Fagin's Corner

Not a bad run today:


+3, -2.5, +2.2, -0.6, -0.1, +1.7, +2.2, +2.7, +1.2, +4

Decent run on EU today, very steady. +4, +2.4, + 5.9, +1

Trying to do the right thing with proper execution and risk management for FTMO but their model forces you to gamble in the end to get an account.
I see why they do it and wonder if there is an endless supply of gamblers happy to give them their money. Strange..

2 days in and nowhere near enough £ to meet the silly target, so we'll see, however I think I'll be taking this over to MFF instead.

Fun day on a 5 pip candle!


+2.8, +3.2, +2.3, +3, +2.8, -2

Stopped posting trades on here because most days are the same and it gets boring.

Today however was quite a busy one..


Run was, buy +2, buy +1, buy +2.6. Then the rest were sells: 0.2, 0.2, 1.5, 3.4, 3.6, 1.8, 1, 3.8, 4.4, 2.4, 2.3, 2.1, 2.2, 4.7, and 6.3

Epic grind today.... hate these days but made £ after fighting it.

0, 2.3, -18,7 (took a hit on this and then of course it reversed half a pip later..), 3.5, 5.1, 3.7, 1.8, 0.5, 1.3, 0.6, 3.1, 3.0, 5.8, 0.2, 6.9, 2.1, 3.9, 1.2, 2.8, 0.6

Battered EU today..



+2, +2.2, +7.4, +9.7, +11.4, +12.5, +2.3, +3, +3.6, +3.3, +5.8, +6.1

Mid R1 and DP all the way this morning... Love these ranges

Very heavy day.....

I had a tilt and left a swing position over night which needed fixing pre NFP.

Worked out ok,.... ADR in the red, high of day, yesterdays high, R61, 30 level with a daily pivot and round number 85 to shoot at.. mission accomplished and onto phase 2

Easy picking the meat out of this bull trap today...

Hi Fagin,

Good work!! Went through your screenshots and posts, good trades! Would like to ask a few things (if you don't mind!).

1. What is your overall trading method? Not asking for specifics, but a general rationale behind entry exit? scalp, swing, price action, geometric patterns, pivots, what?
2. How does FTMO work? What can I do to participate or apply etc.?
3. Lot size you use? Are these demo trades?
4. Figures you have written in posts are pips, right?
5. What are the horizontal green and vertical yellow lines in pics before post no.27?
6. What is your current target/ progress?

Sorry for the questionnaire, I just feel I will be able to grasp more from your posts if these doubts are clear.

Hi omkarswarupa

Been trading for a long time so it's all a bit of a fresco from various paints..

I'll try answering as best as I can.

1. I use various methods depending what I feel like on the day, I trained as a swing trader using price action, support and resistance, higher timeframes and fundamentals, I then tried to re-train as a scalper and failed. I am now re-training again to scalp and currently finding my edge. I like to have swing trades running in the background and then I also scalp mainly on EU, although if I spot something juicy I'll attack it.

2. Have a look at their website, also check out the Prop Firm Hub thread in the commercial section, there is plenty of real info there as well. I only use them and MFF. if you are not consistently profitable don't even attempt it as it will hamper your personal development. Keep trading your own account using a 5% daily drawdown rule and a 10% overall shutdown, when you can keep this alive for a few months, then you might be ready, otherwise you may as well bet on a good horse.

3. Lot sizes normally split up over several entries (this is an edge few appreciate) based on an % overall daily drawdown. Some are my own account others are from Prop accounts. I trade everything as real cash, never demo.

4. Yes these are pips although I only record % gain/loss in my journal, that's all that matters.

5. I draw horizontal lines at price turning points, I trade aggressively in these areas. All done manually by eye. No EA's or indicators. It's a 20 ema that I have on the chart to keep me company for old times sake. The vertical lines are the 5 day ADR i use as a guide to where price may go and where it gets over valued.

6. Current progress is very good, thanks. Although I need more time in the gym.

Hope this helps a bit.

EDIT: Sorry by vertical lines I think you mean the fib time zone tool, in yellow (I use other vertical lines for ADR as well..)

All this is, is the fib time zone tool with equal distance stretched across the 1 hour period so I know where I am in the hour and the high low of that hour while I am in a 1 minute chart. Old school

Alright, thanks for the detail answer!

In my case as well, scalping to swing to scalping is how the journey is going, but the your trades look much better than what I have been able to do. Lot to learn from you, keep posting.

Another thing I wanted to ask. I can see many of your profits are of 3-8 pips with few going beyond that. When I enter a trade and it goes in my direction, I immediately think about exiting after a booking a small profit. This means I am leaving a lot of money on the table. How can i avoid this? What is you experience about this? Or do u have zones marked for exit as well? How can one balance these premature exits and anxiety of trend reversing into loss? or will this dilemma will always be there when we use a 1-min time frame?

Hmmm, it all depends on your personality. I know what works for me and what doesn't.

What doesn't:

1. Trading one lot size that equals my drawdown (i.e. going all in). or large enough to cause my jaw to clench, pulse to quicken, etc. Or be game over after a few losers.

2. Trying to guess direction correctly.

3. Have an exit target/price number on the chart.

4. Indicators

What does:

1. Having more than one shot at the trade by spreading my entries and lowering my potential profit on the 1st trade.

2. Having a trailing stop on my 1st entry and fixed take profit on it.

3. Exiting in profit trades by using an aggregate profit (i use a total pip value).

4. Knowing when I am being an idiot in front of the screen.

5. Stopping when I'm tired and/or made/lost enough for the day.

This is for scalping and I use different criteria for swing trading (i'm a lot more relaxed!).

Edit: sometimes my scalps turn into swing trades but I'll not confuse you for now.

Yes your entries are well spread out. That was the first thing I noticed on your charts.

Will think along these lines, thanks!

Grab a piece of paper and draw a large M shape.

Let’s say your first entry was shit and at or close to the beginning of the M.

Now add a number of further entries up that left leg of the M, in this case they are sells.

See what happens? Now get your calculator out and you have the beginning of a risk management plan….

Your “perceived” edge is in your entry. Your additional edge is your trade allocation (risk) and your final edge is your management. Now you have 3 edges to your trade. So let’s say I might allow another five trades within my first trade idea, I now have a trade plan with 15 edges as each trade is married to the other and all work in the common goal to work towards my original idea.

I have maximum all out stop and build up stop after profit taking which I may or may not use depending on the price action/market dynamics.

It probably won’t suit you or be profitable fast enough for you though I’m afraid to say…. Trading is a lifetimes work.

You have definitely explained in detail enough. I have never done this but I surely understand and can imagine how to do it.

In your previous post, u have mentioned about not trying to predict the direction accurately. What do you mean by thay? Can following sequence be close to ideal?

For selling, a trade is a group of n entries/positions.

1. Decide your position size, lot size for each position, max drawdown for that particular setup, number of positions (n)

2. Decide stop levels for each entry, decide stop level for entire trade. Maybe adjust point no.1 and 2 with each other.

3.identify zones where I think multiple entries at certain(maybe not fixed) intervals can be taken? Or look for a target first for which multiple positions can be married into one? This is on the basis of whatever the trading method is, price action, indicators etc etc

4. Enter. Execute as per plan.

These are just a few things that came to mind. I will put more effort into this.

What if first entry of the trade goes in favourable direction? Do we add positions? So even thse entries need to be planned ahead of time? Otherwise it would be an opportunity loss because we r opening smaller positions?

Do we have to monitor how fast the price moves in either direction before adding more positions? Maybe trend strength etc will matter here. I guess thats why u use hourly lines? Get a peripheral vision on speed?

Maybe I should use screenshots to explain and ask. I will do that next time. Now on cellphone.

I have several setups that determine an entry and I do want to try and get the direction right but you’d be amazed how often my 1st trade won’t give me 3 pips when I want it to!

I used to add on and compound a trade when it’s moving forward. I don’t do it so much these days but it’s worth trying as long as you make your previous entries safe. Ultimately though it doesn’t really do it for me.

I trade 30 to 40 hours a week and will work a trade for as long as I need to. This for me is the reality of trading and trade size is smaller than what most people tell you what you think it should be.

Depending on my mood my 1st entry would be something like 0.2% of my account. I let that run and the idea is to make money on that one trade.

I have allocated a further 1, 2, or maybe 3% for those additional entries if I am confident my directional bias is correct and will take the side of the buyer or seller of the market.

I don’t get emotional about that 1st trade because I don’t expect the market to give me my 10 pips.

Not placing the full risk allocation on one trade allows me to open my mind. That’s what I mean about not needing to get the direction right. You do obviously need to but not at necessarily in that moment of one single trade.

This is a creative process so create something that sits right with you. I enjoy trading and don’t mind putting in the screen time, I have that luxury.

Some may not have that time and need to risk more in a tighter time period, that’s why most fail. Imagine trying to build a house 1 hour per day?

ok, so you are increasing the position size on subsequent entries as long as your directional bias allows you to. Great! I had tried this in binary options (!!) but never in Forex but I knew I could try that. Of course its not just about increasing position size and so many other things need to be considered before and after entering the trade. I will try this multiple entries idea this week on a demo account.

This is usually what happens when I take a trade:

I have a very heavy mean reversion bias and more on the sell side. So, most of the times I take entries against the trend. Whenever I see a trend developing, I think to myself, ok the price has gone away enough distance from the mean and it will now snap back. Or, the price is now touching the BB upper band, it will bounce back. So I take a short entry. Now 2 things can happen.

1. If I am lucky (or right or whatever!), price will go down and i am in profit. Immediately, I start think about exiting because now the price is in pullback. mean reversion bias kicks in and tells me that pullback has come down enough and now price will go up. So I exit or add a trailing SL and exit. normally on 5 pips. So less pips on my winner. I DO check the nearest support etc. but fear overcomes logic.

2.If price goes up after that short entry, hope overcomes logic and then I normally look to take another short entry at maybe after 10 pips or nearest support of higher time-frame MA (Because price has already crossed MA of my entry time frame but I am not able to leave that trade!). I will exit on break even now if price comes down by 5 pips.

Now if the price still keeps going up, I have to give up maybe after 10 pips. So my total loss is 20 pips on first trade and 10 pips on second i.e. 30 pips. So, if each position is of 1%, 3% is gone!!

I have lost my entire account 2-3 times because of this going on for 3 entries, 4 entries. I remember losing an account where 3 trades of 3 subsequent averaging entries of 2% each! Each position was taken after I guess 30 to 40 pips. That was just horrible and too painful. But, lessons have been learnt and this will never happen again. Because what happens is, this strategy gives you good returns but takes away everything you make in a day. And many times, price will come back after that. To rub salt on the wound.

As you mentioned, its about comfort and what suits me right. What I need right now IMO is a good combination of position sizing and SL. I am taking multiple entries anyway, but maybe do that without pressure of direction prediction.

Posting this on my journal thread as well. And again, thanks for your words. Its feels good to discuss things with someone who has a better clarity.







And yes, you are right. This is creative process. Even I like working and trading as much as possible. Gets me in the zone easily.

I sometimes increase the size but it is all calculated from the overall risk, it’s not like a simple grid system. The subsequent entries are based on price action and market behaviour/timing etc.

You can’t just employ something like this and expect it to look after sloppy trading as it doesn’t.

Mean reversion is only a theory which is the different side of the same coin as trend trading. My trend trade may also be someone’s mean reversion on a higher timeframe, so really what are you trading?

I do know this. Price ONLY goes UP and Price ONLY goes DOWN. That’s it.

So if you condition yourself to get smacked about a bit and you have a plan to keep coming back the next day to win the round you have it half beat.

Many claim they have a trading plan. Well, tell me your trading plan when it fails the 2nd, 3rd and 9th time in a row. I’m betting that plan wasn’t a plan at all….

Its good you've blown accounts, it hurts and you need to figure out how to protect it.

True. Understood.
Lets see how this week goes.