Every trade I've made is in the wrong direction!?!?

Beginner Questions
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I need some help here. Nearly every trade I’ve made has been in the wrong direction. For quite some time now I have been trying different strategies hoping to find one that is consistant (consistantly profitable anyways), but to no avail. I’ve spent a great deal of time using Fibonacci, I’ve tried vaious indicators, tried jumping in on a trend, etc. The setup always seems to look good, the candlesticks appear to be right, but for some reason almost all of my trades have resulted in losses.

It doesn’t seem to matter if I get in on a trend at the beginning or the end, whether I use a short term chart or long term chart, or anything. I’ve read through the pips school on this site, I read through information on other sites, I watch youtube videos and all, but I can’t seem to find a strategy that works. I use stop losses and profits, usually at +40/-20 for a 2:1 reward/risk. I’m in central time and have traded in the evening during the asian session, overnight during the London session, and have also traded during the NY session, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

Can somebody please help me out with a simple strategy to use that is consistantly profitable (more often than not, I’m not trying to ‘get rich quick’)? Any thoughts and advice on what I may be doing wrong is appreciated too. During what times should I be trading (I’m in central standard time), what my stop loss/take profit should be set at, which currency pair is suggested (I use either eur/usd or gbp/usd).

Thanks a lot.

3 Likes
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Then why are you not trying to trade in the other direction? LOL!

Well, seriously, your strat then seems to be fish food. If you have no aquarium, bring it to a restaurant of your own choice which has one.

I hope you are aware that those “markets” are no socialistic invention of everybody can become rich in a matter of seconds and all hold their hands and we love us until the end of the tale when the sun is glittering into the seven seas. If you want to become successful as trader/investor, then try to work hard for years to find your own niche in the markets. It will take a lot of time as well. And nobody will give you the confidential key to quick riches. Beside of some scams. But beware! LOL!

If you really want to start this journey with a lot of setbacks, then I’d start with the bp school and some other readings around the net. If not, better try something else like working like a salesman or sumthing like that, lol.

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:smiley: I did that for a while and couldn’t be profitable either!

Forexpastor, if you are NOT a “get rich quick” guy then my advice is to reduce your lot size and widen your SL/TP, do you pay attention to news? what is you bias according to the timeframe you are trading?

You have to sum up a lot a factors that tells you the probable direction of the price… and even that… some times the trade can go against you.

20 pips is too small margin to play with… but that is just me! some people like the rush to be trading all the time but a few succeed… leave that to the robots…

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Hello, pastor

[B]Here’s the glib answer to your question:[/B]

Keep doing exactly what you’ve been doing — right up to the point where you’re ready to place your order. Then, place the opposite order instead.

[B]Here’s an absolutely sincere answer to you question:[/B]

Stop trading for one week. Use that week to study a completely different perspective on the forex market —

http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/36328-what-every-new-aspiring-forex-trader-still-wants-know-194.html#post221818

This thread was started, and is guided, by Michael Huddleston, who goes by the screen-name Inner Circle Trader.

It will probably take you longer than one week just to read this thread, and to watch the videos. But, one week will be enough time for you to determine whether this approach is right for you. If it is, and if you choose to seriously pursue this approach, then fasten your seatbelt and get ready for some stunning revelations about how the forex market really works.

What makes Michael’s perspective on the market so different? My take on it (and this is my own personal view) is that Michael recognizes and builds upon a stunningly simple concept:

(1) The forex market is the most highly manipulated financial market in the world.

(2) It is possible to track the actions of the “smart money” which manipulates this market.

(3) Therefore, it is possible to anticipate many of the moves the manipulators are about to make.

At this point, I will stop trying to explain Michael’s teachings.

Take a look at his thread, and let Michael do the explaining.

2 Likes
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I maintain a thread on BabyPips that encourages successful traders to post their strategies to help those who are struggling. In this thread, I regularly update and outline strategies for the EUR/USD and GBP/USD pairs.

The thread is not meant to take the place of a solid understanding of TA principles, but it will certainly help you to spot successful systems and how to “tough it out” when a system does not make a profit for a period of time.

Here is the link: 301 Moved Permanently

Good luck!

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If you’re seeking a low maintenance, common sense approach to trade these markets then take a look at this little gem 301 Moved Permanently
· No complex nonsense to wade through
· Extremely simple concept & structure
· Can be traded across multiple pairs & instrument classes
· Can be tailored to suit your individual risk & preferred trade time horizons (short or medium term).

A cracking little strategy for new & intermediate traders alike.
You’ll be able to set up your charts & begin identifying opportunities after one read through of the 1st post.

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Is this becoming the advertising thread now?

Not that I do not have to advertise something:

If you’re seeking for the holy grail, look here The Holy Grail :stuck_out_tongue:

@yunny1

Believe it or not. In the beginning of my forex discovery I tried that and I was profitable. Not that I would suggest that to anybody seriously. Just saying, lol.

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IMO his problem is that of all newbies, jumping from strategy to strategy will result in losses until you find one that works a couple of times. Of course, that success was probably random, but then the trader becomes confident in it and lets the strategy work instead of quitting it after a few consecutive losses.

This is pretty common.

The best advice I can give is to trade just for the statistical accomplishment of wins and high risk to reward ratios, do this as if you were trading for your life and seriously for a couple of months before you quit the strategy. If you think it really sucks, move on and repeat that process.

I had to do that for thousands of hours until I found mine.

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Haha! Awesome post Buckscoder, I agree, let’s keep the advertising to a minimum ;)!

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Just seen this thread bumped - but, what happened to @Buckscoder, he was one of the old school legends here?

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I have exact same problem and ive been looking at charts for months now,you come to anything? I feel like ive tried everything but im not giving up

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“Can’t help it. Things have been bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can’t carry on any longer. This is the only way out. I am unworthy of your love. I am a failure. I am truly sorry, but this is the only way out for me”…these the last words of Jesse Livermore before self deleting himself :skull_and_crossbones:

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I feel your pain Pastor! :triumph:

I’m relatively new into this past-time and have found that more often than not I have the super human power to change the direction of ANY market. For months now, when I place a buy the market quickly changes direction from a strong bullish impulse and straight down to where it started from. Have no fear though because when I place a sell every buyer around the planet goes long! I’m amazed at how I consistently get poor results with all of the analysis I put into making the right move, and yes, I’ve considered going against myself and buying when I decide it’s a sell, and selling when I’ve concluded it’s a good time to go long.

So, I took a break! I stopped reading, stopped watching youtube’s and my following advice of my favourite traders etc. I just occasionally watched, thumb on the pulse sort of thing, kept up with the macro fundamentals of the market and politics. :nauseated_face: and now today I bought in to the world of Natural Gas hint: Russia & Ukraine & Nato. What do you know, I haven’t started a war yet with my buy and I’m making a tidy profit to boot. :innocent: I should raise my Stop Loss.

Adios amigo, maybe a short break from trading and studying will help your psyche and get things back in order… pardon the pun!

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What timeframe are you trading on? I have found that the higher timeframes tend to do what they say they are going to do more frequently than the lower ones. I can not quite break even on the daily and below timeframe but I make money on the weekly timeframe.

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I was trying 5 min and 15 min, but i find i need a bigger capital the higher the timeframes to place a suitable stop loss? To be fair i havnt tried the dailey and weekly just the 4 hour. Thanks for replying👍

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You need to find a broker that allows very small lot sizes, then you can trade bigger stop losses. On the plus side, the stop loss does not have to scale 100% on the higher timeframes because you have a better chance of the trade going your way so it does not need as much breathing room percentage wise.

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Do you recommend any good brokers? im in the UK. I was looking at IC markets but they dont use Trading view as 1 of there platforms, which is unfortunate as i find Trading view easy to use

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I am in the USA so I do not know what brokers you have over there unfortunately.

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Most people struggle because they impatiently try to skip the developmental process. If you seem to be missing something, make a list of questions and weaknesses. May require self analysis which may result in exposing a personality flaw. Some people lack flaws making them harder to list.