My Trade Journal - DCB

26 November 2014 - Preparing for Asian Session.
I expect the NZD/USD to go down, but I am wait for a better setup.
I expect the USD/USD to go down, possibly to the 117.36 area.
I will wait to place for an order.

I decided to place a sell order for the USD/JPY for 117.700 at 5:10 PM EST.

I closed my position at 117.667 for a 3.4 pip gain.

I have placed another sell order for the USD/JPY at 117.568.

Closed position at 117.533 for 3.4 pip gain.

November 27, 2014
I decided my best opportunity at this time was to sell USD/CAD.

November 27, 2014.
I moved to 15 minute bars to manage my open trade and I moved my stop loss into the black above the current bar. This may be to tight, but I know when London opens things can change.

My open position of the USD/CAD was stopped out at 1.12462 for a 4.9 pip gain. I may place another sell order for this pair now London has opened. If I do I will use the 15 minute bars to make my decision. I have to remember that I trade to provide money and consistency is the key in my success. I do not trade for the big moves, but consistently make money. I have learned that at certain times whether there reports coming out or not price can change.

I know the USD has a bank holiday for Thanksgiving so I am cautious.

Other pairs I am watching include the USD/JPY, NZD/USD, USD/CHF and AUD/USD.

November 27, 2014.
Price seems to be very slow. I am glad I exited my short position of the USD/CAD.
I decided to buy the USD/JPY at 117.527. It may struggle, but I believe it is up.

November 27, 2014.
My long position of the USD/JPY is struggling as I expected. I believe it is because a U.S. holiday and many of the traders are off today and Friday. I still believe it will be up, but in a few hours I will have to make a decision. If I am not stopped out, I may have to decide if I want to continue keep it open or close it.

My short position of the USD/JPY has been stopped out at 117.454 for a 7.3 pip loss. I am going to shut everything down and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. I will be back Sunday night.

I bought the USD/JPY at 117.796 and closed it at 117.924 for a 12.8 pip gain. Although I had set a limit order at 118.360 I knew that there was a lot of reports coming for the JPY at 6:30 PM and 6:50 PM EST. I also recognized there would be resistance at the 117.900- 118.000 area so I tightened my stop to 119.925. I was stopped out at 117.924 for a 12.8 pip gain.

I will now wait for the reports to be released and then look for an opportunity to reenter.

I have another long position with the USD/JPY. I have placed a limit order at 118.227 and I am waiting to see if it gets there.

The price has stalled. I have tightened my SL and I may switch to 5 minute bars.

Well it was a struggle but the price went to my limit order of 118.227. My position was closed at 118.228 for a 22.1 pip gain. I believe it may continue up so I will monitor it.

1December 2014
Last night as I looked at my charts, I felt the USD/JPY was wanting to go down, but I was not comfortable selling while it was on a strong trend up. This morning I saw the news that Moody had down grated the JPY. The market was moving very slowly this morning, but I looked for opportunities to enter. I sold the USD/JPY with a limit order 33 pips away. Based on the price movement after my sell order was executed, I switched to the 5 minute bars and kept my SL tight.

I use my SL to conserve capital, not to stop me out if I have made an incorrect decision. I was stopped out for a 6.4 pip gain. Later I may have a better opportunity.

2 December 2014
I thought the USD/JPY would go up and I did not properly trade properly. I missed the move, but I entered this morning. Price has hit 119.00 and will it continue up? I tightened my stop loss.

My SL was hit for a 7.5 pip gain. I won't miss those kind of moves again.

3 December 2014
I had only one trade today because I had a busy day with appointments. At 3:23 a.m. EST I entered to buy the USD/JPY at 119.284. Sometime after 5:00 a.m. EST. the price was stalled and I tightened my stop loss to 119.395. At 5:45 a.m. EST I was stopped out at 119.394 for a 11.0 pip gain. I thought the price would pull back until reports for the U.S came out between 8:15 to 10:00 a.m. EST before the price would move. Unfortunately, I had appointments starting at 8:30 a.m. I had to leave no later than 8:00 a.m. so turned off my computer. The price moved down to where I expected and then moved higher. Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity.