Journey to consistency

I need to get it right the first time which means I should practice more patience and wait for that trigger candle. These mistimed entries to the wrong direction all happened because I was impatient and went in prior the trigger candle.

And DAX has been really volatile today don't like it when the candles are this huge because the probability losing a bet is I think much higher when the picture is somewhat uncertain and chaotic.

I pay a visit to your journal.
My journal has help me a lot and I hope the same for you.
good luck for your job.not easy for sure.

I was 70 pips up before london open, vanished now.

I appreciate you stopping by, sometimes it can be hell and I start to question myself 'what did I get myself into', 'why am I doing this' but I hope with time it will get easier and I feel like it is becoming easier than a year ago but requires 100% of your focus and remains to be a challenge each day new tempo to dance to.

Yeah I was watching that rise, terrible open for my method not even 30pips merely 20pips with the precision entry but mine obviously wasn't precise at all. Did you catch the move ?

I caught the move right at the beginning, 2 entries 70 pips right before london, but never enough though.
My idea is to get 30 -50 pips at euro open , and its not hard if you are given 2 chances atleast. most of the days dax moving at euro open -one direction for 30- 50 pips. Only zig zag starts when london opens like today. If i can keep the 30 pips i made before or after london i dont need trade again until next day

My challenge is not being objective to profit taking, giving all back to the market and over trading take over from there. If profit object met for the day should call it a day till i found consistency in my approach.

you need a niche, at least that's what may work for me towards my goal to consistency the more time I spend in front of the charts the more destructive I become - losing streak, gambling streak. So besides objective profit taking a niche is also essential I guess in your case its Frankfurt open, I personally go after London open, not the move right at the open but few minutes after the open and will usually hold it for 30min and call it a day. We possibly can't catch every single tick. Maybe EA can or superhuman will

single entry upon London open no mistimed entries I took profit earlier because we're at a major support, I realize that I have to be careful with these type of setups thinking 20pips is good enough for this type of patterns for the open. I'll just have to take what I can get. For today's today however I didn't hold it for 20pips, but I also had just 1 entry that's already an improvement in itself but I need to aim for that 20pips at least for this type of patterns when they occur next time.

The direction was right and the timing was good but I bailed out somehow.

Lesson: I need to learn to deal with some form of adverse movement. Anyhow I'm feeling good, dancing with the tempo but I've got a target to hit within the range 20-60pips whatever it is I'll take it. That's lesson number 2.

adjust and keep up with the tempo.

dancing is tiring so I'll only be the master of London open and 30minutes thereafter sure I'm leaving a lot on the table but just few weeks ago , or a month ago I kept losing trade after trade so it's pleasant surprise to see some greenery on my TE, I'm not aiming high after 4 years I guess you stop fantasizing grandeur returns because it is a hard job to keep the score each and everyday let alone grabbing hundreds of pips daily which is close to impossible. But if net 20pips per day on DAX can pay the bills and put food on the table and a little or (more) extra for savings and extracurricular activities then why would I not be satisfied ?

while I try to keep things relatively realistic I also would like a higher return *someday* it's all about taking small steps which means you can be ambitious but within certain paradigm. Patience and discipline truly is the name of the game.

[quote=Piquant;10785210]adjust and keep up with the tempo. dancing is tiring so I'll only be the master of London open and 30minutes thereafter sure I'm leaving a lot on the table but just few weeks ago , or a month ago I kept losing trade after trade so it's pleasant surprise to see some greenery on my TE, I'm not aiming high after 4 years I guess you stop fantasizing grandeur returns because it is a hard job to keep the score each and everyday let alone grabbing hundreds of pips daily which is close to impossible. But if net 20pips per day on DAX can pay the bills and put food on the table and a little or (more) extra for savings and extracurricular activities then why would I not be satisfied ? while I try to keep things relatively realistic I also would like a higher return *someday* it's all about taking small steps which means you can be ambitious but within certain paradigm. Patience and discipline truly is the name of the game.[
I am scalping dax on 1 minute chart for last seven days, made 100s of pips but never kept 1 pip so for. So everything boiled down to can we make 10 pips atleast not giving back on same day. Again its not hard to make 20-40 pips on dax between 7-9 am. Like today made few losses earlier, but now 45 pips up. not trading again or not not even looking at charts.

Been trying to trade Nikkei (not again !) on another demo on 2m, and I've got just one word for you it's not for the faint hearted and the shallow pockets. Yes it can move over 200-300pips during Tokyo session usually lasts until lunch. But then again think about the downsides, I just knew especially this morning how fast this can wipe up my entire account in a matter of few trading days. Conclusion is finally reached, I'll move on, I haven't been doing much trading on the attached TE mostly because I've been experimenting with few different method working the numbers all for the preparation for live account.

What I am most concerned about is safety of my initial funds - yes I want to make sure 100% that I'm not going to wipe it all up or even go below 5% DD max. With GJ it seems though on 2m I can control my risk to the minimal but again the potential is capped at 20pips while the risk at 10pips I can still work around these numbers and if everything goes as per plan in 1 year I can enjoy some monthly pay but if I aim a little higher I need to extend my working hours is that worth it ? that's a critical question that I've been trying to find an answer to. I got into trading because I didn't want to spend the whole at a job because life is so much more than that and I've got other more important things planned up to pursue once my trading takes off and stabilizes. And I don't like to stay in front of the screen whole day its mentally and physically draining think I've had enough of that. And really to conclude all of this I just don't think I'm built for manning the desk for hours and still keep focus and earn those pips like a skillful mario player, I can't do it more than 1hour that's the reality for me.

If I were to keep on trading DAX, I can aim for 30pips working for 30mins max but again I can lose a trade and the risk is higher than if I were trading GJ. Since I want to make sure the safety of my initial funds and profits made and keep the DD at 5% I'm thinking I can't afford a loss, if possible not a single one since I am aiming for just 1 entry during certain time of the time I think I can do it, I just can't do it the whole session I'm not a machine. Yes I am afraid that I might encounter few losses with DAX if I went on trading London open method, but if I go with GJ with 2m probability of incurring a loss might be much lower but then again I can't say for sure anything can happen will happen. With DAX however I can control the lot size but the average work hours is 15m depending on if I got on a countertrend move or with the trend move it can go for 8m to an hour or so. For GJ however I have to do 1.5hour and the pay off is 20pips max. Let's go with DAX London open method the difference is crystal clear 15m v 1.5hour 30pips v 20pips I just need to keep my risk at 15pips 1:2 for DAX and work out the lot size to keep the % within 0.5-0.7% range per trade.

Think I did 17-18pips but I need to go for 30pips and it did for go for 30pips. This is the method don't care if it's countertrend, with the trend I capitalize on London open and call it a day.

DD is at 1.1% from 0.4% not bad however I shouldn't go anywhere close to 5%, that's the limit I also think I need to highlight that I'm still in the experimenting phase, took some GJ trades on 2m but like I've just said this is the method, this is going to be my edge, I feel it and go in with the herd don't care its a fakey or in line with the trend as long as I can capitalize on the move and make my 30pips (average) I'm good.

Confidence is coming back but I know I might incur some whipsaws somedays however as long as my direction is right that shouldn't be a huge problem. It might fall further down catch up move is currently in the process I need to get out before then, but this is my single entry, I'm not suited for manning the charts for hours at a time.

I need to keep on testing myself if I can be in tune with the flow and keep looking at the numbers on my TE hopefully by Mar beginning or in the middle I'll go live when I'm completely sure that I've got an edge its a matter of feeling the flow, and fine tuning the entry.

DAX short

Still not quite hitting that 30pips but it's a work in progress.

I might not be razor sharp with my entries and I should be if I want to keep that 30pips but I am doing good with my exits since (i think) yes I leave a lot on the table but I also make sure that I don't overtrade , revenge trade, lose focus and concentration in the name of earning more than 30pips, it all becomes counterproductive at least for me (you must know yourself and figure out a method that works "for you".

DAX moved down 50pips if I went at a optimum level still is falling, I need to set a time for an exit hold it at least until 16:06 before the adverse move happens that will likely wipe out all of the earning but again as long as the direction is right I should be alright setting tight SL will be counterproductive with my method, I just have to eyeball the flow and see how it moves.

Happy weekends.

5pips shy of a proper 30pips a day goal.
Not bad, not bad at all.

Don't think it'll ever become "easy peasy" I always keep "what if's" in mind and ready to carry out a "bail out" operation if and when things go to the other direction and carefully look at each candle every 2m since I trade 2m charts and examine the pattern and see if the things are still going "my way"since I don't have a "proper SL" set in place as it could abrupt my active successful trades London fakeys when do happen occasionally if your SL is way too close to it easily wipes it off as it probably intends to so I have to be extra focused for any "off" movements since I don't have a physical SL set in place.

I had a feeling that this was building up for a short , don't know if buyers are waiting down below anyhow since this is out of my working hours and expertise I'll stay put and call it a day here. But this chart shows how fast price can reverse if I'm against the trend and therefore I must be quick.

My entry wasn't clean and supposedly I was with the trend bailed out a little too early this was a good 40-45pips setup. I held the position under water for a good 15minutes or so with a mental SL I wouldn't lie I was tempted to close the trade but I didn't because PA was still in line with my decision to go long I kept looking at each 2m candle, it's an ongoing "what if" kind of game you're never 100% sure no matter how much hours you put in.

But I've learnt that if price is going with the trend it will move real slow during later or mid part of Frankfurt session where I usually get in and really get going when London kicks in, if it's a counter trend move it will mostly move a good 15pips prior London open and make a final fakey right at London open before continuing with the trend so I have to get out quick for today though I should have let it run 10minutes after London open at least.

You live and learn I guess first and foremost I'm glad that I turned my position around.

Entry was better than the last few trades taken with this method. But exit was "meh". Fear took control ended the position with a small gain. Nevertheless gain is gain it did hit 30pips I was with the trend. After my entry price kept rising up til 402 my entry was 391 I of course was feeling "uneasy" all the way, trying to analyze if I had done a mistake I later on concluded that I'd get out if price went up above 402 with a bullish looking candle concluding that I was "wrong" never comes easy admitting you're wrong.

Then London open came as soon as the first 2m London candle closed I was faced with a rejection "kind of" looking candle I of course was afraid again if I had made a mistake, and bailed out with a small gain. No matter how many times I kept telling myself that I'm going with the trend I somehow managed to close the trade.

It's a work in progress. First off I'm more than happy that the last 4 consecutive trades have all been "with the direction" I can't complain about that for sure, I kept rambling how I wanted to perfect my entry as for today I could gotten in on a worse price lower than but I waited the pattern looked like it could make a new high high got in at 391 thought it wasn't bad well it wasn't I at least could hit my 30pips from to down below 361.

Now I need to work on my exits.

as for stats win rate is at 60% think I could do 70% or slightly more now that I have confidence in my method and in myself. I want to end the month without losing days and hitting that target 30net pips per day.

I'll go live as of next Monday.