What not to do | Forex Factory

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What not to do

  • #1
  • First Post: May 10, 2006 2:30pm May 10, 2006 2:30pm
I've only been trading for a few months and am trying to absorb everything that I can get my hands on. In my trading, it always seems that I'm on the wrong side of the swing. So what I'm proposing, is that I'll post the trades that I've made that resulted in a loss, and hope that I'll get feedback on what I've done wrong or need to improve upon. I hope that others will benefit and learn from my mistakes. Many thanks to anyone that provides feedback.

In the trade below, I bought GBP/USD on a bounce off of the lower trendline at 1.8626. Within a few hours, I was 40 pips in the money. Therefore I moved my stop loss to 15 pips below the trendline, only to get taken out for a 1 pip loss. Now you can see that it's making a modest climb again. Did I set my stop loss too close?

I tried to import the image into this message, but I don't think it worked, so I've attached it.
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  • #2
  • May 10, 2006 4:52pm May 10, 2006 4:52pm
Quoting AlphaPip
I've only been trading for a few months and am trying to absorb everything that I can get my hands on. In my trading, it always seems that I'm on the wrong side of the swing. So what I'm proposing, is that I'll post the trades that I've made that resulted in a loss, and hope that I'll get feedback on what I've done wrong or need to improve upon. I hope that others will benefit and learn from my mistakes. Many thanks to anyone that provides feedback.

In the trade below, I bought GBP/USD on a bounce off of the lower trendline at 1.8626. Within a few hours, I was 40 pips in the money. Therefore I moved my stop loss to 15 pips below the trendline, only to get taken out for a 1 pip loss. Now you can see that it's making a modest climb again. Did I set my stop loss too close?

I tried to import the image into this message, but I don't think it worked, so I've attached it.
Your trade was fine. You can't win them all. The only thing I would have changed would have been to move my stop to break even as soon as I was up 20 pips. If you'll search around the forum you'll find a lot of advocacy for "Moving stops to BE as quickly as possible" and "Never let a winner turn into a loser", from the likes of James16, Vegas and Bear73. I learned the technique from James16. Yes, it results in more BE trades, but you'll find that your profits will actually increase over time to a greater degree than if you give the trade "room to breathe". I don't want the trade to breathe. Once it is in profit, I want to suffocate the bastard before it can turn and hurt me.

Dial
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  • #3
  • May 10, 2006 4:54pm May 10, 2006 4:54pm
amen to that..
in my overzealousless to gain more profit in the past few days, i've not been taking enough off the table ...

note to self:

move s/l to b/e after 20/30 pips.
take half profit as well.

and be happy...
Trade what you see, not what you believe.....
  • #4
  • May 10, 2006 5:05pm May 10, 2006 5:05pm
I appreciate your replies. Another thing that I failed to mention before, was that there appeared to be some light resistance at 1.8670 over the last 48 hours. Once it broke that and retreated, I probably should have taken profit.

Diallist, I've read many of your post and admire your trading knowledge. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

(*Note to self..... move S/L to B/E ASAP)
  • #5
  • May 10, 2006 5:12pm May 10, 2006 5:12pm
Quoting AlphaPip
I appreciate your replies. Another thing that I failed to mention before, was that there appeared to be some light resistance at 1.8670 over the last 48 hours. Once it broke that and retreated, I probably should have taken profit.

Diallist, I've read many of your post and admire your trading knowledge. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

(*Note to self..... move S/L to B/E ASAP)
Thanks for your kind words AlphaPip. I don't know everything, but what I do know, I like to share as a way of paying back those who helped me in the beginning.

Take care,

Dial
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  • #6
  • May 11, 2006 8:11am May 11, 2006 8:11am
Here's another trade I made this morning. I scalped a few pips on the Retail Sales and Jobless claims data this morning. I appears that EUR/USD closed back above yesterday's trendline. I'm a buyer off of another bounce on that line. (Diallist - Should I leave a 20 pip trailing stop, or simply move to B/E after +20 pips and let it ride until I get a reversal candle?)
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  • #7
  • May 11, 2006 8:44am May 11, 2006 8:44am
Quoting AlphaPip
Here's another trade I made this morning. I scalped a few pips on the Retail Sales and Jobless claims data this morning. I appears that EUR/USD closed back above yesterday's trendline. I'm a buyer off of another bounce on that line. (Diallist - Should I leave a 20 pip trailing stop, or simply move to B/E after +20 pips and let it ride until I get a reversal candle?)
Because it has such a relatively short distance to move I'd be inclined to just move to BE and ride it to the reversal at the upper side of the channel. If you would like to trail 20, then drop down to the 15 to find suitable places to move your stop to.
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  • #8
  • May 11, 2006 9:18am May 11, 2006 9:18am
I wish I had read your post about 15 min. ago. I was just stopped out for a 20 pip profit at 1.2765, but it's charging ahead again..... oh, well.
  • #9
  • May 11, 2006 10:08am May 11, 2006 10:08am
Ouch.... EUR/USD trading above 1.2800. Missed out on an additional 40+ pips. Ever have those days when you feel that "even when I win, I lose".... yea, kinda like kissin' yer sister.... haha. Sorry, Southern humor.....

Anyways, I'm not comfortable enough to re-enter a trade that was stopped out for profit, but in this case, maybe I should have.
  • #10
  • May 11, 2006 11:53am May 11, 2006 11:53am
Alpha Pip, I like your idea of posting charts for accountability. I am a big fan of team or group trading. My son and a few pals have formed a group and we have even set up our own website expressly for the pourpose of enhancing our communications with each other. (forexfantasy.com)

Team trading keeps you honest. If you have to post a trade before you take it you think twice before you do it.
Nolite dormiens pungere ursum. -- Latan Proverb.
  • #11
  • May 11, 2006 12:07pm May 11, 2006 12:07pm
Mr. Whipple, thanks for the post. I look forward to seeing the progress on your site. I agree that team trading keeps you honest. You can't exaggerate your profits if it's on paper in real-time. I actually started this thread in hopes of getting a little constructive criticism regarding my tactics, even if I had to take a little punishment in the process. Dial has pointed out the importance of securing profits ASAP, and that alone has saved a couple trades today after the US Data release this AM.
  • #12
  • Last Post: May 11, 2006 12:14pm May 11, 2006 12:14pm
Another trade that I'm considering:

EUR/USD has broken out of the upper channel, which has previously held since May 1. BUT, volume will be low for the next few hours, and RSI and Sto are showing overbought levels. I think I should wait and let those O/B signs wear off before buying on the trendline bounce.

Any thoughts?
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