Please help? Trades sometimes lose big at first, I have to wait out for retracement!

I don't understand why I seem to be once in a while losing initial on the trade, yes I understand the spread factor so lets keep that portion obsolete from my question. I have been playing technically off news on the trends 4 hour chart and 15 min chart, 1 Lot for instance short on euro today.

I entered short on euro at 1.3599 @ 16:58.

WHy I traded this:

1. 4 hour chart down (perhaps this was because it followed a previous 4 hour bullish trend, and I should have waited for a 3rd 4 hour confirmation candle to confirm the trade)

Note* I place my trades on the 15 hour chart with the listed below because the 4 hour shows me the trend

2. 5 ema crossed below 10 ema
3. ema crossed below the 20 ma on bollie (I waited to confirm this position as the 5 and 10 ema's were getting wider on the bear trend)
4. RSI pointing down below 50 line
5. Stochastics very bearish crossing 50 line
6. MACD was turning bearish

Yes some of you will recognize this from the cowabunga system which I happen to love because of the trend trade system but I think my dilemna is,

I am noticing a big loss such as anywhere from -$300 to -$1500 or so before my trade becomes to retrace not all the time but mabe 2 out of 6 trades or so maybe 3 times out of 6 trades, and eventually it goes green however this can take a long time from 1/2 a day to 2 days. Yes most of the time about 85% my trades are profitable. I would like to get in on the side of the trade where I don't initially go down -$300 to -$1500 or so I want to capture as many pips as possible.

What can I do to circumvent this? Do I play a $5 and 10 min chart on buy/sell signals where all 3 confirm while keeping that other trade open for it to come back down ( i guess you could call this a hedge technique)

Anyways I am at a loss and getting frustrated feeling like I am leaving so much on the table and having to wait a long time for my trade to start to become profitable.

Is this normal?

Again keep in mind like I said my trades I am great I am at 23 losses and 140 winning trades so to me I am ok but I feel like I am still missing something here.

Yes this is a demo acct.

you've got a winning system. don't be greedy. go live, if pulse goes up, you're being greedy. play your sytem. with all its faults, its a winner.

What is the risk % per trade?

Thanks much txturkey for looking over my post. I appreciate the re-enforcement in regards that I am doing this the appropriate way. I have lost alot of money trading stocks and investing and I also started winning about 25% of that back however I dont have the patience to wait for volume blah blah with trading and daytrading.

What I have learned which is what leaded me to my initial post. I have studied forex very hard and practicing it quite a bit, I have found my faults and if you stick to the rules it is easy to identify the failure triggers vs the winning triggers.

Here is how my trade panned out and what I learned from it. I made 2 trades the same not even realizing it lol. 1 trade at $20 pip (2 lots) and another trade at $10 pip (1 Lot). Indeed the trade I described above it sure did retrace down as I expecxted and hit my T/P at 1.3539. That is 120 pips I jacked in about 1.5 hrs

What was it I learned was a fakeout, typical these seem to be the ones I need to learn to live through with calm nerves.

As far as my money management I barely have used any stops on most of my trades and here is why.

1. Fibonacci support/resistance levels I have used to carry me through the big ups and dips (over all we know the euro has been on a losing track so I dont mind holding out for a day or 2 for my profit to come into play

2. Divergence head-fake, I know there are alot of funds out there that like to take out stops so I sit tight through those and put my seat belt on.

3. I play only 1 or 2 lots if I am absolutely sure that my trade will pan out.

Now what would I like out of my already success. I want to capture as many pips I dont want that initial loss then retracement in the same trade. Is it hard to time these based on when to get in on a 15 min candle? Should I look at a 5 min chart to tell me when to get into a 15 min candle?

I hope this makes sense.

1. Started with $5K acct
2. Traded carelessly and it dropped down to $2K
3. Set up my system (I like the cowabunga system because it lets you win even if the trade goes against you initially since it is a trend trade and trends last for a couple days to longer
4. Placed my trades strategically with 1 lot sizes and if I have been sure i would scalp huge whipsaws with $2 lots get in and out making a quick $400 to $800
5. My account I was able to bring it from $2K to $10K in approximately 2 weeks.

I have learned from my mistakes, I have learned to read candles more effeciently as well as candle patterns (yes there is a difference), Chart patterns although I can typically by pass these if I am on the trend trade, however I will play a double top of double bottom, support/resistance ect, I have even played Fibonacci trades and every fib trade was successful.

I think I am doing this right, I will be ready to go live in about 1 month or so, I have been practicing for the past 5 months.

It is amazing how much easier trading is becoming when you stick to the plan, use money management, a UK account that you can HEDGE YOUR LOSSES AND TURN THEM INTO WINNERS, YES I SAID TURN YOUR LOSSES INTO WINNERS, and Straddles.

things are starting to become 2nd nature.

LOL I think I beat you to it. You will see all my risk associations in that post. By the way when I go live I am going to use micro lots and mini lots .30 and .50 initially and build up capital.

Once I come ahead I will go to trading full Lots at $10 pip's each. When I find a nice whipsaw going if I can catch it I will most likely jump in and out scalping at $20 pips (2 Lots)

I will be starting with a $2500 or $5000 acct, I am leaning closer to $5000 acct.

if your account is at 10k and you are seeing 1.5k drawdowns on trades then you are risking more than 15% per trade. It's no wonder you are getting nervous on trades that go against you some. You are risking 10 times more than you should.

right so I need to put some assurance on my trades. How can I tighten up my entries/exits?

Check out the sticky topics in the Rookie section. Tons of great info in there.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=39514

Thank you I am going to sift through that see if I can learn how to narrow down better entries even though my trades will be successors. Just dont want to leave any money on the table that I dont have to.

reduce your risk and trade the system like it should be traded. You are using a system that you say is about 85% accurate. Divide your lot size by 10 and continue to trade like you have been. Risking 15+% is account suicide. Do you think it would have bothered you if you would have only seen a $150 drawdown instead of a $1,500??

Thank you I suppose a stop loss at the previous swing high or swing low would be appropriate for this no?

LasVahGoose,

I would like to personally thank you for this thread. This was a huge huge eye opener. I can not tell you how much my eyes have been opened with this. Reality set in and I see the success at the end of the tunnel. As a matter of fact I went through all of this last night without one hint of boredom.

I put this to use today and I came out on the winning side of the EUR/USD. I am going to use this system to perfect my entries because in the long run my system is a trending system, if the day is down only short during the day and stay out of the divergence tiny uptrends, opposite is true for a bullish day.

I also had the pleasure of someone re-itering this info for me over skype. I have found a great support in the short time I have posted.

Thank you and the others that have been a great support already.

I put my trades in very confidently today with little or no downside at all.

What did I get out of this in a short statement. THE TREND INDEED IS YOUR FRIEND.

THank you. I am goign to pass this reality onto others.

Why lose when you can come out winning all the time is the lesson I learned from this.