It has been a while since I updated my journal. Here are my plans for 2011. This year will be the last full year in which I will work for a corporation, and trade part-time. In 2012 I will become a full time trader working for me. In 2011, I will trade part-time during the first half of the London session between 0800 GMT and 1200 GMT. I will not over trade, and expect to open 4 - 6 trades each week. I use the 4 hour bars primarily; sometimes using 1 hour bars. I use support and resistance, utilizing trend lines, the Andrews Pitchfork, and the 1-2-3 price patterns. I use price patterns, not indicators. I will document my results on this site. I do not use market orders, but I place orders based on price patterns. However Monday night, 01/03/11, I accidently hit the market order when I was placing an order. Although I recognized my error immediately, I waited to see if it would go into the black before I closed the order. As you would imagine, the price never went into the black so I closed it at a 10.10 PIP loss. On Wed., I bought the USD/CHF looking at the 1 hour charts, and I put a stop loss under the previous 1 hour bar. My stop loss was triggered closing by position with a loss.
I placed a buy order for the USD/JPY using the 4 hour bars. Once it was executed, I placed a stop loss and a limit order to take profits. I placed the limit order just under what I thought was the 50% retracement of the down move. The limit order price was 82.690, and my position was closed at 82.694. Here are my first results for 2011: 01/03/11 USD/CHF -10.10 PIPs
01/03/11 USD/CHF +2.40 PIPs
01/04/11 GBP/USD +15.90 PIPs
01/05/11 USD/CHF -18.00 PIPs 01/05/11 USD/JPY +52.18 PIPs 1/3/11 Total -7.70 PIPs
1/4/11 Total +15.90 PIPs 1/5/11 Total +34.18 PIPs Total for the week +42.38 PIPs
My order to sell the GBP/USD was executed, and it struggled to make new lows even though it moved down 11 PIPs from my entry. Based on its behavior I closed my position with a 4 PIP gain, and I decided to give the market time to develop better price patterns. 01/06/11 GBP/USD + 4.00 PIPs Week +46.38 PIPs
I have been waiting for the U.S. Non-Farm Payroll report at 8:30 a.m. EST, but I entered into a trade. At 6:11 a.m., I bought the EUR/USD at 1.14738 with a stop loss order of 1.14631. I am expecting the EUR/USD continue up, so I bought knowing the price will move within a small range until the Non-Farm Report is released at 8:30 a.m. The price may be very volatile at 8:30 a.m.
Below is the EUR/USD 15 minute chart captured at 7:32 a.m. and below that image is the 1 hour chart captured at 7:33 a.m.
I have adjusted my stop loss order to 1.14600 to give a larger range for the price to move at it waits for the U.S. Non-Farm Payroll report at 8:30 a.m. Below is the EUR/USD 15 minute chart captured at 7:58 a.m. after I adjusted my stop loss order.
I was wrong in my decision. The EUR/USD did not continue up and I was stopped out. I had tightened my stop loss order to 1.14650 just before the report was released. At 8:30 a.m. my stop loss order was hit, closing my position at 1.14648 for a loss of 9 PIPs.
At 8:33 a.m., I sold the EUR/USD at 1.14565 with a stop loss order of 1.14777. Below is the EUR/USD 1 hour chart captured at 8:35 a.m. after I entered into my trade selling the EUR/USD.
At 8:45 a.m., I was stopped out at 1.14779 for a loss of 21.4 PIPs. Lesson learned is I should have waited. I knew the price could be volatile and I thought the price would continue up. If I had waited, I would have seen that.
