A common issue is what to do if you are not in front of the computer all the time. Here is how we do it:
1. We are not afraid of not getting every signal. We need sleep. Also the markets are always going to be there. We don’t have to get every signal.
2. Our stop loss can be set as 2 x ATR from entry (another post explains this) so we have a hard definite stop.
3. What about take profit? Well if you are away from the computer you don’t know when to take profit. But you could set it at 3 x ATR from entry.
4. What about trades where your stop loss is hit, and then the price moves up past your entry? You can do such an order too. It’s an OCO or ‘one cancels other’ and although a bit more complicated, a very powerful tool and I will in future postings show you how.
5. What about adding to profitable positions? Again you can leave orders. It is time consuming placing such orders, but you will be away from your desk, so what else? Assume your total risk capital is £10k, and therefore 1% is £100. You can add buy entries for every £100 from entry the price would move. So assume you were trading at £10 per pip. Your additional profit buy order would be 10 pips north of your initial entry. You can place an order for that.
Of course all these additional orders get complicated. But that’s one way to do it.
The simple way:
1. At entry signal, place a stop loss at 2 x ATR and a take profit at 3 x ATR. Done. This is simple, crisp and clean.
This will also be of importance:
http://www.pipspredator.com/a-complete-trade