What works for me

I have been trading for the better part of 2 years and have taken more of a risky approach towards trading in which I would place heavy lots on a small account. At one stage I had a 50k account from a 2k start but in the end the market took what was due.

I have bounced around from system to system and even had a 'mentor' in the form of someone I paid to provide trade signals and advice.

After all this I have found what works for me is a naked chart with 3 emas, those being 8, 32 and 200.

I begin my trading session with a top down view starting at daily, 4 hour, hourly and then 5 min (entry) chart.

Looking at the daily I look at simple price action with regards to the ema's to determine if there is any trend.

I then drop down to the 4 hour to see if price action corresponds to the daily with regards to trend.

If all looks good on the 4 hour and I can see potential for upwards or downwards movement I move onto the hourly exclusively using the emas to find price points that correspond to the emas.

Generally I use the 8 and 32 emas as a maybe trade. If I find price action reacts strongly to these I will chose to view the 5 min chart for an entry.

For a higher probability trade the 200 ema is where its at. If I can see price on the 1 hr chart reacting to the 200ema coupled with a previous structure point this will be a high potential trade in which I will use the 5 minute price action for entry.

The key to this system is using price action with exponential moving averages and structure points.

The main price action I look for is a bullish or bearish englufing, although there are other signs that are worth trading on if price is at a structure point and you want to get in early with low risk.

I realise I haven't covered the entire scope of my system, it's very personal to me and alot is based on instinct.

I place my stop loss at the top or bottom of the previous candle or at which point I realise that if price hit that point I would then be in the wrong.

The most important part of my strategy is patience and waiting for the right setup. I couldn't count on my fingers and toes how many times i've entered long or short before the candle has closed and lost the trade.

I'm posting this because I am always searching for information, and would welcome any advice.

Thanks

Another thing I would like to add is I trade fast and aggressively. Im in this game to make money.

I trade 1 standard lot per $1000 so if I have a $500 account I will trade 0.5 lots at 500:1 leverage. I get in get out and make a profit.

Most of the time the market will range, so I would rather take a $200 profit at the end of it's cycle than hope it breaks through. If I have made my profit for the day I will enter a trade and set a break even + 5pips and let it run this generally happens late into the london session when price actually moves.

Another crucial aspect of this is setting a stop loss and sticking to it. When you put your stop loss at the top of the previous candle or structure point don't touch it. I have found if your stop point is significant when price touches it you are shit out of luck and you are on the wrong side of the trade, take your hit and move on.

If price action dictates I will often double my lot size in the opposite direction once my stop has been hit to recover losses and more often than not I will end up with green pips.

Hi, may i asked how long it took you to get from 2k to 50k? I'm also working on a small account for trial basis(or play about) with high risk. I've made 500% which is oretty neat. Would be good to hear more on that experience you had. Which broker was it with?

so at the end your 50k is gone???

It finally "worked" for him

Haha. That actually made me laugh. Unfortunately that is the sad story for alot of traders including myself.

What can you say, I should've cashed my chips in at 50k and moved on.

Alternatively, in my case, take this as another hit and take on board what went wrong and why. Rinse and repeat, 2 times in my case.

This will not stop me trading as I hold a stern belief that the forex market will take me where I want to go.

My attitude is balls out, put up or shut up. I don't back test or trade demo accounts. If i'm going to learn its going to be the hard way.

Hi thankyou for sharing. I also traded a similar way when starting out. Do you mind going further to explain what went wrong please?

Best Regards, Tzamo

I'm guessing the "500:1 leverage" and the martingale to chase losses was what went wrong.

For me it was more of a mental thing, second guessing my entries and letting losses run because how could I be wrong whilst cutting profits short - your typical beginners mistakes. Not to mention revenge trading which was a major downfall for me.

I jumped out of the game for a while and have been back at it recently and am doing great.

Have tweaked my strategy, and added divergence as confirmation for some trades. Keeping things super simple and no martingale trades.

Have gotten to the point where my emotions don't effect my trading, have patience and let potential trades go if not fully confident in the setup as there is always another setup just around the corner.