideas for how best to trail a stop.
Cat: | Time: 8:27 pm (utc+8)
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I was skeptical back on Feb 10 when my model took me out of Euro and into Yen, but I’m liking it at the moment.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:18 am
while hard stops are essential to day trading, there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to swing trading. Especially when you consider some of those ETFs that always gap overnight because they are linked to non US markets.
I like to have a stop level, instead of a hard stop. I then only close the position if the stock/ETF closes below by stop level. I can do that using one of two methods. 1) using conditional execution in TradeStation, where my order would trigger only 3 minutes before market closes. or 2) by selling at the market or using a hard stop the day following the stock violating my stop level.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:32 am
@Born2: I’m adamant about a hard initial protective stop but it’s the trailing of the stop, the managing the trade as it moves in your favor, that’s an art.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:50 am
i am adamant about cutting my losses short, yet that does not necessarily translate to hard stops. As you are well aware the market makers and specialists make a living of taking out the stops. Take one long at NLY today and you will see what i mean. They took it all the way down to the 100 day MA. took out every sensible hard stop and then closed 10% higher than the low of the day.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
@Born2: If my hard stop isn’t in there, my mind plays tricks when the stop-loss level is hit and I’ll make excuses not to exit as I should. I’m not a strong enough character, I guess. :)
March 10th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I keep my hard stops above/below candles with long bodies.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Brian: To each his own… and I must admit long lean bodies often make me hard.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:12 am
CM said:
“To each his own… and I must admit long lean bodies often make me hard.”
Did you get that line from Spitzer ?
March 11th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Todd: Spitzer is also a dirty old man? [update: ah, just read the news … that was a dumb thing to do, but as a fellow red-blooded guy I understand exactly why he would do it.]