Scalping - Risk/Reward 1:1

I want to put this out there and know your opinion/thoughts. Let me paint the picture …

Scalping the Cable using 15, 5, and 1 minute charts. 15 minute chart for trend, 5 minute chart for short term trend, and 1 minute chart for entry and exit. Using Bollinger Bands to trade fades (bounces from outter Bands to the SMA and/or through SMA). RSI is there to show likely reversals when 30 or 70 is touched

We use a Stop Loss set at -10 pips, including spread. We use a Target Profit set at +10 pips. Being a true Risk/Reward ratio of 1:1. Each time the price moves 5+ pips in our favour, we move the Stop Loss 5 pips in the same direction. So once we hit +5 in the profit, we move our Stop Loss to break even

Right now, in this example, we are at break even. We have two choices. First choice, while the price is at +5 do we move our Stop Loss to +5 and settle for the smallest pullback to trigger our Stop Loss, with the possibility it will continue to our +10 pips Target Profit ? Or second choice, do we risk breaking even while waiting for the price action to hit our +10 pips Target Profit ?

I guess it depends what suits us best at the time. If it was a recovery trade from a -10 pips loss, it could be sensible to settle for +5 pips instead of waiting for +10 pips. If it looks like a clear winner, then go for the +10 pips. If it was +5 pips away from our daily goal, settle for +5 pips. If the trade looked promising on entry then slowed right down, could be sensible to settle for +5 pips. If the trade is in a fast and volatile market, +10 pips could be easily gained

We would need to determine our Win/Loss ratio to ensure that this is a profitable method. For now, we’ll just say it is

Does anyone have experience relating to this ?

Thanks for your time

[B]didnt i answer this once today ??[/B]

[B]enjoy and trade well

mp[/B]

Brilliant, thanks MP

I posted this thread in ‘Forextown’ aswell in hopes to receive more detailed responses, and acheived just that

I will study your response and come back with thoughts and questions

I’m currently relocating my home so it may be a few days

enjoy and move the house gently

mp

Haha well you could say we literally moved our new home being that it’s on wheels. We hired a portable cabin for a few months before relocating to Sydney, Australia

One question a little off subject MP. Who do you recommend as a broker ?

I’ve been practicing with FXCM Australia for a couple of reasons. One being they have a NZD account currency option, and another being a close-to-home reputable company in Australia

FCXM Australia only offers their Trading Station platform, not MT4, and the indicators you talk of are for the MT4 platform. Is that correct ?

I guess I could stretch to a AUD account currency option if needed, but NZD is preferred. What’s your thoughts ?

I still haven’t had quality time to study your previous responses but that is definitely on the agenda

Just a quick thought, as to something that helped me in scalping.

I found it hard to set an actual “take profit” in scalping situations. What I’ve done, and seems to work, when price moves in my favor, or looks to be a good trade, I’ll let trade go until it seems to start turning. Once price retraces 3 pips from a high on a buy trade, or low if a sell, I close the trade! Yes, sometimes, price will continue going and would have been more pips IF I would have left the trade going. However, SOMETHING is better than NOTHING, right?

To me, a simple rule of thumb with scalping is, get in, make your pips, and get out! a good, solid win is ALWAYS better than a loss, at least that’s the way I see it.

mp6140, you mentioned above, using the CCI for movements on the smaller time frame charts. What would be the difference between the CCI Indicator and the Williams % Range Indicator? If any…

back in my stock trading days, i swore by the williams BUT when i moved to forex i found the williams would not give me a “full range” signal that the CCI would, and so i shifted to the CCI !

i use it as a STRENGTH meter (and overbought/oversold, which is the same thing as you shall see)

the stoch and DSS will show me the LENGTH of a move in percentages, while the CCI will show me when to expect a reversal WITHIN that longer move. If you watch a price moving up, the CCI follows and then “passes” the price, arriving at a TOP (or “overbought” situation) — at approximately that point, assuming there is any form of resistance present (ma’s, pivots, prior important points like highs and lows, etc) the price will REVERSE even though the trend remains upside.

given that signal i can do two things — first i can exit my long and go short if i feel enough room to cover the spread, OR i can hold my long and ride out the small retrace (my LRC’s show me where to EXPECT the price to drop to, as well as most of the normal s+r indicators) In either situation, I KNOW we are in a long situation and can add or hold as i feel at the moment.

Now, when the RETRACE finishes, you will see the CCI has BOTTOMED also, and an uptick on the CCI (i confirm with a small ema/sma x-over and another “prophetic indicator”) leads me to enter long again and aim for my clearly defined resistance (tp points)

THAT is how i do it, and i use NO sl because im trading WITH the TREND, and my LRC SHOWS ME LONG IN THE FUTURE how far i am safe to continue up !

easier to show then tell, but once you see it in action you will require immediate oxygen gulps, cause it will TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY !

with NO intention of braggadio, using this method at a “moderate” level (im not as hungry as the younger lions) i can easily produce a few hundred pips in a short time ---- on sunday, i accumulated 350 pips in 3.5 hours using the system (if you can call it that) and while sunday nite was a VERY high momentum evening, I would call that DECENT trading, IMO, and i would think one would have to have a data feed directly from the interbank, and a wonderful set of reflexes to match that, even by the best of the “price movement folks” !

enjoy and trade well

mp

for most i would imagine your advice is rather good, BUT im a curmudgian and i WANT the COMPLETE MOVE, so i work differently than you.

the HARDEST thing for any new trader is to set a CORRECT tp point, be it on the one minute or H4 chart ---- its not really hard, once you understand what to do, BUT in a large part its the trader NOT trusting their own judgement, and “hedging their bet” by simply following the price until, like the rabbit who hears farmer jones approaching with his shotgun, you get scared and get outta town.

i get scared, and at times i will yell at myself for what i perceive to be my utter stupidity, and then the sucker goes RIGHT TO MY TP POINT !

if you do this a few hundred times in a row, your conffidence begins to build ---- building CONFIDENCE is all part of EXPERIENCE and nothing BEATS experience, no matter what a 22 year old wants to think !

as you SEE what youre doing, you will start to stretch your trades, and as you find they are working, you will note WHY and once you know WHY you can duplicate what you did and once you can duplicate what you did, you can do it repeatedly, and once you can do it repeatedly, you can wear the mantle of TRADER and i hope you get there soon !

enjoy and trade well

mp

[I][B]Within the great hall at Elfinore stands a wondrous coffer, precisely four cubits square and securely latched against the outside world. Inside that repository, shut away from impertinent eyes, abides many an intriquing trading secret garnered from around the world and over the ages !

As a child, i used to watch from the darkness as the secrets were debated and annotated by the elders. No one there held a single thought of my presence – BUT I KNOW WHERE THEY HID THE KEY !![/B][/I]