[GCB]

That's interesting because that's what I'm leaning towards. Stay in the trade until at least a preliminary signal in the other direction. I'm kind of glad to here you say that, because it validates a bit what I'm thinking.

Do you trail your stops at all, or at least at some point move them to breakeven? I'm going to at least do that, but again trailing stops aggressively eventually seems to just take me out on routine pullbacks.

I haven't figured out any way to go for 2 or more times risk without being willing to endure pullbacks, i.e., endure giving a lot of it back at least once during the trade (omitting those wonderful trades when the you get 2x+ risk instantly with no retracement). Tight stops don't work for me. Entry has to be perfect with them and even then just a little noise and I'm knocked out before I have a chance.

[brownsfan019]

Well, you said it - trailing stops can be very dangerous as far as I am concerned. If you routinely get trailed out, then going for a fixed target(s) may be best. I don't trail at all. I have my initial stop, which is a level where I am proven that I was wrong on my trade. Being taken out for 1 or 2 ticks does not prove I was wrong, it proves that I was too afraid of taking some heat. I understand some trades a trail works, but I have found for me that the majority of the time, the trail does nothing other than lock in pathetic gains. That's it.

My feeling is that if you are going to stay in until a reversal signal appears, then that's exactly what you need to do. It all comes down to high reliable your setups are and how often you get a decent reversal that 1) locks in profit on previous trade and 2) initiates new position.

[Blu-Ray]

Brownsfan

Just a couple of quick questions for you regarding candlesticks.

1) Would you say tick charts are any good for candlestick patterns ( 144 tick or less ) or would that be too much noise for patterns to emerge ?

2) Would you say candlesticks are more powerful if 2 or 3 form together, rather than one on it's own?

Cheers.......Blu-Ray

[Nick1984]

Blu you read my mind with that post!

[brownsfan019]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray »

Brownsfan

Just a couple of quick questions for you regarding candlesticks.

1) Would you say tick charts are any good for candlestick patterns ( 144 tick or less ) or would that be too much noise for patterns to emerge ?

2) Would you say candlesticks are more powerful if 2 or 3 form together, rather than one on it's own?

Cheers.......Blu-Ray

Blu & Nick:

1) I never had much luck or spent enough time using tick charts and candlestick patterns. I'm sure w/ enough study there is a good combination based on the market being analyzed, but I haven't found one for me.

2) Good question. My view is that I cannot wait for 2-3 candle patterns to appear back-to-back. I LOVE seeing multiple hammers AFTER I am long already, but I can't wait for that much price action to take place and then enter in my opinion. Not to mention, you don't see back-to-back candlestick patterns that often, at least on the ES (which is my primary trading vehicle). Now, there are patterns that encompass 3 candles as well. For the pattern to be valid, 3 candles must form together; whereas a hammer is 1 candle.

Keep in mind guys that you cannot just run out there and grab every hammer you see. It depends on the context of the market at that time. What I mean is, if the market is flat lining, hammers mean nothing to me. If you get a hammer on an extreme price level, I'd pay attention.

Also, you'll see others refer to selling/buying tails, which in my view, is basically a hammer. That's the power of them - I call them a hammer, someone else calls it a buying tail and we both buy. That's a good thing.

[Blu-Ray]

Excellent stuff Brownsfan, thanks for the detailed reply.

I currently only trade off tick charts and do take note of the candles as they form and you can see the power struggle in some particular candles.

Thanks Again

Blu-Ray