[rhodytrader]

The stop (and target) should be proportionate to the strategy and the time frame, I was under the impression we've both already agreed upon that. Though I need to correct you on "tight" (by itself) being the cause of trouble... "too tight" a stop, yes.

I agree that it should be "too" tight, but unfortunately many new traders have no real understanding of the difference. That's why I get nervous when I see someone just use "tight" when addressing an audience that includes newbies because too often that gets taken literally to traders' detriment.

My point simply was that, if you find yourself using less lots than you like (not for profit motive, by the way, but for the ability to perform proper trade management and the ability to scale out of positions with multiple targets if required), then you can also perhaps look into strategies which have tighter stops and closer targets as an alternative (not merely tighten your stops on your existing strategy - please!).

THERE IT IS! That's exactly the clarification I was trying to get.

Great point here. People are reading this without the benefit of years of trading, or having had read your book (or mine). I'm assuming if they're talking money management then they already know how to pull the trigger (which is only once you already have your stop and your target and therefore a clear idea of risk/reward). I also assumed this was a single thread in a larger forum, and not a book to be read start-to-finish or to be all-inclusive.

You definitely don't want to make those assumptions. As other senior folks in this forum will attest, there are a lot of new forum members who just dip in on a particular subject, sometimes without even having gone through the School. The very nature of this site brings is a lot of totally inexperienced folks. When you make statements in certain ways they take them literally without understanding the nuances more practiced traders would.