Strategies · Lesson 65 of 76

Strategy: Swing Trading From the Daily

A swing trade is held for days or weeks. The stop is wider, so the position is smaller, and the whole method fits around a job.

HomeLearnStrategy: Swing Trading From the Daily

The setup

On the daily chart: a clear trend by structure, and a pullback into a level — a prior swing, a moving average people watch, or the half-to-two-thirds band of the last leg. One decision a day, taken at the same time each evening, on two or three pairs.

Entry and stop

Wait for a daily candle to close back in the direction of the trend at your level, then enter. The stop goes beyond the swing the level belongs to, which on a daily chart is often fifty to a hundred and fifty pips. That is not a big risk — it is a big distance, and the position size shrinks to match it. Work the size out from the stop every time; a lot size carried over from a fifteen-minute chart is the mistake this style punishes.

Target, and where the trade ends

The prior high or low of the structure, or the next daily level. Two to one or better is normal here, which is the compensation for waiting. The idea is finished when a daily candle closes back through your level — not when an hourly candle frightens you at lunchtime.

What holding costs

Swap is charged or paid every night, and over three weeks it is a real number rather than a rounding error — check it on your pair before you assume it is negligible. Positions held over a weekend can gap past a stop. Both of those are arguments for size, not for avoiding the style.

Why this suits somebody with a job

The chart is checked once a day, after the close, when nothing needs to be decided in a hurry. There are few trades, each with a reason that survived a night’s sleep, and the hours that produce most bad trades — the boredom hours in the middle of a session — are not part of the method at all.

What it costs you

Patience, and a lot of weeks with nothing in them. A pullback into a level on a trending daily chart is not a weekly event on two pairs. If a week with no trades feels like a wasted week, this style will turn into a worse version of a shorter one.

In short

TimeframeDaily, checked once a day
SetupTrend by structure, pullback into a level
EntryA daily close back with the trend
StopBeyond the swing — often 50 to 150 pips
TargetThe prior structure high or low, 2:1 or better
CostsSwap every night, and weekend gaps

Common questions

Is a hundred-pip stop too big?

The distance is not the risk. The risk is the distance times the size, and the size is what you change. A hundred-pip stop at the correct size risks exactly what a ten-pip stop does.

Should I hold over the weekend?

It is a size decision. Gaps happen and a stop does not protect against them, so either be small enough that a gap is survivable or be flat by Friday.

How many pairs should I watch?

Two or three, and check whether they are the same trade — three dollar pairs pointing the same way is one position with three tickets.

Trading forex and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk. Most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is financial advice or a recommendation to trade.

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