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How many trades in a week

  • #1
  • First Post: Oct 31, 2006 3:26pm Oct 31, 2006 3:26pm
Do you guys take? This is a very relative question but I would like some ballpark numbers. I recently started trading live, 2 weeks ago (YAY!). The reason I am asking is that in the past week I have only take 1 trade. I shorted USD/JPY for 40 pips. Its not like the market has been quiet or anything in the past week. Infact after I closed my trade the pair moved more than 100 pips south. I am using the vegas 1hr/daily method. I also use some price action to take trades. I keep telling my self that the system isnt giving the right signals. This is a good thing as I have maybe overcome wanting to compulsively trade all the time, or maybe I am just being extra cautious cause its a live account.
Just wondering how many trades you guys take in a week on average if you trade the 1hr/daily time frames?
  • #2
  • Oct 31, 2006 3:34pm Oct 31, 2006 3:34pm
I have a couple of methods I use. In one I generally place a trade that will last for about a week. In another, I may open and close about 2 or 3 a day for 30 pips each.

For me it is the combination of this range type trade 2 or three a day and the Trend type trade, one a week, that gives me consistent overall performance...

I watch the screen a whole lot more than I trade... But I mostly just trade GBPUSD, so I do not have as much to keep track of.

Oh yea, the weekly trade is based on the 4hour/daily and the range trade is not time frame based, it is price based.


Quoting mpathare
Do you guys take? This is a very relative question but I would like some ballpark numbers. I recently started trading live, 2 weeks ago (YAY!). The reason I am asking is that in the past week I have only take 1 trade. I shorted USD/JPY for 40 pips. Its not like the market has been quiet or anything in the past week. Infact after I closed my trade the pair moved more than 100 pips south. I am using the vegas 1hr/daily method. I also use some price action to take trades. I keep telling my self that the system isnt giving the right signals. This is a good thing as I have maybe overcome wanting to compulsively trade all the time, or maybe I am just being extra cautious cause its a live account.
Just wondering how many trades you guys take in a week on average if you trade the 1hr/daily time frames?
  • #3
  • Oct 31, 2006 3:41pm Oct 31, 2006 3:41pm
Quoting mpathare
Do you guys take? This is a very relative question but I would like some ballpark numbers. I recently started trading live, 2 weeks ago (YAY!). The reason I am asking is that in the past week I have only take 1 trade. I shorted USD/JPY for 40 pips. Its not like the market has been quiet or anything in the past week. Infact after I closed my trade the pair moved more than 100 pips south. I am using the vegas 1hr/daily method. I also use some price action to take trades. I keep telling my self that the system isnt giving the right signals. This is a good thing as I have maybe overcome wanting to compulsively trade all the time, or maybe I am just being extra cautious cause its a live account.
Just wondering how many trades you guys take in a week on average if you trade the 1hr/daily time frames?
First off, congratulations on trading a live account! It's a big step.

You can never trade too little in my opinion. You made a trade and it was in profit so it sounds like you had a good week. Just make sure you follow your rules, if your rules only provide one trade during a week then it's ok, your being disciplined.

If it helps, I used to only trade triangle formations on the one hour charts and there were weeks where I had no trades at all.
  • #4
  • Oct 31, 2006 3:51pm Oct 31, 2006 3:51pm
Once per month per currency on a basket of 10 currencies.

Monthly target for each currency is 50 pips. So, when I hit the target on all ten, I get 500 pips for the month.

My true leverage, based on stop size and a fixed percent risk, ranges between 2 and 3. On 500 pips, this works out to a 10 to 15 percent monthly return.

I do the above on daily charts, which I check once a day.

Low stress, low screen time, low target per currency. No indicators. Good money.

This is just one of my methods.
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  • #5
  • Oct 31, 2006 3:53pm Oct 31, 2006 3:53pm
Quoting hidethereal
First off, congratulations on trading a live account! It's a big step.
Thanks,
Yea, Thats what I keep saying to my self "stick to the system" but I dont know if I am being too picky in choosing my trades just cause its a live account. I feel stupid when at the end of the day the markets moved 100 pips and I had no part in it.
  • #6
  • Oct 31, 2006 3:55pm Oct 31, 2006 3:55pm
Well for me, the first rule is to preserve capital, So I would not feel bad about the one that got away... Sounds like you are on the right track.



Quoting mpathare
Thanks,
Yea, Thats what I keep saying to my self "stick to the system" but I dont know if I am being too picky in choosing my trades just cause its a live account. I feel stupid when at the end of the day the markets moved 100 pips and I had no part in it.
  • #7
  • Oct 31, 2006 4:05pm Oct 31, 2006 4:05pm
Quoting mpathare
Thanks,
Yea, Thats what I keep saying to my self "stick to the system" but I dont know if I am being too picky in choosing my trades just cause its a live account. I feel stupid when at the end of the day the markets moved 100 pips and I had no part in it.
If those 100 pips were not signaled by your system, then they don't exist. No need to worry about them. A different system would signal those pips while missing the pips your system would signal.

Bottom line is don't worry about price movement that is outside the parameters of your system.

For example, I just came across a nice daily system that signals a trade after price has moved well over 100 pips in one day, and the following day the market moves in the same direction nearly another 100 pips. So the trade is signaled only after about 200 pips have gone by. The trade is then entered in the same direction. Profit target is 100 pips with around a 60-70 percent win rate.

My point is this. I don't care about the 200 pips in the setup phase because they are for setup only. They're not for taking profit. So I haven't missed a thing.

I'm only concerned with the rain that falls on my crops. I don't care about the rain that falls outside my field.

Dial
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  • #8
  • Oct 31, 2006 4:15pm Oct 31, 2006 4:15pm
Quoting diallist
If those 100 pips were not signaled by your system, then they don't exist. No need to worry about them. A different system would signal those pips while missing the pips your system would signal.

Bottom line is don't worry about price movement that is outside the parameters of your system.

Example, I just came across a nice daily system that signals a trade after price has moved well over 100 pips in one day, and the follow day the market moves in the same direction nearly another 100 pips. So the trade is signal only after about 200 pips have gone by. The trade is then entered in the same direction. Profit target is 100 pips with around a 60-70 percent win rate.

My point is this. I don't care about the 200 pips in the setup phase because they are for setup only. They're not for taking profit. So I haven't missed a thing.

I'm only concerned with the rain that falls on my crops. I don't care about the rain that falls outside my field.

Dial
I totally agree with you Dial. But no matter what your system is there is a certain amount of expectation in terms of returns every month. You said for you its is 10-15% this is a healthy return.
I think I am right now at a point (maybe it is too soon to tell cause it has not been to long since I went live) where if I continue to trade the way I have then at the end of the month I will not have had a healthy return on my investment. I also dont think its a problem with the system I am using. I think its more to do with how I am interpreting the signals and what actions I am taking.
I have never thought about setting some sort of monthly goal before. Maybe its a good idea. It might make me a little more agressive yet only taking trades when my system says so.
  • #9
  • Oct 31, 2006 4:43pm Oct 31, 2006 4:43pm
Quoting mpathare
I totally agree with you Dial. But no matter what your system is there is a certain amount of expectation in terms of returns every month. You said for you its is 10-15% this is a healthy return.
I think I am right now at a point (maybe it is too soon to tell cause it has not been to long since I went live) where if I continue to trade the way I have then at the end of the month I will not have had a healthy return on my investment. I also dont think its a problem with the system I am using. I think its more to do with how I am interpreting the signals and what actions I am taking.
I have never thought about setting some sort of monthly goal before. Maybe its a good idea. It might make me a little more agressive yet only taking trades when my system says so.
A monthly goal is a good idea. Monthly goals are easier to hit than weekly goals, and much easier than daily goals. Everyone speaks of 10 pips a day. This is difficult. 50 pips a week is easier. 200 pips a month is easier yet.

10%-15% monthly returns are an average. Some months more, some months less.

The point I would like to stress is that I don't try to get the 500 pips in just one or two trades. I do it across ten trades. It is easier to break ten individual sticks than a bundle of ten sticks. I also have an entire month to get a measly 50 pips. Very low stress. If I don't get the 50 on one currency, it is usually (not always) made up by another currency.

I'm sure if you've done a lot of reading, that you have seen repeated over and over, that the two reasons beginner's lose is due to over trading and over leveraging. It's hard to tell from your post, but I suspect you may be over trading. Have you tried using daily charts, and taking only the very best setups?

Dial
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  • #10
  • Oct 31, 2006 4:47pm Oct 31, 2006 4:47pm
Quoting smjones
For me it is the combination of this range type trade 2 or three a day and the Trend type trade, one a week, that gives me consistent overall performance.
Nice!

Clean and simple. Trading doesn't have to be complicated.

I like that Scott.
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  • #11
  • Last Post: Oct 31, 2006 5:14pm Oct 31, 2006 5:14pm
I look at six pairs. I get about four signals a week that last about 3-6 days.
Mr. Trend
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