fx|green Trading journal

********************THREAD CLOSED********************.

Good luck with your journal, looking forward to your analysis.

Simple trade just based on a possible reversal.




Did not want to leave this thing on overnight.

Trade[1] Momentum trade:






I will elaborate as to why I tightened my stop to where I did. This trade is based on momentum. If price were to come back as far as my tightened stop (protected around 10 pips), that would greatly question further down movement for me and I would be looking for a way out of the trade ASAP.

I decided to get out at the level I did because price temporarily respected 1.3670. Since my stop was quite close in respect to that level, I decided to bank the profits.

My trading toolkit:

Yellow line is the 8EMA. White dotted line is the 21 EMA. I also use a 50 SMA (pink usually) but its not on the chart at the moment.

Stochastics 14,5,3 (Usually watch the 80,50,20 levels)
MACD 12,26,9

Trade[2] Support/Resistance trade.



In and out like a cold shower.

Trade[3] Fade (loss)



Took a 13 pip hit on this trade.

Trade[4] Fade / Reversal potential. (-9 pips) + (~21 pips on 2/3) + (39 on 1/3)



I closed 2/3 of the trade when price hesitated for a little bit at the minor doji resistance. Lets see how far the 1/3 can go. Done trading for this session.

EDIT Price popped higher just as I was about to head out, so I went down to the 1 min chart and tighten stop to a. 1.3621. Got stopped out 39 pips on the 1/3rd

NOTE: I do not always watch the /ES but there are times when I look for indication from the S&P500 and Oil. I look at Gold and Silver sometimes when trading AUD and NZD. Its only a guideline. The S&P was leading the move which got me interested in a long in the first place.

Ultimately, its best to trade your own chart. Otherwise there can be plenty of confusion. They sometimes break correlation and you will be left scratching your head as to why.

End of trading day. Wish I got in earlier on the down move and just scaled out and let the rest run. Hindsight is always 20/20. Usually I scale in a good deal when I think I am getting into the move early. I thought it was just a small leg down for today.

Busy day yesterday, spend most of the night helping someone out.
Woke up today to find the EUR really moving.

Play was obvious, get short. Unfortunately I kept on missing the short entries. And one thing I do not do is chase.

So, I began entertaining the idea of fading this market. Took a better look and decided no way.

Momentum will stall and people will get their chance to fade this puppy. Right now though I think I am going to sit on the sidelines for today and not trade. Look at the 5 min chart. That momentum is like a freight train. Careful out there.

This is what I am seeing. Enough to make me take a break today.

Good morning everyone. Simple divergence playing out in the middle of a down trend. First thing that goes through your head when you approach the trade is that its more than likely a fade. So you are on tippy toes already.


In and out like a scared mouse.

Trade [1] Momentum / Fade trade. +5 pip



Trade [2] Momentum / Breakout trade. +10 pip


What can I say? Its bothersome when price pulls back when its already into the move. But traders always remember the mantra: Protect your profits

In Trade [2] there is an important lesson which I will elaborate on in my next post. Please read it.

..........................




About an hour has passed. Momentum slowing down. This is a reversal / fade possibility but since we are coming off major 4 hour support, the alternative breakout scenario is in play. Uncertainty is higher that normal for me higher so I am just watching it. Maybe pick a few pips if I get a very small setup. Let's see.

Trade [3] Fade/Reversal trade. Closed 1/3 @ +3 pips. 2/3 is left to ride and locked in 2.5 pips on that. Lets see where go!

Hi all,

Just want to go into a quick lesson on MOMENTUM. In Trade 2 on Wednesday, November 24, we see how I went long in anticipation of strong momentum carrying price to the upside. Price did exactly what I expected.


First we pulled back a small amount to test the previous break.

Second, we continued in the anticipated direction with some strength, retested a minor level, made a new high. So far so good.

Now traders already long want to see momentum keep up and price to continue on its path. You DO NOT want to see momentum slow down. Why?? This compromises your position and it gives price a reason to go sideways or worse, reverse.

You will notice if you trade in a pure interbank market, that very often when momentum creates a bullish candle. A lot of volume will very quickly come into the move in anticipation of a much larger breakout. You will easily see an additional 300-400 million on the bid and the offer will look small relative to the bid. Let me tell you this however. If the market does not continue with conviction, that money is not going to just sit there. Its leaving and fast!

This is why people who got long on a premise of a breakout and sustained momentum move, aggressively tighten their stops! How do you know how much to tighten the stops? Mark your levels of resistance/support. Go down to the smaller time frames and look at the internals. What would make you nervous if you were already long? What would you NOT want to see ? Good, now tighten you stop accordingly.

Protect your capital. This includes profit.

So whats your latest trade you are in NOW??

This is my workspace.

behman8850 : Look at my post for the trading day. I keep editing that post and update it with trades that I am taking. But almost all of them are after the fact or when I have closed a portion of it and letting it run. Do not use this blog to take my trades. It is for people who want to learn a few things here and there. It is also for my own benefit.

Dull price action today. Most rallies are getting sold, but its always a faders paradise. Its funny reading some of the responses in the bigger threads. People trying to make sense of it on a macro level. They should just focus on the technicals and worry about the macro stuff when they are trading tremendous size (Based on the comments I typically see, this is not something that they are going to have to worry about). This issue is only a problem for those managing a fund or for a trader with serious bankroll.

Saw traders talking about liquidity today. Based on previous comments they have made, liquidity is the least of their problems.

Lets just say this. I do not worry about the macro situation .... much

Typical market fluctuations today. See you tomorrow.

Hello FX|Green I just wanted to say I'm following your journal and I already see myself learning a lot from you, thank you very much! Wish you many pips!

Your welcome.

Best to your trading.

Morning,

Trade [1] Fade / Reversal (locked in +34 pips profit on 1/4 position) +60 profit realized on 3/4 of position



Might just be my only trade today.

Update: Stop tightened to 1.3337

Update: Stop tightened to 1.33695 on 3/4 trade

Update: Sellers are trying here, that head and shoulders failed (1.3376 Head), was sort of surprised but also glad since I want to this to grind higher. Was even tempted to temporarily hedge but just going to let this thing play out. End of trading day. Will come back to check on this in Asia but give an update tomorrow.

Cheers

Hi FX,

Saw your post on EURUSD. I think you and Cloggie have got a great edge. And I think while Cloggie for his reasons will remain an elusive standard to attain, I thank you for starting this journal so troubled traders like myself can just get a glimpse of brilliance and hopefully learn something. I will go through your trades this weekend and look forward to more.

Your trading platform is obviously not Metatrader.... what is that? Is it connected to a broker?

Cheers

Vlad

I use have multiple versions of MetaTrader 4 for charting and as back up. I use Thinkorswim for futures charting.

My broker is a Swiss broker named Dukascopy. But I suggest that if you are trading with a big account, you use the custodian bank option. I use Merryl Lynch and have my account on their end. Dukascopy just executes my trades and the P/L is affected in my holding account at days end.

The market is pure interbank with decent liquidity so I can see where the bids and offers are. In the future however I do not think the liquidity will be enough so I have to move to HotspotFXi

I also have a Reuters 3000 Xtra feed but I do not go into that much here, it will just throw people off. You can see additional market depth and get news before anyone else. Similar to Bloomberg Terminal. I just do not like the Bloomberg machine much to be honest.

Simple setups. You hope for a reversal but play it like a fade. Each break higher makes you smile more and you just protect your profit. Sometimes, help the market along and bid it higher but do not over do it.

Pleased about today. Very. Lets see if this lingering portion of the trade pays me nice.

See you tomorrow. If it looks dull on the outset though I will just make it a long weekend for me.

You're not wrong about EURUSD being noisy! It is a bloody mad house! I only go in there for some fun... it is a thread that cannot be taken seriously and yet it attracts the most viewers... crazy!

I wish you success with your trading!

Thanks and best to your trading as well.