Having said that, the biggest 'hole' in the PAST strategy is that although it places risk as the most important concept, it does brush over position sizing, a core variable in risk, as a 'personal' issue. Although I agree that we all have different risk appetite, I'd love to see Nigel delve a bit deeper into the concept of risk and hence position sizing.
I will keep that in mind GRS and will go into that topic in greater detail in future posts, no worries.
But there is a very clear and deliberate reason why I am very careful not to get into specifying lot sizes, strike rates and so on. It is my opinion that trading can NEVER be prescriptive, ever. Even with totally mechanical strategies, because no trading can ever be initiated, maintained, and concluded without human intervention somewhere along the line. Because of that indispensible human element, results will always, always, differ.
I could very easily do here what other people do - specify a lot size, a strike rate you should achieve, the size of the average winner you should expect, and the size of the average loser you should expect - say there you go, that's the PAST Strategy, go and knock yourself out.
Would that improve anyone's trading here one bit? Absolutely not, I guarantee you that. My statistics, or anyone else's statistics, will become a distraction, people will try to imitate them, replicate them, target them. Which, given that we are all different in personality, is just a completely futile and frustrating exercise.
What is far more important is that readers think about these topics in relation to their
own trading and their
own personalities. Concentrate on your own statistics, where your own pressure points are and what triggers them.
The last thing I want in this forum is for a discussion of a topic as diverse as individual results to take hold, and in doing so distracting people from thinking about how they can improve their own results by implementing their own style of managing risk and stretching reward. None of us should be trying to copy anyone else in here, we should all be concentrating on developing our own strengths and abilities.
I hope this goes some way towards addressing your question! Good luck with your trading
Nigel