Well, there was a nice beautiful, long, and juicy pinbar in the GBP/USD daily chart this week that I took. It failed after breaking. I suppose these things happen, and to be honest, I could have collected 40 pips at one point. Oh well, shit happens.
More importantly, I still came out on top for the week, although it was only 0.28%. Oh well, shit happens.
My son turned 3 this last week. That was cool. I shorted the GBP/USD a second time for the week on his birthday, and took off for the Columbus Zoo. (A trade within a trade.) I came home to see it closed out at 75 pips or so. Now that's a trade.
Funny thing is, I don't know if I have ever gone to the zoo with him that hasn't involved me being in a live trade, and making some pips. I gotta go to the zoo more often. I really enjoy getting paid to walk around and checking out the animals with him. I think I could take that kind of job everyday!
Anyway, I am looking at this last week as a positive one. But the point is that it's never anything to get stressed about. There is no point. The market doesn't care how pissed off you get about it's behavior. Besides...life is too short. Find "zen" in your life, and it will appear in your trading as well.
Going to the zoo and making money, that's what trading is about......freedom.
Hope you all had a good week. I know I did. It was full of lions, tigers, and bears. Oh, and a false pinbar. Nothing too scary.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Some simple rules.
Hi all,
As I am sitting here doing nothing....I began to think why that is. (I am sure my wife could probably give you a few answers....)
I am not trading this week so far, mainly because it would violate my rules in a few ways. And thus, this post will be about some rules of mine that you might consider as well.
#1 - No news trading.
If you haven't been trading very long, I am certain someone somewhere has told you about riches waiting to be picked out of the market by Non-Farm Payroll announcements. Or maybe on CPI? PPI? ABC? or even DEF? (Ok, so the last two I made up.)
I am going to spare you the usual babbling about "liquidity issues", etc. on this one. The truth is, it's unstable trading at best. Yes, you can make $1,000 in a matter of seconds. You can lose it as well. Never forget that. (And for liquidity issues, Who in the hell cares why it's dangerous....just know it is.) You also have to be able to convince yourself that your information, machine, trading experience, and general reaction is going to be faster than firms out there that invest millions into trading. That last statement really puts it into perspective.
The king of all reasons is interest rate announcements. The Bank of England, The EU, and bank of Korea, and Japan (last night) are all announcing this week. Sounds like a mine field.
Trading news related items are all about anticipating. Anticipating is about predicting the future. Predicting the future is about GUESSING.
#2 - Have a life. "Trade to live", not "Live to trade".
In my last post, I mentioned that someone is asking about having me trade an account for them. This rule is the hardest to explain to people. Burnout isn't going to make anyone rich. Sometimes, you have to take a break. I have found that I run in cycles, about every 6-8 weeks I need to give trading a rest for a few days. (Normally 3-5 trading days.) I cannot tell you exactly why that is, but it just seems to be my "comfort zone". And that is all that matters.
Could I trade now? Of course I could. I could have shorted that pinbar on the daily GBP/USD chart. But I just didn't feel the need to. It's a hard thing to explain, once the challenge has been taken out of the equation, some of the "mystique" goes as well. I no longer worry about if I will "make it trading". I know I will. Somehow that takes the fun out of it a little.
I am sure my potential client will read this, so it will come as no surprise when I say this. He and I have gone through this, and I believe he's alright with it. Truthfully, I don't care. He knows this. I have to do what is profitable for me, and him. Burning out is not what's going to work.
Besides....who's mad about that 8.12% gain over six weeks? Even if I skip the seventh week, it's still 8.12%. That's better than most, if not all of his accounts at the moment. (He is spread out quite a bit.)
So I am sitting here, waiting to read interest rate announcements.....and still probably won't do anything until Monday. It happens.
NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE MARKETS.
Remember that statement. If you don't feel the need to trade for whatever reason, or even if you are just "nervous" about it.....you are going to get shaken out of a trade a little more easier. So why bother? It's all about comfort.
Have a great week guys.
As I am sitting here doing nothing....I began to think why that is. (I am sure my wife could probably give you a few answers....)
I am not trading this week so far, mainly because it would violate my rules in a few ways. And thus, this post will be about some rules of mine that you might consider as well.
#1 - No news trading.
If you haven't been trading very long, I am certain someone somewhere has told you about riches waiting to be picked out of the market by Non-Farm Payroll announcements. Or maybe on CPI? PPI? ABC? or even DEF? (Ok, so the last two I made up.)
I am going to spare you the usual babbling about "liquidity issues", etc. on this one. The truth is, it's unstable trading at best. Yes, you can make $1,000 in a matter of seconds. You can lose it as well. Never forget that. (And for liquidity issues, Who in the hell cares why it's dangerous....just know it is.) You also have to be able to convince yourself that your information, machine, trading experience, and general reaction is going to be faster than firms out there that invest millions into trading. That last statement really puts it into perspective.
The king of all reasons is interest rate announcements. The Bank of England, The EU, and bank of Korea, and Japan (last night) are all announcing this week. Sounds like a mine field.
Trading news related items are all about anticipating. Anticipating is about predicting the future. Predicting the future is about GUESSING.
#2 - Have a life. "Trade to live", not "Live to trade".
In my last post, I mentioned that someone is asking about having me trade an account for them. This rule is the hardest to explain to people. Burnout isn't going to make anyone rich. Sometimes, you have to take a break. I have found that I run in cycles, about every 6-8 weeks I need to give trading a rest for a few days. (Normally 3-5 trading days.) I cannot tell you exactly why that is, but it just seems to be my "comfort zone". And that is all that matters.
Could I trade now? Of course I could. I could have shorted that pinbar on the daily GBP/USD chart. But I just didn't feel the need to. It's a hard thing to explain, once the challenge has been taken out of the equation, some of the "mystique" goes as well. I no longer worry about if I will "make it trading". I know I will. Somehow that takes the fun out of it a little.
I am sure my potential client will read this, so it will come as no surprise when I say this. He and I have gone through this, and I believe he's alright with it. Truthfully, I don't care. He knows this. I have to do what is profitable for me, and him. Burning out is not what's going to work.
Besides....who's mad about that 8.12% gain over six weeks? Even if I skip the seventh week, it's still 8.12%. That's better than most, if not all of his accounts at the moment. (He is spread out quite a bit.)
So I am sitting here, waiting to read interest rate announcements.....and still probably won't do anything until Monday. It happens.
NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE MARKETS.
Remember that statement. If you don't feel the need to trade for whatever reason, or even if you are just "nervous" about it.....you are going to get shaken out of a trade a little more easier. So why bother? It's all about comfort.
Have a great week guys.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Systems and testing results.
As I sit on a balmy Sunday evening in beautiful Columbus, I checked the charts and saw absolutely no gaps. I am kind of surprised, however I quit trying to figure it all out. Who cares? Results matter, and nothing else. Period.
I have been trading nothing but a Price Action system lately. After six weeks, I have some decent results. You have to keep in mind that I also have a job, so sometimes I miss a trade or two.
Anyways here we go:
Week 1: +1.20%
Week 2: +0.50% (NFP week)
Week 3: +0.74%
Week 4: +2.35%
Week 5: +1.82%
Week 6: +1.24% (NFP week)
Results in this testing period: +8.12% Rate of Return(6 weeks)
The reason I added notes of Non-Farm Payroll weeks is that I often trade quite a bit less during them. For example, on week 2, I got all of that profit before the end of Thursday. I hardly ever trade those Fridays. However, I decided to on week 6's NFP, only because I got a really, really, clean setup on the USD/CHF pair.
The thing about results like this is that I believe this is what is meant by "Great returns are possible in the Foreign Exchange." To me, this is realistic to obtain on a regular basis. (At least it's what I have found in trading in general.)
So you have to think a little here. If you are happy with a 15% return on your Mutual Fund, then these results are pretty impressive. I am going to make a lot of money with these results. It might take a while, but compounding interest is going to do quite a bit of the work for me. I love it.
Part of this is because I actually had someone ask me recently to trade an account for them. I am actually in the middle of "tweaking" this system, no matter if I trade his money or just my own.
I just wanted you guys to see that it is possible, and it doesn't have to be 50% a month to make money.
Somewhere in the past I posted that a 4% return a month on $500 over 10 years turns out to be along the lines of $58,000. Funny, that's about where I end up a month....somewhere between 4 and 6%. No bitching here.
It's been a long road learning this stuff. The funny thing is that I have learned that trading the Foreign Exchange really IS simple. It's the fight with ourselves that is so difficult.
Hmmmmm, interesting spot with the GBP/USD pair. I see 1.94 soon. I'll wait for confirmation.....but I see it coming.
Have a great week trading!
I have been trading nothing but a Price Action system lately. After six weeks, I have some decent results. You have to keep in mind that I also have a job, so sometimes I miss a trade or two.
Anyways here we go:
Week 1: +1.20%
Week 2: +0.50% (NFP week)
Week 3: +0.74%
Week 4: +2.35%
Week 5: +1.82%
Week 6: +1.24% (NFP week)
Results in this testing period: +8.12% Rate of Return(6 weeks)
The reason I added notes of Non-Farm Payroll weeks is that I often trade quite a bit less during them. For example, on week 2, I got all of that profit before the end of Thursday. I hardly ever trade those Fridays. However, I decided to on week 6's NFP, only because I got a really, really, clean setup on the USD/CHF pair.
The thing about results like this is that I believe this is what is meant by "Great returns are possible in the Foreign Exchange." To me, this is realistic to obtain on a regular basis. (At least it's what I have found in trading in general.)
So you have to think a little here. If you are happy with a 15% return on your Mutual Fund, then these results are pretty impressive. I am going to make a lot of money with these results. It might take a while, but compounding interest is going to do quite a bit of the work for me. I love it.
Part of this is because I actually had someone ask me recently to trade an account for them. I am actually in the middle of "tweaking" this system, no matter if I trade his money or just my own.
I just wanted you guys to see that it is possible, and it doesn't have to be 50% a month to make money.
Somewhere in the past I posted that a 4% return a month on $500 over 10 years turns out to be along the lines of $58,000. Funny, that's about where I end up a month....somewhere between 4 and 6%. No bitching here.
It's been a long road learning this stuff. The funny thing is that I have learned that trading the Foreign Exchange really IS simple. It's the fight with ourselves that is so difficult.
Hmmmmm, interesting spot with the GBP/USD pair. I see 1.94 soon. I'll wait for confirmation.....but I see it coming.
Have a great week trading!
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