EmeraldEyes' Trading Journal

I'm making this journal to keep track of my trades and find my trading method. I will be using a charts only to show trades and price action setups.

New trading method started on post #17

All trades are demo trades.

A little about myself.. I've been studying price action and technical analysis for the past five years dabbing in the stock market and just recently, lured by the liquidity of the Foreign Exchange market. During my free time I read up on various threads online to help my trading. The books I've read so far include: The Master Swing Trader by Alan Farley, Getting Started in Technical Analysis by Jack Schwager, Trade What You See by By Larry Pesavento & Leslie Jouflas, Bollinger on Bollinger Bands by John Bollinger, Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb, and currently on Trading and Exchanges by Larry Harris. Any help along the way by any professionals is much appreciated.

Trade Direction: Short
EUR/USD
4H Chart
2 lot trade

Entry (x2) @ 1.4004
Stop Loss @ 1.4054
TP1 @ 1.3954
TP2 @ 1.3904
reward:risk @ 2:1 1:1

Purple line would be my max TP level. Interesting to see if it'll make it to these if I had a 3rd lot in trades. If TP1 is met, SL is set to BE (entry level)

About this trade: Multiple fib convergence, PA approaching underside of bottom pitch on Andrew's Pitchfork and falling trendline. Entry level is completion of AB=CD pattern of recent up move. Can't forget that nice round # of 1.40.


http://oi54.tinypic.com/msls1f.jpg


2H chart of trade. PA not breaking through top BB, opposite BB angle not steep. Stochastics flatening out in overbought territory.

http://oi56.tinypic.com/ztabv7.jpg

Entered trade #1 as outlined.

http://oi51.tinypic.com/ve2cqq.jpg

What a great entry on a demo trade. Wish they were always like this.

2H chart
150pip profit
1.5 R/R Ratio


http://oi53.tinypic.com/dfgcr9.jpg

Trade Direction: Short
EUR/USD
4H Chart
2 lot trade

Entry (x2) @ 1.3980
Stop Loss @ 1.4015
TP1 @ 1.3945
TP2 @ 1.3865
reward:risk @ 3.3:1 & 1:1

About this trade: PA rejecting 1.399X level again and at underside of downward resistance trendline with plenty of room to move lower. I feel like I had my stop too far away last trade so this one is right above the last high, thus if its hit it will violate the trade all together.

http://i53.tinypic.com/29xisdk.jpg

Got me a loser to check out!

What went wrong.. I ended up selling right in to the 3rd uptrend on a "3 drives" pattern. 2nd and 3rd top being exactly 1.27 of the previous down drive. I was worried about an upward channel forming (blue lines) as the trade went the opposite way after missing my TP1 by just 4 pips. Now I know what it looks like as it forms though. Trade management needs to be worked on also.


2H chart
70pip loss
1? R:R Ratio

http://oi54.tinypic.com/lji2h.jpg

4H Chart from previous post:
http://oi56.tinypic.com/2dtu2hx.jpg

Trade Direction: Short
AUD/USD
Daily Chart
2 lot trade

Entry (x2) @ .9955
Stop Loss @ .9990
TP1 @ .9920
TP2 @ 9835

About this trade: Trading break of pinbar low. Pinbar rejected from top resistance line of recent highs, upper BB, and the 1.00 whole number. Lower BB starting to angle up. Placed stop right above last daily high before extreme bar. TP1=SL @ 35pips, TP2 100pips from entry.

http://oi51.tinypic.com/k984jm.jpg

What went wrong: Traded a few hours before the FOMC Interest Rate Announcement. USD took a dump all around. My stop was hit right before TP1 but I wouldve counted it as a loss anyways. Made the mistake by not keeping up on pair's news coming out today.

Daily Chart
70pip loss


http://oi54.tinypic.com/2q0sviv.jpg

Trade Direction: Short
EUR/USD
4H Chart
3 lot trade

Entry (x3) @ 1.4282
Stop Loss @ 1.4320
TP1 @ 1.4244
TP2 @ 1.4082
TP3 @ 1.3952
114:3881:1,5.2,8.7

About this trade: Bearish butterfly pattern. 3 lot trade for high probability. Still total risk would be 1-2% of acct. Trade entry is at XA and BC fib convergences. Tight SL just beyond those fib retracements. TP1=SL TP2 & TP3 @ .382(peak of B) & .618 retracements of CD. SL will move to BE if TP1 is hit, same trailing stop for tp2/3.

http://oi54.tinypic.com/2q3vxxt.jpg

Entry was not hit as this pattern was made. Entry was at 1.42820, high was at 1.42816. Guess I was less than half a pip away from a perfect entry to this pattern. Already down over 250 pips from that high. So close yet so far away. lol

http://oi51.tinypic.com/2qi329u.jpg

i like your trade 4 setup,

though that didn't hit. but your analysis was really good

Thanks!

I'm not sure if Id do that again with that type of set entry point bc I really hate to miss such an awesome setup. Maybe a 'fib convergence zone' or I probably should have placed a sell stop under that extreme pinbar. Something to think about till next time.

Trade Direction: Long
USD/CAD
Daily Chart
2 lot trade

Entry (x2) @ 1.0040
Stop Loss @ .9990
TP1 @ 1.0090
TP2 @ 1.0165
100:175
1:1, 1:2.5

About this trade: Double bottom off of 1.00 level (blue line) and MACD showing bullish divergence. PA hit bottom BB but didn't go thru it like the previous bottom. Also got kind of a deformed 'bullish bat' pattern w/ messy fib convergences but none the less, looks like a high probablility trade. First TP is set to equal SL @ 50pips. If hit, SL is set to entry level.

http://oi52.tinypic.com/296esg7.jpg

'What went wrong'.. got whipsaw'd out of the trade with a true (to the pip) double bottom that I thought was over and done with. I should have entered the long trade closer to that .9979 level (pink line), thus being able to place my stop below the lowest low which would have taken me to a TP1 level instead of being stopped out. Demo trades for a reason.

Daily Chart
100pip loss

http://oi54.tinypic.com/2r630g0.jpg


On a positive note.. it looks like a great short trade.

Trade Direction: Long
EUR/JPY
4H Chart
2 lot trade

Entry (x2) @ 113.33
Stop Loss @ 112.93
Trailing Stop
Risk: 80pips

About this trade: Bullish pinbar off of previous day's low/200MA/lower BB w/ buy stop above high @ 113.330.

http://oi52.tinypic.com/21jvkmh.jpg



update: stopped out @ 113.34

I wasn't going to take a loss after a 30pip potential profit. The Euro was getting killed on most other pairs so I decided to make a smart choice and walk away with 1 pip

http://oi55.tinypic.com/11ax5cm.jpg

Trade Direction: Short
AUD/USD
4H Chart
1 'lot' trade

Entry @ .9560
Stop Loss @ .9632
Risk: 72pips

About this trade: Sold at break of previous 4hr low/support area. I'm going a different route this trade and have been tweeking my trade management lately so I'm excited to see how new trades will unfold. Stop is placed above previous 4hr bar high @ 9632.

http://oi54.tinypic.com/noyivc.jpg



Update: Stopped out for -72pips. Looks like I sold at the bottom of a range and bought at the top. I need to critque my breakout trade strategy a bit. After:

http://oi56.tinypic.com/2190y00.jpg

I haven't been making many trades lately as I'm trying a new form of trading and view of the forex market all together. This is a practice run of that form.

Trade Direction: Short
EUR/USD
1H Chart

Entry @ 1.3315
Stop Loss @ 1.3326
R/R: 8:1 11/88pips

About this trade: Sold at resistance, aiming for 1.3227 which is the nearest support level.

http://i55.tinypic.com/x4exlj.jpg

Trade closed with +88pips

This should be called "trade 1" as I approached this trade in a way I've never seen before with a result that was inevitable. I have found exactly what I've been doing wrong in my trades, thus reaching the goal of this thread. A new view on the markets calls for a new avatar pic too. lol

I may still post trades in here with emphasis on successful trade management.


http://i51.tinypic.com/2ptqjut.jpg


Funny thing is, I didn't look at a chart or indicators when I entered this trade. Looks good though, right?

Here's a couple quick trades I took today on the EUR/USD using my new order-flow/hybrid method (still perfecting it). Green arrows show which candles I entered & exited on.


First: +14pip profit.
Trade Direction: Long
EUR/USD
5M Chart

Entry @ 1.3136
Stop Loss @ 1.3125
TP1 @ 1.3150

Bought at support, sold at resistance. The 1.3160 mark looks like it would have been a better exit with stronger resistance..

http://oi54.tinypic.com/2cy4oc4.jpg




2nd trade: 20pip profit.
Trade Direction: Long
EUR/USD
5M Chart

Entry @ 1.3155
Stop Loss @ 1.3150
TP1 @ 1.3175

Pretty much bought at support after a bear trap took place and price was on the way back up. Sold at recent resistance. Very low risk, high reward trade.

http://oi52.tinypic.com/desfma.jpg

Just had my first non-winner in a while, which is good.

Trade Direction: Short
EUR/USD
5M Chart

Entry @ 1.3170
Stop Loss @ 1.3179
TP1 @ 1.3153
About 2:1 RRR

Here's how my entry looked:

http://oi53.tinypic.com/2nbgkfo.jpg



Here's the aftermath. Notice whipsaw in the pink box. I purposely picked my SL in anticipation that this whipsaw could be made before price moved lower.
When price came within 2 pips of my take profit level (red circle), I moved my stop to break even (1.3170) which I then was stopped out (red box) right before price hit my TP level. Price immediately dropped 30 pips in abt 15min.
I'm moving my stops to BE after it goes my way since I HATE to have a winner turn in to a loser.. In this case I would have been better off leaving my stop, yet I'm going to keep doing the move to BE.
http://oi52.tinypic.com/2yngzkg.jpg