Trading results Mar.25.12 to Mar.30.12

Trading results Mar.25.12 to Mar.30.12
Trade 1 -$487
Trade 2 $+1144

Total net profit: $657
Total trades: 2
Winners total: $+1144
Losers total: -$487
Winning percentage: 50%
Risk to reward ratio: 1:2.3

Trade Long GBP/USD March28 2012 Wednesday

Long GBP/USD
Entry: 1.58717
SL: 1.58470
Target: 1.59450
Units: 300000
Resulst: +$1144

Trade GBP/USD March 27, 2012

Long trade GBP/USD
Units: 1780000
Entry: 1.58763
SL: 1.58450
Target: 1.59540

Result: Stoped out at 1.58450. $-487

Trading results Mar.18.12 to Mar.23.12

Trading results Mar.11.12 to Mar.16.12
Trade 1 $1149
Trade 2 $-500
Trade 3 $722
Trade 4 $522

Total profit: $1893
Total trades: 4
Winners total: $2393
Losers total: $500
Winning percentage: 75%
Risk to reward ratio: 1:4.8

Disciple in trading involves being discipline in life...boring...but the truth

"This is going to sound counter intuitive but has worked for me since i began trading profitably.

You said : Let's say I have learned all the stuff I had to, I know all the basics, I am good in fundamental / sentimental / technical analysis

This isn't everything. You need that but you forgot the most important thing. And thats having the discipline, patience, and emotional control to be able to apply everything that you know. That is more important than fundamental and technical analysis.

I have an edge in the market and i repeat the process every day. I wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, go to the gym at the same time, and trade at the same time. Even my sleep, my diet, my workout training, is all part of my trading method. Even my free time during the day and weekend so i can have balanced life, is all part of my method. When i leave to go to the beach or the country side on the weekend, is all part of my trading method.

When you get to that level, you become profitable in a mega way. Trading to become mega pro isn't a job, its a lifestyle choice.

If all i had is my method, and technical and fundamental skills, without the rest. I would lose my accounts.

The reason i say all this is because i know it may seem like some god like thing to become successful in this industry, but it can be done, once you do the yards.

I always use the analogy of a pro Olympic runner. To become a pro olyimpic runner might seem like a god like thing, but there are people who do it. You need to be so serious about becoming a pro trader, that it's the equivalent to becoming a pro Olympic runner. Then you will make it.

You said it yourself, "the market has it's own rules". All you need to do is find a way to exploit those rules.

If anyone reading this thinks you can't make money. You won't. Knowing that you will do what ever it takes to learn how to make money in this industry is almost half the battle.

Yoda (star wars) says: You must unlearn what you have learned. A normal 9-5 job mentality and thinking like the 90% who lose is going to be the surest pathway to losing. You must unlearn what you have learned. Trading is almost complete and utter boredom. The doing is in the not doing. It's in the thinking. When you become pro you stop over analysing and all you do is sit there, and wait, and wait, and wait some more until you find the perfect trade."

Read more: http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/43737-do-you-have-edge.html#ixzz1ppG14P00

Long EUR/USD March 21, 2012

Long EUR/USD
Units: 160,000
Price: 1.31958
Stop Loss: 1.31633
Take Profit: 1.32265
Result: $721

Trade EUR/USD & GBP/USD March 20, 2012

Trade 1: Sell EUR/USD, result $433, 13 pips
Trade 2: Sell GBP/USD, Result $1149, 38 pips

Successful Trading requires patience!

Patience is a really important factor in successful trading. This is where a lot of newbie traders fall victum of crashing their accounts. Once in a while we have the urge to do something out of the box. In trading we must always stay discipline and follow our plan 100%. This plan allows you to draw and setup your trading to precision like a sniper. We wait for our target and we take advantage with super precision. Patience is virtue. If you don't have patience to wait for your setup you might as well quit trading. Its quite that simple.

EU to Increase Firewall as Italian Derivative Bet Unravels

EU to Increase Firewall as Italian Derivative Bet Unravels

Trading results Mar.11.12 to Mar.16.12

Trade 1 $0
Trade 2 -480
Trade 3 +318
Trade 4 +$840
Trade 5 +$1250

Total profit: $1928
Total trades: 2
Winners total: $2408
Losers total: $480
Winning percentage: 60%
Risk to reward ratio: 1:5

Long NZD/USD March 14, 2012

Long NZD/USD
Entry: 0.81093
Stop loss: 0.8091
Take profit: 0.8147
Result: $318.94 (+900 was possible)

Counter trend trade. Looking for small profit here. Decided to take quick profit since markets are in a downward trend. Looking back I should of left this pair since I was already broke even and could of caught my 1:2 risk to reward afterwards. My bad on this trade was my emotions, just getting out at market order and thinking the market will move in my direction. Remember to execute your plan perfectly.

Sell GPB/USD March 12, 2012

Sell GBP/USD
Entry: 1.56810
Stop loss: 1.5707
Take profit: 1.5619
Result: $-480.62

Didn't follow my edge today and this one got me. Should of traded the resistance on the down trend line. Its alight since its only a small loss. We will live to fight another day.

No trading tonight - no setups - Jobless claims coming for GBP/USD

U.K. jobless claims are projected to increase another 5.0K in February and the ongoing weakness in the labor market may instill a bearish forecast for the British Pound as the fundamental outlook for the region remains clouded with high uncertainty. As the Bank of England keeps the door open to expand monetary policy further, a dismal labor report could spur speculation for more quantitative easing, but it seems as though the Monetary Policy Committee will preserve a wait-and-see approach throughout the first-half of the year as central bank officials expect to see a stronger recovery in 2012.

We will sit on our hands tonight and see how the UK jobless claim comes out. Plus no setups means no trades.

Market Reflections March 13, 2012

Very strong retail sales data and an upgrade of the economy by the Fed triggered a break out for the Dow which, in what may prove to be a pivotal day for the market, surged past 13,000 with a 1.7 percent gain to 13,177. This is the highest close of the recovery.

But the news isn't all bullish. Though no surprise, the Fed is not expanding QE3 and given the approach of the presidential election, the Fed may well be on hold for the rest of the year. Demand for Treasuries fell with rates rising sharply including a 9 basis point jump for the 10-year yield to 2.13 percent. Lack of new stimulus and rising rates are not good for gold which fell $30 to $1,670. Rising rates are good for the dollar firmed more than 1/2 percent against the euro and nearly 1 percent against the yen.

US Retail Sales Ahead of FOMC Decision Should Not Be Overlooked

FOMC to leave policy on hold; will be watching data closely
Retail sales to take on added significance as far as monetary policy concerned
Euro locked in choppy directionless trade
Bank of Japan leaves policy on hold as widely expected

Although the key event risk for the day comes in the form of the FOMC rate decision, the big market mover might in fact come a little earlier when US retail sales are released. At the end of the day, the Fed is not expected to do anything at all at today’s meeting and it would probably be in their best interest to leave its outlook as is. Right now the Fed is in a position where it needs to start to consider the possibility of signaling an earlier reversal of monetary policy than had been anticipated given the better than expected improvement in the US economy. However, it is still probably too early to make any material changes and a wait and see approach is most likely the best course of action for the time being. At the same time, this does make today’s retail sales data all the more interesting, with any signs of strength out of the numbers to do a good job of reaffirming the likelihood for a near-term shift in the outlook of the Fed and a transition to a less dovish policy.
For now, the Euro has been very well supported on dips below 1.3100 and remains locked in some choppy directionless trade. Ultimately, a break back below 1.2975 or above 1.3300 will be required for clearer short-term directional bias. Elsewhere, the Yen has found some renewed bids on Tuesday after declining over the past several days, with USD/JPY attempting to correct back below 82.00. While there appears to be a very clear medium and longer-term shift in the structure which favors significant USD/JPY upside over the coming weeks and months, short-term studies are stretched and show room for an initial pullback towards 80.00 before a resumption of gains. The Bank of Japan has left policy on hold as was widely expected, while announcing no new monetary easing measures. The central bank did however enhance a credit facility designed to encourage lending to growth industries.

Long EUR/USD March 12 2012 Monday

Today we got stopped out of a EUR/USD trade. We saw price action move above all moving averages, price consolidation, and a variation of the cup and handle pattern. I moved to break even after 23 pips. Unfortnately we got stopped out at break even. No major loss here. We will wait for next day's price action. Wait for you setup patiently and you will be rewarded.

Entry: 1.31603
Stop loss: 1.31319
Target profit: 1.32157
Result: Break even, no profit or loss

Trading results Feb.26.12 to Mar.02.12

Trade 1 $1538
Trade 2 $462

Total profit: $2001
Total trades: 2
Winners total: $2001
Losers total: $0
Winning percentage: 100%
Risk to reward ratio: 0

Keep a Trading Journal!

MAKE A DIARY OF YOUR TRADES to keep a written on-going track record of your progress. I cannot tell you guys with enough emphasis how important your trading journal track-record is, except to say that if you don’t keep a trading journal or at least regularly analyze your trading history and equity curve, you are extremely unlikely to ever make consistent money in the markets.
The actual process of updating your forex trading journal will help you stay disciplined and organized. This is part of developing the positive trading habits that are so crucial to becoming a long-term profitable trader. I don’t care if you think updating your journal is boring right now, stop complaining and start doing the things that YOU KNOW you need to do to become successful. I can promise you that if you keep screwing around by being unorganized and half-assing it, you are never going to pull the sort of money from the market that you want. You NEED to look at your track record on a regular basis to see something tangible that reflects back to you your ability or inability to trade This will work to keep you on top of your game.

Taking a break tonight! March 09 2012 Thursday

Presumably, the renewed bid tone in the markets over the past 24 hours has been primarily driven off the fact that Greece has secured a 95% take up rate for the debt swap deal. Market participants have found comfort in this fact and the successful passage of the deal will help eliminate any added unwelcome uncertainty in a still shaky global macro environment. However, from here, we are not all that confident in the prospects for additional risk buying on Friday and things are expected to pick up into the latter half of the day with the all important monthly US NFP data, immediately followed by the EU’s final decision on Greece’s second bailout.

I don't see any setups tonight. Non Farm Payroll data coming out and that is a vital news release. We will sit on the sideways and take another break. Lets relax tonight!

Volatility Expected to Pick Up on Thursday with Major Event Risk

Markets have been mostly locked in some choppy consolidation following Tuesday’s sharp risk sell-off and things could continue in this manner at least until the latter half of the day where a number of major events could finally break the range trade and open a good deal of renewed volatility. The Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Canada are all set to decide on rates and although none of the central banks are expected to change policy (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.0% respectively), market participants will be looking for any signs of added dovishness given the ongoing stresses in the global economy. Perhaps more importantly however, will be the Greek PSI deadline at 20:00GMT. Many now fear that the collective action clauses (CAC) could be triggered, which would force bondholders to agree to haircuts. With the participation rate only at 58%, well short of the 75% required, all eyes are fixated on ISDA to see if they deem this to be a credit event.

We made a one trade on Wednesday night. We will sit on the sidelines now. One trade a day is enough.

Trade Long GBP/USD March 07 2012 Wednesday

Long GBP/USD on 1 hour chart using cross over system. 43 pip gain.
Entry: 1.57468
Stop loss: 1.5731
Target profit: 1.5790
Units: 300000
Result: $1068

Ultimate Goal!

My goal in trading is to execute my plan perfectly. If I cannot find my edge or if I don't know what my edge is I am just gambling. Some days there are many opportunities and some days there are only 1 or 2 opportunities. Some days are just sitting on my hands.

Kevin

Avoid the Trading Seesaw!

Have you ever experienced a performance seesaw? Trading seesaw is the cycle of successfully making money for a certain period of time, and then becoming overconfident and careless, which then leads to bad losses.

The "seesaw" is completed when the trader tries to get back "in the zone" by making the necessary effort to execute trades well.

Unlike a kid getting out of simple seesaw though, getting off the trading seesaw can be extremely difficult.

When you are "up" and are winning trades, you easily become wrapped up in your trading results. Your string of winning trades can make you overconfident, which can tempt you to start cutting corners and stop doing the processes that initially made you win.

Once you have reached a very high level of success, you'll probably fall back down to earth on your behind due to mistakes and maybe even a big loss. It is only in this "down" stage that you realize your mistakes and return to what you were doing previously that made you profitable.

Take this trader friend of mine named Rob (not his real name, of course). He has been live-trading for around 2 years, yet he has to end a year with a significant profit. During the first year, he was up by 0.50%. On his second year, he was down 0.25%. Needless to say, his performance has been less than stellar.

When I looked at his month-to-month performance, however, I saw that he would have 3 to 4-month winning streaks where he'd gain around 5% to 7%, followed up by 2 to 3 months of 6% to 10% losses.

This prompted me to ask him if he found something odd in his performance.

His response was surprising. He simply said that it was just how the cookie crumbled-sometimes he'd win, sometimes he'd lose. But I did not see it that way. I realized that he was stuck in a performance seesaw.

If you think you're experiencing the same scenario I stated above, don't fret.

One thing you can do to avoid the trading seesaw is to focus on the process. Some traders continually check their trading and psychological journals for signs that they might be deviating from their usual strategies. Others even score themselves on each trade to make sure their trading plans are being followed.

Another way to avoid the trading seesaw is to make sure that trading isn't your only measure of your self-worth. Try to find a sense of achievement and satisfaction in your relationships, work, and other hobbies that you might have. This way your ego won't be tied to your trading performance and you'll be more emotionally resilient in winning and losing trades.

As I said last week, trading is a grind where focusing on the process is your best friend. Having winning or losing streaks shouldn't hinder you from doing what works and improving what doesn't work for your trades.

It takes effort, emotional resilience, and most of all, FOCUS, in order to avoid the trading seasaw and become a consistently profitable trader over time.



Read more: http://www.babypips.com/blogs/pipsychology/avoid-the-trading-seesaw.html#ixzz1oQLrSgnw

Wednesday Could Be Day of Consolidation With Key Event Risk Ahead

After a huge sell off markets are moving sideways. ADP's Non-Farm payroll estimate will take the morning's focus, but watch near day's end for consumer credit which has been pivoting much higher in recent months. We will watch from the sideways and wait for market direction.

Trade EUR/USD March 6, 2012 Tuesday

Short EUR/USD using crossover system on 1 hour charts. Gain 62 pips.
Entry: 1.32048
Stop loss: 1.3222
Units: 250000
Target Profit: 1.31432
Result: $1538.86

How risk reward always works in your favor!

Here are results from my trading from Feb 26, 2012 to March 02, 2012.

Trade 1: $1002
Trade 2: -$542
Trade 3: -$971
Trade 4: $2920
Trade 5: $225
Trade 6: $842

Total 6 trades
4 winners and 2 losers, 4/6=67% winning percentage
Lost total $613
Win total $4989
Risk to reward 1:8
Overall total $3476