I'm glad you posted this thread, it covers topics not as frequently discussed.
Optimization: I'm not a mechanical trader, so optimization isn't my thing, nor is messing with something that currently works well.
Hedging: Hedging the same instrument in the same market is generally pointless. At the point of which you're ready to hedge, you might as well just close out your position and then re-enter when the direction of the market is clearer. There's a few reasons why I say this. Hedging two positions who ultimately end up ranging and don't show a clear direction quickly will, depending on your margin, tie up your available money preventing you from making better trades on other currency pairs. You'll waste your time checking and stressing over two positions that cancel each other out. You will pay the spread twice.
For fx traders, the useful applications of hedging are very limited in my opinion. If your account was denominated in a different currency than your domestic currency, it would make sense to protect your purchasing power at home by hedging the balance of your account. Also, if you have opposing trades when you're trading both a long term and a short term system.
Pyramiding: I agree, it is a valid strategy for longer term traders. I would not recommend a martingale strategy, however pressing your trade is something I will do at times. One must be wary when pyramiding though, it requires a strong continuing trend with little to no retraces. If there was a large enough retrace, you could be forced to cover at breakeven...knowing if you didn't scale up you would have turned a profit. Pyramiding is not something to do with every trade in every situation. It depends on the time frame you're using, and also that currencies typical behavior. Does the currency tend to range over time, or has it exhibited a strong up or down trend over many months. It is one way to have an incredible risk to reward ratio, but you will have a very low success rate if used constantly without considering if it is an applicable strategy to your specific trade.
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