Everyone always says that.

"Define a clear entry point, a clear TP, a clear SL, a clear % to invest each time!"

But have you ever seen an example, or actual numbers from anyone?

Me either.

Because they don't have examples or numbers.

"Oh, I can't do that because your situation is different!"

"Use technical analysis!"

"Follow me to find out more!"

So here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna show you how I approach trading ETH.

Yes, your situation may be different. Yes, I suck at trading. Yes, it might be a bad example.

But at least you'll have a workable example of how I think, along with numbers, so you have a proper starting point.

[Usual disclaimer goes here about this not being financial advice, blah blah, you know the drill.]

The Numbers

Right now, ETH is at about $1,873 (via preev.com).

So let's check Barchart for resistance and support.

For this post, we're buying and setting a TP/SL, rather than looking at an existing holding.

The market's been moving pretty much sideways. That makes me think that it'll probably continue like this for a little while - perhaps a horrifically bad assumption, but I don't know shit because I don't do TA.

The first support is around $1,854. 

Given my assumption of sideways movement, I'd set a limit buy somewhere between $1,855 and $1,860.

But the profit matters, so let's look at that.

First resistance is around $1,888. Let's round that down to $1,885.

That's a $25 to $30 difference from the proposed limit buy point - more than my 1% requirement.

And it's not too big a climb. It's inside the current support/resistance levels, it's a tiny move, it could easily happen quite quickly.

So I'd put my buy at $1,860 and set the TP to $1,885.

I don't use SL (BTC and ETH always go back up) but generally the best idea is a 2:1 or 3:1 risk-to-reward ratio, so on a $25 different, you'd set SL at $1,847.50 (2:1) or $1851.66 (3:1).

And that's it.

How Much To Put In?

Pretty much every article I've seen on this subject says "Never put in more than 1% or 2% of your total investment."

They're obviously writing for people with money and time to spare.

2% of the $10 it took you 6 months to earn from faucets is... $0.20.

You can't even place an order that small.

Me? I chuck about half in. Sometimes a third. This is my "up" trade.

The rest I keep for a "down" trade, in case the market drops significantly and I need to start from a lower baseline.

SL Variations

The other thing that I've never talked about because I don't use it, is SL variants.

There's Stop Loss, Stop Limit, and Trailing Stop - not all of which are available on all exchanges.

In my example, Stop Loss sells the ETH when the price dips below the SL level. It sells at market price, so it might actually be a bit lower. The sale is guaranteed, but the price isn't.

Stop Limit puts in a limit order at the SL price when the market price dips below the SL level.

If you set your SL at $1,847.50 (the 2:1 ratio from my example) and the market price goes under that, the Stop Limit creates a limit sell order for the ETH at $1,847.50. The price is guaranteed, but the sale isn't.

A Trailing Stop does a clever thing where you set the amount below your buy price for the SL - either an amount or a percentage - and a period of time to do the Stop. If the price drops below that, it sells. But if the price rises, the Stop level follows it up.

So let's say we bought at $1,860 and set a $12 Trailing Stop for a day. If the market suddenly dips to $1,847 within that period, the Stop kicks in and sells our ETH. But if the price goes up to $1,875, the Stop follows it. The price would have to drop back to $1,863 (the new price minus our $12 Trailing Stop setting) or lower for the Stop to trigger (still within the one-day period).

I don't use SL, but that's clever.

Do you have a defined strategy? Was this at all helpful? I'd love to hear from you!