Accountability Measure Required!

Hi everyone, this is my attempt at getting accountable to myself by recording my trading behaviour out in the open.

Just like a singer recording their own voice, picking up on mistakes and improving as a result, so too should this journal highlight flaws to learn from and successes to celebrate.

In addition to this, I am hopeful that this journal can assist others who experience similar highs and lows to myself, and let them know that they are not alone in feeling the frustration of this calling.

But a little about myself first and why I have started this thread.

I am 40 years old and have been trading for around 6 years. I did several expensive courses initially and thought I was immediately ready to get stuck into it with live $$$; my first mistake. Nobody is ever ready to trade live until they have made some mistakes and they have their emotions under complete control.

Unfortunately the courses I took didn't make trading psychology a priority in their teachings - it really needs to be ones number one goal to learn to trade without emotion and to strictly follow a set of rules.

I have learned all of this the hard way, like so many of us. But it had to be that way; I wasn't prepared to let anyone's advice stand in the way of me and profits. Stubborness and pride stopped me from earning very early on.

Greed and fear were big factors also; greed stopped me taking profits off the table when I should have. Fear saw me taking taking profits too early. Pride had me watching winning trades turn into losing ones, and then watching them continue to lose until I had wiped out my account.

One of the best lessons I have learned is to act immediately without emotion when something happens in the market that goes against my current mindset; i.e. if I am currently in a winning position, but the market starts behaving contradictory to my initial assessment, I will not stubbornly refuse to act on that new information. These days I am able to make quick decisions and get out of a trade if the market is giving me new information that contradicts my initial thoughts.

Anyway, I have lost countless thousands of dollars, much to my own and my wife's dismay. But I am still firmly of the mindset that the money I have used is like the investment I would expect to pay for a university course on trading psychology. It has taken me roughly the same amount of time as a degree might, and cost a similar amount also. So if I think of things in these terms I can remain positive and focussed on continuing to learn, rather than become depressed and regretful.

I have tried pretty much every indicator alive, in various combinations. I have had my charts full of colourful spaghetti lines, and had so many indicators on my charts that sure enough several of them were contradictory, giving me mixed signals. I have traded the 1M TF and then after quickly checking the 5M TF have changed my thoughts on market direction, closed my deal and gone the other way, only to regret my decision moments later.

I have written and rewritten my "ultimate" trading system, even posted one on here, only to discard it after a short while to chase something new.

You name it, I have done it, and not just once.

But with every mistake comes experience, knowledge and confidence. And I am of the belief that I will only fail once I decide to stop trying.

But enough of this initial ramble; let's get started on my setup, and get trading!

I have recently opened a live account with a "no deposit bonus" of $50.

It is my intention to build this up to the point where I can make regular small withdrawals to supplement my normal "job" income.

I like to trade almost naked, i.e. with almost no indicators of any kind.

I have MT4 running totally naked (this is the platform I have my $50 in). But I also have Oanda FX Trade running alongside, with several MA's showing.

MY SETUP:

MT4 - ALMOST NAKED - just price and THV4 Cloud (developed by Miss Pips) - on 1M TF.

OANDA FX Trade - 21 and 55 period EMA's as well as a 200EMA on a 30 second chart.

WHY?

MArkets are fractal in nature, and regardless of the TF, you will notice the same price patterns forming again and again.

Try downloading Oanda FX Trade and opening a 5 second chart with your fave indicators. You will see that this is true. The benefit of this is that you can see in real time how price patterns form, and the relevant price action that goes into these patterns. This is not something you can do on a 1H or 4H chart!

On MT4 I wait for a signal from the THV4 Cloud indicator, i.e. when BOTH bars show either green or red (these bars represent the 5M and the 15M charts' sentiment).

I then check my Oanda FX Trade 30 second for the ENTRY.

When the 21EMA crosses over the 55 EMA and price is above / below the 200EMA I enter long / short.

I may then scalp and close again on another 21/55EMA cross, or if I am feeling like monitoring the trade further, I can continue in the trade if the 55EMA is still above / below the 200EMA.

E.g - 1M MT4 candle has closed and the THV4 Cloud shows BOTH bars as green in colour, and there has been a 21/55EMA cross to the North (Oanda). I wait for price and the EMA's to cross above the 200EMA on Oanda and then I enter.

(Opposite for short trades).

That's it. Simple really...it requires vigilance and patience in waiting for a 15M candle setup, and not just blindly trading for the sake of being in the market. And it rewards this patience by offering both a decent scalp or a larger return based on how I feel price action is going.

Anyway, that's it for now: I will wait for my next setup and post here when ready to enter a trade.

Happy pips to all!

Here is my dual screen setup:

MT4 1M chart showed THV4 Cloud indi BOTH BARS turned RED at the close of the candle, and there was a 21/55EMA cross where price crossed below the 200 EMA at the same time.

SOLD AT 1.3817.

Closed trade at 1.3776 after price finally crossed the 200EMA on Oanda and the MT4 THV4 Cloud indicator finally showed 2 green bars together.

A good start to proceedings!

BOUGHT AT 1.3782 due to price and 21/55EMA's being above the 200EMA and THV4 Cloud showing 2 green bars together.

Another condition of trade entry that helps keep me disciplined is to NOT TRADE within 30 minutes of having just completed a trade.

This is REGARDLESS OF SETUPS, and ensures I have ample time to cool off and not "revenge trade" after a loss.

This may well be the single most effective condition I have in my arsenal, as revenge trading was a HUGE problem for me, as well as the feeling that I always needed to be in the market.

I like to keep a hard stop loss of 10 pips (+ spread).

I do NOT have a TP in place, just the SL.

This ensures that I am safe, and I can remain focussed purely on the signal to get out if the trade runs into positive territory.

Crazy? Perhaps - but this works for me. I like to let profits run if I get the chance, and not limit myself to a certain number of pips profit.

Here is my template file and the THV4 Cloud (thanks to Miss Pips for this one).