So I’ve been learning swing trading for more than 3 years and still not getting it right. My account fluctuates around the same number up and down. So I guess I have 50% strike rate.
BTW, Is it just me or the markets not going anywhere these days?
Anyways, I was wondering if I could see or analyze what other swing traders are doing in the market. A google search for “famous forex swing traders” doesn’t retrieve any actionable results. Do you guys know any successful traders?
if its online, i dont think anyone would actually come and show/share their success story with us, i mean, the more you make the smaller the profile becomes, its simple human nature i guess, but im curious if you find any share it with us here thanks.
I happen to know quite a few (most of whom are institutional or ex-institutional-now-independent traders).
Not necessarily, at all: you could be winning 10% of your trades with an average win 9 times the size of your average loss; or you could be winning 90% of your trades with an average loss 9 times the size of your average win.
Your average strike rate on a break-even account would be 50% only if your average win is [I]the same size[/I] as your average loss, wouldn’t it?
This illustrates an important point (which is why I’m setting it out in the form of the examples above): win-rate [B][U]isn’t[/U][/B] what matters - [I][U]expectancy[/U][/I] is what matters. You need to make more collectively from your winning trades than you lose collectively from your losing trades, and have risk-management parameters that are in accordance with your [I][U]expectancy[/U][/I]. That’s all. Don’t try to measure your success in terms of win-rate, [I][U]especially[/U][/I] if you’re a swing trader.
You need to [U]know[/U] what your strike rate is - not to guess it from your results!
Well done, anyway, on not losing money: that’s a big hurdle already successfully negotiated.
Probably, by reading textbooks.
[U]Not[/U] so easily from forums and other internet “information”, [I]much[/I] of which is published with no quality control, no peer-review, little editorial approval, and for marketing/promotional purposes.
Be aware that the term “swing trading” [B][U]doesn’t[/U][/B] relate to the duration of trades taken. (This point is cleared up on the first page of Alan Farley’s famous book “[I]The Master Swing Trader[/I]”.)
Many of the most successful swing traders I know, and know of, myself, happen to be [U]intraday[/U] swing traders.
Yes man, I know about that. I just didn’t wanted to complicate the dialogue with too much detail. I have a 2:1 strategy and yes I don’t actually get half the trades right. A big part of them don’t even hit TP rather a trailing SL.
Over the years I’ve tried several “systems and strategies” from scalping to “follow arrows on the chart to open and close trades” to complicated mathematical systems requiring half dozen calculators to enter a trade. Now, since 1.5 years I’m working with nothing but the charts and trendlines drawn on Monthly, Weekly and Daily charts. I use H4 to enter and exit.
Are you recommending [B]The Master Swing Trader[/B] for me to read?
I honestly haven’t read it in enough detail, myself, to be able to “recommend” it to anyone, even though by all accounts and common consensus, it’s [B][U]the[/U][/B] accredited, recognised book on the subject.
I actually found it pretty heavy going, and abandoned it about two thirds of the way through … but I’m [I]not[/I] a swing trader, myself, so I probably allowed myself to lose interest more easily than you would. :8:
I did notice, though, that he takes a bit of trouble, right at the start of the book - as other authors do, too - to stress that “swing trading” is a style and technique that has nothing to do with the time-frame at all, and that there’s quite a bit of confusion around, about that point.
Yeah. So I got one and read a few pages and right away I learned why there’s no good resource available from actual successful traders. Alan says when your strategy becomes common knowledge, it wont work anymore and you’ll have to move on to something better still, something unique that keeps your edge on the market and keeps you going.
I think I have a good system and I just need to practice more. I guess I got demotivated by recent loss streak. Thanks to the community who has always been there.