The PlayBook

I have been trading for a few years now and have had mixed success. I have gone through periods where I have been really successful and others where I was not so successful. I only blown one account and that was very early on (after just a month of trading). My trading runs in peaks and troughs although the good news is that during the tough times I don't tend to lose much, I just sort of go no where and tread water if you like.

I do know however that the a lot of the time when I struggle, the system or markets cannot be blamed entirely. I make some stupid mistakes, which if I were to eliminate I would see a much more steady equity curve.

So the goal of this journal is to try and eliminate my bad trades and focus on getting better at executing my good trades. Gradually overtime I should see that my play book contains a bunch of setups that I can rely on and the ones that I like taking but have no real edge are completely eradicated.

I don't have just one strategy that I trade exclusively. I have a few that suit different market conditions. I have one for swing trading, one for my day trading and one for trading the news. I would say that the majority of my volume is through my day trading but I didn't want to confuse anyone who might be reading this journal when you see different charts and different time frames being used.

You should also note that nothing that I use is my own. All of my strategies are either completely or at least partially taken from other sources. I also want to stress that I am not an expert, I am just another person trying to make it in this business.

I trade mainly technicals but do take the fundamentals into account in order to determine a view.

I will post charts, analysis and just generally anything I think will be helpful to me in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

When I do post charts they will generally be after the fact as I am using as a personal tool for my own trading as oppose to some sort of signal service for others.

If anyone has any advice, it is always welcome.

Wish me luck...

Yesterdays was profitable but I know I could have taken more out of the markets had I just stuck to my plan a little more. I took two trades on the AUD/USD which were profitable but I got a little spooked when the market paused for a little bit at the lows and ended out getting our for 1:1 risk reward when I would have preferred to have taken at least 1:1.5. Guess what... the markets only went on to make that and more on both occasions. The setups for both the trades were text book, nice momentum through the extremes and then a pull back! My bread and butter.



The one really strong point about my trading is my ability to take losses and not move my stop. My first Dax trade of the day was a good trade with momentum, a nice pullback and perfect entry. Unfortunately the markets were not ready to continue the trend and my position quickly got taken out for a loss. I then got a second opportunity but this time on the 10 chart (the previous was the 6). Again perfect entry in every way. I took some nice profit off the table at the lows but like the Aussie trade above, I got spooked when the markets paused and exited only to see the market roar on to what would have been some monster profits.





Holding a position is something I really need to work on. I feel my entries are spot on, but my exits need work...

So no trades yesterday. The price action just wasn't right in the morning and by the time the right moves came later in the afternoon I ad already left my pc. It is difficult to hang around on a day when a big move happens in the morning with no entry. You kind of feel like the move has happened... Anyway, at least I didn't spend the afternoon trying to get into trades our of boredom.

This morning I took three trades of the back of the UK and EU news. Two made money and one lost me money. I am net profitable for the day though :-)

Not sure if I will take any other trades. I will have to wait and see what the market brings.

I had an active morning on yesterday 3 trades and 3 winners. Something has happened to me since starting this blog. I am now only taking the trades that really make sense. I think this is probably because I am afraid of coming out in public and having to admit to being an idiot!

Let's see if this can continue into next week! But so far I am very happy with my trading and results.