Steve, this is my first post in your thread.
You might have noticed that I have followed your journal intensively since you started it. I actually still remember, few years back when you told in the brokers chat that your trades are up well over 1300 pips. I remember my self thinking "thats not even possible"
I would like to express my personal gratitude. You have been a big motivator for me, thank you for that.
steviet
in the Quran there's a verse that goes
'for every Difficulty, there is Relief'
that's how life works and I know you will get out fine if you keep your head straight
Hey Steve,
Like everyone else here I'm gobsmacked.
What else can I say.....
Except 'keep trading' .....
And just to add, that it was from your example that I decided early this year to also start trading full time and I've been building some equity to enable me to do it - I'm now ready and like you I'm going to take the plunge next year. I don't know how to thank you for the inspiration I got from your journal but I wouldn't be doing it without you - really, I can't thank you enough.
After whats happened to you though, I'm beginning to think I must be crazy.
Maybe.....But I'm still gonna do it.
I also believe that you'll turn this round.
You just have to believe it too.
Your strategy works, youv'e proved that.....you just need to persevere and be patient.
Good luck mate and don't forget the old Monty Python sketch..... Always look on the bright side of life...lol...
Regards
Stew
A pillar at FF has fallen!
Well, things like this happen.... you'll get a new job, and get a new investor...
I'm sure the thread will come back to life soon enough.
Good luck, brother!
Hallo Steve!
I just got my first computer online in the new house and was offline ever since Thursday night. So this is within my first 5 minutes of setting up DSL here and having FF as the starting page on this laptop the first thing was looking here.
I am shaken to say the least and I guess I need to think more clearly before I babble incoherent things. I am deeply sorry for your investors withdrawal and also for the investor himself as he missed a great chance. Your methods are prooven and they have worked without stress and too much trouble for a long time - there you have the trackrecord so many others lack.
I will try to think of something and will come back via PM or other means, as this is really unfair in a way and I really do not want you in this position. You cannot help me with my feeble minded wife, but maybe I can help you with this and feel better due to that myself.Therapy for everyone!
Try and calm over the weekend and see you soon!
Yours
Matt
steviet
in the Quran there's a verse that goes
'for every Difficulty, there is Relief'
that's how life works and I know you will get out fine if you keep your head straight
hey steviet,
I am saddened by this event of yours. I am so sorry it happened.
Speaking of luck, I don't have any either. My method of trading was sort of like yours in the drawdown area. Back in May my system lost a trade that in the past 3 years had never lost. You always hear nothing is guaranteed and this loss was proof to me. Not only did I lose 1/2 of my account, but a friend of mine made a bet with me that I could not net $1000 in 2008 and if I did they would match it. I produced the reports and everything and gave to them on May 23rd expecting my money. They requested I wait until end of month so I said sure. On May 29th the disaster trade happened. I only lost my gains for the year, thus my ignorance in going heavy on this "solid" trade. I viewed it as not my money is why I went heavy. Just my luck. I stopped trading this method from that point on, but kept tracking it and this "impossible" loss occurred 3 more times since then. This craziness in the market is unbelievable.
I hate that you quit your job over this investor backing you. I can see why you did thinking of it more like a business investment. I assumed you had made enough money using the investor's money to be able to trade on your own, with the investor's money as extra income. I guess that is what I get for assuming. I wish I had an answer to help you out. You have been an inspiration to me over all these years. I still look at the daily candles and think how your old method was still a good one it seems at times.
Well I hope things work out for you. I want to be fulltime too, and for over a year of making decent returns I was sure I could do it too until the event in May. Now I aim for 10 to 15 pips a trade and am done. If I can get really good at making 10 pips then with enough capital that will be enough to live on. I'm tired of trying to get more pips to see them come back, especially in this crazy market. So anyway I am sleeping nights and enjoying myself even though I'm only making $5/day..lol
I wish you luck and hope somebody else will be a new investor, at least until you can get enough money to trade with your own capital. Keep us posted.
Steve,
I should have said this sooner. The past three weeks have literally murdered all my profits.... so I feel your pain.
I think you should consider an ATR on a timeframe of your choice as a filter to not enter trades. I'm sure there are "normal" market conditions where you do most of your trades, and when the volatility gets too strong (and the ATR spikes) you sit out.
That's my best solution to this freaking madness. Damn crisis!
)Hey Steve,
I don't feel bad for you.. not because i'm an asshole, because i'm jelous!
You've been where everyone (almost everyone) on this forum wants to get to at some point. You can say that youve made 30% ROI in the forex market.. that an incredible achievement.
If you haven't already, read New Market Wizzards by Jack Schwagger, I am about half way through it and I have noticed a popular recurring theme.. every one of them has lost a significant amount of money within a very short period of time (most within 1 trade). These are top professional traders that were good enough to be in a book for their ability to trade well... the only reason why they have managed to hold onto their success is because they have been through this first stage of becoming a professional trader and put it behind them while learning the most important lesson in their lives as a trader.
I don't look at your situation as a failure, I believe it is ur first step in becoming a professional trader. You've done the most important thing that any trader can, youve shown substantial consistent profits over a reasonable amount of time- your ability to trade has been proven on paper. It shows you were really onto something, and it just needs some fine tuning.
Hope all works out, I have a strong feeling you'll find your success in the forex market. Oh and if it doesnt work out, write an e-book
Brenton
PS: I recently started currency options trading.. I much prefer it because it really takes out the psychologic barrier of using stop losses since your maximum drawdown per trade is fixed. If you want to test it out it might be something you'll find safer when dealing with volatile times like now, check out www.CBOE.com -theres a virtual trader where you can paper trade currency options.
OK, so I've had a day or two to come to terms with the situation and it's time to put those thoughts into some sort of logical plan for the future.
Firstly, we have just been through conditions that we haven't seen for a very long time. October 1998, 10 years ago was the closest we've seen to this and previous to that September 1992. So, we can say that although it doesn't happen often, it can and will happen again in the future and we must have a contingency plan to cover.
Let's go back to the very crude trend following method I employed at the very start of my trading career when I was wet behind the ears in forex terms lol. Ironically, it would have made a fortune in the last few weeks but the important thing to consider is would it have made it this far through the rangier times to benefit now?
I started the managed account in January of this year & for the first half of the year made decent profits, despite working alongside my full-time job. I know that I would have made far more if I was trading full-time during this period. Being able to catch the intraday moves on the days where the prices bounce around in a 200-300 pip range is where the money is made.
This is all well and good whilst the volatility is not too high and any drawdowns can be recovered quickly. When we have weeks like we've just had, another plan needs to be in place. OK, so there are a few ways we can look at this...
The first option could be to simply stop trading until the market calms down and once again becomes condusive to my method. This is indeed what I did on the managed account from 6th to 20th September. I continued to trade my own meagre account during these two weeks and although we were undoubtedly still in a bear market as far as GJ was concerned, the price bounced around between 185 & 197. In fact it bounced around long enough to more than make back the drawdowns encountered in the weeks previous to that. Unfortunately the managed account didn't benefit from this as we weren't trading it during this period.
Another option would be to look at the ATR (as Tom suggested) and, rather than stay out of the market, increase my targets. Each individual position I have a target of just 50 pips. I could look to increase this to say 100 should the daily range exceed 500 pips.
I have also been revisiting that trend following system I employed early on. Yes, it would have done very well in the last few weeks but gets murdered in whipsaw periods.
So, what I am looking at is to somehow combine what I already do (refined to take ATR/daily range into account) with a method that goes with a trend on the daily timeframe or 4 hour timeframe. The 'trendy' method would have few signals whilst the market ranges so would only come into its own in sudden volatile periods. Entries on the daily/4 hour method would be taken on confirmed breaks of support & resistance with specific targets at the next level of s/r on that particular timeframe. Stop losses would be moved in line with my previous method. I would also look at 'pinbar' set ups for reversals to a trend on that particular timeframe or pullbacks in line with the trend.
Well, I think thats enough for now lol
Kind Regards
Steve
