My way to highway

G'day PF

WOW, what an awesome thread! Just read all 15 pages and loved your journey so far. Such a refreshing & positive attitude too. Not something we regularly see on FF. Keep up the awesome work!

Just one quick question for you; I noticed what looks like the xADR indicator on some of your screen shots. I'm assuming therefore that the ADR plays a role in your strategy?

Cheers

hi BSFilter,

thank you for reading the whole thread, now you are part of a tiny group who had
i would like to believe that this journal at least a little different than most others here. agree, probably not for everyone, but i think those who already passed some basic newbie level more appreciate the thread.

xADR i dont have on any current charts, but was on some in the past. generally not an integral part per se. since i am trading for a while, with most pairs already familiar with the average daily moves, without needing an indi to tell me. it is an easy way to observe, but that particular one i had also have tendency to slow down MT4, probably the coding of it.
what to take from it, that i tend to trade counter, reversals mostly. and usually around the daily range's edges, it is better chance to find some, even if temporarily. ( same goes obvious swing points, etc).

Thanks for the reply mate, appreciate your thoughts.

I also noticed in the last 30 mins or so you've gone from a daily return of -2.5% to +0.6% - nice recovery!!

GJ caught me a little, and left myself to be shaken out early for that reason.
not threatening the -10% equity SL, but prefer with less action to make the money.
however, in the moment, today seems like a good day.
both EN and GJ may remain the play of the day, in the moment back to EN.
tonight update will have the final score

busy Thursday...
busy_quiet_busy....based on this sequence Friday should be quiet? will see.

so, today:
the main there was NZD, traded on EurNzd.
crazy range, about 550 pips?
total 29 entries i made, 20 was on EurNzd.
2 times it caught me, one pretty badly, to about -2.3-2.5% DD running.
the rest was GbpJpy and EurUsd. GJ was also some fight.
some silly closes, that slipped on copy account while made OK profit on master, but overall a very satisfactory day in the end, even though with negative pips.
the result is :+1.23%
one of the stronger days recently.

happy trading!

here it is officially Saturday already....weekend! YAY!

made it!
little hectic.
today CAD was all, actually not, there was a small GJ short, then all CAD from the news....
all started good, then ended in 2 hours intense trading of CAD.
that beast didnt want to cooperate much, some point again down -2% working drawdown...and ended up finishing another day with -5 pips, in the negative.
but as i was telling my online friend today, peaple who measure trading in pips are mistaken.
this can be measured in % gains, or $ gained.
so, here is the measurement of the master account ( the others were not faring perfect on copy once again, well, today my net to blame).

today gain: +0.82%
weekly gain: +2.9%

considering that Monday i was still on vacation, and Wednesday was virtually nothing to trade my taste, it is extremely strong result.
with next week being the last, and the month coming around very nicely, i am toying with the idea to lower the risk a little.
not an easy decision to make.
actually as long as the DD% not reach the pre-set equity SL, it is not greed, right?
and having a bit more adventurous days but higher results thus not greed.
then maybe should go with the flow, and use this hot streak to have a chance to make a 7-8-or 10% month even, and not limit down the trading.
on the other hand, it isnt a toy account size that is trading, not to mention OPM. losing half the profit would mean giving back some serious money, and for the same reason it is ever as important to stay well clear from trade situations that can lead to that full equity SL.
mentioning OPM: some think maybe they would like little lower positions, cos being greedy they sized up risk, but their leverage cant take positions once in a while i open without anywhere my margin call.
others are asking to raise their risk, greedy ones.
basicly, my take that once one gained enough profits on current funds to cover his -10% equity SL, if and when happens, we may talk about it, before not.
funny, that some i have to talk out about their own greed, even if that actual money out of my pocket. but investors can be blind to few things, and if i have some respect for myself, i have to help them out.
cant explain enough for some that this isnt risk free, or generally low risk. ( of course depend what low risk for some, i know here guys who think it is ok to have 50% DD)...
another favorite topic to explain that losing day do happen, and just because i have few in the past, it not automatically mean i wont have any for a long time, or wont have 2-5 in a month, etc.
actually one of my fear that an investor to start out and soon experience a full equity SL...yes, -10% isnt much, and possible unless the unlike even on the very first day, some gains should be there too...but still, would look back.
the longer the track record gets, the more it start to feel that one has a reputation to live up to.

today i read an article about a Michelin 3* chef in France who wants to give back his stars. not changing concept or anything, but he said, that it is just to much pressure. i am not there yet, but i think there is a similar feel to it when managing OPM. that is, if trying to do it responsibly.

happy weekend!

Tuesday.
Yesterday there was no trading.
Today started out the same...

slow day. then things spiraled into a craziness.
so, normal start, 3-4 little scalps, 0.1% gains. all good.
the first problem was the 2 short trades i took on US30 (dow30)...both was profit, only that the first not get copied at all but one account, the second get to all but 1 account ( my 2x risk one )
the client account what got both got some imaginary price that added up to 46 cents profit ( master, same size 27$/27 points). and on my poor 2x risk, a lost chance to have a nice profit...
then came the EurNzd trade...had before, but this breakout went a little further.
the drawdown was about capped, 2.5%ish, and as stalled i started to pile a bit in larger. still enough free margin, about 800%, figured it is fine, and it was. decided not to let myself be shaken too early neither. almost happened.
on the master account, all was good.
on the follower accounts, it turned out that those big lots must pick up all liquidity and ended up both in and out with 1.5-1.5 pips slippage on the biggest accounts.
yep. some follower account is big, and scaled at high risk, buys like 20 lot a clip. with all added up and guess EN didnt have 40 lot instant liquidity available....even though executed between numerous brokers.
so, that funny thing happened ( though rather the want to cry funny) that master gained about 0.5% on this affair with EN, but the biggest follower accounts lost 100s...and virtually ended flat or moderate red, while all the smaller accounts were up healthy.
my own master vs 2x risk a prime example, the very fist time the mater made less $!!! never happened before, cos it has more equity and higher risk = more profit naturally. well, not today.
closed up with 3 small scalps to get every account back to green, the lest i could do.
so, a mixed day.
the master gained a very nice +0.97%.
the rest not that nice.
profit overall, but on that slippage i lost about 300$ fees...pissing me off.

what next?
apart from Wednesday with finally more high impact news...?

i am thinking to adjust my trading back toward the higher timeframe orientation. that means boring trading, but generally not too different returns, if executed well.
that may mean to reshuffle my accounts a little, create a second master for new trading, lower a little on the following volume ( ever think to live to say this?!) on the scalping, so, my own execution wont have much difference to master, or add back some to master capital and not trade 2x risk?
whirlwind of thoughts, but have time still, next month isnt here, and i wanted to adjust on the copying conditions too a little.
exciting final week of the month

happy trading!

What trade copier are you using PF? Sounds like you might need a new one!

tried some different before.
it isnt a free one i am actually using now, but i found gives better results for my needs.
the problem was really the volume yesterday/or broker.
usually in live the bigger orders or clients treated as preferred, in this case all the smaller got filled at better prices.
usually the end result doesnt come to this different, yesterday did.
the important is, it is another day, all closed some sort of plus in the end of the day, and today will be news heavy, so, maybe a chance to make something!

PS. the stories i mention about managing money more for educational reasons for some who is thinking a similar path down the road, than whining about things.

Wednesday.
Busy. Very.
52 entries in total. Feels like somehow i became a high freq trading robot. A profitfarmer EA.
6.5 hours trading marathon, almost straight, from GBP red news to the Oil inventory.
Some internet issues that mess with the copy locally this time. To be exact mostly my larger account that runs 2x risk.
Shame, as i had a great day overall. Apart from few not too great things.
The total result came to +1.6%. Max working drawdown went maybe as high as 4% for a moment, typical intraday was kept to bellow 2% however.

The master account having a strong month, for sure. The rest is a little deviation, but also having a great month.
Few days remain, and i am getting excited to see where the month will end.
It is not unlikely that may pass the 10% gain line...but it is not a target per se, and i am not in any way trying to force you to do it.

On the number of the trades, while high, there is a reason to it as well. Due the previous execution issues, i am/was experimenting to break up the larger lot entries into couple smaller. That way the fills seems to have less issues with broker and LP. it carries some disadvantage too, namely more clicks to close them, and a little harder to see the overall picture, but did work today great on some larger following accounts, so, maybe to stay.

for the visual types, i include 2 ugly charts...which is actually 1...EurCad, the aftermath of the news.
M5, and M1. total 12 entries.
a good example that sometimes you need to scale out too, and live for another entry. cant just sit, hope and pray for the pips to come to you.
and talking about pips...sure, not all green on this, but hey, when i need to choose, between green $$$ or green pips...guess what i will choose?
how about you guys?
( OK, some days i dont have to choose, and all kind a green happen together, and happy for those days, of course, but important to note they dont come all the time).

happy trading!

I've seen that you add up to a winning position several times which results in some of the entries giving you losses. But somehow I see that working for you. How do you do this adding up to a position? It is really one of the things that I never seem to do right; everytime I try this I end up with one winning position and one losing one taking away my hard earnt profit.

adding or not adding?
there is lots or pro and contra...
and then it is also where to close. close all, or close some, and is that OK to close losses too?
personally, i think part from forum and book knowledge, and part of books, people tend to get carrier away with small details and miss the bigger points.
what the highest priority in trading?
(hint: making money!)
i read and hear a lot of yeah, but ...true, but... but if you ...., etc.

sure, green pips looks good.
high W% looks great.
big PF ( profit factor) number looks great.

yet none that change that the top priority of trading is making money!
some day it comes all easy and clear, and some day you need to get down to fight, dirty, ugly, nasty.

different things work for different people, and one of the great thing in trading that one can go short, the other long, and both be right, maybe even profit ( with different targets of course).
my thing is to fade extremes.
but cant just be spot on right every time on these extremes. sometimes an even more extreme extreme comes up, that doesnt change my view.
so, i scale in. as long as drawdown is under control, and i am in control of the trade, and i know where i want to close all (-10% worst case), i am fine.
because of that measure, it is not all the same a buy and hold and hope trading.

while i like high W%, PF, and green pips....they arent priotity. i dont care to parade around the say i have a 98% win rate ( on demo of course!) or to claim i make 1000 pips each week, guaranteed, breaking up all lots to 0.01lot, so, the more pips i book.
and if the day's PF only 1.3, but i lost 400$ and made 520$...ie. +120$ up, that isnt that bad for me neither.

so, closing losing trades are OK. live for another day, another setup. even if not getting out ahead but breakeven, from something doesnt work, is OK too.
think of support/resistance as a zone, sort of, not a single 1 pips line drawn.
for me works best to commit my lot size not all in one, but parts, leaving me chance for errors and correction.
some day, like today, i am just good, and no errors, and this results small gains. i am just as happy, if not happier.
but have no illusion, i cant be right all the time. however, most entries can be corrected enough to be good entries.
start small, like a scout entry, if works it makes something, if not you still have bullets left.

i think i cant now go into very exact ideas, and very specifics...a journal, and not a system thread. but hope you found some answers, still.

There is nothing so important in trading as equity- not pips, not TA, not PVSRA, not nothing. Just preserving equity and consistent growth. All the rest are just good tools.

Today is slow.
Maybe that is good after 2 very hectic, busy days.
5 small scalp, 20 pips net, +0.15%.
nothing exciting, no real drawdown to talk about, probably 0.2% max, even less...
one day till the weekend.
waiting for it!

The thing is...you are obviously a very competent scalper so why change what works?

Like you I shorted US30 yesterday and scalped a little out and am holding for a larger swing.

As I type, price has retraced to my initial entry level.

If if I were a scalper I’d of gone in bigger with a tighter stop, as it is I go in lighter and trade larger swings.

There are pros and cons whichever route we choose to take...

i am but like a little bird, picking up morsels a time.
but yes it works for now.

Friday and end of the week.
Nothing really in most part of the day, but the end in about one and a half hour i was able to make a nice scalping day.
It was all about Euro today, mostly EurNzd, and some EurUsd entries.
9/9 win, for a net 37 pips, or +0.24%.

the week ended very strong, up +3% on the main/master account. ( unfortunate due the mid week copy issues the rest of the accounts are less up, though all comfortable in the green, of course).
month has 2 more days left, that how far i am to complete a great month. with a little luck, i shall.

( would include some chart, but even on M1 it was too fast, in and out most entries that wouldnt be much to see)

happy weekend!

yesterday ( Monday) havent got the chance to trade.
my truck broke down on the way home, then had a second incident with a tire, that caused me an unscheduled roadside night waiting for the morning to get repaired.
tough luck.
due not sleeping for almost 2 days, Tuesday started out -once at home finally- with sleep, and was sort of expected not to have much to do before the month ends.

turned out i was wrong, luckily.
the day had some good action, first on the high impact CAD news i got some back to back, then on GBP move up too, ended with some action on GJ.
overall 22 entries, cant say a quiet day, tough i was done with trading in 3.5 hours, so, not really a long day neither.
18/22 winners, for a net 48 pips...a total +0.94%.

and with that, also October came to the end.
an active month, nearly 2x more entries in October than September had!
and that reflects in the results too.

the main account gained: +10.83% (those counting pips, it is +581pips net, lol)
what matters most, it was done without a losing day!! something i am very happy for, after both Aug and Sept had 1-1 days in red.

for end of month, 3 pics about the standing.
1. the overall numbers
2. my "favorite" topic, drawdown!!
3. profit histo, + holding time to give some idea about scalping, and explain pic #2 as well. for bonus, some insight into the pairs traded....the top5 this month in order was: GJ, GU, EN, EU, GC ( and clearly shows i am not big on CHF, but scalp some exotics if conditions allow).

happy trading!

Congratulations, 10% a month is quite brutal; particularly with no losing days

well said!
i am not expecting similar feat for November, but will try to keep the max 1 losing day custom of mine!
as for the results, cant commit to any, only that i want to be green, and that i would be delighted if it could come close to October's!