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.