| Long Term vs Short Term Investing - Avoiding Pitfalls |
There are several ways to classify traders but one of the most significant differences is the one between short term and long term traders. Traders in both camps may use technical and fundamental analysis and stop and limit orders in very similar ways but with some important differences that can lead to disaster if not properly understood.  Transposing short term methods for risk control and position sizing on a long term trade, inevitably leads to whipsaws and losses. Similarly, applying long term methods for stops and position sizing against a short term position leads to an unfavorable risk/reward ratio. The solution to this problem is to understand how consistent and proportional position sizing applies to different time frames. In the video I will detail this issue in two case studies on the GBP/JPY. Both case study trades were short (bearish) and utilized technical analysis. In both it was assumed that a stop was set above resistance to protect capital. Case #1: Long Term As you can see in the image below, the GBP/JPY began consolidating in a rising wedge pattern from March through August of 2008. When the breakout occurred in August an initial profit target, based on the prior trend, provided a projected upside potential of about 5,500 pips. Based on the profit target and upside resistance levels a stop loss could have reasonably been placed almost 1,000 pips above the breakout, near resistance, to protect capital. GBP/JPY Daily Chart  The large stop in this case was perfectly reasonable to account for volatility that may occur in the near term as the trend began to reemerge. If you assume that you had a $10,000 account balance and were willing to risk 5% on any given trade, you would round up and only be trading 1 mini lot in this case. Learn more about position sizing in the forex. Case #2: Short Term The GBP/JPY recently formed a triple top and subsequently broke down to an initial profit target of 335 pips. A stop above resistance could have been placed at least 100 pips away. Assuming the same kind of portfolio sizing calculation was done in this trade as in the last one, you could have been trading 5 lots. GBP/JPY 4 Hour Chart  As you can see in these two contrasting examples, the analysis was similar but the position sizing was proportional. Traders applying a 100 pip stop loss in the long term position would have accumulated large losses as the market remained volatile and "whipped" them out. Similarly, an extremely large stop loss would have essentially left the short term position uncovered. The issue is compounded by the fact that a longer term trader applying a short term stop loss may have been getting in too heavily. We have found that it is very common for traders taking advantage of a long term trade to get spooked very early because they are in the trade with too much size. If any of this sounds familiar to you, take a minute to reevaluate how you are position sizing and make sure that your initial targets and stop losses are proportional to the opportunity rather than transposed from another time frame. Note: In the video, I will discuss another difference between long and short term trading - costs. Trading in the short term can be fun but it is expensive. The forex is one of the most expensive markets to trade in the short term and in this example the costs associated with the short term trade could easily have been 1.5% of profits. In the long term example, costs were .0009% of profits. That makes a huge difference over many trades and could ultimately make the difference between an annual profit or loss.. Learn more about stop losses here. Next: Avoiding trading scams Keep up with us:
Comments deemed inappropriate will be removed
3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning Markets Partners More Partners | Become a Partner |
 |  |  |  |  |
 |
| Learn to Invest | Reviews of Stock Brokers | Stock Picks | Technical Analysis | Broker News | Investor Education | What to Invest In | Live Market Analysis | Should I Invest? |
