Trading with the Edge.

After the retrace i expected further downward movement. The market moved to mid 20s level and turned around again. I guess my reading is wrong and i have scratched the trade at 1.9742. No need to be proven wrong. Now that i am flat if the market falls i will not kick myself as there is always another setup being formed.

The market is such a wonderful teacher but we(well me) do not learn. Over the many years that i have been following the markets i have been taught and reminded that i should never have preconceived notions of its likely direction. Over the weekend and this morning i have focussed entirely on where i should be shorting it. Whereas if i had started the day with the mantra of lets wait and see what patterns develop and based on the tried and tested patterns take the trade. My results could have been significantly better.
The chart below is one such pattern that i have observed over the years as a very reliable pattern for at least 50 pips or more depending on at what time of the day it forms.In my personal diary of patterns i have over 100 trades of this pattern. It is a simple range breakout with a good place to hide the stoploss.
Nevermind, i say to myself because if it has formed 100's of times before chances are it will do so in the future again. I just have to be ready with the right frame of mind. And that RIGHT FRAME OF MIND FOR ME IS WAIT FOR THE MARKET TO GIVE YOU CLUES AS TO ITS LIKELY DIRECTION. HAVE NO PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF ITS DIRECTION.

Today a good trade so far. Went short at 1.9743. The market failed to reach the median line then reversed with a good candlestick pattern. My profit target is 1.9675 and the stoploss was 1.9760(now 1.9700). Already i have locked in 43pips lets see if i get 25 more.

Manually closed at 81.
+62 pips

Keep up the goodwork Zones, keep making those pips

Thank you for the encouragement and well wishes Fxtrader.
Wishing you likewise.

I was hoping for the market to retrace 50% of yesterdays move. When the market failed to retrace to the 38.2% fib, i took a small scalp from 1.9623 down to 1.9600.
+23 pips but i wasn't really comfortable during this trade. I have no idea why.
Oh well......

An eventful week has passed rather uneventfully. Boy am i pleased. When i started this journal last week i was unsure of its impact on my trading. I was going to post my trades live, was i doing this for an ego trip, if yes then was i going to take a trade for the right reasons or just to nourish my ego. Would there be extra pressure on me. Will i make a fool of myself etc etc.
Well i am happy that the vast majority of my trades were taken for the right reasons. A losing trade was no different to me than a winning one.
All in all i am happy to have done a weeks trial on a small account. From tomorrow onwards i will trade my real account. I will display my weekly pip count, my weekly expectancy .
I will continue to trade using the forks and fibs.
Here is my goal for the next three months. God willing i want to increase my trading account by atleast 10%. I shall revisit this post on the 5th May.

Here is my goal for the next three months. God willing i want to increase my trading account by atleast 10%. I shall revisit this post on the 5th May.[/quote]

Good luck you can do it, just keep doing what you are doing, stay disciplined, follow your money management and wait for the market to show you a good setup and go for it.

I shorted the Gbp/usd this morning and managed to get 40 pips.

Short Gbp/Usd from 1.9575 and the trade have just reached my target, closed at 1.9525 for a 50pip gain. Will wait and see what will happen after the interest rate announcement at 12.00GMT.
Good luck everyone

Post #17 on sunday i posted a chart and perdicted the market would come down to point A over the next few days. Well, today the eagle landed at point B..for even greater profits for those of you with testicles made out of Fe ....mine are made of softer substance and i took a small scalp today for +15 pips. http://www.forexfactory.com/images/icons/icon6.gif
BTW that "perdiction" was me marely stating Dr Andrews rule of 80% certainty....I am utterly devoid any such fantastic powers of perdiction.

Good day today...not profitable but from the learning point of view. Didn't trade in the morning as i wanted to wait for the rate news. In the afternoon i waited for an opportunity, sadly got whipped around...the important thing was that i traded the smallest lot size possible, on my platform. From a risk management point of view i was risking less half a percent of my capital. The net result for the day -80pips.

The thing with forks is that they look awfully pretty after the event. As is the case with your charts and in another thread by Southernmind. I have my doubts about them so i shall wait fo the 5th May to see how you have got on. Good Luck.

Short of 1.9417..stop 1.9445.....Profit target 1.936
Stopped out at 1.9445

Hey Zones,

Ok, so why in the world did you put your stop at 9735 on that first trade? You had the PF showing you a ML at 9705-9710 and you entered at 9917. Your target was 200 pips away and you slap on a stop at 9735 when you had a whole row of tops ranging from 9945-9952. At the very least a close above 9952 would prove you wrong, but a spike up to 9952 would only mean stop running. Sure by using an 18 pip stop you give yourself a great R-R, but you basically ensured you'd have your stop run on you. If you had put your stop at least at 9960 you still would have had a potential risk-reward of almost 1-5, which is fantastic.

And as we see now, if you had used the long-term downsloping PF, the ML was hit at 9387.

I don't trade Cable, but if you're going to be drawing PFs on the 4 hour, you should trade them on the 4 hour. Your initial take profit had no relationship to the PF, only your entry did.

I'm not busting your balls, I'm trying to help by pointing out your inconsistencies.

Hi Dopey, I appreciate your comments....you are absolutely right..not that i didn't know before but i have a long way to go... your input is and will always be appreciated....i hope by your next post i am a few steps further up on the learning curve.
Thanks once again.

My short position from 1.9404, -25pips, Long Gbp/Usd from 1.9458, profit target reached at 1.9508, +50pips. So total pips for the day 25pips.
Have a good weekend everyone. More pips next week.

You too have a good wekend and well done.

I have ended the week on a good trade. After the rollicking from Dopey i guess had to watch out.
Anyway went short at 1.9494 on the retest of the upper median Modified Schiff fork with a stop 4 ticks above the high of the day. My target was the median line at 1.9400.... i was risking 19 ticks for 89. As the market moved lower to 1.9440 i lowered my stop to 60 and was stopped out at 1.9460..
Net result for the week -140 pips...if i was trading single lots i would only be down 20 pips.

I have a suggestion for you...get Dopey to dish out this rollicking more often.
Only Kidding. Good to see you making progress.http://www.forexfactory.com/images/icons/icon10.gif