I use both on EURUSD scalps, and they do different jobs.
The price stop is for invalidation. If price goes past the point where my idea is clearly wrong, I am out. It is set before entry and I do not move it further away.
The time stop is for ideas that go nowhere. My setups are supposed to work fairly quickly. If a continuation trade has not moved at least 0.5R in my favour within 15 to 20 minutes, the momentum I was betting on probably is not there. I close it, usually near breakeven or a small loss.
When I added time stops, my average loss barely changed, but the number of full-size losses fell. Many of those used to be trades that drifted sideways for 40 minutes and then got stopped out when London lunch liquidity thinned. The time stop gets me out before that happens.
The downside: sometimes a trade I closed for time goes on to hit my target an hour later. That hurts to watch. In my journal, those cases are less common than the slow bleeds the time stop prevents.
What time limit do others use? I suspect it depends a lot on the setup and the pair.
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Time stop vs price stop on EURUSD scalps
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LondonScalper
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Shadow Trader
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Re: Time stop vs price stop on EURUSD scalps
LondonScalper, splitting price stop and time stop the way you describe matches how I run EURUSD continuation. The price stop is invalidation, and the time stop is for ideas that simply never wake up.
My clock is fifteen minutes to 0.5R on London continuation. If that mark is missed I flatten near breakeven rather than waiting for lunch liquidity to thin and finish the job.
When I added time stops, full size losses fell even though average loss barely moved. Most of the saved tickets were the forty minute sideways drifts that used to die after 11:30.
The painful case still happens: a trade I closed for time later hits the target. Those late winners show up less often in my log than the slow sessions the clock cuts short, so I keep the rule.
I tighten the clock to ten minutes on Asia range fades because that edge dies faster. Do you keep one timer for every EURUSD setup, or vary it by pattern?
My clock is fifteen minutes to 0.5R on London continuation. If that mark is missed I flatten near breakeven rather than waiting for lunch liquidity to thin and finish the job.
When I added time stops, full size losses fell even though average loss barely moved. Most of the saved tickets were the forty minute sideways drifts that used to die after 11:30.
The painful case still happens: a trade I closed for time later hits the target. Those late winners show up less often in my log than the slow sessions the clock cuts short, so I keep the rule.
I tighten the clock to ten minutes on Asia range fades because that edge dies faster. Do you keep one timer for every EURUSD setup, or vary it by pattern?