Pyramiding 2.0

A thread-

What is pyramiding?

It is simply adding to your winners.

Why use pyramiding?

1. It makes your winners bigger than your losers.

• Because you are adding positions when your trades are going your way, you are increasing your gains but your losers will be small comparatively.

2. You lose less during Draw-down time ( it saves you from losing big during whipsaws )

• Many times when the market is in sideways mode, Entering a trade with full risk might not be the best idea.

• So, you test the waters with a small position first, it could be ⅓ or ¼ of your total risk.

• So if the Breakout fails or whipsaws come, then you will only lose a small part of your overall risk.

• Then when position starts to go in your favor you can add to it.

3. It helps you to concentrate on a few trades,

They say that don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but don’t put them in too many either.

• See, Everyone can see charts and find breakouts, pullbacks etc.

A thread on SCALING IN - OUT METHOD -

What is scaling in - out?

1. Scaling in is adding on to the positions when they move in our favor (Pyramiding).

2. Scaling - out is exiting the portion of the position when the trade moves in our favor.

I have explained about pyramiding in previous tweets.

// Why use scaling out instead of exiting all position at once ?

When you are using ALL - out method where you exit positions at once, mostly you use wider Trail SL as you want to capture big moves and exit all when trail sl hits.

The problem with this method is that either you make too big or many times your medium size winners turns out to become Scratch trades.

So, when we use the scaling out method, we are trying to capture most of our medium size trades , so that they do not turn into scratch trades.

// How to use scaling out method -

Say we have to got a signal to enter in a trade, and we have to buy 1200 qty according to our Position sizing.

So, we have to divide this 1200 qty into parts, how much? It depends on you.

We can divide into 3 parts, each part 400 qty.

“In search of the holy grail”

A thread-

Holy grail- A strategy Which can make money all the time.

After going through two phases of a traders journey, the initial success phase, and Only why do i get loss phase, Traders enter the third phase -

THE SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL PHASE.

This phase has no limits, It can end in 1 month and it may not end till lifetime.

What exactly is this phase?

When a trader covers all the basics, they know how to lower their losses, they know the power of risk management.

And few of them may even develop their edges and systems over time.

But after some time, they feel that they are doing something wrong and there is more to trading than what they know.

THEN COMES THE HOLY GRAIL PART-

Few of them start to Read more books about trading,finding articles about “How to win 100% of the time” and listening to Youtube videos of few big traders who make big in trading.

FEAR - It’s the re-experience of failure in advance.

Many traders face the issue of Not entering in trades because of fear.

A thread on How to pull the trigger when the opportunity knocks.

Lets First start from knowing the cause of this "FEAR" of pulling the trigger.

A traders goes through many phases before becoming Profitable.

The first phase is the " APUN HI BHAGWAN HAI" phase-

When we first begin Trading, we don’t know any concepts, we don’t know about the risks , the dangers.

So we start trading, and like most guys by beginners luck we start making good, we start to calculate how much money we will make in next 1yr, 5 yrs, Greed start to Hop in.

We get introduced to Various instruments, F&O, LEVERAGE.

We take big positions as we don’t have any FEAR cause we haven't seen those bad phases yet.

Now we get the Big blow, account down -50%, or in many cases wiped out.

The first phase ends here.

Now we know How the market can kick our ass, we now know the risk that comes with those big positions.

"THE LEARNING PHASE"-

Now we know that we were just lucky initially and now we have to learn why we get those losses, so we start learning concepts , fundamental, Technicals.

A thread on Trend-lines

// What are trend-lines?

Trend-lines are support and resistance lines which are formed by connecting Important swing points.

The beauty of using them is that We can use them when stock is not Respecting the Horizontal S&R zones, they can indicate us when the trend may change.

// Things To consider while Making trendlines?

• A trendline formed by using 3 Major-Swing points is a potential trendline, But we will also use 2 points to form a trendline, will discuss how, as you read further.

• Trendline can be formed by two ways-

1. Wicks-

In this method we only connect the wicks to make a trendline, this is a precise way of making a trendline.

// Why only connect the wicks?

There are two type of levels - Precise and Less precise (Which we call zones).

So what we are doing is by only connecting the wicks we are making a precise level where we can take trades, either Mean reversion or Breakout trades.

Examples-

Three things which will make a difference in Your trading Results.

A thread-

1. Clarity- When the mind is free from fear and ego

The first step to successful trading is to be clear about everything you do.

BUT, the reality is that most traders don't even know what they are doing.

And because of this-

They don't have any goals.
They don't have any Trading plan
They don't know what is suitable for them
And the list goes, on and on.

If you are among the people as described above, don't worry, There is nothing wrong with you, almost 90% of Traders are like that.

So, what do you have to do to get CLARITY in your Trading-

Find one style that is suitable to your personality and double down on it.

Why?

In this world where we have plethora of information just one click away, most people are distracted and see a Glowy thing every time they go over the social media.

They Find something new every now and then, jumping from one strategy to another, searching for Holy grail.

Why It's Hard To Run Profits And Limit Your Losses-

A thread-

In trading one of the important things we learn is that we should cut our losses short and hold on to the profits.

Most of us plan to implement the same from the next trade.

BUT!

When we take the trade, If the trade goes in profit we panic more then we would have panicked if the trade would have gone wrong.

Strange right, why would someone panic if the trade is going in profit.

New traders may not go through this emotion as they may have not gone through the Fear which a little more experienced (still not profitable) trader goes through.

Let’s name this little experienced trader Rahul.

So, lets say Rahul takes a trade, he buys Reliance at 2000, with SL at 1980.

He is ready to “ FOLLOW THE PLAN” of holding the profit and exit if trade goes wrong.

Now, Reliance goes to 2010, Rahul is happy, panicked, Feared.

Overthinking - The art of creating problems which weren't even there.

Thread on How Over-analysis leads to decision Paralysis-

What is Analysis paralysis?

In simple terms, analysis paralysis is a person's tendency to over-analyze or over-think upon a decision to such an extent that he/she fails to make a choice resulting in a paralyzed state of inaction.

How a retail trader trades-

A trader named Rahul, He know all the basics of markets, He also has made a system which gives signals on nifty, he has also encorporated good Risk management and Position sizing into his system.

One day he gets a signal to buy Nifty at 13500 with stop at 13450, he wanted to take the trade, but he wanted to get sure that the trade he has take should be a winner.

So he says just let me check the RSI if its above this level I will buy , he checks it and it was above his

level, then again he wants to check another indicator named MACD, he wanted to get sure man, Now he do the most intelligent thing to get sure he gets right.

He goes to twitter and ask his twitter Friend Trader knight he ask him that should I buy nifty at 13500,

A thread on Pyramiding-

What is pyramiding?

In pyramiding we add on to a position when it is going in our direction. Its basically opposite of averaging down.

MOMENTUM - Success of a pyramiding trade depend on this ingredient, the more the momentum the better pyramiding.

There are many way to enter and exit in a stock-

1. ALL IN - ALL OUT
2. ALL IN - SCALE OUT
3. SCALE IN - SCALE OUT
4. SCALE IN - ALL OUT ( I use this one)

Why traders use Pyramiding ?

More than anything what pyramiding do is keep your losers small and your winners - Big.

Pyramiding in my view keeps your dd smaller as your losers are very small because you enters with only a fraction of what you would have entered Normally.

BUT, not necessarily it should be more profitable than ALL IN- ALL OUT, Where one enters all at once and sell all at once.

HOW TO DO PYRAMIDING-

There are various methods which are used by traders for pyramiding ,while keeping the basic concept of adding onto the strength.

1. PYRAMIDING AND TRAILING BASED UPON STRUCTURE-

In this method we scale in or pyramid the qty when the stock breaks above

Are we Inherently Risk takers or Risk averse?

A thread-

You might have heard this word “Mental capital”

What does it mean actually ?

In the context of markets, It's the Risk that our mind is able to digest seeing the P&L.

If we breach this ceiling of Risk ,Our mind goes berserk, and we are not able to take rational decisions.

So can we increase this Mental capital level?

Let's dive into my story of how My mental capital levels changed over time, that will answer the question that are we inherently Risk takers or Risk averse.

When I started trading a few years back, with about 3 lakh capital, I was not a greedy person, and I had limited expectations from the markets.

Like every other beginner, First 1.5 years were great, made a lot of money,

which I wasn't even expecting to make, turned that 3 lakh to more than 12+ lakhs in that period.

This was only possible by taking huge leverage, which i didn’t know at that time was a big mistake i was doing.

A THREAD ON SL, TSL AND RE-ENTRIES-

WHERE TO PUT THE SL-

1. NEAREST PIVOT/SWING POINTS-

Normally I use this method for placing sl, In this method we use swing point for placing the SL.

As normally the stock would not try to go below previous swing point if it is to go in our direction.

2. ATR method-

Sometimes the Stock do not have any nearest pivot at time of buy, So we use this method as it gives us a level on basis of current volatility of the stock.

I use 1.5 ATR away sl , say the ATR at point of entry is 30, so I place sl
1.5 X, or 45 rs away from entry

In below example the entry is 120, ATR=5, SL= 1.5X ATR= 7.5 OR 113.

Nearest pivot was too far away, that’s why this method is used in these cases.

4. Anchor candles-

Anchor bars are those which have extreme Volume, gaps or wide Ranges.

Here, we place our sl below those candles which has the above characteristics.

Trailing Stop loss.

The most underrated yet most important tool in trading.

THE TRADER'S EDGE: THINKING IN PROBABILITIES

Casinos make consistent profits day after day and year after year, doing something random

At the same time, most traders believe that the outcome of the market's behavior is not random,yet can't produce consistent profits

Thread 🧵

What casino owners ,professional traders know is that probable outcomes can also produce consistent results if you " Have an edge" and trade on a large enough sample size.

The best traders treat trading like a numbers game.

1. To illustrate, let's look at the game of blackjack-

In blackjack, the casinos have approximately a 4.5-percent edge over the player.

This means that casinos will make profit over a large enough sample size, even after several winning streaks and big profits of many players.

At the end of the day, week, month, or year, the casino always ends up with approximately 4.5 percent of the total amount wagered.

That 4.5 percent might not sound like a lot, but let's put it in perspective.

Suppose a total of $100 million dollars is wagered collectively at all of a casino's blackjack tables over the course of a year. The casino will net $4.5 million.

What casino owners and pro traders understand about the nature of probabilities is that each individual hand played

How position sizing can affect your trading performance-

Assuming that you are trading a Trend-following system with Big RR and low win-rate.

For example, assume that you risk one percent per trade on a 100,000 account
and you have 20 straight losses.

That one percent is of your remaining equity and at the end of 20 losses, you would be down to 81,790.60.

Now if you got a 30R winner and you are risking one percent of your balance of 81,790.60, your new equity would be 106,327.9,

You’ve had 20 losses and one winner though you are still up 10Rplus your equity is up by 6.3R percent.

Now, let’s say you risk five percent per trade on your balance. At the end of 20 straight losses, you would be down to 35,772.89 or down 64 percent.

If you risk five percent on this amount and get a 30R winner, you would be up to 89,621.48. You are up 10R, but because of your position sizing, your equity is still down over 10 percent.

#positionsizing
#Trading
#nifty50

This is why position sizing is the most important factor in trading if you get it right and you have an edge, you will do good.

Thanks for reading till here.
@AnandableAnand @jitendrajain @quatltd @sohamtweet

Life is a continuous journey of going through peaks and troughs of Happiness and struggle.

We can only see the Happy part of other lives, but ignore what they might have gone through to achieve that.

But let me tell you, even if someone is at ease right now, doesn't mean that he will continue to be at ease for their whole life.

The struggle will come again and we will have to go through it ,whatever we do, whoever we are , we have to cross that river of pain.

Even,In trading there are times when nothing works out, you go through long time and money draw-downs.

Even if you think you are a master, you have to go through it.

If you are struggling right now, don't lose hope as the tables will turn.

But remember to work as hard as you can and do as much good work as you can in your ease or Joyful time of life, because the tables will turn again.

Thank you for reading.

Trader knight.

A thread on Risk and Returns

Trader X -

Net-worth - 5 Cr
Trading capital - 25 lakh

Trader Y -

Net-worth - 30 lakh
Trading capital - 25 lakh

Trader X take risk of 2% per trade and he makes about 30-40 % Return on trading capital per month,

Whereas Trader Y only risk 0.25% per trade and he makes about 3-4 % on Trading capital per month.

Trader Y saw how much trader X is making with the same amount of capital that he has.

He is frustrated with his mediocre results as compared to Trader X, though he don’t know the fact that Trader X Is only trading with 5 % of his total net worth.

Trader X has much more risk taking ability in Rupee terms as compared to the Trader Y because he has higher net-worth.

Trader X will not have much impact when he goes into deep Drawdowns , 40-50% where as if the Trader Y goes below 15% DD , it will have deep psychological impact on him.

Even if the Trader X makes 100% return on his trading capital , turns 25 lakh into 50 lakhs ,

"A trend once established, is more likely to continue than it is to reverse"

A thread on Trend (Market structure)-

A trend is a path of least resistance, basically the side where the smart money is betting upon.

And our work is to be on their side, to make some money.

Why do we use trend?

In an uptrend, the sum of the rallies will always be greater than the sum of the declines.

In a downtrend, the sum of the declines will always be greater than the sum of the rallies.

How to Find the trend?

There are 3 methods which one can use-

1. Swing points method.
2. Moving averages.
3. Trend lines, channels.

1. Trend identification by using swing points-

• UPTREND in simple words - Higher highs, higher lows

• DOWNTREND in simple words - lower lows, lower highs.

• Flat trend - The price stays in a range

Like humans , stocks too have different nature and if you are trading every stock the same way then this thread may be for you.

A thread on Nature of stocks and how it can help you to improve your trading results.

First start with what is the nature of stocks ?

I broadly categorize stocks in two categories-

1. The momentum stocks-

These are the stocks where most of the moves are swift in nature, or we can say that the pullbacks in a trend are smaller.

2. The AKBC stocks-

These are the stocks where most of the trending moves comes with deep pullbacks.

Examples-

So the purpose of categorizing these stocks, is that we Trade those stocks/instruments which are more suited to our style.

Say if you are a mean reversion player and you are trading in the momentum stocks category then you are more bound to lose over large number of trades.

"90% of the traders lose money, But do they lose it all the time?"

Most of them do make money, its just that they give it all back.

Lets analyze why and how a trader makes and loses money
[Thread]:

Below is the equity curve which is most traders dream.

This is equity curve of an average trader:

Most traders do make money, but they give it back to the markets .

Because of trading errors.

What are trading errors?

Trading errors are those errors which happen because of wrong Position sizing, Leverage , etc.

I am not making this up, check your P&L, 90 % of your losses would have come from less then 10% trades.

Most of these happen because of No knowledge, No plan, bad position sizing .

Now, we know what's the problem, lets talk about the solution.

1. Learn the Basics first-

If you don’t get the basics clear then how can you make money?

Learn How to use Support and resistances
Learn How to use trend lines
Learn about trend, it will solve 90% of your problem