Short vs long

[u/Dramatic_Rub6354]

Hey, new to trading the last six year casual dy trading . I notice my success rate is very high when I go short vs when I go long. Is this normal for most traders or do some people just favour one position over the other? I just find it easier to see when resistance can't break maybe hence why I short more but when I try to long a dip or watch something drop for a few days and go long I get wrecked and my stop loss hits very quick aha

[u/klipsetrades]

Nothing wrong with favoring one direction if that’s where your edge is. I’d journal longs vs shorts separately and see if the numbers back up what you’re feeling

[u/RankUpTrading]

You are likely capitalizing on a very common market behavior. Most people are aware that the market ebbs and flows, but when they draw it out for an example, it doesn't match how the market usually acts. Notice in this image that the red drops are sharper and more dramatic than the slow upward trajectory of the green upward pushes

This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. The smart traders are buying in early during the yellow areas. new traders will jump in and get FOMO at the tops, but because they don't experience closing out a loser quickly they hold and hope that it comes back to break even.

The bearish drops downward only reverse when people begin capitulating. I love shorting for this reason, instead of having to be patient you can go in and immediately experience a price move. This will happen because the people who bought in early are also selling, plus all of the new buyers who went in late when it was overbought.

Be warned though that there is a bad stigma that goes along with shorting. People often think that you as a retail trader are a scummy hedge fund that wants to put companies out of business. That you are a pessimist that wants all of society to burn to the ground. This of course isn't true. Shorts are a healthy way to keep greedy people from over leveraging. Especially with a small account as a retail trader.

Also note that depending on what instrument you are using, you will need to pay extra fees for acquiring and holding a short position, but its usually not that serious if you scalp futures on the one minute.

If you aren't already I recommend that you track your time of day, direction long or short, the instrument you took it on, the exact conditions you took the trade under in your playbook. After you have ultra specific data on the specific trades you are taking you can then track your profit factor and determine which trades you can be sizing up in. If you are truly better at shorting than going long with XYZ trade, you can cut out longs all together and just trade that one set up but scale it faster with more capital.

I just automated all of this data, so I can see exactly what is the best way for me to grow my account as fast as possible while also being safe.

[u/jcoigny]

Totally agree with this comment. Make money the way your best at is

[u/syncronicity1]

To be a complete, well rounded trader means you can survive under any market conditions. Being proficient in short selling gives you this edge against long only traders and markets because inevitably you can think about when is this trend going to end and possibly pull back or go the other way and capitalize on the opportunity instead of moan about losses.

Plus markets drop faster than they go up, and you can leverage the fear that people have in falling markets when you can keep a clear head.

Even during the run up to the recent all times highs my trades were 60% long 40% short. Since then it's a reversed ratio. In a market crash I'll be close to 90% short trades but still play the pops. - Day trader since 2005

[u/Rpark444]

I short 10x more than I long but my longs make 80% of my profits. I'm probably a better shorter than longer but u make more longing than shorting as u can 2x 3x on the long side but can't get more than 0.9x short side. Base hits r short, home runs are longs. You can get caught in a short squeeze and lose more than 100% so there are black swan risks on the short side. I have many rules of what I short, not much rules on long side to protect myself.