JTH's Account Talk

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JTH said:
While I do think stops should be used, they have not been kind to me in the past, so I try to refrain from using them if I can watch the market's action. I'm not using stops on my current positions, mostly because I've been at home, with a hand on the trigger. I am using limits, so if price spikes I can catch some gains. My trading account sucks, if I had a choice I'd be using trailing stops, but that feature doesn't exist with USAA.
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OK, Guys...bear with a stupid question here, but I'm learning something new :)

I, too, have USAA for my self-directed IRA...but I've seen the ability to use "stops" and "limits" on my trades, so I'm confused...Went to Investopedia for a quick check on the definition of a "trailing stop".

What I'm understanding is that a "trailing stop" allows you to set a PERCENTAGE limit on the stop, so it rises along with price (assuming the price is going up) ? I.E., it's NOT a fixed dollar number like USAA makes you set, but a percentage "loss". Is that the correct interpretation ?

Thanks for any clarification !

Stoplight...
 
JTH said:
How much does it cost to open an account?
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It didn't and they gave me a bunch of free trades. If anyone is interested, let me know so I can get a referral (don't know if its worth anything or not)...

I do like their ThinkorSwim (TOS) platform...
 
RealMoneyIssues said:
Which is why I moved my stuff to TDAmeritrade, plus the extended trading day (8am-8pm)...
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RealMoneyIssues said:
It didn't and they gave me a bunch of free trades. If anyone is interested, let me know so I can get a referral (don't know if its worth anything or not)...

I do like their ThinkorSwim (TOS) platform...
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll take you up on your offer when I'm ready, but that won't be for awhile, I want to build up this account before moving on to the next one.
 
JTH said:
12 April 2013, bought OSH @ 2.38 HIGH RISK TRADE
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weatherweenie said:
Do you use stops on leveraged ETFs? After getting burned by not using a stop, I put one on this TNA trade. I set it at 40.27, when TNA was around 41. Wouldn't you know that flash crash yesterday tripped my stop, and I was stopped out. I ended up making just over 5% in a day, but missed out on additional gains.
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JTH said:
While I do think stops should be used, they have not been kind to me in the past, so I try to refrain from using them if I can watch the market's action. I'm not using stops on my current positions, mostly because I've been at home, with a hand on the trigger. I am using limits, so if price spikes I can catch some gains. My trading account sucks, if I had a choice I'd be using trailing stops, but that feature doesn't exist with USAA.
Click to expand...

And for the benefit of the forum, this an example of what happens when you don't use a stop. My cost basis on this is @ 2.44 I thought I'd catch a bounce, instead I caught a thud. Now I'm in too deep to take a loss, it's a good thing I use position sizing!

View attachment 23512
 
yea why didnt I b&h since mid Nov. ?? the huge gains always escape me the tracker leader has 10% more than me and many others are passing me up daily. sux.
 
Trying to change the way people think about investing has never been an easy task. We could all use more bullish sentiment.
 
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