Trading Apprentice | Forex Factory

Options

Permalinks
Print Thread

Similar Threads

Day Trading vs. Swing Trading vs. Position Trading 86 replies

The Dao Apprentice Journal 36 replies

Complex TA; The Road Of An (Igrok) Apprentice 225 replies

Attachments: Trading Apprentice
Exit Attachments

Trading Apprentice

  • #1
  • First Post: Dec 19, 2016 1:46pm Dec 19, 2016 1:46pm
I'm having a hard time to follow my trading rules, I start this diary with the hope that writting things down keeps me more time on my game. When my trading rules say A, sometimes I do the opposite, why?? Because I think the market is playing with me... If someone has struggled with this behaviour in the past and has a formula for get it away... please feel free to help. I am looking for a mentoring figure, someone who has been where I am now... where I am now? In the point where you have a backtested strategy but you are incapable of making the right trades and forget about instinctive trades that eats your winners.
  • #2
  • Dec 20, 2016 12:37am Dec 20, 2016 12:37am
Quoting Paintomaker
I'm having a hard time to follow my trading rules, I start this diary with the hope that writting things down keeps me more time on my game. When my trading rules say A, sometimes I do the opposite, why?? Because I think the market is playing with me... If someone has struggled with this behaviour in the past and has a formula for get it away... please feel free to help. I am looking for a mentoring figure, someone who has been where I am now... where I am now? In the point where you have a backtested strategy but you are incapable of making the...
Stick to your trading plan. Whatever you learned will pay you over time and it's not necessary that market will move to your way immediately after you place the trade. Try to avoid watching prices too often. Hope you'll improve your emotional control thus way.
Never Gamble Forex
  • #3
  • Dec 20, 2016 2:18am Dec 20, 2016 2:18am
Quoting yesyoucan
{quote} Stick to your trading plan. Whatever you learned will pay you over time and it's not necessary that market will move to your way immediately after you place the trade. Try to avoid watching prices too often. Hope you'll improve your emotional control thus way.
Thank you yesyoucan,

I will take that, I have to focus on process and forget about paper profits, you are totally right.
  • #4
  • Edited 4:32am Dec 20, 2016 2:53am | Edited 4:32am
Trade 1 - EURUSD

I think down momentum is weak and that EURUSD is forming a upward pitchfork in H1. I am looking to go long in a m5 downpitchfork breakout with target 1.0426.

Today dollar is very strong, I think longs are not going to work well but I have this very well looking pitchfork and this signal, I take it and don't think again.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot2.png Size: 95 KB


I was stopped out in a chop zone, price makes an out of line movement bellow breakout candle and I am stopped out. Bar closes and forms a hammer closing above breakout point, I reentry with SL bellow this last bar. This is the second trade in this market and the last opportunity I get my self with this pattern, if I am stopped out again I will go somewhere else to fish and let this market develop other setups.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot3.png Size: 100 KB


Finally stopped out, market formed a continuation triangle, thats enough EURUSD for today.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot5.png Size: 99 KB


Trade 2 - GBPUSD

I was waiting for this breakout but it was a fake... stopped out. Stops in place, no problem, I am following my trade plan and that is the only thing that matters.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot1.png Size: 109 KB


I reenter on a second breakout this time with strenght in M1, this is my second and last chance as I see that price action is of a strong support but today as I said before, dollar is king.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot4.png Size: 97 KB


Another trade that does not work, I followed my rules but I think I forced things with the second reentry. Anyway I've done things properly overall. Somedays breakouts are all fake and other days all breakouts works. The important thing is to be able to skip days like this and live for better days.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot6.png Size: 98 KB


Maybe if I have stated with the dollar side (which was the strong one today to play) I would have been better, will try that on the future, once I realize that a currency is ruling across the board I should look for positions on it's favour, not against... it sounds to obvious now.

Trade 3 - JPYUSD

Just opened a new trade, dollar is taking a breath in this uptrend, and the breakout of this pitchfork seems good to me. It is not playing the way I like, price is sliding up little by litle, the setup is not invalidated but not playing cleanly also.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot7.png Size: 92 KB


PM
  • #5
  • Dec 20, 2016 6:02am Dec 20, 2016 6:02am
Quoting Paintomaker
{quote} Thank you yesyoucan, I will take that, I have to focus on process and forget about paper profits, you are totally right.
I personally believe I can't be master of all trades. Focus particularly any particular pair or commodity what you love most. Despite of strong technical analysis every commodity and forex pairs don't move the same way . If you mix many items to trade you will not be able to assess volatility risk in trading and risk management will turn worse. So try to master particular one element and once you master on it , you can plan to trade in large volume later. Also not every pips count for us , so do'nt participate all trades opportunity either. Try to focus larger time frames like 4 hours,daily,weekly as well as monthly, short term trading always carry noise and disrupt your analytical mind.

Take Care. Happy pips.
Never Gamble Forex
  • #6
  • Dec 20, 2016 8:22pm Dec 20, 2016 8:22pm
I prepared a reply for you at this link:

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...72#post9368672
You cannot be extraordinary by being normal
  • #7
  • Dec 21, 2016 4:14am Dec 21, 2016 4:14am
If I may add a suggestion:

For me personaly, I think you overload your charts with data. There seem (for me at least) to many items which can cause conflicts while analysing.
Now, I do not know your system so I will nog judge it but it appears that you suffer more losses than gains. So three things can be the cause:

1: Lack of discipline and trading based on emotions
2: System does work
3: Combination of both

Now, I was pretty much in the same situation, until I discovered two things. The first thing was me myself. I was not aware of it enough but sometimes I was just not following the setup rules for the system(s) I used back then. Got too emotional, wanted to beat the markets and taking revenge on it when my money was taken.
I realised that it was me myself causing all my losses. Not even the systems.

Then, the second thing was I came by a thread here on FF about a system called Trading Made Easy

I decided to read it, to participate and to follow the rules very, very strictly. This was my game changer. The system is letterly what it sais: uncomplicated and simple and you will see, when you start to read that up till today everyone loves it.

May I suggest you take a look at that thread and maybe it will help you as it helped me a lot.

All the best to you,

Jan
First comes knowledge about yourself, then comes a system...
  • #8
  • Dec 21, 2016 9:48am Dec 21, 2016 9:48am
Quoting dkrock
I prepared a reply for you at this link: http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...72#post9368672
Very good read, thank you, remembers me a book I read a month ago "The Daily Trading Coach". As you say, sometimes when we trade we are not concious of what we are doing, and we have to be aware when this behabiour appears to take a step back and look at things like they are, asking if it is whithin our strategy or if this is a FOMO moment, or a revenge trade. I have this bad behaviour, when a setup fails, I start looking to another setup quickly and if I don't find it, I start softening my trading filters.

For example something I did yesterday (bad), I trade with pitchfork breakouts, and I know how a high probability breakout looks like:

A. Price has been trading in the pitchfork, on the side of the breakout for at least 2 swings
B. The pitchfork has to be confirmed with at least 3 test of the median line
C. Breakout bar has to be a clean bearish or bullish bar, more or less starting with half body in the pitchfork and ending with half body outside.

Yesterday as some trades failed, I started to pick every single breakout, skipping al filtering. As you said in your post, it was a moment of trading without thinking, I was in such state, that I forgot about jounaling the entries as it was my objective for that day.

I have to learn to cut this behabiour, it is my objective for this month.
  • #9
  • Dec 21, 2016 9:57am Dec 21, 2016 9:57am
Quoting JanCeulemans
If I may add a suggestion: For me personaly, I think you overload your charts with data. There seem (for me at least) to many items which can cause conflicts while analysing. Now, I do not know your system so I will nog judge it but it appears that you suffer more losses than gains. So three things can be the cause: 1: Lack of discipline and trading based on emotions 2: System does work 3: Combination of both Now, I was pretty much in the same situation, until I discovered two things. The first thing was me myself. I was not aware of it enough but...
Hi Jan,

Thank you for your words.

I have to work in the discipline area of my trading. I need to be patient for the right setups and my % of winners will improve quickly. One problem I have is that I backtested this strategy with a manual trading simulator where I could move forward very quickly and I only had to wait 1 minute or so for a setup. In the simulator I have stats of about 18 trades a month in 1H timeframe, so I think I am overtrading a lot (also I have moved to 5 min timeframe looking for more setups).

I will have a look at the system Trading Made Easy, maybe there is something that I can apply to mine, but I will keep with pitchforks, too many hours in the simulator for switching now to a completely new system.

Thank you.
  • #10
  • Edited 3:45am Dec 23, 2016 2:31am | Edited 3:45am
Trade 4 - GBPUSD

The pair has broken a 4th fan line in the 4H chart, I am looking for shorts. I am short from the breakout of this pitchfork aiming for 1.218. This is one of the best setups I have seen in a while. A clean pitchfork with a double top inside, I would take always no matter the outcome this trade.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot1.png Size: 117 KB


Edit... half out on pitchfork lower line.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot2.png Size: 109 KB


Edit 2... added again the half and was stopped out, as this looks like a short hunting, I am targeting the lower boundary of a previous pitchfork, if we break previous top it will have many odds of reach there.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: Screenshot3.png Size: 111 KB
  • #11
  • Dec 25, 2016 12:03am Dec 25, 2016 12:03am
Quoting Paintomaker
{quote} Very good read, thank you, remembers me a book I read a month ago "The Daily Trading Coach". As you say, sometimes when we trade we are not concious of what we are doing, and we have to be aware when this behabiour appears to take a step back and look at things like they are, asking if it is whithin our strategy or if this is a FOMO moment, or a revenge trade.
I do not know the book, but if the author agrees, it must mean something I mean I literary was not effective. It was not a matter of stepping back or anything like that. I would look for any reason to stay in a trade so I would win, and would exit as soon as I made the spread. It was insane, and I could not stop myself. Since then I have found out it is quite common and I concluded it was due to not knowing how to properly gamble. So I worked outside of Forex to teach myself to gamble and deal with the emotions. That worked okay, but it was more like I was trying to suppress the emotions and that is not an ideal way to cope with them.

I have found that for me, it is easier to recognize them as a natural behavior and to name them and welcome their presence. After all, they are still a vital human function, but just not necessary for trading, lol. I simply made a comment indicator and attached it to my chart on the upper right side between my spread number and my currency meter. It isn't so sneaky anymore Now I can continuously remind myself to check if I am calm or not. I have also changed the names of all my indicators to short phrases that keep me following my trading rules. Pretty cool. Works for me. Good Luck.

Attached Image
You cannot be extraordinary by being normal
  • #12
  • Dec 28, 2016 4:58am Dec 28, 2016 4:58am
Quoting dkrock
{quote} I do not know the book, but if the author agrees, it must mean something I mean I literary was not effective. It was not a matter of stepping back or anything like that. I would look for any reason to stay in a trade so I would win, and would exit as soon as I made the spread. It was insane, and I could not stop myself. Since then I have found out it is quite common and I concluded it was due to not knowing how to properly gamble. So I worked outside of Forex to teach myself to gamble and deal with the emotions. That worked okay,...

You have given me an idea, now I have a stack of 50 bills on my side and when I am going to make a trade I take the € amount I am risking and I put it aside, this way it makes it much more gamble like and makes me take a minute for thinking if the trade makes sense.
  • #13
  • Last Post: Dec 28, 2016 5:53am Dec 28, 2016 5:53am
Quoting Paintomaker
{quote} You have given me an idea, now I have a stack of 50 bills on my side and when I am going to make a trade I take the € amount I am risking and I put it aside, this way it makes it much more gamble like and makes me take a minute for thinking if the trade makes sense.
I would agree that doing a physical activity helps. My first tool was simply a piece of paper I folded into a triangle, like a desk wedge. On one side it said buy, on another sell, and the third was sitting on my desk, lol. I could not exit a trade unless I could turn the sign around. Later I found a fancy buy/sell on a metal spinning wheel. I still use it, but I added the comment to help with anxiety. I can still feel myself getting tense sometimes, and so seeing that comment helps me to keep monitoring my breathing rate.
You cannot be extraordinary by being normal
0 traders viewing now