Tiki, maybe you need a break from trading for a while because it sounds to me like you are all over the place right now.
I don't mean to sound unduly pessimistic but when I read your posts I detect this whole aura of frustration and desperation and unfortunately both those traits usually lead to traders losing a lot of money.
It is absolutely vital that you (and anyone else in your situation reading this) understand: You won't get anywhere until something clicks inside your head and you find YOUR OWN WAY.
Find what works for you through trial and error not through what other people tell you works for them.
One post in this thread recently said it is vital to trade with stops. It is something the trader has found very important and I am sure most of us would agree with that. But I know at least one trader that doesn't use predefined stops and does very, very well.
Another regular poster here talks about having a set of rules that they follow, taking trades when they meet this criteria and ignoring all the ones that don't. This works very well for this particular trader.
Does it work for me? I would have to say no. I don't have hard and fast rules, I trade very instinctually - Of course I have rules on how to play specific bar setups (enter on the break of a pin bar for example and always only one pip into the break) but often I get a feeling for a trade and then I take it - infact my last trade which increased my account by over 13% in a single trade, was from a pin bar in traffic, which I wouldn't usually like to take. I took the trade because other things that I have learnt work over time, were present in the setup.
At the end of the day there is no right or wrong answer. Sure, there is high probability setups against ones that don't have much going for them...but the only thing that means anything at the end of the day is your P&L. PeterFM illustrated this very well with his recent EUR/CAD trade. I would say the odds looked stacked against him for his short position but he followed what his own experience has taught him and stayed in the trade.
Dude, a lot of people go on about the "rules, the rules, the rules"...guess what? You're writing the rulebook!
As Ed Seykota (legendary trader who ran an account up over 250,000% over 16 years) said when asked what trading rules he lived by:
I don't mean to sound unduly pessimistic but when I read your posts I detect this whole aura of frustration and desperation and unfortunately both those traits usually lead to traders losing a lot of money.
It is absolutely vital that you (and anyone else in your situation reading this) understand: You won't get anywhere until something clicks inside your head and you find YOUR OWN WAY.
Find what works for you through trial and error not through what other people tell you works for them.
One post in this thread recently said it is vital to trade with stops. It is something the trader has found very important and I am sure most of us would agree with that. But I know at least one trader that doesn't use predefined stops and does very, very well.
Another regular poster here talks about having a set of rules that they follow, taking trades when they meet this criteria and ignoring all the ones that don't. This works very well for this particular trader.
Does it work for me? I would have to say no. I don't have hard and fast rules, I trade very instinctually - Of course I have rules on how to play specific bar setups (enter on the break of a pin bar for example and always only one pip into the break) but often I get a feeling for a trade and then I take it - infact my last trade which increased my account by over 13% in a single trade, was from a pin bar in traffic, which I wouldn't usually like to take. I took the trade because other things that I have learnt work over time, were present in the setup.
At the end of the day there is no right or wrong answer. Sure, there is high probability setups against ones that don't have much going for them...but the only thing that means anything at the end of the day is your P&L. PeterFM illustrated this very well with his recent EUR/CAD trade. I would say the odds looked stacked against him for his short position but he followed what his own experience has taught him and stayed in the trade.
Dude, a lot of people go on about the "rules, the rules, the rules"...guess what? You're writing the rulebook!
As Ed Seykota (legendary trader who ran an account up over 250,000% over 16 years) said when asked what trading rules he lived by:
- Follow the rules without question
- Know when to break the rules
You should get hold of that interview that appeared in Market Wizards. It is very insightful.
You were asked in an earlier post what the fibs on your chart told you and you replied: "They tell me we got a few more pips up, and then hopefully a big bounce down". Eliminate the word hopefully and you are already one step ahead of a lot of others.
Bottom line from my perspective: Look at the market. Stop thinking. And react.
, without adding more years of study on all those patterns and things. Way too complicated for lil ole me!