A little about me (as it rolls out of my head and through the keys)
Male, 27 years of age, UK resident.
I started dealing with stocks and shares about two years ago but never had the patience to wait and ride out moves for profit, I also seemed to lose more than I made, being glued to Bloomberg and CNBC seemed to make little difference to my success.... funny that?
At the time with a little research I believed trading was the right way to go so I could take both sides of the market. With a little bit more research I found a number of course that would teach me how to trade and so I took not one but two at great expense, £7,000 to be precise (or at the time around $12,000). Ouch.
Naturally the course was very in-depth teaching all there is to know about TA and PA, I left brimming with confidence half expecting to make it work from the get-go. The usual story.
After hitting a few stumbling blocks with my sim/demo account I turned to books thinking 'I must be doing something wrong' or 'forgetting' intricate details that will make my trading green and turn a profit. I purchased numerous books on Technical Analysis, too many in fact - information overload?
It took me six months to realise this route, this method, wouldn't work for me. I didn't like the unpredictability, I didn't like the subjective luck that TA relied upon and so I sort to find my own way.
I started to map what I called micro SR lines across my chart, I'd have as many as 10 on a day's activity and of course many of them hit multiple times, I back tested and found 40-50 trades each week, some times as many each day! These green lights gave me a bias, I saw a higher win to loss ratio than reality allowed, I was putting this system to work in demo it was barely break-even. Still, I went live and made a few $$ here, lost a few there, once again coming out around BE until one day for whatever reason I forgot to place a stop (I think it was an overlapping order). I returned to my computer at the end of the day with 90% of my account wiped out.
So, another 'system' failed me, I instantly took a step back and looked for the next method. Towards the end of last year I started to try and work out what Order-flow was and how it moved the market, I researched Price-Action and read the whole J16 thread... the whole thing from scratch!
I started trading PA late last year in to this year with some 'ok' results but once again, for me, it's far too subjective and you require so many things to line-up and even then it's not a sure thing - "but there's no such thing as a sure thing" or at least that's what I kept reading everywhere.
I disagree. I don't agree. I'm in the camp that a few people know how to trade properly and everyone else is dicing with chance, sometimes with lady luck on their side but more often than not she's sticking a nice long candlestick up you arse (yes I'm quintessentially British, no ass for me)!
Where are all these traders that continuously make money, why are internet forums, seminars and groups full of losers and by full I mean brimming? Please don't take offence, I've had my fair share of losers, many in fact, thankfully I've never blown at account and in a year lost around $300 in total. That was my first ever year trading too. The guys that know how to do 'this' aren't concerned with your wealth or well-being, they're making money, they're on their yachts and their laughing, stinking, rich.
And my point? I've taken two years of my life (that's a lot at 27 years of age), of my free time, to research, to develop, to test, to read, to read some more, to research, to re-hash, to re-gorge, to re-count over and over, and some more over that and I don't want to waste any more time. I don't want to be in the losing camp any more. I'm a very driven person, if I want something I'll get it, be it material, be it career, be it a women (well sometimes, even they are more random and 'freak' than the markets).. or in this instance be it cash and the life I want.
My aspirations are to be my own boss, but truly my own boss, no customers, no clients, answering and proving for me, myself and I. I want to be in this position sooner rather than later, to do so I need to make money and hence I'm here.
Now that's all sounding rather elitist and arrogant of me so again I apologise, I'm just fed-up of the whole market surrounding the market, the 'BS' super traders and their seminars, all the books out there that don't work, all the brokers taking your money and the massive amounts of money taken from the unsuspecting wannabe traders. I was one, I've been there, it's taken me nearly two years to claw my way out of that bottomless pit and it's ugly.
What the above course did teach me is that discipline, and to a certain degree money management, is key and of course what not to do i.e. what they tell you to do! I will say people get too hung up on 'MM' and let it dictate what they do, in my own humble opinion they place too much emphasis and bias on MM. From my own experience I have found being too restrictive clouds judgement because you feel 'protected' by only risking a small percentage, this is false hope.
It is inseparable from human nature to hope and to fear. In speculation when the market goes against you you hope that every day will be the last day and you lose more than you should had you not listened to hope to the same ally that is so potent a success-bringer to empire builders and pioneers, big and little. And when the market goes your way you become fearful that the next day will take away your profit, and you get out too soon. Fear keeps you from making as much money as you ought to.
The successful trader has to fight these two deep-seated instincts. He has to reverse what you might call his natural impulses. Instead of hoping he must fear; instead of fearing he must hope. He must fear that his loss may develop into a much bigger loss, and hope that his profit may become a big profit. It is absolutely wrong to gamble in markets the way the average man does.
So what has this all taught me?
Three words for my style of trading are simplicity and minimal analysis.
I use 5 minute bar charts, I don't use any lines or indicators on my charts, not even trend or SR - you can forget about trendlines on a 5M (in my own opinion of course). My charts are 100% bare/naked. It couldn't be more simple... I've even done successful trades without a chart entirely but admittedly find it easier with some pictorial reference.
Standard trade practise
Min entries/trades = 4 (limit orders set each day)
Max entries/trades = 22 (2 orders per pair, 11 pairs)
Orders typically placed at LSE open GMT. This suits my work schedule as I live in the UK.
Limit orders that don't trigger are cancelled at the day's end.
08/04/10 - I currently only need to trade Cable (GBP/USD) so ignore other pairs for now, I do however keep an eye on Gold just for fun (I hold a number of long-term large positions on Gold).
Method
My method does not rely on trend; I rely on high *volume and momentum.
*I don't measure or chart volume I just know, through experience, when it's a busy period and you can see momentum with your own eyes on a simple chart.
I was thinking about sharing my trading style in this thread but for now I'm going to hold fire, what I do is very subjective and my style which may not suit others i.e. people might not see the market how I see it and the last thing I want is people taking trades based on a few lines I've written here!
MM
Target win ratio 50% (low but realistic)
Daily TP = 25-30 pips (don't get greedy)
ST = 10-15 pips
Starting Capital = $2,500
Risk per trade = <5-10% (initially $150)
I will operate a tiered system where capital doubles my risk does too, and aside from the first few trades I'll always be keeping risk around 5% per trade.
After 5 consecutive winning trading days I will trade 15 mini lots instead of 1 full size lot keeping my risk at around 5%.
Tiered Risk System (<5-10%)
Remember these are daily targets.
Capital. Risk to reward. Lots (full size).
1. 2,500 : 100 : 300 : 1
2. 4,500 : 150 : 450 : 1.5
3. 7,000 : 200 : 600 : 2
4. 10,000 : 300 : 900 : 3
5. 15,000 : 500 : 1,500 : 5
6. 20,000 : 700 : 2,000 : 7
7. 30,000 : 1,000 : 3,000 : 10
8. 50,000 : 2,000 : 6,000 : 20 - 17/05/10
9. 75,000: 3,000 : 10,000 : 30
10. 100k : 5,000 : 15,000 : 50
11. 150k : 10,000 : 30,000 : 100
12. 250k : 20,000 : 60,000 : 200
13. 500k : 40,000 : 120,000 : 400
14. 1Mil : 80,000 : 200,000 : 600
15. Buy myself an island, a helicopter and a playboy mansion.
Long-term goal is to risk >$2,500 per trade targeting 5-10k profit daily.
12/05/2010 - originally the long term goal was to trade 20 lots but in such a short time this figure is fast approaching and I'm thinking, why stop there?
I've adjusted my tiers above to include up to 100 lots, to be honest I'll probably stop at 50 as that's more than sufficient. Anything more and slippage may become an issue.
Journal started 19/03/2010 - daily totals:
19/03 = +46 ($460) +18%
22/03 = +30 ($300) +10%
23/03 = +33 ($330) +10%
24/03 = +27 ($270) +8%
25/03 = +38 ($380) +10%
26/03 = +41 ($615) +14%
Week Total = $4,855 +94% in one week!
29/03 = +61 ($915) +19%
30/03 = +33 ($495) +10%
31/03 = -17 ($255) my work got in the way!
01/04 = +82 ($1,230) +21%
02/04 = No trade, UK Bank Holiday.
Week Total = $7,240 +50%
05/04 = No trade, UK Bank Holiday.
06/04 = +32 ($640) +9%
07/04 = +35 ($700) +9%
08/04 = +38 ($760) +9%
09/04 = +111 ($1,665) +18%
Week Total = $11,005 +52%
- Work got busy so less trading but went a little mad and traded large lots -
23/04 = +$2,660
29/04 = +$8,050 (mental day, lots of exposure, speculate to accumulate)
30/04 = +$840
2 Week Total = $22,555 +106%
03/05 =No trade, UK Bank Holiday.
04/05 = +34 ($2,380)
05/05 = +33 ($2,310)
06/05 = -15 ($1,050)
07/05 = +108 ($7,560)
Week Total = $33,755 +44%
10/05 = +56 ($5,600)
11/05 = +59 ($5,900)
12/05 = +55 ($5,500)
13/05 = +93 ($9,300)
14/05 = +66 ($9,700)
Week Total = $69,755 (+$36,000 in one week) +100%
Moving up to 20 standard lots next week.
17/05 = +172 ($34,400) I have to say even I'm lost for words at how quickly the account is growing!
18/05 = +35 ($7,000) very tough day with three B/E trades
19/05 = -16 ($3,200) let profit slip away, don't trade when you're ill!
20/05 = -32 ($6,400) two bad calls from being ill, was in profit both times
21/05 = no trade (suffering from flu and shouldn't have been trading this week)
Week Total = 101,555 (+$31,800) +45%
$2,500 to $100,000 in just over two months.
24/05 = Short opened today, left open overnight.
25/05 = +237 ($23,700)
26/05 =
27/05 =
28/05 =
*Disclaimer - this isn't nor ever will be a signal service, I may publish live trades, I may not, I may publish my 'system' and ideas, I may not. Please do not request either of me, this is a journal not speed dating in FX™. Thank you.
Male, 27 years of age, UK resident.
I started dealing with stocks and shares about two years ago but never had the patience to wait and ride out moves for profit, I also seemed to lose more than I made, being glued to Bloomberg and CNBC seemed to make little difference to my success.... funny that?
At the time with a little research I believed trading was the right way to go so I could take both sides of the market. With a little bit more research I found a number of course that would teach me how to trade and so I took not one but two at great expense, £7,000 to be precise (or at the time around $12,000). Ouch.
Naturally the course was very in-depth teaching all there is to know about TA and PA, I left brimming with confidence half expecting to make it work from the get-go. The usual story.
After hitting a few stumbling blocks with my sim/demo account I turned to books thinking 'I must be doing something wrong' or 'forgetting' intricate details that will make my trading green and turn a profit. I purchased numerous books on Technical Analysis, too many in fact - information overload?
I don't try and predict the market, I have no opinion on long-term direction and nor do I care for it!
It took me six months to realise this route, this method, wouldn't work for me. I didn't like the unpredictability, I didn't like the subjective luck that TA relied upon and so I sort to find my own way.
I started to map what I called micro SR lines across my chart, I'd have as many as 10 on a day's activity and of course many of them hit multiple times, I back tested and found 40-50 trades each week, some times as many each day! These green lights gave me a bias, I saw a higher win to loss ratio than reality allowed, I was putting this system to work in demo it was barely break-even. Still, I went live and made a few $$ here, lost a few there, once again coming out around BE until one day for whatever reason I forgot to place a stop (I think it was an overlapping order). I returned to my computer at the end of the day with 90% of my account wiped out.
"The trend is your friend!" - what do they say about keeping your enemies close?
So, another 'system' failed me, I instantly took a step back and looked for the next method. Towards the end of last year I started to try and work out what Order-flow was and how it moved the market, I researched Price-Action and read the whole J16 thread... the whole thing from scratch!
I started trading PA late last year in to this year with some 'ok' results but once again, for me, it's far too subjective and you require so many things to line-up and even then it's not a sure thing - "but there's no such thing as a sure thing" or at least that's what I kept reading everywhere.
I disagree. I don't agree. I'm in the camp that a few people know how to trade properly and everyone else is dicing with chance, sometimes with lady luck on their side but more often than not she's sticking a nice long candlestick up you arse (yes I'm quintessentially British, no ass for me)!
Where are all these traders that continuously make money, why are internet forums, seminars and groups full of losers and by full I mean brimming? Please don't take offence, I've had my fair share of losers, many in fact, thankfully I've never blown at account and in a year lost around $300 in total. That was my first ever year trading too. The guys that know how to do 'this' aren't concerned with your wealth or well-being, they're making money, they're on their yachts and their laughing, stinking, rich.
And my point? I've taken two years of my life (that's a lot at 27 years of age), of my free time, to research, to develop, to test, to read, to read some more, to research, to re-hash, to re-gorge, to re-count over and over, and some more over that and I don't want to waste any more time. I don't want to be in the losing camp any more. I'm a very driven person, if I want something I'll get it, be it material, be it career, be it a women (well sometimes, even they are more random and 'freak' than the markets).. or in this instance be it cash and the life I want.
I guess you could call me a scalper...
My aspirations are to be my own boss, but truly my own boss, no customers, no clients, answering and proving for me, myself and I. I want to be in this position sooner rather than later, to do so I need to make money and hence I'm here.
Now that's all sounding rather elitist and arrogant of me so again I apologise, I'm just fed-up of the whole market surrounding the market, the 'BS' super traders and their seminars, all the books out there that don't work, all the brokers taking your money and the massive amounts of money taken from the unsuspecting wannabe traders. I was one, I've been there, it's taken me nearly two years to claw my way out of that bottomless pit and it's ugly.
It's that old saying -"those that can't, teach, and those that can, do."
What the above course did teach me is that discipline, and to a certain degree money management, is key and of course what not to do i.e. what they tell you to do! I will say people get too hung up on 'MM' and let it dictate what they do, in my own humble opinion they place too much emphasis and bias on MM. From my own experience I have found being too restrictive clouds judgement because you feel 'protected' by only risking a small percentage, this is false hope.
It is inseparable from human nature to hope and to fear. In speculation when the market goes against you you hope that every day will be the last day and you lose more than you should had you not listened to hope to the same ally that is so potent a success-bringer to empire builders and pioneers, big and little. And when the market goes your way you become fearful that the next day will take away your profit, and you get out too soon. Fear keeps you from making as much money as you ought to.
The successful trader has to fight these two deep-seated instincts. He has to reverse what you might call his natural impulses. Instead of hoping he must fear; instead of fearing he must hope. He must fear that his loss may develop into a much bigger loss, and hope that his profit may become a big profit. It is absolutely wrong to gamble in markets the way the average man does.
So what has this all taught me?
Three words for my style of trading are simplicity and minimal analysis.
I use 5 minute bar charts, I don't use any lines or indicators on my charts, not even trend or SR - you can forget about trendlines on a 5M (in my own opinion of course). My charts are 100% bare/naked. It couldn't be more simple... I've even done successful trades without a chart entirely but admittedly find it easier with some pictorial reference.
Standard trade practise
Min entries/trades = 4 (limit orders set each day)
Max entries/trades = 22 (2 orders per pair, 11 pairs)
Orders typically placed at LSE open GMT. This suits my work schedule as I live in the UK.
Limit orders that don't trigger are cancelled at the day's end.
08/04/10 - I currently only need to trade Cable (GBP/USD) so ignore other pairs for now, I do however keep an eye on Gold just for fun (I hold a number of long-term large positions on Gold).
Method
My method does not rely on trend; I rely on high *volume and momentum.
*I don't measure or chart volume I just know, through experience, when it's a busy period and you can see momentum with your own eyes on a simple chart.
I was thinking about sharing my trading style in this thread but for now I'm going to hold fire, what I do is very subjective and my style which may not suit others i.e. people might not see the market how I see it and the last thing I want is people taking trades based on a few lines I've written here!
MM
Target win ratio 50% (low but realistic)
Daily TP = 25-30 pips (don't get greedy)
ST = 10-15 pips
Starting Capital = $2,500
Risk per trade = <5-10% (initially $150)
I will operate a tiered system where capital doubles my risk does too, and aside from the first few trades I'll always be keeping risk around 5% per trade.
After 5 consecutive winning trading days I will trade 15 mini lots instead of 1 full size lot keeping my risk at around 5%.
Tiered Risk System (<5-10%)
Remember these are daily targets.
Capital. Risk to reward. Lots (full size).
1. 2,500 : 100 : 300 : 1
2. 4,500 : 150 : 450 : 1.5
3. 7,000 : 200 : 600 : 2
4. 10,000 : 300 : 900 : 3
5. 15,000 : 500 : 1,500 : 5
6. 20,000 : 700 : 2,000 : 7
7. 30,000 : 1,000 : 3,000 : 10
8. 50,000 : 2,000 : 6,000 : 20 - 17/05/10
9. 75,000: 3,000 : 10,000 : 30
10. 100k : 5,000 : 15,000 : 50
11. 150k : 10,000 : 30,000 : 100
12. 250k : 20,000 : 60,000 : 200
13. 500k : 40,000 : 120,000 : 400
14. 1Mil : 80,000 : 200,000 : 600
15. Buy myself an island, a helicopter and a playboy mansion.
Long-term goal is to risk >$2,500 per trade targeting 5-10k profit daily.
12/05/2010 - originally the long term goal was to trade 20 lots but in such a short time this figure is fast approaching and I'm thinking, why stop there?
I've adjusted my tiers above to include up to 100 lots, to be honest I'll probably stop at 50 as that's more than sufficient. Anything more and slippage may become an issue.
Journal started 19/03/2010 - daily totals:
19/03 = +46 ($460) +18%
22/03 = +30 ($300) +10%
23/03 = +33 ($330) +10%
24/03 = +27 ($270) +8%
25/03 = +38 ($380) +10%
26/03 = +41 ($615) +14%
Week Total = $4,855 +94% in one week!
29/03 = +61 ($915) +19%
30/03 = +33 ($495) +10%
31/03 = -17 ($255) my work got in the way!
01/04 = +82 ($1,230) +21%
02/04 = No trade, UK Bank Holiday.
Week Total = $7,240 +50%
05/04 = No trade, UK Bank Holiday.
06/04 = +32 ($640) +9%
07/04 = +35 ($700) +9%
08/04 = +38 ($760) +9%
09/04 = +111 ($1,665) +18%
Week Total = $11,005 +52%
- Work got busy so less trading but went a little mad and traded large lots -
23/04 = +$2,660
29/04 = +$8,050 (mental day, lots of exposure, speculate to accumulate)
30/04 = +$840
2 Week Total = $22,555 +106%
03/05 =No trade, UK Bank Holiday.
04/05 = +34 ($2,380)
05/05 = +33 ($2,310)
06/05 = -15 ($1,050)
07/05 = +108 ($7,560)
Week Total = $33,755 +44%
10/05 = +56 ($5,600)
11/05 = +59 ($5,900)
12/05 = +55 ($5,500)
13/05 = +93 ($9,300)
14/05 = +66 ($9,700)
Week Total = $69,755 (+$36,000 in one week) +100%
Moving up to 20 standard lots next week.
17/05 = +172 ($34,400) I have to say even I'm lost for words at how quickly the account is growing!
18/05 = +35 ($7,000) very tough day with three B/E trades
19/05 = -16 ($3,200) let profit slip away, don't trade when you're ill!
20/05 = -32 ($6,400) two bad calls from being ill, was in profit both times
21/05 = no trade (suffering from flu and shouldn't have been trading this week)
Week Total = 101,555 (+$31,800) +45%
$2,500 to $100,000 in just over two months.
24/05 = Short opened today, left open overnight.
25/05 = +237 ($23,700)
26/05 =
27/05 =
28/05 =
*Disclaimer - this isn't nor ever will be a signal service, I may publish live trades, I may not, I may publish my 'system' and ideas, I may not. Please do not request either of me, this is a journal not speed dating in FX™. Thank you.
"I made all my money by selling too soon"
