Would it be too much trouble to pay me back my $20,000, my sexy darling?

That's a tough read.

Unfortunately there's not much that can be said. I wish I could just say "keep trading an you'll get it back" but unfortunately the odds are exactly what they were before you pressed your first BUY or SELL. Nobody knows the future, and that's the risk we all face.

I currently have a set of 2 strategies that produced 47,000 pips over the past 18 years, with a max drawdown of 2,000 pips. In my rookie days, I would have been counting the lamborghinis I would buy. These days, I feel nothing but a knot in my stomach, even after all that testing.

Yep, the market rules. And we suck. ;-)

Hi Tids, long time my friend. thanks for stopping by That is a concise and accurate summation. I am now trading a 300 buck micro with a max risk of 1% per trade and a max daily risk of 5% and, given the wisdom of your words, i see this as my best option. Another option is to gamble with more funds to try and get back my losses. I have a funded 7k account and access to loans I could use for this, but im going to pass on that temptation this time. The other option is to stop trading, to give up. Thats the most tempting option of all. To walk away from this crap once and for all. But that would write off the last 5 years of my life as a complete waste of time. i dont want to waste the next five years so the incentive to correct mistakes is getting stronger, hopefully enough to force the necessary change in my behavior.

Why dont you trade your strategies with risk capital, money you can afford to lose, no matter how little? you wont get the Lamborghini but you will be putting your time and efforts to some use. You will eliminate that twisted up gut feeling because your risk is managed to a level that cant harm you. It might go well, if so, you would get investor support. You would be excellent at making sure they understood the disclaimer. I would sit some of my risk capital with your systems in a heartbeat. What if your systems are profitable, possibly outperforming the test sample, and you hadn't taken any action? you would have more than a knot in your stomach in that scenario. The way i see it your options are as limited as mine.

Hi MACD!


I really thought I was done posting here on FF because of various reasons, but when I see people like you I can't help myself but try to give some advice.
If you don't know who I am just go through some of my posts and you will find out, in a nutshell I trade forex successfully for more than 20 years, I use to trade for a bank etc...etc
Let me tell you that by what I see from your posts, you will probably spend the rest of your life loosing money. I hope you don't take it the wrong way, I'm not trying to bash, but to help you.
After 5 years trading, you still didn't settle for a strategy? Don't you think this is a little weird?
Let me tell you that any ....and I said ANY..... decent strategy out there can make you money. I'm sure that over all those years you probably traded quite a few of these strategies, but failed.

why ?

Because the problem is with you! Let me tell you this again....the problem is not the strategy, the market, the broker.....NO......the problem is in you my friend.
You may already realized this in your trading life, but you still have to face the reality and do something about it.
My suggestion is that you forget about living out of forex....just forget about it....and take the market as a project. You must tell yourself that you will beat it not for the money but for the sake of beating it. Open a 50 bucks account and concentrate on changing yourself not your trades.

At night when you are home and you have some peace and the house is quiet, take 30 minutes and in the 1 hour chart trace one horizontal line for support and one horizontal line for resistance. I'm assuming that in 5 years you at least know what support/resistance means.

After you done that, place as much limit orders you want. As long as they have stops, profit targets, and are between 1 and 5% of your total account. Just in case let me remind you to sell at the top and buy at the bottom. Turn your computer off, and just turn it on again when you come back the next day and the house is quiet. On the next day Analise your stops and profit targets, make adjustments, adjust your support and resistance lines, place your limit orders again, turn your computer off and don't think about it again untill next night.

Yes my friend it is that simple, thats how banks trade. Forex will loose all its excitement...it will become very boring....but very lucrative also.

Now I understand that 99% of people can't follow these simple but powerful steps and in some way I'm glad they don't do it because if they did the market will change or cease to exist.
99% of traders provide liquidity for 1% to plunder it. Your 30 grand are parked in accounts like mine.

Honestly I don't expect you to follow what I just told you, maybe you even say that you tried it before, isn't this the very basic stuff everybody learns on trading, support and resistance?

Well......but at least I kind of did my part and...well....it makes me feel better.

I would like to finish this post telling you that if you are unable to follow "mechanically" these simple steps I would consider stopping trading for good.

Thanks for the advice. I know the fault lies with me. I successfully called the fall of AUD and was proven correct but didnt make a cent after being sidelined by impatience and lack of risk management. I cant argue with you as my results speak for themselves. The strategy you outline, what stops and profit would you reccomend for EUR/USD? What sort of results do you achieve with this technique? What sort of drawdown? any stats would be appreciated and I thankyou for reading my journal and your offer of help.

Oh boy!! One has to have a tone of patience to deal with you guys retail traders.......

Did you read what I wrote on the last post Doug?

Let me ask you again....DID YOU READ MY LAST POST?

I told you to take the one hour chart trace a line on the top of the movements ( resistance) and another line at the bottom of the movements ( support) than set up limit orders between 1 to 5% of your account and you come right back and ask me about what stops and profits I would recommend?

Look my friend I'm not here to bash people but this is just insane.......

If I was you I would just stop trading. You may be a very smart guy in other areas but judging by your posts, I don't think you have a head for this kind of business. Follow my advice stop trading otherwise this sexy lady will leave you shirtless.

Sorry to upset you but I didnt ask you to come to my thread and help me, you offered.
The % account risk does not say anything about the amount of pips you risk or what reward you target, It was a simple question. I would give my right arm for a proftable mechanical technique that only took half an hour a day but given that you are using the previous days price action to determine the support and resistence and that price usually breaks out of the previous days range, the way I understand it, your system is an outright loser like every other mechanical technique I gave up researching years ago. Without more information I wouldnt even bother wasting time demoing your method. I get I have tested the limit of your patience with my stupidity, so again, thankyou for your efforts and sorry you had to put up with insanity from another retail trader here at Forex Factory. I wish you the best for your trading and your life. With all your experience and knowledge, I sincerely hope you find someone worthy of your mentorship.

Fair enough Doug....

I apologize for coming here (uninvited) to your thread. But when I see somebody in your situation I usually feel a big urge to help. I'm not in the business of mentoring, I'm a trader so not even if you want some mentoring I just don't do it.

I gave you a simple but proven system, a system that I used myself for years and you come asking me for a statement, helloooo !! If you have a flat tire and somebody stops to help, do you ask the guy a mechanic license?

My conclusion is that retail traders do what they want to do not what they need to do. You want to succeed in this market your way right?

Well my friend I have news for you...it is the way of the market or no way.

Honestly I did not expect you or other traders here in FF to understand what I say anyways, it is to easy to be true...right?

Anyways for as long as retail traders think the way they think institutional traders will be profitable.

Again I apologize for trying to help, but I would like to leave with one last advice. If you keep trying to fit a screw with a hammer.....well you know....

Missed the big move last week because I simply did not trade. I believe there is more downside left. Tom Demark price projections see price targeting .7820 so over 400 pips if it plays out as per text book trendline break. I got a nice entry for my first trade of the week selling a rally after a downtrend formed on the 15 minute chart. Im up 70 pips. Im going to trail the stop on this one above the previous 15 minute candle high which locks in 50 pips

Trade going very well, over 90 pips up with 60pips locked in as we approach .8200 round number. I expect a bounce here and will probably be taken out with my 60 pips which I am very happy with. Its a free trade now and if .8200 doesnt hold look out below!
EDIT: trade closed at trailing stop +86 pips. Not bad before lunch during Asia. I think Ill go catch up with some news

2nd trade long EUR/USD at 1.2490 after candle reversal patterns and fractal formed. I watched the 50 pip bounce on AUD/USD after knocking out the stops below .8200 round number I am hoping to capture the same price action on EUR/USD. These are volatile trading conditions, Price can move quickly in both directions. Im targeting 40 pips with a 10 pip stop which is now moved to breakeven. I have nothing to lose on this trade so Im just going to leave it alone now

EDIT: 2nd chart shows the trade managed 30 pips over a 2.5 hour period before being halted at the 38.2 fib retrace. Pretty cool price action, by that I mean the market respected a level I had on my chart and the bounce was good for a quick 20 pips. In hindsight, I wished I had of taken some off at that level or better still, stopped and reversed but with my discipline currently under such critisism, I decided to stick to the plan. The trade stopped out at breakeven

Took this entry at the bottom of the asian trading range as the london boys were comming online. Trade moved immediately into 20 pips profit at which point I closed out half and locked in 10 pips on the other half in what is now looking decidedly like a double bottom.

EDIT: 2nd chart - TP of 30 pips reached on the second half. Thats my day done. 3 trades in around 6 hours, 2 winners and 1 breakeven for 116 pips captured and a 2% account gain.

I took this box breakout which seemed like a sure thing given the price action at the time. I sold eur/usd at 1.2322. My entry was a little late due to connectivity problems but still managed 10 pips on the first half and 20 pips on the second. I had to cop 7 pips of heat(drawdown) due to the late entry.I risked 1% with a 10 pip stop and returned 1.5%. with less than 2 hours at the pc. That will do me for today

heres hoping this double fib support confluence can turn the fortunes of AUD/USD around, at least long enough for me to take profit
Long .8220

EDIT (2nd chart) worked a treat +20 for a 1% account return. 1 hour at pc. That will do me today
this is actually my favourite and most reliable set up.
1. price is in an uptrend
2. price retraces to support
3. price forms reversal candles at support
4. Support holds and price breaks through retracement down trendline
5. buy with stop placed below the proven support and 2:1 risk/reward

in this case I took action at step 2 and simply bought the line

I took this double top on the 15 min chart as price attempts to hold above th .83 round number going for 20 pips with a 10 pip stop.

EDIT.(2nd chart) price did not want to play double top with me this time. Im down 1% on this trade, giving back my gains from my asian session trade

Ok it got a little messy but turned out well. I reloaded shorts after positive U.S durable goods orders and got my 20 pips for a 2% return taking my account from $407 to $415 today. Price continues to range close to the .8300 round number so im leaving it alone now. What I did notice is that EUR/USD moved much more extremely with about an 80 pip range compared to the Aussies 40 pip range over the same period. I made nearly all my profit in the good ol' days trading the euro for 10-20 pips with a tighter spread. Im thinking I should go back to doing just that again. Im off to bed as it is 11.46pm here in melbourne. I have a limit buy at .8270 in place should price move down to that support

Good to see you trading again! Hey what I've noticed as a general rule is that EU moves more during London and NY session and AU seems more active during Asian session. My own personal opinion about AU is that its range bound atm, wanting to break higher, but at resitance so until it breaks recent days high its not moving as much.

Great stuff here Mac, thanks for posting. Your charts are crystal clear and make it very easy to see what you're looking for in a trade.

check out the accuracy of my limit order which earnt me 40 pips while I slept. Im ecstatic about it. Things got pretty wild after I went to bed yesterday, price rallied 100 pips in a single 15 miute candle. I was very lucky to get out of my short in profit when I did. On the second chart I show how I found the level to trade from. Interesting to note is that the price spike tagged the daily fib level almost to the pip before falling 120 pips to my support. Very cool price action. That is another set up of mine - price stretching past atr on a lower timeframe to a higher time frame s/r level. Pity I didnt have an order sitting up there but that level was not on my radar at the time.

gave back 30 pips on this trade. I sold the inside bar break lower during early asia but lost connectivity. I got back online in time to lock in breakeven and was stopped out for nothing

I am beta testing the first client version of the RPM (retail positioning meter) and had two successful demo trades using it. I traded long eur/usd while the indicator said the overall retail position was short so when I saw the positioning flip to long during a rally I thought I would have a crack in the live account. I sold this reversal candle but was stopped and lost 1%