Silent Service Method

Thank you for those kind words.

I guess I forgot to include one thing: Taking baby steps.

I have said several times that letting a trade do it's thing is the key. I firmly believe this, and to be honest - cannot imagine ever changing my opinion. However, it's not the easiest thing to do. I was reminded earlier today why it's so important, and how I adapted to the line of thinking.

At first, I would trade, and stare at the screen. It was almost like I believed I could somehow effect the outcome of a trade. And to be honest - I could.....by screwing it up! Getting out too early with tiny profits, or a small loss when it went my way in the end. (The absolute worst in my opinion.) As time went on, I came to realize that Forex isn't life and death, no matter how it feels at times.

When I came home from work today, I had been painting doors outside. It was pretty sunny in Columbus, and it was a nice spring day. However, since it hasn't been that bright lately, it kind of takes a little out of you. I was tired because of that, well...and my two little monsters didn't feel the need to let Daddy sleep last night.

I came in, and thought about a few things. Oddly enough, none of them were trades. I decided I was hungry and took off for Chipotle. When I got back, I ate. Finally after being home about an hour, I looked. It was like I suddenly realized that "Oh, I shorted EUR/JPY.....wonder if I am still in that trade? Oh, forgot....I am short HGG, T, AA, GE, and YHOO....wonder how that's going?" I know it seems odd, but that's really how it felt. I had just about forgotten about it by the time I got home. Now of course, I had locked in profits on my Forex trade by then, but the stock trades weren't at all. They could have all been stopped out.

I think it is at this time I realized that I understand there is nothing I can do about trading once I am in the market. That's it. I know that seems self-evident, but few people actually accept it.

I thought about the steps I took to get here. Here are a few "minor" hurdles to try:

Lets assume you go short on a daily pinbar. Is there any reason to be checking this trade every 30 minutes? As an exercise, try checking only every 4 hours. Try doing this time and time again. I know at first it will be a lot of "But Clockwork! What if I get stopped out?" All I can say is that it will happen. Thank your broker for honoring your stop loss. I know it's a difficult thing at first, but as you take loss and make wins, you realize it's not the end of the world either way.

Also, if you check your trade as soon as you get home....or think about it all day at work, try waiting 30 minutes after you walk in the door to even open the charts. I know this is blasphemy, but trust me...it's about letting go.

As a general rule, you shouldn't zoom down more than one time frame from where you are in a trade. (i.e., if it's a daily trade, check 4 hour charts. If it's a weekly, try the daily to see how things are going....but never forget the context you entered in the trade in the first place.)

In fact, this is all about one thing, and one thing only: control. We don't like to be out of control. We don't feel comfortable in that situation, and certainly not when it comes to our money. Truth is, we need to be able to let go and let the market take care of itself once we are in a trade. It's very unnatural, but necessary in my opinion.

I should say that one way to combat this need for control is to also figure out what you are comfortable risking. Some will be 1%, some will be 5%, there is no right answer....although I would puke at 5. But the point is I know what I am comfortable with, and that's why I can do this.

You need to get this part down, and learn to be comfortable or this will all be an exercise in futility. You need to be able to let it go. In fact, you will find it liberating after a while. And boring as all hell. Do you ever pay attention to the people you share trading stories with in the real world? Their eyes glaze over. Ever wonder why? It's simple: Trading is boring to normal people. Seriously. Nobody with a life gives a shit about the British Pound. (Well, that lives in the USA that is. If you live in England, it's a little more important.)

What's going to happen when you finally try this? You will have a loss or two, and a win or two. You will also understand that no matter how hard you stare, you won't make the charts move in your favor.

I know I sound like an ass when I say this, but trust me, it's true:

"Trading is simple. There is no magic formula, and it's the easiest thing in the world once you get over your hang ups."

CW

If i am to summarize it, your post is about "letting go"...
Excellent CW, thanks!

I agree CW. It's not the easiest thing and it took me a while to get used to letting go especially after I started staring at the charts, but being in college is good way since I have much to do besides staring at the price move on a 5 min chart.

Good post, CW

but not laisseiz faire (sp?), letting go after the anaylsis and prep work is done and SL etc put in....

Hellol CW,

i was following your thread since a while. Thanks for your great advice.

But what is missing in my opinion, a clear set up of your rules,
when exactly to enter, SL, TP why and when.

I couldnt found something like this.

Maybe i am missing some part?

thumbs up

piptiger

hi CW

excellent work. have never looked beyond daily to see the trades. the weekly view really opened my perception of seeing "more" of a potential trade.
if I may ask one question, do you take trades when the PA is moving within the range of the drawn boxes that signify support and resistance? or we wait for a movement out of those boxes to look for potential trades?

thanks. you've done great work here.

Check post 755 for some insight on how to place stops and targets

CW,

Just curious who you use a your Forex broker? Is it IB (ECN) or do you use a US based market maker?

I keep hearing horror stories regarding the famous "bucket shops" and wondered who you considered your money to be safe with and who plays fair.

as i posted before,here is another good exit example..i like to put fib expansions and ppz zones that can provide some sort of confluence with expansions...look at the last bearish candle right on 161.8 exp and ppz..tested and backed up nicely..

Just an update. This was one that didn't fail.

VM

Nice catch bud, looks like a nice and easy one.

Keeping an eye on the USDCHF, H4 pinpar off a 50% retracement from recent up move. After the pinbar is formed I will place a buystop @ 1405

Edit: SL below pinbar and TP @ 1500, +95 pips.

TimeFreedom

Mainly because it's essentially based on James16 material. (I am a Senior Member there.)

I wrote about buying Martin Pring on Price Patterns (a book) it has a lot of the set ups I like. Jim uses his stuff quite a bit as well.

Let me think about it, and find some time....I might throw something together.

I do actually. Funny you should mention that. I have an area in the James16 forum about "box trading", which is essentially range trading. I have to run, but I will try to remember to post a few charts later. It's basically the same thing though....over and over.

I'm sure you know what you're doing, but just to point out some questions/considerations in general and for anyone interested:

1. 4HR, which you're trading trend is down, daily sideways, weekly down
2. Looking at the weekly and daily, 1.5 seems to be a very strong res., price got rejected off of here once today already
3. R/R ratio the way you planned your trade seems fine, but looking at S&R, next harder support seems to be at 1.350
I'm just thinking to myself...path of least resistance..I think it's easier for price to go down that way unless there's a force that will push it up, no?
4. Also it seems we just hung to test the res of March 18/19 under 1.420

Let me know what you think and give any counter arguments, trying to practice some PA analysis out loud, I'm sure I'm missing something

I use Interbank FX. I think it's safe. To be honest, I think most stories about "bucket shops" in the US are bullshit. I have never had an issue with the three brokers I have used.....GFT, IBFX, and FXCM.

They all sent me my money.

Hey guys, after having some S&R zones drawn up this weekend, silver is moving down towards one so it might pay to look for a setup for a bounce or a continuation. We had a big drop today to the support zone so just looking out for setups at the moment if there will be any clear ones

Some food for thought

Yes, it's laissez faire ("leave alone"), but not literally.

chris why did you move your stop so tight on eurjpy? if i understand correctly, hadn't you gone to work, you would've still been in the trade by putting the stop back up. why put it down in the first place? have you lost your hope in the strength of this down move?

i'm still in the trade from the daily pin, which was obviously not the best location with support below it, but the weekly pin strengthened my beliefs in the reversal.

is a little above 126 all that this weekly pin can do? most of the traders over at j16's thread seem to have taken their profits already. I too have taken half off, but I want to let the other half run. Am I wrong in beleiveing it could go at least to 122 if not lower?

I also have another question. Suppose you entered on the daily pin (or the 4h before it for that matter) and you held on to it to see a weekly pin formed. Is it wise at that point to start treating the trade as if it was a trade from a weekly chart (with the added bonus of higher pip value) and manage it accordingly?