Sorry for the late reply here, haven't had much free time lately. To answer your question, I need a bit more information. If you are inquiring as to how I determine the stops for my trending system, I'm afraid I can't help. I consider that information proprietary since the stops are the exit signals for its trades (the only way the system exits its long positions is by being stopped out). I mentioned earlier in this thread that I wanted to keep the inner workings of both systems under lock and key, in order to help keep them working. Think of it as a "black box" trading system similar to those that all the investment banks spend millions of dollars on developing, they don't dare allow their algorithms to be leaked, as doing so would guarantee system failure. Part of the same reason a lot of quant systems out there suddenly stop working after otherwise performing admirably in the past. I always liked the saying "loose lips sink ships!"
If you're asking about determining stops on individual, discretionary trades such as those I sometimes take with NUGT, AAPL, and others, I generally don't use stops since I utilize a number of factors to determine good entry points that have a high risk/reward ratio. In my opinion, stops are useful if you are scalping (day trading), or use trailing stops on intermediate hold trades. Other than that, I see no use for them. Most that are set too close to the prevailing price are taken out by computer trading programs designed to monitor them.
Hope that helps, and don't take this response as me being secretive. I'm just trying to ensure the systems remain profitable going forward for all to enjoy.
