I've traded a semi-martingale system for 3 months and made 50Pips everyday, except the few days I had to give my attention elsewhere and as a result had to pocket fewer pips. I initially structured my positions upon micro-lots, then mini-lots as my confidence began to build. by the time I got busted, my largest trade was 1.3 standard lots.
the system I used was very simple. basically I buy with a stop order plus a 20pips filter when MACD(34,55,34) goes above zero line, and vice versa for sell. my money management scheme goes fibonacci, that is, I trade 1,2,3,5,8,13, with 13 being the largest position I could handle.
before I started trading it, I backtested it manually from 2007.10.7 - 2008.1.1. and the fact that not a single losing day really boosted my confidence. I knew the danger of martingale systems. but I thought that my little twist could somehow avert that. besides, GBPJPY had to go somewhere everyday, and as long as I'm always in the market, I'd always catch the move when it does.
and it did exactly that for 6 months, 3 months backesting period plus 3 months live trading, then one day it didn't move far enough for me to cover losts plus my 50pip daily objective. as a result, I lost all the profit I've accumulated, plus a big chunk of my original account.
looking back at that period, I couldn't help but be rueful that it was over. I traded the system because of the easiness about it - I didn't have to monitor the market, all I had to do was to wait for my phone to ring and then place the orders with proper position size calculated by losses and profit objectives. and then, profit would come, day in and day out, though small at first, grew larger as I increased the base-size of my trades. I was looking at assured prosperity, and the belief was reinforced every day, how much better could it be? I ignored all the danger signs, and dreamed about becoming rich, slowly but surely...
I only woke up when the roof fell. I didn't know what to do, in the confusion I threw my bed into the fire as well, along with some other furnitures. I stopped when I began to tire down the walls, as I realised if I did that, I'd have nothing left to rebuild. I let go of the mindless struggle and admitted defeat.
thank God I had enough sense to stop at that. otherwise I'd never be able to gather enough courage to come back to trading. let this tale be a warning to the martingalers, who still dream of never having to swallow a loss.
I'm back to sensible trading now.
the system I used was very simple. basically I buy with a stop order plus a 20pips filter when MACD(34,55,34) goes above zero line, and vice versa for sell. my money management scheme goes fibonacci, that is, I trade 1,2,3,5,8,13, with 13 being the largest position I could handle.
before I started trading it, I backtested it manually from 2007.10.7 - 2008.1.1. and the fact that not a single losing day really boosted my confidence. I knew the danger of martingale systems. but I thought that my little twist could somehow avert that. besides, GBPJPY had to go somewhere everyday, and as long as I'm always in the market, I'd always catch the move when it does.
and it did exactly that for 6 months, 3 months backesting period plus 3 months live trading, then one day it didn't move far enough for me to cover losts plus my 50pip daily objective. as a result, I lost all the profit I've accumulated, plus a big chunk of my original account.
looking back at that period, I couldn't help but be rueful that it was over. I traded the system because of the easiness about it - I didn't have to monitor the market, all I had to do was to wait for my phone to ring and then place the orders with proper position size calculated by losses and profit objectives. and then, profit would come, day in and day out, though small at first, grew larger as I increased the base-size of my trades. I was looking at assured prosperity, and the belief was reinforced every day, how much better could it be? I ignored all the danger signs, and dreamed about becoming rich, slowly but surely...
I only woke up when the roof fell. I didn't know what to do, in the confusion I threw my bed into the fire as well, along with some other furnitures. I stopped when I began to tire down the walls, as I realised if I did that, I'd have nothing left to rebuild. I let go of the mindless struggle and admitted defeat.
thank God I had enough sense to stop at that. otherwise I'd never be able to gather enough courage to come back to trading. let this tale be a warning to the martingalers, who still dream of never having to swallow a loss.
I'm back to sensible trading now.
