Rufus

Well so many of you that have posted trade journals have inspired me to do the same.

I have spent the last 2 months finalizing my trading/business plan. This plan has been in development for a year and a half. The purpose of the journal will be for accountability on my part. And constructive criticism from others to improve my trading.

Eventually I want to trade full time. By the end of July 2010, I want to be able to make a decision on when I could go to full time.

My current Job is trimming houses. So at times I will be limited for the amount of trading time I will get in. I also have employees so this also adds some of its own dynamics.

Right now I trade the eurusd. So as time progresses I will get into more detail on things.

Rufus


April 20, 2011

It has been over a year since I started this journal. Now as I read back through this I am seeing how this has become a record of a traders journey through the mine fields of the Forex market. It is interesting to see how my trading style has changed as I become more seasoned with the idiosyncrasies of the market.


I am not a full time trader yet, but I am seeing it on the horizon. I am getting very settled in on what works for me and what doesn't. I know my trading plan will always be evolving and improving. Right now there is a lot of it in my head mainly because I just don't know how to write it down.

There are a lot of fantastic traders that have helped me on this trek. Each one giving me a piece of the map that has been required. I don't know if there is ever any one person that can completely answer all the questions that come up in a traders life. I have had possibly hundreds. So I would buy you all a drink or lunch or something, which is impossible, but instead I say thank you. Hopefully I have helped people on their trip to Forex fortunes as well.


So trade safe all and if you start to read this from the front to back enjoy the journey, I have.

Rufus


November 13, 2011

I have been browsing through this thread a bit. It is interesting how my trading has changed. There are fewer indicators and I am not concerned about every pip of movement any longer. Now it is all zones of imbalance that are exploited. As a matter of fact as of this date most of the positions are initiated when I am not even home. Pending orders have been the order of business as of late.

To reiterate this thread has truly been a recorded journey in the Forex Market.

Good luck Rufus.

Thank you. I have read 100's of your posts. I am looking forward to what you will be able to contribute to my understanding of the Fx.

Rufus

In the journal I will be using 2 trading systems. One is execued from a 5 min chart and intended for short term holding times.

The other if from 15m or 1H chart using fibonacci for entries. For a longer term hold.

Usually I will not enter two trades with the same currency pair at the same time, unless one is "paid for"

Attached is an example.

This one is a double top example I will be looking for. There are 8 different fibo patterns I will be watching for. I will be posting them as they develope showing my entries, exits, stops, etc.

Here is an example of the 5min set up I will be using. This was a trade back in early December. I haven't done any trading for the last month. Looking forward to Monday maybe start getting some post holiday setups.

As you can see from the chart. I will be using trendlines and pivots as tools to confirm an entry area on the chart.

Rufus

ps. Doing posting while taking a break from the mountain of paper work to start closing out the year.

By the way I will start posting my trading rules here in a bit.

Best of luck to you Rufus. I'm also hoping to be able to trade full time by July. Race you there

It's a deal.

ps. Been watching your trade journal as well. You are one of them that got me to thinking about doing it.

Happy new year Rufus and good luck

Hey, good luck in 2010 Rufus!

Part of my trading plan is to trade gaps on Sunday. Next to no gap for eurusd. So I will be waiting for tomorrow night to look at the charts. I trade from 9:00pm-1:00am pst. 5:00-9:00 gmt. Besides that looks to be a lot of holiday liquidity right now.

Many pips to all.

Rufus

Hey Rufus,

Yeah, this west coast location makes for some late nights - brutal if you've got a regular day job.

We should start to see some better liquidity come back to the markets later this week and next week. I am normally trading breakouts but these low liquidity moves are (even) harder to predict, so until things start getting back to "normal" I am trading with reduced size this week - mostly just getting the scalper's mouse finger back into shape after being idle for a few weeks.

Do you trade cable? There's a nice slug of news at 0930 GMT (0130 here) that I will probably stay up for.

Have a good week & trade safe.

TF

No I don"t trade Cable. Right now I am sticking to eurusd. I tried to do more then one pair and it got to much for me to keep track of on my little laptop.. Starting missing signals.

Rufus

I almost forgot...This is NFP week to boot. Start of a year. NFP. This could be an intresting week ahead of us.



Many pips to all.

Rufus

Hi all.

Got my toes in the water last night. Made a few pips. Felt good to be back int he saddle again watching somewhat normal charts. Made one little trade for a whoping 5 pips. Closed it out early,, started reversing hard.

Missed my good 5 min entry by 25 min. I was running around the house trying to get family stuff done. Daughter tring to go to Europe for a school thing and neeeded passport info. The whole thing emphasized to me the importance of having details taken care of before you sit down to your charts.

One of the rules I have under personal preperation is that I have details taken care of so I have no distractions. I don't even like the TV going. I usually like a quiet room while I am trading.

Personal preperation is something that I have always thought was very important that people often overlook. I believe that an established ritual of preparedness is just as important as your understanding of the use of a moving average. I have figured out what it takes for me to be peaceful and undistracted. If these things are not in place I don't trade. I have made far to many mistakes over the years from getting distracted.

I am looking forward to my chart time tonight. Maybe I will see some opportunities to grab a few pips.

Rufus

Hi All

Once again weekly and monthly pivots are holding price. I am waiting for a move away so we can atleast get some direction to the market.

So we wait.

Daily Trading Sheet

Date:
　
Time:

GMT: PST:

System:

Entry: Entry S/R: Target S/R: R:R ratio

Time in Trade:
Results:
　
　
　
　
Comments/ Observations:
　
　
　This is a copy of the trading sheet I use for recording each trade. What I learn etc.

Each entry has a minimum target. This is usually the nearest S/R level. or with one system a set number of pips.

I also like to have my stop protected by some sort of S/R as well.

System is listed because there are three different ones I use to get my entries.

Then one more thing I have added to my rules.

When each position is closed, it is catagorized as a "win, lose, or fail"

Wins hit my initial target.
Lose hits my initial stop. (I usualy move my stop incrementaly with price)
Fail is anything in between.

My desire with this is that my fails cover the costs of my loses.

Well this may help someone or give someone an idea for something better.
I don't keep track of things on the computer as my typing is to slow, and it pulls me away from the chart.


Many pips to all
Rufus

Well I was finally awake to catch a nice move. This morning before work.
I left a small part of it still running, after 12 hours up a modest 80 pips. I move the stop to new swing lows. See how long this will run.

I take the first half off at 10 pips. This pays for my position.
1/4 of position off at 20 pips.

Last bit comes off with price action. Took 1/8 off at 30 pips. The last is what I mentioned above.

Last nights 50 pip move in 3 min. shut me down.
Going to hit the charts again.

Rufus

While gettting ready to head out this morning my computer gave me another signal. This was a nice bounce off the weekly pivot, trendline, and S/R line. It is at times amazing how well these pivots work.

This run only had 30 pips to it. The daily S1 and "00" was enough to slow it down.

I am not sure how much I will trade tonight. Right now things are looking painfully flat. Maybe everyone is waiting for NFP tomorrow.

Still looking for a fib. entry on my 15m chart. I haven't been at the computer when they have happened.

Hope all is well with those who are reading this, and you are collecting many pips.

Rufus

I have tried a few 1M entries and have failed at them. I am begining to think that I should stick with the 5 and 15 minute systems I use. If I eliminate the losses from my 1m trading, I would be 1/4 of the way to my monthly goal of 15% increase to the account.

With the 1m, I have the tendency to take to much risk, that is let the price run to my stop. Also with the added chart for me to keep track of, it adds confusion to my trading. Then to make matters worse, what do you do if you get a signal with your 5m system, your in the trade and profitable. Then you get a signal in opposite direction with 1m system. This has happened more then once. It has a tendency to make you question both trades, and both may be right. Also it then makes your confidence waver. You see the dilemma?

So I will scratch the 1m for now. Then stick with the pip maker I have confidence in.

Have fun. If you are not, stop and figure out why.

Rufus

Wish u good luck and hope can see u at the top!