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go live or bust ... diary of an fx live-trader-wannabe

  • #381
  • Oct 28, 2008 2:48pm Oct 28, 2008 2:48pm
Quoting fxgrinder
what i must do is start trading off the pure price action & learning to manage my trades mechanically. this should help take the emotions out of it & discover what price action works better than others. only then, will i have the experience to truly analyze a trade & make these \"assumptions\" so i can exercise discretion judiciously & intelligently instead of emotionally.
haha, i did that off a doji-IB that broke long; loss ... back down to 45%

hindsight; way overbought for real ... been jerking around yesterday's high & going sideways preparing for a drop. not bouncing off anything like s/r or any MA ... in other words, no-man's land
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #382
  • Oct 28, 2008 3:03pm Oct 28, 2008 3:03pm
okay, i did it again. made an assumption about the market & passed on a double IB that broke long ... this is really becoming frustrating today ...

alas, i press on.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #383
  • Oct 28, 2008 3:52pm Oct 28, 2008 3:52pm


went long off a bullish outside bar; got stopped out by the star i should have been trading for the short i've been waiting for all morning.

umm, frustrating doesn't begin to describe what im feeling. sheesh, i make a plan & then ... im tested like yesterday's high.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #384
  • Oct 28, 2008 4:21pm Oct 28, 2008 4:21pm
b/f lunch break ...

bullish pin where price couldn't make a lower low. unfortunately, when i went to close 1/2 the position, i hit buy instead of sell & when i did that oanda slipped the hell out of me (as they did on the initial entry) ... that wiped out all the profit i made on the 1st half and then some. price shot up after that and i closed out at 17 pips gain ... NOT according to the plan, but i needed a small little win b/f lunch date so im not an miserable @#$%.

back to 40% (sad isn't it?)

after lunch, i promise myself just to practice trading price action w/o all the emotional crap ... really, i do ...
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #385
  • Oct 28, 2008 7:34pm Oct 28, 2008 7:34pm
took a bearish outside bar that traveled thru & closed below 2800 s/r. followed the rules & collected 6 or 7 on 1/2 & another 31 pips on the other half!

back to 43.3% ... yahoo
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #386
  • Oct 28, 2008 7:53pm Oct 28, 2008 7:53pm
took a short off a bearish pin after my last move, but was stopped out on the star-ish pin/pin bar-ish price action ... didn't have a chance to get into that one

knocked back down to 41.5%
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #387
  • Oct 28, 2008 9:03pm Oct 28, 2008 9:03pm
got my butt kicked ... again. i started off great. didn't do anything in particular that was wrong, just got caught up in a little chop & couldn't see my way out of it. it's hard to trail my stops & take all the price action available if the market isn't trending ... DUH!!

will try again at 8pm-ish to see if volume returns.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #388
  • Oct 28, 2008 9:32pm Oct 28, 2008 9:32pm
in reviewing them all, they weren't terrible, but it seemed i was playing around in a serious s/r level & that created some issues. however, 2 losses will wipe out the gains:

  1. this was the nice run i had when i first got back ... lesson learned here? get up from the table once you win a big pot OR play really really tight unless & until another perfect playable hand shows up
  2. short off the pin bar; wasn't terrible, but violates rule expressed in (1) above and bullish price action presented during the trade that should have been taken (but wasn't) indicating this trade might not be the greatest and really, im returning to the well
  3. DCC (IB) broke short; this PA tends t/b quite strong; i did alright & was stopped out at break even; no huge sin here
  4. bullish pin (looks a little diff't here than on fxdd, but similar PA); got stopped out at the end of the other pin bar after i trailed the stop
  5. bearish pin bar taken that stopped me out of 4; again took a few pips off & stopped out on the rest; no major crime here either
  6. bearish outside bar; these are usually very tradeable & reliable; price is below all MA's (i added these after-the-fact), but i just couldn't get the momentum i needed for the price to take advantage of the price action despite the fact that momentum was clearly in the bears favor at the time of this trade (also checked after-the-fact)
  7. short off the IB; squeezed a few out of it
  8. short off the pin bar; near 7pm -- volume seems to have left the market & i didn't feel like messing w/ another trade

all-in-all, not really that bad and except for a decent trade going bad on me, i would have made out alright

as i write this, i took another one ... do i have brain damage or something? it may or may not turn out alright, but i question why im taking this trade when i have just assessed the market is sideways probably until after 8pm

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"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #389
  • Oct 28, 2008 9:34pm Oct 28, 2008 9:34pm
Quoting fxgrinder
as i write this, i took another one ... do i have brain damage or something? it may or may not turn out alright, but i question why im taking this trade when i have just assessed the market is sideways probably until after 8pm
after writing this i went back and just closed it out for a small loss. it looks like it has more to go, but i probably not w/o a lot of funny stuff.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #390
  • Oct 28, 2008 10:36pm Oct 28, 2008 10:36pm
short off double bearish pin bar that formed an RP & triple bottom; off hourly MA & serious area of s/r. no volume so i took a quick 5 pips/8 pips.

38.7%
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #391
  • Oct 28, 2008 11:19pm Oct 28, 2008 11:19pm
price action i watched on the sidelines b/c i missed the initial entry:

double low couldn't close lower in a short move that formed an RP; highs of both bars off hourly MA; bear strength rising (DM-); bulls have no no strength & ADX has just crossed thru DM+ for the 1st time which will indicated the increase in momentum ...

20-30 pip move
Attached Image
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #392
  • Oct 29, 2008 12:44am Oct 29, 2008 12:44am
i waited patiently for this quad bottom ... then, it broke & screwed around. i adjusted my stop ... uggh ... stopped out ... of course!!!

price proceeded to drop 30-40 pips ...

i am being schooled today ...
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"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #393
  • Oct 29, 2008 1:25am Oct 29, 2008 1:25am
Quoting fxgrinder
i am being schooled today ...
MA's ... trend
BB ... volatility
ADX ... momentum

hmmm??? comical
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #394
  • Oct 29, 2008 1:27am Oct 29, 2008 1:27am
if im in the red ... dont touch the stop loss?
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #395
  • Oct 29, 2008 12:35pm Oct 29, 2008 12:35pm
is about to make me cry ... not posting a chart b/c it's just too damned embarrassing ... essentially though, after i bailed on the quad bottom trade too soon, there was a sort of bearish looking bar that followed somewhere along that drop & i entered the market at the break. unfortunately after i was slipped & noticed oanda's 4 pip spread on the euro, i was in very close to a significant support level at 2626 ... oh well, if it doesn't work, i'll just get stopped out right? wrong ... i decided (in my very frustrated state) to leave the trade w/o a SL "assuming" it would come back around ...

pitiful day i had yesterday. utter failure ... except for the learning process.

i again allowed myself t/b affected by too many external factors to my trading. for instance, if they're doing it, i should do it & some other basic things that losing traders do ... such as the example above & in my other posts ... "being blown about by every wind" (winning trade, losing trade, other trader, assumptions, switching course half-way through, not seeing my plan through, etc.)

so, im getting back in the saddle today ... and pray i dont buck myself off.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #396
  • Oct 29, 2008 2:03pm Oct 29, 2008 2:03pm
off to a good start ...

short off break of IB that formed a double bottom w/ a pin-ish looking bar (price action that indicated bearish sentiment). price bounced thru hourly & 4hr MA's that had formed a serious resistance level. saw potential support area around 2844 & decided that would be a good target. 12 pips.

still working on my exit "philosophy" ... and torn b/w either taking 1/2 off somewhere then the last at another spot (either by trailing till price takes me out or taking myself out at a pre-determined target) or just trying to get my 10 pips & looking for another set-up or some other method (maybe take 10 off at 1/2, move SL to 20 from that point, look for the remainder at 20).

notwithstanding the absolute fiasco trade of last nite ... this trade bumped me over the 40% mark again.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #397
  • Oct 29, 2008 2:10pm Oct 29, 2008 2:10pm
Quoting fxgrinder
still working on my exit \"philosophy\"
how about leave SL at the other end of the price action being trade (i.e., top of a bearish pin bar for instance) ... wait for 10 pips to take 1/2 off ... then begin to trail using prior bar's high (or low as the case may be) until i reach 20 pips ...

bf also was saying how taking 5, 10, 20 or whatever off when market is blazing down might not be the way to go for the simple reason there is no reason to get out & i might need those 30, 40, 50 pips to cover my butt on a future trade ...

think i might lurk around today & research what others are scalpers are doing regarding their TP/exit strategies.
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #398
  • Oct 29, 2008 2:19pm Oct 29, 2008 2:19pm
Quoting fxgrinder
short off break of IB that formed a double bottom w/ a pin-ish looking bar (price action that indicated bearish sentiment). price bounced thru hourly & 4hr MA's that had formed a serious resistance level. saw potential support area around 2844 & decided that would be a good target. 12 pips.

still working on my exit \"philosophy\" ...
Quoting fxgrinder
how about leave SL at the other end of the price action being trade (i.e., top of a bearish pin bar for instance) ... wait for 10 pips to take 1/2 off ... then begin to trail using prior bar's high (or low as the case may be) until i reach 20 pips ...
gonna finish of by papertrading my last trade using forward-testing this strategy & see where it takes me.

taking 10 off would have put me at 0.67% gain on that 1st half; entry 2857; 1st TSL to 2875; 2nd TSL to 2868; 3rd TSL to 2856 (bullish pin bar); 4th TSL to 2855 (IB -- bit of foreshadowing at this point) & was stopped out here netting me nothing on the last 1/2 ... i would only have made it to 39.6% ...
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #399
  • Oct 29, 2008 3:25pm Oct 29, 2008 3:25pm
distractions ... cause missed trades &/or losses:

the chart shows a bullish outside bar that i missed that was at divergence (happened t/b the correction after price dropped on the news release).

then, i took an RP/IB pattern short after that trade reached its peak ... distraction caused me to enter a S/L incorrectly so i was stopped out way b/f the trade had a chance to mature. also, b/c it was after a divergence play to the long side, i could expect it to chop over back to middle of hourly & 4hr MA. after getting stopped out, i jumped back into it again ... distractions did not give me a sufficient time to analyze whether i should be jumping out at 4+ pips once it bounced off hourly MA & continue long which is presently the bias. bailed at -10 pips

back to 38.4%
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
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"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
  • #400
  • Oct 29, 2008 4:28pm Oct 29, 2008 4:28pm
Quoting Editor

TRADER'S MINDSET

  1. Successful traders isolate themselves from the opinions of others.
  2. Continually strive for patience, perseverance, determination, and rational action.
  3. The most difficult task in speculation is not prediction but self-control. Successful trading is difficult and frustrating. You are the most important element in the equation for success.
  4. The difference between winners and losers isn't so much native ability as it is discipline exercised in avoiding mistakes.
  5. Have you taken a loss? Forget it quickly. Have you taken a profit? Forget it even quicker! Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.
  6. If a market doesn't do what you think it should do, get out.
  7. You must believe in yourself and your judgment if you expect to make a living at this game.

LOSSES/FAILURE

  1. Keep a positive attitude, no matter how much you lose.
  2. Losses make the trader studious - not profits.
  3. Take advantage of every loss to improve your knowledge of market action.
  4. Expect and accept losses gracefully. Those who brood over losses always miss the next opportunity, which more than likely will be profitable.
  5. Accept failure as a step towards victory.
  6. One cannot do anything about yesterday. When one door closes, another door opens. The greater opportunity always lies through the open door.
  7. A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong and not taking the loss - that is what does the damage to the pocket book and to the soul.

GENERAL TRADING GUIDELINES

  1. Successful traders are not afraid to buy high and sell low.
  2. Beware of trying to pick tops or bottoms.
  3. Never cancel a stop loss order after you have placed it!
  4. Don't ever allow a big winning trade to turn into a loser.
  5. It's much easier to put on a trade than to take it off.
  6. Standing aside is a position.
  7. Beware of large positions that can control your emotions. Don't be overly aggressive with the market. Treat it gently by allowing your equity to grow steadily rather than in bursts.
  8. Except in unusual circumstances, get in the habit of taking your profit too soon. Don't torment yourself if a trade continues winning without you. Chances are it won't continue long. If it does, console yourself by thinking of all the times when liquidating early reserved gains that you would have otherwise lost.

RULES

  1. Always discipline yourself by following a pre-determined set of rules.
  2. Assimilate into your very bones a set of trading rules that works for me.
  3. You must have a program, you must know your program, and you must follow your program.

[this has been modified (by me) from the original poster's post; see original post for missing points]
"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Proverb
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