It's been a while since I posted anything of substance here, so as the year winds down, this is a good time to review. Over the next few weeks I'll post some findings and thoughts about what I've done since last March. (FYI -- the benefit of posting here is to document what I am doing in a public forum for feedback.)
I think the best way to describe what I do is as follows:
1. I trade the market structure of the 4H chart. This gives me good reasons to trade with or against the prevailing trend.
2. Analysis and indicators from the 1H chart act as gate keeper for trades.
3. I enter and exit trades on the 10M chart.
All my TA is designed to tell me what the market has done in the past, has been doing, and what the market will likely do in the next day or so. I am charting the following pairs every day to identify the best trading opportunities: GBP/$, Eur/$, AUD/$, NZD/$, $/CHF, $/Yen, Eur/Yen, GBP/Yen, Eur/AUD, CHF/Yen, AUD/Yen, CAD/Yen. Why so many pairs? Most pairs are not worth trading every day, but nearly every day, at least one of these will provide opportunities to make pips. The 4H chart work is done 2-3 time per week, usually when the market is at rest. Every day I re-work my 1H and 10M chart analysis. I am looking for areas where bankers see good risk/reward opportunities (the 4H view), and then trade with them using my 10M chart (given the limits of retail trading). This approach gives me the opportunity to take/hold positions and add to them when the bankers are trending, and to quickly see when they are retrenching or reversing (and trading those situations, too). I use stops on all trades, and rarely see a stop of greater than 23 pips. I rarely "rescue" trades, opting to re-think entries or look for counter trend opportunities.
Since beginning this approach, my weekly trading results have improved from 285-315 range, to 885-920 range. All the gain is from holding trades to 4H analysis rather than 1H or 10M analysis, which means I stay in trades for longer periods of time and am adding to winning positions as the 4H opportunities present themselves on the 1H/10M chart (through retracements to .50 fib levels, etc). Before anyone on FF starts asking, I have no intentions of "proving" these numbers, and if asked, the response will be to go screw yourself. Having said that, I will not respond to anyone asking for more data or information other than what I will post here over the next few days. Nothing is for sale here, and I repeat, nothing is for sale here. What I am trying to show, in my clumsy way, is that you can be successful at forex trading if you work hard and figure out how to make the tools work for you (when someone on FF tells you that a tool does not work, that means they have not figured out how to properly deploy that tool to their trading, which usually means you are dealing with a lazy goof who has no business dispensing advice).
Finally, this thread is not meant to show that I am some kind of big shot or a master trader, becasue I am neither of these. I still have lots to learn. The people in my trading group are much better traders, believe me! So, more posts to come, and as the holiday season progresses, hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
I think the best way to describe what I do is as follows:
1. I trade the market structure of the 4H chart. This gives me good reasons to trade with or against the prevailing trend.
2. Analysis and indicators from the 1H chart act as gate keeper for trades.
3. I enter and exit trades on the 10M chart.
All my TA is designed to tell me what the market has done in the past, has been doing, and what the market will likely do in the next day or so. I am charting the following pairs every day to identify the best trading opportunities: GBP/$, Eur/$, AUD/$, NZD/$, $/CHF, $/Yen, Eur/Yen, GBP/Yen, Eur/AUD, CHF/Yen, AUD/Yen, CAD/Yen. Why so many pairs? Most pairs are not worth trading every day, but nearly every day, at least one of these will provide opportunities to make pips. The 4H chart work is done 2-3 time per week, usually when the market is at rest. Every day I re-work my 1H and 10M chart analysis. I am looking for areas where bankers see good risk/reward opportunities (the 4H view), and then trade with them using my 10M chart (given the limits of retail trading). This approach gives me the opportunity to take/hold positions and add to them when the bankers are trending, and to quickly see when they are retrenching or reversing (and trading those situations, too). I use stops on all trades, and rarely see a stop of greater than 23 pips. I rarely "rescue" trades, opting to re-think entries or look for counter trend opportunities.
Since beginning this approach, my weekly trading results have improved from 285-315 range, to 885-920 range. All the gain is from holding trades to 4H analysis rather than 1H or 10M analysis, which means I stay in trades for longer periods of time and am adding to winning positions as the 4H opportunities present themselves on the 1H/10M chart (through retracements to .50 fib levels, etc). Before anyone on FF starts asking, I have no intentions of "proving" these numbers, and if asked, the response will be to go screw yourself. Having said that, I will not respond to anyone asking for more data or information other than what I will post here over the next few days. Nothing is for sale here, and I repeat, nothing is for sale here. What I am trying to show, in my clumsy way, is that you can be successful at forex trading if you work hard and figure out how to make the tools work for you (when someone on FF tells you that a tool does not work, that means they have not figured out how to properly deploy that tool to their trading, which usually means you are dealing with a lazy goof who has no business dispensing advice).
Finally, this thread is not meant to show that I am some kind of big shot or a master trader, becasue I am neither of these. I still have lots to learn. The people in my trading group are much better traders, believe me! So, more posts to come, and as the holiday season progresses, hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!