Extracted Thread (per thread starter's request)

Computer crashed overnight; missed my first trade of the week.

Ironically it had to be a straight to QTP trade.

That hurts. Hope my VPS will run without any probs in the future. I'am thinking of making a high availability system for myself. Running the VPS and when i can't ping it from my homeserver it will start the MT4 platform and would take care of the trades to come and the already running ones.

Hi there,

I've locked 34 pips, with this nice BO. Second succesfull trade of the week. Both on cable. Just wondering if I closed too early.... I'm trying to make allways a R:R ratio greater than 1. This trade particulary was 1:1.2

Since I start just watching 3 pairs I've been most succesfull (and relaxed I guess...): eight trades, seven gets TP and just one loose.

thanks again to all main contributors

toni

And another breakout on G/U that went straight to QTP. This puts me up 2% for the week. Again pips were left on the table, but I am ok with that.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...bpusdm15_4.png

[quote=SedonaPipper;6611469] Hi there

take ownership - This is 100% correct and I guess different people do this is different ways. My way is to have high breakout success and few recovery levels. So, when the 'black swan' event occurs there's many recovery levels available before your account is blown.

average breakout 77 pips - Yes, it was. However, FxH mentions that a target of about half the average breakout would be a starting point for your TP. This in conjunction with the indi arrived at 31 pips. With my current understanding and tools this is what I traded and it was a winner!

actually this is a problem - I have to disagree here. I'm trading the system because I don't want to get greedy because this would be bad for any trader IMO. So, I missed out on a few pips, but there will be plenty more CZs to work with and make money.

feel regret - No, I was just pointing out what happened on the trade and subsequent to closure and I don't regret, especially on demo, things happen if we learn from them then that's a positive. What did I learn from this? I'll try out a trade management to look after the trailing stop for me.

make money - Although there are many interesting aspects to trading the Forexmarkets the key thing for me is retirement. I can tell you that I am some years away from the state retirement age and so it I need to win the lotto, rob a bank (a big bank), or trade Forex and make a lot of money. I have choosen Forex because the odds are in my favour, with this system, it's legal and fun!

Cheers

Paul

Hi Jay - What I do - I have quite a few machines but my trading position is to have the main machine all running normally and a laptop running the same account but connected to the phone line. In the unlikely event of a power outage the laptop will continue, seldom do the phone lines go down so I have redundancy. A UPS is less usefull for me if the power goes out as my adsl 2+ modem is at one end of the building and my machines not close by. The laptop solves the problem, for me. My weakness is we get electrical storms now and then being in the sub-tropics. Then everything comes offline if it is nearby. I have lost several modems, fax machines, network cards etc etc etc. to lightning strikes.

If you are really crazy, or money hungry, the laptop can be wireless and beside your bed. With four laptops at my disposal I have ample redundancy.

Darn it, my bad. I took the second loser before the indi signal, which never came so it should have been one loss. That is more in keeping with my stats. I note you are using the older indi. Have a look at my stats. The downside - I can't use an EA to enter on the lines but the figures make up for that.

Laptop besides bed.... how haven't I thought about this earlier.... hahahaha Now I only have to convince my wife that it won't bother her.

Technically speaking, the computer was not the issue; it seems it was my internet connection, and since it was 2am and needed the sleep, I didn't bother trying to find the problem. I have no trouble falling back asleep when I get trade signals since there's no thinking involved (order, set S/L, T/P - back to sleep). On the other hand, having to fix my internet connection could have prevented me from a good night sleep. There will be more trades to come

[quote=batemap;6613344][quote=SedonaPipper;6611469] Hi there take ownership -

take ownership - This is 100% correct and I guess different people do this is different ways. My way is to have high breakout success and few recovery levels. So, when the 'black swan' event occurs there's many recovery levels available before your account is blown.


Paul, my intent with this post is to change your mind so that you can be successful. So this is going to be some tough love. Who is the trader? You didn’t answer the question; instead you went into what you are doing to not experience a major loss. Why are you afraid of losing? Have you ever experienced a black swan? If so what did it feel like? 100% ownership is also about owning your feelings and to own feelings you have to feel them and express them and relish in them.
average breakout 77 pips - Yes, it was. However, FxH mentions that a target of about half the average breakout would be a starting point for your TP. This in conjunction with the indi arrived at 31 pips. With my current understanding and tools this is what I traded and it was a winner!
FX also talks about fading a trade, and mer talks about using fib’s as targets and I talk about using average pips per breakout, and others have come up with their own answers to this subject. The key is to find ways to get more pips per cz so you can trade only the best cz’s. Yes it was a winner and your current understanding of the tool is limited. Your desire to run before you crawl has had you skip over some important information. Again it goes back to your mental approach to trading.

actually this is a problem - I have to disagree here. I'm trading the system because I don't want to get greedy because this would be bad for any trader IMO. So, I missed out on a few pips, but there will be plenty more CZs to work with and make money.


Trading the SSBO is not about being greedy, it’s more about trading your plan to perfection. Based on what you have shared so far, I am not seeing a plan beyond make a lot of money for retirement. When I enter a trade I am looking at all kinds of information. What is my QTP, what is average breakout pips, where are the 00’s, etc… information that over time becomes second nature. My goal is to trade my plan to perfection and let the pips be what they are. That was a difficult process for me because I want to focus on the pips instead of the plan.
feel regret - No, I was just pointing out what happened on the trade and subsequent to closure and I don't regret, especially on demo, things happen if we learn from them then that's a positive. What did I learn from this? I'll try out a trade management to look after the trailing stop for me.


So what did you actually learn? You provided a solution and left what you learned off the table. I encourage writing down 10 things you learned including SP is full of shit.

make money - Although there are many interesting aspects to trading the Forexmarkets the key thing for me is retirement. I can tell you that I am some years away from the state retirement age and so it I need to win the lotto, rob a bank (a big bank), or trade Forex and make a lot of money. I have choosen Forex because the odds are in my favour, with this system, it's legal and fun!
So the extent of your plan is to make a lot of money! Why? What is your desired lifestyle? How much time are you going to devote to trading in retirement? What happens if you are not successful in the forex market then what? Trading is a lifestyle that one learns to be. It is more than entries and exits. You are doing good work now it’s time to take the next step, write out your plan, trade a live account, practice, and experiment with your lifestyle goal in mind. Here is my lifestyle, I love to travel and when I am in a different country I don’t want to be in front of my computer, I want to out and about. I trade the four hour charts so I have a lot of freedom. I only get a few trades a week but I have plenty of time to plan, execute and leave. All of this only takes me a few minutes a day. My written plan is 25 pages or so. It covers methodology, mental aspects, and how to recover when things are not going well. My SSBO journal keeps me focused on trading SSBO to perfection.

You have come a long way since November 2012! Cheers to that, SP!

Thanks for the recognition.

Perfection

Right there with you Jay. Waiting for the break.

You know what they say about perfection - it doesn't exist, and yes it is a great looking cz and I have my game plan in place. We shall see what unfolds as the day continues. At least I know that there is a cz on the board, actually I have 3 and will have to choose which to focus on.

could you ( or anyone really ) direct me to your EA or indi. ?

I've jumped around the pages and can't find it.

Thanks

There is no ea, there is an indicator but it only works after you have done the assignments on page one.

I'm playing with the indi. on page one but the screen don't show to be the same, there is no EMA settings, if there is no EA its ok, ..i'm just very curious, thanks for your prompt answer SedonaPipper

Actually I am being a butt - fiddling around with that indicator is the wrong way to learn SSBO. Forget it exists for the next week and learn to draw box's by hand. Then the indicator will begin to make sense. Right now it has no value to you and will not teach you how to trade SSBO.

[quote=SedonaPipper;6614117][quote=batemap;6613344][quote=SedonaPipper;6611469] Paul, my intent with this post is to change your mind so that you can be successful. So this is going to be some tough love. Who is the trader? /QUOTE]

Hi SP

Tough love, no problem 'so that you can be successful' is what I'm aiming for.

I'm the trader, do I have a fear of loosing? Well I have had a 'black swan' and how did I feel disappointed (with the outcome), mad (with myself for getting into the situation) so I want to minimise losses. Will this approach provide the biggest returns, probably not, but demo trading is one thing and getting to 'know/own the feelings' that are experienced everyday in 'normal' life in addition to Forex is crucial, I agree. However, live trading is different and some of the knowledge and experience of demo trading can be used in live trading, but there are other things that need to be learnt. During this initial live learnig phase I want to reduce the losses, so that it's easier to learn the lessons and know/own the associated feelings. Now, in the future when I'm an old hand at SSBO and understand all the subtlties then I'll be more comfortable to push the envelope a bit further.

Yes, I understand and agree with this 'The key is to find ways to get more pips per cz ', but I have limied screen time during London/NY open so can't really manually manage the trades. To overcome this I have set a hard TP, but know I will investigate some trade management EA to help with this. Maybe a close half of the lots, move stop to BreakEven and Trail the rest strategy will help, I need to investigate.

This was a bit tongue in cheek late at night 'lot of money for retirement', but I understand your sentiment. My plan is to keep it simple, my belief is that SSBO is a simple system, following a CZ price will go up or down and so my intention is to follow my plan, which is why I asked my first question on this thread regarding indi entries. I think we are talking abou the same thing here just in a different way.

What did I learn. Like you highlighted in reply good CZs produce solid moves and we the traders need to harvest as many pips as we can that' sone thing. 'SP is full of shit.' well this might be true, you might be having a bad week, but it seems to me that you are asking important/hard questions and often without this type of questioning indviduals/traders/myself don't necessary explore/analyse and come up with the most optimal answers. So, tough love is often good in the long term and I don't see you are attacking me, just trying to help and that's fine with me :-)

'trade a live account, practice, and experiment with your lifestyle goal in mind' that's an excellent idea and having a lifestyle goal is probably the most crucial. I'm sure some people spend 8, 12, 14+ in front of the screen each day, do they make money? Some, I'm sure, will make a lot, but do they have time to enjoy it with their family and firends? Maybe not, but if they are happy with this then so be it. I would not be happy with this situation, but whilst learning something additional time spent is often necessary, so I'm trying to putting in the 'hard yards', so that I can gain the rewards.

I think I will add this 'mental aspects, and how to recover when things are not going well' to my plan.

Thanks for your ongoing advice.

BTW, I've also been watching the GBPUSD CZ, which nice and tight ~ 20 pips and I'm up about 20 pips on the long trade, but with GBP news in a couple of hours who knows what will happen. I'm not going to move the stop to BE because I want to see how the trade goes, get some more bullish pressure at London open and hit TP, London open reverses Euro bullish move, news forces sizable move and hits a long or short TP???

Cheers for now and thanks for your help.

Paul

EDIT: Just thought tight CZs are good because they indicator a strong move, but it also enables the trading of larger lots for the same level of risk because of the smaller SL. Larger lots equals more pips. GBPUSD price back into CZ ready for the push up/down on the news?

I expected a 3rd round from this type of CZ; not that I'm complaining.