AHollis Trading Journal & $409K Challenge

Well, I finally broke down and decided I'll give this $409k Challenge a go. Mainly inspired by mrdfx's thread of which I've watched since the beginning.

My interest in this money management setup has lead me to read several related articles, forum posts, and opinions on the web as to why this would/couldn't work.

Personally, I haven't found any evidence of anyone who has successfully completed this or even come close. If you know of anyone who has completed this please link me

Still, I'm not dissuaded so why even attempt it? Why not? It's so deceptively plausible one just can't help but be drawn to the idea of it. 10 pips a day? Follow the rules, exercise patience, and discipline? How hard can that be?

So I'm going to try. I've adjusted the calendar to start in June which is actually perfect because June 1st is Monday. Must be a sign right?

This journal will at least serve as my historical record of this attempt, so no matter if I succeed or fail, I'll have a reference to refer to should I ever decide to venture this way again.

Now if I'm being honest and realistic what does success look like for me? Well of course, actually achieving the goal is success, that's a given. But, being realistic. I'm OK if I only hit 2% which is a whole $8180k. I just loaded an account for this challenge with $470 which means, I'd net a profit of around $7710k. Seriously, I'd actually be OK with that.


Of course, I would like to achieve the ultimate goal and that is what I'm going to shoot for overall.

For what it's worth, I'm not trying to be a fatalist, just cautiously optimistic. That in itself will help to keep my emotions in check.

My TE will be available for review so anyone who wants to monitor my progress can do so. I'm going to perform trades specifically for the this challenge only in that TE

Decent start to the challenge. Not good but not bad either. Pulled off four trades and ended up with literally 10 pips when it was all said and done. However, due to commission pricing I ended up with $4 for the day instead of $5. So I'll have to keep that in mind as I go through the challenge.

Today was also little hectic at the start and that bled over into my trading...too many distractions.

Anyway, hit the mark pip wise so that's a win.

I'll try to ensure that I at least cover some of my actual trades going forward to keep the journal visually interesting as well.

Later.

So far I have completed two weeks of this challenge. This has definitely been a bit of an eye opener. You really don't know what you know or what you will do until you're trying to pull off specific goals.

That said, I am behind based on the chart. My profit going into the week 3 should be $50. I'm sitting on $37.

To be blunt about it, I gave back a ridiculous amount of gains over the past two weeks. So to be sitting on $37 is actually a good thing for my psychology. I attempted to trade several different strategies and was too loose with my trading plan. That also included trying to scalp as well. In the end, the market was simply unforgiving and I know better. The gains I made were taken away and rightfully so.

Reflecting on the mistakes I made I am thankful I caught them early on, especially while the lot size is small. Going into week two I made the proper adjustments. One of which was accepting the fact that I trade better on higher time frames. Reading price action on lower times just doesn't work for me, and scalping doesn't suit my trading personality.

No excuses, but that's why my return trades look like an EKG readout. Literally all over the place. It is kinda embarrassing, no, it is embarrassing. This challenge has exposed some weaknesses and flaws in my approach. I have to accept and correct them in order to move forward.

Once I was able to settle down and execute my style of trading and stick to my trading plan I began to find success. However, I still need to focus on cutting my losers and locking in gains. Also remembering that scratch trades are not bad thing.

Anyway, I'm feeling good psychology wise going into week three. More prepared now to smooth out any rough spots to ensure that I stay in alignment with my trading plan.

I'm in the hole $13 and that means to be on track by weeks end I need to be at or about $38 profit for the week. Based on my previous trades and all the money I gave back so far I can do that

Lastly, I've attached a couple of images highlighting the differences between my winners and losers over the past two weeks. To be fair, it's kinda hard for me to really glean anything worth while from that analysis since I was doing multiple trading styles. It's doesn't take a genius to know I was being an idiot. Going forward however, that data should provide better insight as I stick to my trading plan.

I also included a chart of one of the better trades I pulled off last week. Initiated a buy trade on EURUSD at the bottom of a range, rode it back up for a decent gain. Gonna need more of that next week.

I am updating in the challenge tread by MRDFX,but i am not so focused off the 5% a day i take what i can get and stop when i feel satisfayed,but i try not to have loosing days and i trade 10 times lotsize you do,but i only trade eur/usd WITH 1.5 pip SL so when my account at 584 dollars my lotsize is 0.58 so with the commision (5.5 dollar/lot roudtrip) i risk around 2% pr trade and my target usually 1-3 pips sometimes 5-6 pips....I will deposit more into my account Friday so will be around doubble what i have now so 12-1300 dollars and will trade 1 lot until i reatch 2k if i do....lol...Then trade 2 lots and when say 2400 i will do 2.4 lots and so on.....Many will say that is way to high trading 1 lot at 1300 account,but with my tight SL and setups with plenty confluence i am in and out usually 10-30 seconds a few times i will wait for next 5 min candle to see if goes in my favour if not i close the trade.....But good luck i will follow you on your journey..

To be honest, we do what works and what is comfortable. So if what you're doing is successful for you keep at it.

To be honest, I just really want to see if this can work. You know, the whole compound interest thing.

However, I get the feeling that I'm going to have to really pick my spots when the lot sizes get bigger and tighten up stop loses when necessary. Right now with these low lot sizes, it's easier for me to have a bigger stop loss.

Like you I plan on continuing to deposit money in my account to ensure that I always have enough margin available.

Yes if you can only put say 200 dollars in a month and then profit say 15-30% the growht will be amazing in just one year...

Ending the week hitting my goal and then some. Started off based on the current plan behind by $13 and needing to finish with $38 to be on track. I was able to do that with and added an additional $78. So being ahead is always a good thing.

Focused more this week on cutting my losers early and often or scratching. Also, I'm definitely finding better entries but I still need to work on that.

Miles to go in this challenge but looking forward to next week.

Cheers.

Awesome ahollis, I've just seen your thread now and I will follow along.

All the best on your journey to $409k!

I appreciate you Sir. Thanks for starting the challenge

Definitely did not end the week the way I wanted to. My system responded poorly to the actions by the FED and other currencies as a result of the reported corona virus cases.

I usually trade with tight stops but that's when I'm on a lower time frame. Trading on higher time frame, at least for my system requires a larger stop and it doesn't help when all of the trades you placed went against you. Although my stops are wider to allow the trades to breath, I need to do better at realizing when the trade is going deep against me to cut it.

Disappointing for sure but that's what review and reflection are for. I'll have to spend this weekend figuring out what went wrong. Or maybe it was just a string of bad luck. As I didn't change the way I've traded of which worked out great the past couple of weeks. We'll see.

To be honest, I'm down but not out. Mentally, I'm OK...I only gave back about 75% of my earnings for the month going into the last week. How bad can it be?

There are three trading days left. I only need to end the month with a profit of $100. I'm sure I can do that.

Anyway. Onward. Lots to review this weekend.

Hope you guys did better than me