Been trading for a while. I am a lawyer but am trying to change career to trader. Have had no help from anyone . Trading is a very lonely job. Am able to identify great set ups and have in past made 900 pips in week and had profit of 75%. Biggest problem is trying to trade off daily charts to avoid being pulled in to false set ups on lower level charts. Will have great week then rubbish week so account not moving up. This week for example was up 600 pips at one time but after broken even on gbp and closed out of long move on euro I am down about 200 pips on other moves but being disciplined and not panicking . I admit to over trading but its so frustrating that my account is not moving up. I feel as if I know what I am doing in identifying set ups, I try to be disciplined in not closing out or panicking but my over trading is messing things up. This week I took around 6 trades. I saw around 4 others which I did take (to avoid over trading). The 4 I didn’t take were great, no reversals, would still be in and up around 300 pips and my week would have been profitable. Help me. I have worked out a great simple system but I think I am the problem.
900 pips in one week? I wouldn’t even come close to that in 1 month! how many trades do you undertake per week? Thats insane! 
Hi I have been trading fx for 5 years now and this year have been my most profitable one so far.am looking forward to trading other markets soon.My friend it sound like you on the right track.I used to over trade also but to reduce doing so I look ahead on the fx calender to see what news realease is coming out for which pair and what is the impact rating.I love trading pair without or low impact new.then I look at weekly for the overall trend and daily for current trend and 5min for entering.I also use other tool to find those support and resistance spot to set me take profit and stop loss.also you may have you tp set high for the given timeframe you allow for the trade to mature and hit your profit target.please use risk managment and stick to you trading plan.my trade’s last 2 to 3 day and adv 80 - 300 pips a week and with 3-4 trades a low news week and 2 on a high news weeks.I know it take time.but congrads on coming this far.also keep going through baby pip schooling I keeps me sharpe
The number of trades depends on what set ups I see. It could be 10 in a day or none at all. For example I am in short on gbp aud and have been in this move since 8 oct and will stay in until I see clear reversal at support on daily. I may see loads of clear set ups and not be sure which ones to take to ensure I don’t over trade. Very frustrating when I see 8 trades, only take 5, the three I don’t take go, and of the 5 I do take, 2 are break evens 1 is successful and one is a loser. If I had then all 8 I would be up around 100-200 pips net. This frustrating situation makes me over trade sometimes. My 900 pips in one week was where I took every trade and they all went my way. Doesn’t happen often believe me. I may be in a set of trades and be up 10 or 20% and rather than close out I try to be disciplined and stick to my rules of only closing a trade for a reason, not just because my account is looking good. Then if the markets reverse and I come out with a loss or a break even I get frustrated. Is it best to just grab profit when you are up say 5 or 10% (which feels like gambling) or ride the waves for the bigger moves. Help.
If you’re trading off the daily charts and potentially could have 10 trade signaled in a single day that tells me you have an issue with taking on too much single-currency exposure - most likely in terms of the USD. Having a 75% gain in a single week screams over-trading, but not necessarily in the sense of doing too many trades, but rather in the sense of taking too much risk. It’s totally fine to run 10 active trades so long as you make sure you keep your correlated exposure (risk driven by moves in a single currency or set of related ones like EUR and CHF) down.
For example, going long EUR/USD and GBP/USD at the same time means you are doubly short the USD if you don’t adjust the position sizes to account for that.
If you take all the legitimate signals, but cut your trade sizes way back, you will probably find yourself being more consistent.
Thanks for that. I keep reading never to risk more than 2% of your account on any one/set of trades. I supposed once you have locked in profits you have the option of getting in on another trade (if there is a relevant signal of course) but again making sure your overall exposure is no more than 2%. What do you think of the idea of closing out trades when account is up a certain %. I don’t like exiting trades based on this. It feels a bit like fear and greed. I really feel I am close to getting really good but I just need some guidance from an experienced trader to tell me where I am going wrong. I have plodded away on my own with this trading for years while raising a family and running my own law firm but I just need a bit of guidance to reach the next stage of consistency
Your exit should be matched to your reason for being in the trade in the first place. If you’re trading a trend, hold until the trend is over. If you’re playing a range, hold until the range move has happened. Etc.