Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my journal.
I’ve been trading FOREX for about three years now. It was rocky in the beginning and has steadily gotten better since. I had a great start to this year, but I’ve sort of fallen off the wagon - acquired some poor trading habits and have generally exercised extremely poor decision making.
I’m starting this thread to give myself a bit of accountability and to accurately track what I’m thinking. I’m going to try and write in it daily and comment on the market. Trading is something I love and my dream is to one day be able to trade full time.
My strategy involves the Ichimoku indicator and the 200SMA (subject to change). I am just using those two to identify the basic trend though. My real strategy is based on that of my literary hero - Larry Livingston. If you haven’t checked out Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, it’s a must read trading book.
Here are two quotes that sum it up my strategy pretty well:
“There is the plain fool, who does the wrong thing at all times everywhere, but there is the Wall Street fool, who thinks he must trade all the time. No man can always have adequate reasons for buying or selling stocks daily or sufficient knowledge to make his play an intelligent play.”
“A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong, not taking the loss, that is what does the damage to the pocketbook and to the soul.”
- Basically be patient, only enter a position that looks really, really good. Also, take losses. They’re going to happen, probably more often than the wins. I will need to limit how much I lose.
NZD/USD
I’ve entered a position that looks really good. All three aspects of the Ichimoku are now bearish, and the price is below the 200SMA. Looking at the weekly chart too, the pair is clearly in a downtrend.
I’ve placed my SL at ~86 pips and will be managing the trade once it turns profitable, including selling some more if the situation warrants it.
Interesting. I look forward to seeing more of your trade ideas here!
Thanks, @PipDiddy! Appreciate the encouragement.
Today was pinbar(ish), which means the price pushed higher, but was rejected. That’s a good sign for me!
I’m noticing that the NZD/USD has the tendency to be very volatile over the course of a day. I can see plenty of 70, 80, 90, 100+ pip days…whereas they’re pretty rare on a more stable pair like the EUR/USD. Hopefully this won’t hurt me! I’m gunna sit tight on this trade for now.
I’ve been watching mostly majors lately and notice that the corrections that have been going on for a few weeks now seem to be drawing to a close.
EUR/USD
The Euro-Dollar seems to be reversing to continue its bearish march. I’ll keep an eye on this pair and wait for the Ichimoku to let me know the trend is facebook-official.
USD/CAD
I’ve been watching this puppy for weeks now- It looks like it’s finally reversing.
The trend is far from being confirmed by my system though, so I’m holding off for the time being.
Patience is definitely hard to practice but I’m hoping it will pay off in the long run! I had mentioned that Reminiscences is my favorite trading book (and book period, for that matter). I have ordered the book ‘The Way of the Turtle’ and am waiting for it to arrive. Does anyone have any other suggestions for trading books? I’m always looking to expand my library.
