Pls bro.....let me tell you that.....you are doing a nice job,am a new babie here and i only follow your trade.........i will like to learn and where is the gj going now...up or down?.......pls i really appreciate your good work again.
Thanks
Thanks for the feedback, gidos. You're right on about learning to roll with the punches. There are days where the market consolidates, days when the market is trending. It's important to recognize the difference (particularly in this season of summer doldrums), i.e., to notice trendless ranges, and the breakouts into trends. My 100+ pips strategy works well in trends, doesn't work so well in tight ranges. So I either have to be flexible (sessions when I switch to scalping) or else stand aside until I see a trend. There's a good book called "The Master Swing Trader" which points out that the pros wait for trend breakouts. The bollinger bands indicator is particularly useful for outlining tight range/consolidation areas (tight bands), then the breakouts, with the bands widening as the market moves up or down in the new trend (candlesticks will climb up or down the outer bands as the trend develops).
I sure don't want to ever give the impression that trading is always easy. Might be for some, it isn't for me.
Firstly i apologise to you and everyone on the length of this post but once i started i felt everything here i needed to say and i hope some find it interesting and helpful.
I'm a silent lurker and respector of your thread and it's only been recently that i re-read it and realised that my approach and goal in trading is very similar to yours. The indicators did scare me originally but alot of your trades run exactly where i see the sweetest spots of the day on my charts and trades.
Our similarities are these in that i aim to
1. trade with momentum off consolidation or S & R areas
2. take the easy part of the move
3. get a tight entry if possible on a lower timeframe than 1 hr
4. take our pips and go
I do have a question and will get to it asap but i just wanted to preface it.
The real key in trading i guess is to be fully disciplined and sit on our hands until just the right time. I trade full time with varying success with the varying due to thinking i see what i call " easy pips ". I think alot of people including me think we see " easy pips " and try and jump on just to grab a few throughout the day to just add that bit extra to the account because we don't want to see an easy pip slip by and not take it do we? We know we probably shouldn't but we do it anyway.
This sometimes works and you think you have read the market so well. Problem is that when it doesn't work out, you pay and that in turn affects a whole lot of things. All of a sudden you are missing your target due to a heap of small wins and losses and find yourself chasing trades. You more than likely sit out of the really good move of the day due to a mucked up mind and when you sit back and look at the market at the end of the day there was probably only one or two really ideal spots to enter trades for moves such as yours. All the crappy ones we find ourselves taking half the time happens when the market doesn't have room to move anyway.
Your trade today hits home completely as i did exactly the same thing. I was sure it was going up and got a bit anxious about missing it and got in a couple of hours too early and had to sit through alot of the chop. Finally it went our way and i managed to make about 60 pips but it sure doesn't do the head much good sitting through all that
Sorry for being longwinded so i'll get to the following.
My question is more to do with how you set yourself for the day rather than your actual system. I know you use alerts but is there a particular session of the day that you are definitely watching and at your computer or do you take a look at the market and if you think it's not ready then you simply don't bother to watch it and go do something else?
I think i know how you may respond but there is a whole lot more to trading than just knowing about the method alone. I'd like to delve a bit deeper and find out how a guy like you, who has gone from staring into the abyss and under I imagine immense pressure, to growing 2k into a very large account goes about their day and whether you are a constant watcher of the market or you leave it only to come back when it is in area of interest to you.
I trade full time and have watched the market very closely over the past 3 years. I spent 2 years prior to that and way before ever taking a live trade with the laptop on my lap every spare minute watching live data or going over past charts. I did this so i could get to "know" the market. I'm at a point where i think i do know it reasonably well but i also think this may be a bit of a hindrance in that i'm finding myself losing disicpline and going for pips because i think i know it rather than waiting for when i definitely know a move is on and just take that instead.
I'm thinking I need to either turn the computer off and come back about 10 mins before every hour to check it or set up alerts as you do. In relation to your method and how i view my trading, if it isn't ready to go with room to move on the hourly then there is no use sitting there watching it i guess. It does seem with GJ that there is a real sweet spot somewhere in each day to pick up a genuinely "easy" run at a reasonably low risk.
At the end of the day i guess it gets back to disicipline and if it isn't a highly probable set up then we shouldn't be risking money on it.
Thanks if you are still with me to here but i would really love to hear your thoughts on how you plan your day and how you go about setting up for trading.
Kind Regards
Thanks in advance for any feedback and my apologies to every one again for such a long post.
Firstly i apologise to you and everyone on the length of this post but once i started i felt everything here i needed to say and i hope some find it interesting and helpful.
I'm a silent lurker and respector of your thread and it's only been recently that i re-read it and realised that my approach and goal in trading is very similar to yours....
Ignored
There are some people who have the chance of learning or where to get the information.......but there are some people who don;t even have the chance ....and they want to learn........they want indicators...they want more info......but they can;t get it.......the only thing they have is forex factory forums.........maybe bcos for the country they are or some other things.
I fall into the people that really want to learn but i don;t have the chance to learn due to the country am in.......people here will just have your money cos i see they don;t even know it theirself.......Guy here are really doing a nice job.....i want to learn and i will do any thing for that,even am a past time trader.
Any body there that think he or she can enlight me on forex trading,am ready to learn........this is my contact... gidos300atyahoodotcom
Just a quick reply as it is Greg's thread and i don't want to hijack it in anyway. However if you work through his whole thread and strip down to the basics of what he is doing then you will see how common sense and logical his approach to trading is.
What does he attempt to do?
1. Have the patience and discipline to sit and do nothing until there is room for the market to move. As he states 100 pip opportunities.
2. He waits and looks for "trending momentum" off support and resistance areas. In other words he waits for the market to tip it's hand and then aims to get on for the ride or the easiest part of the move.
3. He takes his profits. This alone requires discipline as many would stay in being greedy for more and either have to sit through alot of chop or watch their profits fall back down.
4. Sits out again and waits for the next set up
5. Of course if he gets it wrong he looks to cut his loss as quick as possible.
It seems Greg uses macd and stochs etc only to add weight and confirm his decision not as any set trigger.
If you can design a method around these criteria and more importantly have the discipline only to take trades that meet them then you are on your way.
Hope this helps somewhat. Sorry Greg if i have trodden on toes in replying or messed up defining your approach.
Reading your posts, it seems to me that you have a good handle on my trading strategy. As to how I set myself up for a trading day, the answer falls back on my approach to a trade: Trending Momentum. In other words, there are two parts to the equation when considering entry, trend and momentum. Of course I don't always follow my own advice to the letter, but I try to as much as possible.
Obviously there are times of a 24/7 session when GBJPY market is quiet, and I like to stay away from those areas. I don't get around to analysis at all until the new pivots come out (4:00 pm, pdt), then to note where price is in relation to the CPP, up or below, also to note overall trend, etc.
I may consider a trade around the Asian market time of 5:30 pm/6:00pm (pdt), but only if I see a potential setup, and only if I see evidence of compelling momentum. (See the trade I made below as example). After that, I walk away until pre-London/London Open, when my session really starts.
For me, the best momentum oppportunity is usually found around 10:30-11:00 pm (pre-London) to 2:00-2:30am (pdt), after which momentum generally dies until London/US session crossover. I usually don't trade the US session, especially if I've already made my pips.
Bottom line: I'm not at the computer 24/7. I pick the spots that have highest likelihood of momentum, also as defined by my 100+ pips "intra-day trend"/overall trend potential from support or resistance, ideally from pivot point to pivot point.
Thanks very much for the reply. Much appreciated. I just caught the same move actually although i sometimes have to sit hard on my hands through all the chop leading up to it and wait for just the right time. Have to keep saying to myself wait for "trending momentum".
I love your trading style, I personally think you are one of the great ones on ForexFactory!
Keep it up! I love analyzing your charts and reading all your wonderful posts!
Cheers!
Its currently 10:11am EST, and I'm up 55+ pips! Hope you caught that nice one too Greg!
-Also, I was wondering if anyone can help me acquire the same pivot indicator / indicators settings/template as Greg, I could not find it @ actionforex? Thank you in advance.
Thank you very much for the feedback. Thanks flinty, the most accurate daily pivots are found at actionforex.com, in my opinion. I missed the US session move yesterday morning, heard the alert go off on my cell when price was at CPP, too tired, didn't care. Congrats on the nice pips.
