Euro Trade

Euro trade for a R 1.0 win. I actually took the trade on the 10 minute chart a few minutes earlier.  There was an engulfing bar near the previos swing high.

A way higher probability trade I should have waited for posted here on the 1 minute chart.

Monday

Traded Aussie dollar short for a R 1.5 win after a retrace in an overall down trend..  It did hit my second target that I was aiming for.  Not a very good exit.  I added to the position but was stopped out on my add with a very tight stop....too bad!!  I took 3 gold trades, they all went in my favour only to be taken out at B.E. or close to B.E.  My goal today was not to over trade.  I think I accomplished that; there just happened to be a lot of great action in the markets today!!

Aussie 5 min:

Gold

I have been watching Gold all day after it breached a key level on 3 hour chart.  It held below, so I looked for a short entry.  My third try worked after 2 small losses.  I covered at my second target (lower green line).  The thin red line is my trading platform indicating where my stop is.  At this point I lowered it from the original stop at top of swing (thick red line).

Entry:

 3 hour chart key level.

Another entry I should have taken.  Had to let the wife use the computer though.  Still dropping.

Euro S/R

Waiting for the salmon coloured level to break and perhaps run would have been futile today as daily resistance was just overhead.  Dave Landry style arrows told me to sit on my hands.  No trades today. 

Euro 30 min:

Euro daily S/R levels I am watching:

Best Day Ever

Well not my best day.  I remember I made $50,000 in a day "investing" during the tech boom.  Took me a year and a half to lose that money.  Tuition :)  But I digress.

I let my profits run to their targets and  it paid off today for R 6.0.  Today was almost as good as my entire "great" week last week!!!  I realize the markets are volatile and trending nicely....hopefully I can spot these wonderful opportunities in the future.

I was stalking this Aussie trade on the daily timeframe.  Friday printed a bearish engulfing candle bumping up on support @ 1.0400 area.  The second yellow arrow is where I added to my position.  I should have waited for a better entry on the add...but it worked.  R 4.0 total was the final gain.  The blue circles are buy (cover) limit orders.

Euro retraced and filled gap left by weekend.  It produced 2 nice trendlines to play off of.  The second trade where I added printed a 15 min reversal bar at second trendline.  R 2.0 gain in total.

Log:



Trade What I See Revisited

On Tuesday a quote hit home by Thalestrader from Traders Laboratory, ¨Trade what you see not what you think.¨  Then, even more importantly, Richard  has mentioned many times over the years to let winners ride and cut losses.  I still am challenged at both; however, I still came out with one of my best weeks ever after having one of my worst.  

With my broker, Oanda, I can risk any amount per trade.  This amounted to plus R 7.0 since Tuesday morning.

Euro Still Droppin

I traded the Aussie dollar in the morning for a break even result.  This Euro trade was my big winner.  I exited a wee bit early.

Early Bird

Euro has been on a slide and retraced 50% of recent move down. Three bearish candlesticks and an Adam and Eve top led me to take this short Euro trade.  Short break of pin bar and took profits too early.   R1.4 win.

I See It

Trade what you see, not what you think.
ThalesTrader

That is what I wrote down and shared with a friend.  I was down R 1.2.  I then traded what I saw, and finished the day up R 1.6.  I realized all my horrible losses were from where I thought the market should go, and talking myself into some sort entry.

Here are my 2 trades after I wrote the quote down.

Euro 10 min chart:

Euro 1 minute chart:

Weak Week

Here is a quote that a friend shared:

"The mistake is not being wrong, the mistake is staying wrong" -- John Hill

That sums up my week.....if I continue to make the same mistakes next week.  The mistake is over trading.  I learned a few new trading methods which enticed me to trade a bit more; however, what has not changed is the requirement to wait for GREAT setups.

Critique:

Good: 
  -Cutting losses.   Greatly improved as week ended.

  -Recognizing proper trendlines.

  -Market structure awareness.


Bad: 
  -Taking too many sub-par setups.

  -reentering trades when not appropriate.

I am very excited for next week.  Apply my goal of restraint each day.

"Remember, the best traders think in a number of unique ways. They have
acquired a mental structure that allows them to trade without fear and, at the same time, keeps them from becoming reckless and committing fear-based errors. This mind-set has a number of components, but the bottom line is that successful traders have virtually eliminated the effects of fear and recklessness from their trading.

However, eliminating fear is only half the equation. The other half is the need to develop restraint."

Mark Douglas,  Trading in the Zone

Wrong When Right

Revenge trading is  insidious.  One thinks he is being wise or nimble...but it is neither as it can damage an account quickly.  Here is the result of my live short Euro trade off the 1 hour T.F.  I initially bailed for minus 0.4 R, only to DOUBLE my position after seeing some bearish action.....or perhaps not bullish action...on the 15 minute timeframe.  I had a much tighter stop.  I then set my buy cover at the R1 target vice R2.  A winner I consider a really poor trade. 

A proper reentry.

Live Trade Shorting Euro

I have been watching this trendline (yellow) in the Euro today.  My bet is that this is a bear flag and my targets are the green lines.  They represent R1 and R2.

Today was a break-even day.  I am going to concentrate on a bit longer timeframes for my setups....namely the 15 minute charts to slow things down a bit.

One Good Trade

Woke up in the middle of the night to see this trade on the Euro developing.  I entered short on the one minute chart after the 5 minute closed below the yellow line, and couldn't climb above it.  Would have been nice to ride it down to at least the measured move. 

The rest of the day was horrible.  I should have quit after I obviously grabbed a chunk of the main move.  But I traded thre N.Y. session anyway.

Range Trading

So I decided  could trade anywhere....even in a range....just be nimble and cut losses quickly.  Wrong idea.  Came out with a moderate loss today but I shouldn't have been trading in this crap.

First circle all long attempts with last try a winner.  Second circle all short attempts, covered 1/2 on last attempt...stopped out B.E. remainder.

One good point....I cut my losses.  Thankfully cause that saved my ass.

Slightly Ahead

Not too pleased with my Euro trades today.  I made a little bit of money though.....  R 0.25.  It is TOUGH cutting losses.  And my first trade I cut my win.  I have yet to go a day this week without being a deer caught in the headlights at least once.  Same goal next week.....small losses.

All trades close to B.E. except last trade....long.

Groundhog Day

Euro finally broke a range set August 19.  Break even again today.  I got back from the docs and rushed the first trade only to get in WAY late and bail.  It went up without me.  I bailed on all the setups (6 times in all) except the last short trade which was a decent winner.  The real story is the trend lines today.  

I need to be more patient and only take the BEST setups. 

Break Even Times Two

Long Aussie for B.E.  and short Euro for B.E.  I could have waited for Euro to put in a lower swing high before lowering my stop.....but I didn't.  That was poor trade management given the setup.

Small Losses

Small losses was my goal today.  I accomplished that.  The first clump of arrows you see is me getting short and bailing because the trades came back on me.  Blue line entry area, red line initial stop, and green line R 1.0 area.  All short trades on the chart.

Trades: -3, -1, -2, -1, -2, -2, B.E., and +18 pips.  Came ahead +R 0.8 in the end.  Tomorrow I will try to be patient with entries  :).

Blew Up Real Good

I think that was a title to a SNL skit way back.

Worst trading day ever in terms of R.  Today I started to use a checklist and  recite affirmations, but in the end, trying to make up for lost trades was more important to my altered mental state.

I will learn from this day.  Brush myself off, and back on the horse.

Small losses, big wins.

Quote of the Day

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."


Shunryu Suzuki

Lucky

There are a couple reasons I didn´t like this long  trade. It had already reached a double bottom target, and I missed the initial entry as I was talking to my son. So I tried to be cute and trade inside the bars to get in on the retrace.
I wasn´t looking for a big win because of the measured move completion from before, but I thought it had good momo coming into the bull flag. Took me three tries for a R 0.6 win.  Not too happy with trying to salvage this one on the retrace.

 

 

 

Euro Trade

Euro Trade today for R 1.0 gain.  Bit lucky on exit.  I traded the Aussie dollar early this A.M. for  minus  0.15 R.

Bailed Euro Trade

Bailed as soon as it came back on me.  I have learned something new today.  And I am happy about that.  Almost giddy.

Entry is long at blue arrow.  Red circle is where I moved my stop up to as soon as it started to take off, and signifies (obviously) I was stopped at close to break even.   

Back in the Saddle

Well, I waited for a good setup this time.  Richard has always said to bail on trades that aren't paying you right away.  So I made sure this one ran out of the gate.  I have always cut losses, but not quickly enough for break-out trades.

Green lines R 1 and R 2 targets.  2 yellow lines measured move.  Blue line entry, red line initial stop.

Euro trade:

Fancy Schmancy

I am getting way too carried away with trying to probe for support with no price action confirmation.  I paid for that today.  Battled back to minus R 1.0.

Speech of the Day

Here is Coach Brooks' pre-game speech from movie "Miracle on Ice."  I could watch it a 1000 times.

Euro Trades

Break-even sequence in the end. Support came, but lower than I expected.  All long trades.  I should have gotten bigger when it was apparent the 3 pushes were the bottom.

Fiber

Early this morning I saw three pushes down on Euro, after quite a big run up.  The first orange triangle is where I exited a third of my position because it was afraid it was reversing on me.  I later added a third back on.  Nice winning sequence, all long trades.

At around 8:00 am central, I saw that the 30 minute trend line was being tested and holding.  I traded 2 sequences.....first a loser, second a bigger winner than the first was a loser :).  All long trades.

Trend is MY Friend

Euro has been coiling for some time.  A good friend gave me a heads up to these 2 trendline breaks on the 30 minute chart.  I was prepared for a high probability of a breakout :)  I actually tried 2 shorts...trades 5 and 6.....that was just silly.



I watched some videos at tradingafterdark.net which encouraged me to add to my winners.

Overhead view:

Trades:

Ouch....and a quote.

I over traded this week and my PnL paid for it.  I think I have said this before......back to the basics.  Trend, S/R, and momentum.  I will look for my market, not trades in any market.

On another note I just finished Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas.  A must read.

Quote of the day:

 "Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw the mud, the other saw the stars." Frederick Langbridge

Aussie

Don't have time to post much today.  I climbed back for a small loss today.  This trade will put me well in the green if it works out.

I am looking to let my trades hit measured move targets and/or S/R levels. Higher average R win is my goal.....and to be more hands off.  This worked well when I traded gappers a couple years back.

Long Aussie dollar as it looks like it is bottoming for the meantime.  Stop at break even now.  Just let it do its thing and look for measured move target.

Gold Trades

I should have waited for gold to tip its hand.  After it did, trading became easier and profitable.  This impatience cost me from making money today...down R 0.6 in the end.

4 winners, 11 losers.
Biggest winner 2.0 R.  Biggest loser -0.8 R.

Aussie Dollar Trade

Long Aussie dollar after the Fed  news.  I figured this was a pretty high probability setup after a triple bottom with a W formation.  Nice pause at top of W to give an entry.  Early exit....sigh.

Trade:

Euro Trades

6 trades today all on Fiber.  - 0.2R, B.E., -0.5 R, +0.80 R, -0.3 R, and + 1.0 R.

Here is my last trade.  It took me 2 tries.  Counter-trend trade so I didn't get too greedy.

Overview:

Trade:

Richard's Trade?

Richard posted the log of his 2 CL trades yesterday.  He didn't post a chart...perhaps he is getting lazy in his retirement ;).  I tried to re-create the scenario.

Perhaps this is what he saw.  Spike and channel within a head and shoulders reversal.

This is a 15 minute chart.  I couldn't get a 5 minute chart to go back to where his trade was entered.

Gordo sent me a 1 minute chart. Thanks Gordo!!

Gordo's setup.

Story of the Day

Once there was a wealthy but foolish man.  When he saw the beautiful three-storied house, he envied it and made up his mind to have one built just like it, thinking he himself was just as wealthy.  He called a carpenter and ordered him to build it.  The carpenter consented and immediately began to construct the foundation, the first story, the second story, and then the third story.  The wealthy man noticed this with irritation and said: - "I don't want the foundation or a first story, or a second story; I just want the beautiful third story.  Build it quickly."

A foolish man always thinks only of the results, and is impatient without the effort that is necessary to get good results.  No good can be attained without proper effort, just as there can be no third story without the foundation and the first and second stories.

What is the foundation of your trading?

Trades and Servers

I was kicked off Oanda's server for some reason, and couldn't log back on for 5 minutes.  I was in the middle of a trade. Cost me some $.   Apparently some clients were having trouble logging on.  I was kicked off, and couldn't log on.  Their response to my questions:

OANDA: Thank you for choosing OANDA. How may I help you?
Sheldon: hi. i had problems logging onto fxtrade. I was in the middle of a trade, and was disconnected....at around 7:35 central
Sheldon: was there an issue with your servers at that time?
Sheldon: my internet connectionwqas fine, and I tried 2 different computers of mine to log back on...to no avail for a few minutes
OANDA: There were some client noticing an inability to login to the platform at 8 32 AM EST. Clients who were logged in were still able to trade. The technical team was informed of this and resolved the matter within a few minutes.
OANDA: Did you contact us at the time you were experiencing the issue you have indicated?
Sheldon: i was logged on and was kicked off.
Sheldon: during that time, and during a trade.
Sheldon: I don't see whether or not I tried to contact you is a relevant question. 
OANDA: As you have indicated you were unable to access the platform. Had you contacted us we would have been able to assist with troubleshooting so that you could have resumed trading or had your trades closed if you were concerned as to any losses being made.
Sheldon: the issue is the platform was down, there was no troubleshooting to be had. As you may well be aware things happen fairly quickly after news events.
OANDA: OK. If you want any trades looked into you will need to provide ticket numbers for these trades.
Sheldon: thank you
OANDA: You will then be emailed once investigation of these trades is complete


I have had no problems with Oanda thus far.  And I have been told they are among the best.  This is my first issue with their server.


Trades:


6 trades today, - 0.8 R, B.E, -0.6 R, + 1.0 R, -0.1 R, and +1.4 R.


Here is my short Aussie dollar trade.  We are obviously in a downtrend, and I played what I hoped to be a false break from the box.

Overhead chart:

 Trade:

Gold Trade Result

Stopped out on trailing stop.  This win just covered my lousy previous couple gold trades.

Gold

Last gold trade stopped out.  I also attempted to reverse....for a small loss.  Then went long.  Anyhow, long is my bias, and I am trading my bias vice waiting for a great setup.  I am long gold, and luckily my bias trade is setting up into a decent breakout trade of this saucer.  Not too happy with my trading.
I have traded my bias before, and it rarely works out.  So when do I bias trade?  When I don't see any proper breakout or breakout-pullback trades that I trade 99% of the time.  This is impatience and trying to outsmart the market.  There, self-critique complete.  Today is the day I become super duper disciplined.

As I finish this entry, gold is breaking out and rewarding me for being undisciplined.

Gold

New plan.  New trendline looks like it is established.  Red line my stop, target....the moon.  I will adjust it accordingly.  Nice 15 minute pin bar formed  after my entry.