5 years and still no strategy

May i know which trading platform is this please?

Looks like FXCM Trade station/Metascope

Hi CP, I hope you are doing fine... i would really like a chat with you please... i have some discoveries which i would like to show you... as you have removed the option to private message you, i don't know how to send a message to you now... if you have few minutes, please let me know as you can send a message to me...

Oh dear this thread is running strong still LMAO.

I completly agree with you CP,but as it looks like leppozdrav has settings of your indicators and access to tick history. If I remember well you posted two or three pictures on 1 min chart, so he could have around 20 - 50 trades from you and from this reverse engineered could become replica. And I know he is always searching for new knowledge so it is big possibilty he knows a lot about 6 dimensions in trading you are talking about. He once explained me this on attached picture.

But i know that Leppozdrav is very good person who just want to talk about trading and is looking for additional knowledge. He was always very polite with me when i want to talk with him in private talk.

I guess if the OP is still trading then he or she has now been doing it for 10 years. I wonder if he is still trading?
I can say this: IMHO I think he has the strategies but not the psychology and perhaps not a specific enough plan for his strategy. And it sounds like he doesnt or didnt stick to one strategy for long enough to let his edge play out. Did he ever do 25 trades (and do absolutely nothing else in the market until he at least completed these trades) and see how he did? And did he use take profit orders? Did he use the exact same plan for each of those 25 trades? And were his wins much larger than his losses. And did he NEVER EVER overleverage? If he had done all the above, he may have had some interesting results. The above things are things that can make a huge difference for a trader - the difference between winning and losing.

Your post 1095 in 2012 stated you were profitable thanks to the James16 thread. Now you don't rate the guy ! What happened ?

https://www.forexfactory.com/showthr...254552&page=55

Just practice scalping for hours and hours every day. Then blow up the account. Then practice scalping more and blow it up again. Rinse & Repeat. Every time you lose; look for new strategies for higher timeframes(They pretty much all teach the same things and they all work sometimes). You will make an innumerable number of mistakes in that time. The key isn't to have a strategy... it's to incorporate ALL of the strategies and understand what you should be doing. Don't ask "what will make this work and should I do it?". Ask "what will make this NOT work and should I be worried about it?". Pay your dues, learn from the mistakes, and stop making them. Or, at the very least, REFINE YOUR MISTAKES so that they become negligable.

At the end of those 10,000 or so hours(I admit it should take a lot less if you go at it HARD) you'll have enough experience and knowledge to finally have the GOOD JUDGEMENT necessary to be profitable. That's market wisdom for a true market wizard and you'll have no problem making money.

Some people really just aren't very good at figuring out what they're doing wrong. They want someone to tell them how to stop making mistakes; but the information's already there. They don't want to spend the time learning from their mistakes because it can be painful... and pain is the greatest teacher.

Change your approach. https://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=698461

They may know how you spot a trade. But they don't know how you decide which ones not to take... or, especially, how you manage the money between trades.

your approach is that of a gaming freak, it doesn't apply to trading.

as a gamer you develop speed and precision by practicing a lot, but in this field big players are big time "cheaters" who play in God mode with unllimited weapons (capital).

as an analogy.. here's me playing gta

A madman with an assult rifle can defeat a samurai with a katana. ;D

To be more precise, I don't mean to be negative. just saying that we can't expect a fair battle.

rather than anticipating we should try to predict the "next move", with the help of quantitative analysis.


Of course this is my personal opinion...

MAY BE YOU SHOULD TRY COPY TRADING

If you have not figured out what works for you in five years.
, then you should copy successful traders for a small fee. After a while you may figure out why they are successful. If you don't feel like copying individual traders, then you can institutions like oanda. Click on the link below and see how actual trades are stacked on both good and bad sides.

https://www.oanda.com/forex-trading/analysis/

This tells you that at the end of the day, you are still going to need your got feeling to choose in which direction to trade. Common sense will tell you to avoid pairs trading equally or nearly equally in both directions. I would go for only pairs with clear directions and hang tight until I see strong signs of trade reversal. Then if you want you can close the trade or slash your position size as you decide whether or not to change direction.

You learn far more about PA from spending time scalping than you do from any single strategy. Scalping forces you to constantly be aware of what the market is doing and how it's moving; there are subtle nuances to the PA that you can only get from the lower time-frames.

In absolutely no way is speed and precision not helpful for trading; if you know when to act and what to aim for.

I didn't say button-mash and you'll eventually get good.

Strategies, Models and Auction Market Trading


A trading model is a plan of action for the trader. It may be explicit as in a moving average crossover breakout or as intuitive as pattern recognition. An auction market model is the result of a three step strategy development process. These are Market Strategy, Trader Strategy and a synthesis of the two, the Working Strategy.

Market Strategy is determined by the market itself, by the characteristics that define it. It may be a short timeframe market with a lot of action packed into minutes or even seconds, like the indexes. Or, it may be a longer timeframe, more sedate market like the grains. An auction market study of a market reveals that market's behavior, its condition, and hence the strategy one must employ trading it.

Secondly, the trader has characteristics and preferences; timeframe, risk, markets to trade, account size and so forth. These go to make Trader Strategy. Traders control their Trader Strategy, but Market Strategy is what the market offers. Working Strategy is a synthesis of Market Strategy and Trader Strategy. One's plan, or model comes from the Working Strategy.

Market Strategy
Traders want to catch a trend and ride it to congestion. This happens only under the right conditions. The market must cooperate, offering opportunity. The trader must understand the market well enough to know when it is in or approaching a cooperative mode. A market's condition describes for you it's reference points. These are the measuring sticks, each telling something about a particular market feature. Reference points show the phase of the market (balance, trend or transitional), its current risk, its historic risk, its value, the volatility (and how it is changing), volume (and how it is changing), the behavior of the commercial traders (if known) and a number of others. Auction market analysis examines the trading potential of the current market in absolute terms. Reference points are like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle. Combining the parts describes the market. Putting the parts together makes the Market Strategy.

A typical Market Strategy for a market in balance would specify entry points, risk, internal trends, current value and its center, commercial traders behavior, trading range compared to the norm, shape of the price-volume bell curve, recent behavior of the market and any trends in volume and volatility. Market Strategy provides a market-based plan of trade entry, i.e. where the market offers opportunity.

Examining the same market after it has begun to trend alters the focus. Many of the same reference points are still important (commercials (if known), volume, volatility, value and the like). But now congestion governs. Has the trading range become limited? Is the price-volume curve bunching?. Have the commercials capped the trend? Is volatility dropping? Is volume easing? Market Strategy is now the search for clues for a transition to congestion.

Trader Strategy
Trader Strategy is based on the trader's situation and requirements. It may overrule market strategy. For instance, a market may still be showing trend, but if the trader meets a target, an exit will be taken anyway. Or a timeframe may be set (exit no later than 15 minutes before the close). Or a risk limit may be different from that found in the Market Strategy. Trader Strategy adds the imprint of the trader to the overall trading methodology.

Working Strategy
Working Strategy is a combination of Market Strategy and Trader Strategy. Market Strategy undergoes large changes on a daily basis. Trader Strategy is less variable. One picks markets to trade, risks to take, hours to work, etc. That strategy changes when a trader changes (e.g. trade DJ indexes instead of SP's) or broadens the base of trading from one future to several. A Working Strategy is unique to the trader. No one else will have the personal input even if they start with the identical Market Strategy.

Trading Plan/Model
Models arise from the Working Strategy. They are intimately related to the trader. A model is a codification of procedures the trader has found that work. It includes the elements of market analysis in the Market Strategy, the preferences and idiosyncrasies of the trader and the knowledge gained by the trader from actual trading. As in any successful business, a successful trader develops a 'feel'. This is not magic. It is experience. Much of it comes from making mistakes and learning from them. Another part is from observing markets in many conditions and seeing what follows. While intangible, 'feel' is a very real part of developing and trading a model.

The path from Market Strategy to Trader Strategy to Working Strategy and finally to a trading plan/model is the "trading equation". Mathematically it is

Market Strategy + Trader Strategy = Working Strategy ==> Trading Plan/Model.

The trading equation is a strong argument against purchasing a commercially available trading model. Such a model cannot fulfill the trading equation, since it cannot include the trader's strategy. A trader is forced to have a trader strategy because it fits his/her particular situation. Commentators on technical analysis regularly point out that people who purchase models do not follow them. The purchased model is only a part of the equation.

In the Beginning...
Beginners in most professional fields start with a course of instruction. Following the instruction/introduction phase, there is an apprenticeship. A successful apprenticeship leads to "journeyman" status, where the individual becomes a member of the professional community, making a living from his/her efforts. Some few rise higher, becoming masters; teachers, innovators, gurus.

The standards developed by most professions do not exist for traders. There are no auction market schools. There are no organized apprenticeship programs for auction market traders. The beginner, convinced of the potential benefits of trading, is on his own. He/she reads magazines, books and gets ideas from the internet and other traders. Inevitably the search for understanding leads to a perceived need for a "model". There are many models in books, magazines and explained in weekend seminars. Such models address the 'Market Strategy' part of the trading equation and at best provide only a partial answer. Most (all?) of the 'sure fire' models do not work. Unfortunately, the beginner does not realize that "a model that works" is worth it's weight in gold and no one would sell such a valuable commodity.

Technical Analysis: A Bum Steer
The path of least resistance for the beginner is technical analysis. It is offered and discussed widely. Methods for calculating market 'indicators' are prevalent. At best, technical analysis deals only with first part of the 'trading equation', i.e., with the Market Strategy, leading to a "model". Widely used, to little apparent avail, technical analysis plays a prominent role for many in getting started in trading. Learning to calculate a moving average or oscillator is hardly the answer when one does not understand the market.

What Path to Take?
Lacking formal educational facilities, the career path for traders, is not well defined. It is certainly clear that one must understand markets well enough to divine the Market Strategy for that market at that point in time. It is equally clear that one must define one's own strategy, which operates within what the market offers. Only then can a reasonable trading plan be developed. How can one find the market's strategy? And then one's own strategy? And then a plan. One set of steps follow.

Learning to Trade
The Steps:
1) Learn market structure. Learn the foundation principles of markets.
2) Learn to 'read' markets; which ones offer opportunity and at what risk. Application of market principles leads to Market Strategy.
3) Define one's strategy: time frame?, activity level?, maximum risk? reward? This knowledge provides Trader Strategy.
4) Synthesize Market Strategy and Trader Strategy into a Working Strategy. The Working Strategy is the trader's plan of attack.
5) Find the market details, the current 'reference points'. Integrating the current reference points into one's Working Strategy becomes one's trading plan. The strategy now has numbers, a guide to action.

Step 1. Market Principles: Auction Market Theory
Auction market principles are found in Auction Market Theory. Theory provides the framework for analysis--those principles to follow. Theory shows the trader what to look for in a market. Once the market is defined, theory positions one to find a market based strategy. Theory guides the trader in dissecting the market. As a result, a trader gains an understanding of opportunity offered by the market and the risk inherent in that market at that point (say the end of a market day). These variables change with time, often within 24 hours or less.

Step 2. Market Strategy: Applying Auction Market Principles
Market Strategy comes from a market's current condition. Overall trading potential comes from the opportunity /risk ratio (reward-to-risk ratio). Markets can be compared by their reward-to -risk ratios. Those with a currently too low reward-to-risk ratio would not be traded.
Regardless of outlook, the auction market trader has information that illuminates the market, aiding in action decisions. Still, the trader must keep in mind that there are only two goals: get into a trend early, exit when the trend begins congesting.

The market will tell you it's condition, volume path, volatility path, commercial behavior, congestion, member's intentions, tradability, etc.

Step 3. Trader Strategy: Investment, Risk Aversion, Timeframe
Trader Strategy reflects the needs of the trader. It must fit within the guidelines set by the Market Strategy. If the market is in balance, one path is followed, if not, another. If the overall reward-to-risk ratio is poor, the market is rejected. Exactly how trades are made depends on the trader's outlook--day trader, long time-frame trader or anything in between. Included are the trader's risk preferences, market preferences, times to trade and any other variable unique to the individual.

Some Restrictions on Trader Strategy
Size of account limits futures traded and time held.
Number of contracts in the entry trade are limited.
Extreme volatility equates to large risk: do you want this?
Holding overnight carries longer term risk: do you want this?
Active day trading requires constant attention: do you want this?
Information on Market Strategy is factored in.

Step 4. The Working Strategy
With Market Strategy and Trader Strategy determined, a Working Strategy comes from synthesizing the two. Worked out are risk parameters and limits, state of the market, timing of trades, exit strategy, etc. This is your contingency plan for a varied set of possibilities.

Step 5. Trading Your Plan: Reference Points
A trader builds trading decisions within the conditions set by the market and his/her Trader Strategy. It is a 'model' in the sense that the trader has a plan of action, but not the sort of exact model a beginner has in mind.

The trader takes what the market offers (Market Strategy) and works within that framework. The basic trading plan is simplicity personified: "get on a trend early and exit when it is over". Execution of the basic plan, using the information in the Working Strategy, is the trading model.

Donald L. Jones
Copyright CISCO, May 11, 2002, all rights reserved

whoever is without strategy after 5 years means 5 more years will go and will be without strategy,LOL.stop trying new toys and be consistent with your strategy,tweak a little and then have trust on it,Good luck!

tweak what a little ? if your strategy is edgeless, drop it quick and fast cause no amount of tweaking will help.

There's a Holy Grail.

But it's not in the method that you use.

Figure it out...but noobs cannot

Oh well

that's true and this is the main reason why I still don't have a strategy nothing works for me - I fail even in trend trading so...

No matter dear its okey... Just make sure you're average profit and loser be the same...
IMHO....