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Old 02-24-2007, 03:37 PM
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Re: Arts of stop placment and profit target

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Things are different, however, when the trade moves against you from the start. I believe it is possible to know that you are on the wrong side of the trade PRIOR to your stop being hit. One does not have to wait for his stop to be hit to know he is at least wrong on timing and possibly right on direction. If your stop is 15 ticks away, I find it hard to believe you don't know you are wrong when price is 3 ticks away from your stop.
Pivot - my observation on this would be that your stop is too far to begin with. Stops are there to take you out at the very point that you are wrong. If your stop is 15 ticks and at 12 you know you are wrong, then your stop should have been placed at 12, not 15 in my opinion.

For me, and I've mentioned this before - I am not wrong until my stop is hit. That's it. My stop must be taken out before I know I am wrong on the trade. That's the purpose of protective stop losses. They stop a loss from becoming larger. The reason for this is simple - unfortunately not every trade is immediately in profit. Sometimes the trade is in the red for a few moments and then moves in my direction. As long as the stop is not taken out, this is a great trade in the end. Of course we all want to be in the profit immediately, but that's not realistic.

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