Goal is to express thoughts in a written form and be more responsible.
Daily Routine.
Rule of thumb: start the day as relaxed as possible. In my case stay way from emails, checking the market, positions and what not. Morning is to calm the mind and be mentally ready for the upcoming day. It is really important to get that blood flowing so I tend to hit the gym or walk before getting to the office.
First things first, read major news, start squak, bank reports, retail positioning reports, COT, look at calendar and any events. Question in the back of the head: What is the hype now?
Only after reading all this, charts will be open. Relevant instruments will be looked over and "chosen for the day". All trades are with sentiment (macro or daily). This procedure will be repeated 2x a day, before LO and NY open. Throughout the day squak radio is always ON and bullet news as well.
This was the short intro. More to come..
Psychology vs Routine vs Knowledge
There is too much nonsense about trading psychology. Most of struggle out there is blamed on psychology, fear, greed and what not. When the reality is proper routine and market knowledge will fix 95% of all those "so called" psychological problems.
Unorthodox method out there is to look for quick fixes. Not in a sense on moment you suck at trading and the next one you're that 1% elite... ;-)
How many people would perform open heart surgery without any formal education/experience? And how many trade (or gamble?) the market without knowing f.x.what drives price? price change mechanics? what risk events do to spreads? etc
Good routine is like checks and balances. Being disciplined is mostly about following a trade plan. More importantly is how one comes up with the trading plan in the first place. To come up with rational trade plan one has to follow a routine. If there is no routine or the routine is poor it is nearly impossible to come up with a good trade idea in the first place.
An example of a quick fix. Why did NZDJPY short fail today? Poor routine. Accounted for sentiment. targets etc. did not account for technical demand or necessary PA. Quick fix is to draw a sketch for what needs to happen so have accounted for all contingencies. Another rule for placing a trade was just introduced. ahhhhhh... the world of constraints
Trade limits and trade risk.
ATM daily loss limit is 2 risk units (R). can be more than 2 trades though cos if trade turns to quick full loss - sentiment/analysis is way off. Though if price continues to drift.. consolidates etc and turns out to be 0,5R loss then was I "less wrong" than quick full loss. High win rate is achievable IMO with great market knowledge AND PA understanding.
All Rs stated are after comission IF shared at all. Personally, consider stats important, but if focus too much on those get nervious. Market understanding comes first IMO.
The Setup.
Hardware: 1 laptop + 2 additional screens
Software: MT4 - trading platform. TradingView - as charting package. Excel - to keep stats.
Daily reads: Bloomberg, Reuters, WSJ, bank reports that can scratch for free.
Order Flow: Talking-Forex Squak, bullet info
IT Notes are used as checklists, reminders, etc
When markets are closed
There is something magical about markets when price does not tick and news do not update. One gets calm and awareness gets developed. With markets closed there is no pressure to perform, no fear to loose money, no greed to lure you into some crappy trades etc. Only facts and rational thinking are present in the current moment. Saturday morning is my favorite time as far as learning something and getting insight to markets/past trades.
Live Market is very deceitful and every trader needs time to grasp it. Mine, as already mentioned, is Saturday morning. Part of the routine.
Disclosure: subjective trading.
Daily Routine.
Rule of thumb: start the day as relaxed as possible. In my case stay way from emails, checking the market, positions and what not. Morning is to calm the mind and be mentally ready for the upcoming day. It is really important to get that blood flowing so I tend to hit the gym or walk before getting to the office.
First things first, read major news, start squak, bank reports, retail positioning reports, COT, look at calendar and any events. Question in the back of the head: What is the hype now?
Only after reading all this, charts will be open. Relevant instruments will be looked over and "chosen for the day". All trades are with sentiment (macro or daily). This procedure will be repeated 2x a day, before LO and NY open. Throughout the day squak radio is always ON and bullet news as well.
This was the short intro. More to come..
Psychology vs Routine vs Knowledge
There is too much nonsense about trading psychology. Most of struggle out there is blamed on psychology, fear, greed and what not. When the reality is proper routine and market knowledge will fix 95% of all those "so called" psychological problems.
Unorthodox method out there is to look for quick fixes. Not in a sense on moment you suck at trading and the next one you're that 1% elite... ;-)
How many people would perform open heart surgery without any formal education/experience? And how many trade (or gamble?) the market without knowing f.x.what drives price? price change mechanics? what risk events do to spreads? etc
Good routine is like checks and balances. Being disciplined is mostly about following a trade plan. More importantly is how one comes up with the trading plan in the first place. To come up with rational trade plan one has to follow a routine. If there is no routine or the routine is poor it is nearly impossible to come up with a good trade idea in the first place.
An example of a quick fix. Why did NZDJPY short fail today? Poor routine. Accounted for sentiment. targets etc. did not account for technical demand or necessary PA. Quick fix is to draw a sketch for what needs to happen so have accounted for all contingencies. Another rule for placing a trade was just introduced. ahhhhhh... the world of constraints
Trade limits and trade risk.
ATM daily loss limit is 2 risk units (R). can be more than 2 trades though cos if trade turns to quick full loss - sentiment/analysis is way off. Though if price continues to drift.. consolidates etc and turns out to be 0,5R loss then was I "less wrong" than quick full loss. High win rate is achievable IMO with great market knowledge AND PA understanding.
All Rs stated are after comission IF shared at all. Personally, consider stats important, but if focus too much on those get nervious. Market understanding comes first IMO.
The Setup.
Hardware: 1 laptop + 2 additional screens
Software: MT4 - trading platform. TradingView - as charting package. Excel - to keep stats.
Daily reads: Bloomberg, Reuters, WSJ, bank reports that can scratch for free.
Order Flow: Talking-Forex Squak, bullet info
IT Notes are used as checklists, reminders, etc
When markets are closed
There is something magical about markets when price does not tick and news do not update. One gets calm and awareness gets developed. With markets closed there is no pressure to perform, no fear to loose money, no greed to lure you into some crappy trades etc. Only facts and rational thinking are present in the current moment. Saturday morning is my favorite time as far as learning something and getting insight to markets/past trades.
Live Market is very deceitful and every trader needs time to grasp it. Mine, as already mentioned, is Saturday morning. Part of the routine.
Disclosure: subjective trading.
