Trade Journal #2

[B]TRADE 38 10/27/14[/B]

Short position with 1:1 reward/risk ratio and 10:1 leverage. Was supposed to be a scalp trade but held on for longer-term. It originally went up +30 pips. But then declined later on in the evening for -15 pips. Then decided to close.

[B]TRADE 39 10/27/14[/B]

Another scalped trade. went short and made +16 pips. No pics again. Dang it. My journal’s falling apart. Am able to keep up with my trading record spreadsheet so i am able to post these updates.

TRADE 40 10/27/14

Long position left overnight. 10:1 leverage used. Entered at 173.93. Stop loss left at 173.66. Closed manually for +60 pips at 174.51.


Decided to close the position because of US consumer confidence data coming at 10. Did not want to catch any whipsaws there and then have to wait hours for price to get back up to the original level i could have closed at.

TRADE 41 10/28/14 1016AM EST

Took another long trade at 174.71 after better-than-expected consumer confidence report and of course the prevailing bull trend. 2:1 reward risk ratio. 10:1 leverage. I am cautious though as price is hovering within the 50% fib level on the daily chart.


UPDATE 10/29/14 0759AM EST

Held overnight. Lost -60 pips. :19:

TRADE 42 10/29/14 0800AM EST

Short trade at 174.25; SL at 174.5/TP at 173.75
Leverage 10:1
2:1 reward risk ratio


UPDATE 10/30/14

One of the longest trades i’ve held onto so far since i started the journal. The market was unfortunately too choppy. I realized that I entered somewhat in the middle of the range. It gave me lots of opportunities to exit to breakeven. Unfortunately, i was too greedy and proud to admit that i was wrong. -44 pips for this trade.


Mentally, i remain volatile, with mood swaying with the ups and downs of my trading account. I am trying to control my stress though as I’ve read that prolonged stress at high levels can lead to many conditions including diabetes, heart disease, etc.

TRADE 43 10/30/14 01:00PM EST

Entered long immediately after closing my losing short position. At hindsight, it definitely looked like a good decision as price quickly soared to break the 175.00 area. I was skeptic to take a long position since the price was hovering around a strong resistance level. Anyway, here are the details.

Entered at 174.70. Mental SL at 174.45/TP at 175.25 for an excess 2:1 reward/risk ratio. Leverage is 15:1


UPDATE 10/31/14 0842AM EST

What a night it was for the yen pairs! More than 400 pips was covered in just a span of roughly 6 hours. It went well for my overnight positions too and got me +110 pips average. One position was closed by TP at +70 pips and another position at +150 pips.


Despite profiting overnight, still feel that i could have done better, in other words i could have made more. I mean its 400+ pips going in my direction and I take a measly 1/4 of it? I am pretty sure this is the greedy side of me talking, but i cant seem to budge out of that mindset that i could have done something for more moolah.

One disappointing fact was that i closed my other long GBP/JPY position at 150 pips manually. It was around 12am est and i was still awake because it was Starcraft II night, like every other night it seems :wink: Anyway, if i slept earlier and left the position without any TP, i could have woken up to some really serious profits. ARGGHH!!!

:18: Just one of the reasons i love trading. Whether you’re winning or losing, its freaking crazy. How about you guys? How’d you do on last night’s move?

TRADE 44 10/31/14 09:00AM EST

Took another long position in hopes of trend continuing to make higher highs. Entered at 178.73 with SL at 178.39 and TP at 179.25 for 1.5:1 reward/risk. 15:1 leverage.


Mentally, i am kind of in a celebratory mood after making my biggest profit yet on a single position. Got to shake it off though as there is no time to celebrate in trading.

UPDATE 11:00AM EST

Hit TP after 2hrs for +51 pips. It could go further, but since its Friday i may not have enough time to close the trade as it pullbacks and turn into a small range.


Mentally, i am in a good mood because of the two winning trades. MUST TRAIN TO BE NEUTRAL!

330 pips missed because i immediately closed my position at the sight of +150 pips. :rolleyes: How its bugging me right now!

TRADE 45 11/02/14 07:10 PM EST

Weekend price gap up. Entered another long position hoping for bull trend to continue. Entered after price retraced enough for a good risk/reward ratio. Cautious however as price approaches daily resistance levels. 10:1 leverage with 2:1 reward/risk.


UPDATE 11/03/14 08:28AM

Closed the position manually, again to my regret, at 181.09 for no reason. Having trouble with that “let profits run” part. Anyway, i close the trade for +111 pips. Good start for the week.


TRADE 46 11/03/14 09:38AM EST

Took another long position at 182.00 in hopes of catching new highs. Mental SL at 181.75. TP at 183.00 for 4:1 reward/risk ratio. Could have done a better job at entry price though. 10:1 leverage used.


UPDATE 11/03/14 07:50PM EST

Closed for -51 pips.

TRADE 47 11/03/14 07:52PM EST

Decided to enter another long position. Got in at 181.39 with SL at 180.95 and TP at 183.00. Leverage at 15:1. 3:1 reward/risk.


Hmm may have been a little trigger happy with this one after closing the losing position. Will manage risk with a hard stop loss overnight.

UPDATE 11/04/14 11:00PM EST

After holding it for 26 hours, i decide to close it manually for +61 pips, a few hours later, it broke yesterday’s high and continue to make new highs as we speak. The frustration that i had to hold it for 26 hours as it dipped -30 pips for several times was unexplainable.


TRADE 48 11/04/14 11:58PM EST

Took another long position. 2:1 reward/risk. 10:1 leverage used.


Mentally, i am still pissed off from my previous trade which despite ending in positive was still poorly managed.

UPDATE 11/05/14 09:48AM EST

Manually closed all positions for an average of -50 pips. Price then went back up after. Still maintaining my cool. :cool:

TRADE 49 11/05/14 09:30AM EST

Entered long at 183.12 with stop loss at 182.85 and TP at 184.20 for 3:1 reward/risk ratio. 15:1 leverage.


Mentally, am not feeling anything. just going with the flow.

UPDATE 05:08PM EST

Decided to close manually. +6 pips. Closed it due to the candlesticks that were forming. I noticed that the candlesticks were small and consolidating up top, i think they call it a pendant. Anyway, it wasn’t the usual small higher lows and higher highs that would later break to new highs. It looked like it was getting ready for a sharp drop. That’s just my intuition though.


TRADE 50 11/05/14 05:47PM EST

Decided to enter a short position speculating a sharp drop to the 182.00 area. Entered at 183.12 with stop loss at 183.46 and target profit at 182.12 for a 3:1 reward/risk ratio. 11:1 leverage.


UPDATE 11/06/14 12:50PM EST

Closed all my positions manually, which is admittedly the largest overall position i took since i started this journal. Yesterday was a bit choppy and when price on GBP/JPY soared through the 184.00 level i decided to add to my losing positions. Was really scary since i was immediately down -90 pips on my first position.

My decision to reverse to a bearish bias was after all correct, but the timing unfortunately was not. Fear of missing out was one of the things that may have led me to pull the trigger to early. Anyway, i netted about +150 pips for this trade. Considering it went south by as much as -116 pips, the reward/risk ratio is really bad (1.5:1), and far from my original 3:1.


I closed the trade manually since the london/us overlap was over and volatility would die down for the rest of the day. I didn’t want to take any chances in holding the position as it sways back and forth to a range and then close it at the same level i would have a few hours earlier. it just creates more stress for me to deal with.

TRADE 51 11/06/14 06:29PM EST

Took a short position speculating price will fail the second time to make higher highs. 10:1 leverage. Possible 3 to 1 reward risk ratio.


UPDATE 11/07/14 01:22PM EST

Closed manually at 181.71. I was cautious not to let price go back up to 182.00s and then i get forced to hold positions over the weekend. I was greedy early on when trade was already +106 pips at 181.50, which was my original TP in the first place. Anyway, exited all positions manually at +80 pips. Note to self: DONT BE FREAKING GREEDY!


TRADE 52 11/09/14 08:47PM EST

Another trading week! First trade of the week. Hoping for lower lows as signs of bull trend diminish. Entered at 181.61 with SL at 182.02 and TP at 180.05 for a 3.8:1 reward/risk ratio. 10:1 leverage used.


UPDATE 11/10/14 10:46AM EST

Trade went positive up to +50 pips but quickly turned around. I was asleep at the time so i wasn’t able to close it manually seeing a clear bounce off a support level. Anyway, i close the trade manually for -36 pips.


TRADE 53 11/10/14 12:38PM EST

Decided to take a long position. Price is hitting the resistance level of a down slope trend line but figured it was going to trigger a breakout due to shorts trapped and strong bullish candles. Although i am no expert in reading price action, i firmly believe this setup. 10:1 leverage, aiming for 4:1 reward risk ratio, but 2:1 could do it. Will see.


UPDATE 11/11/14 09:20AM EST

TP got hit overnight at +100 pips. I know its against my rule to hold it overnight, but the setup had real potential so I decided to just leave a hard stop loss for -25pips.


TRADE 54 11/11/14 09:24AM EST

Took another long position after price made a decent pullback. I find the area to be a potential trap as well for traders eager for a short position, seeing that it is near a significant high which formed last week. 2:1 reward/risk with TP at 183.30 and SL at 182.75. 10:1 leverage used.


UPDATE 11/11/14 12:48PM EST

Closed all my positions manually. I was hoping for it to break last week’s high, but today’s market is quiet imo so i’d rather wait for another pullback to enter another long position than to let it move in a range all day and stress me out. I closed at 183.9, which gives me +40 pips for the day.


Mentally, calm. But lately, i’ve been having too many daydreams of wealth that i’m afraid it’ll make me susceptible to a large loss soon. Note to self: STAY HUMBLE AND NEUTRAL REGARDLESS OF P/L

TRADE 55 11/11/14 06:00PM EST

Took a short position after price broke out last week’s high. I would’ve gone long but the candlestick that broke it didn’t look convincing to me. I entered at 184.49 with my TP at 183.90 and SL around 184.70 for a 3:1 reward/risk ratio. 10:1 leverage used.


UPDATE 11/11/14 09:26PM EST

TP got hit at 183.9. Half of my positions were closed at 183.7 for an average of +70 pips. I was going to let it run but i figured i did not like price moving overnight against me, particularly for this setup. I already got my daily targets, so did not want to be too greedy.


Mentally, i feel good about the shots i called today. But gotta wonder, what if those green arrows all turned red. what would i think or do then? It’s kinda melodramatic but i think being somewhat negative makes a trader alert always.

Right now i feel like the only thing that’s working out for me are my reward/risk ratios. without it, my trades would suck since i have no defined high-prob setups that i routinely take. I just throw myself out there and hope to win more than i lose.

TRADE 56 11/12/14 09:07AM EST

Entered short position at 182.35. The last cs was a pinbar, which i think will trap eager bull positions. Targeting the 181.10 area with a stop loss around the 182.70 area. Targeting at least 3:1 reward/risk ratio. 10:1 leverage…


UPDATE 11/13/14 12:33PM EST

Closed all positions for an average of +54 pips. The trade went against me for -59 pips, making reward/risk ratio really crappy. I also left positions overnight with a -70 stop loss. so not really a good trade. Still, a win is a win and am happy about that.


The cs pattern unraveled much later than i anticipated and from a much higher point. Next time i will try to be more patient for a better entry area.