Got into an ugly one today. Had the afternoon off so I decided to look at some 4 hour charts. had a long entry trigger on the EUR/NZD playing a pin bar bouncing off recent support. Price got just high enough to enter the trade only to shoot off south rampantly. I saw the trade going south fast and jumped out almost immediately. Lost about .4% on that one which hurts, but I’m glad I was able to recognize the loser quickly and get out. I overcame the desire to hold the trade and hope it turned around. It’s been a tough start to this month, but I still feel like I am in a good place mentally and looking forward to turning this around.
Entered a long position on the NZD/JPY this evening. Had a 2 day reversal pin bar form at a price flip level and break through a former resistance level. There is good size on the price action and there seems to be room to grow. The pair has been in a up trend all month and I will look for that to continue.
I made some trade management mistakes today. I moved my stop to be tighter but not quite break even on this trade as well as a EUR/USD trade that I don’t have a chart for. Both trades made small gains an turned south on me. My stops were triggered because I had them moved up after the trades went positive. Neither stop was at break even and both trades ended up getting back to positive or right at break even. I ended up with 2 small losses rather than a small gain or at least 2 break evens. A little mad at myself and it seems to be my downfall this month so far. I need to find the sweet spot between break even stops and giving room for a trade to breathe.
Moving on to next week with a clear head.
Potato,
Nzd has been a bum for me. Try trading the gbp against usd, aud,. Think of those 50 psychological levels.
I am no genius, but give it a shot. Only a rookie myself.
Tim
I took a short position on the GBP/USD today after the pin bar from resistance you can see in the photo. Price ran down pretty much all day and I closed out the trade just before the end of the day so as not to hold the trade over the weekend. I did move to break even fairly aggressively to ensure no losses, but price never challenged that level much after it started its down move.
Last night I decided to get a bit tricky and took a market order trade on the AUD/USD. There was an indecisive bar right at a prior support and I felt good about a price bounce happening. I risked only about a quarter of a percent of my account because it was out of my normal trade routine. Price did in fact bounce and I held the trade for a few hours. I moved to break even very quickly on this trade as well to protect myself, and it turned out to be a good winner. The moved ended up being larger than I caught, but I wasn’t willing to let the trade go unwatched. I got out of it as soon as I went to bed and could no longer keep a close eye on it.
Thanks potato, enjoy your postings as you clearly show discipline in your strategy. I, on the other hand, am more of a gambler and a knee jerk artist that must reign himself in. You are teaching me to become selective. Now, if I only can…?
Tim
I took a long position on the EUR/AUD last night. Had a small pin bar at previous resistance level now turned support. I wasn’t sure if this was counter trend of if the last month was corrective and the longer term will continue upward. I initially had a profit target around the previous lows but removed and moved in with a 30 pip trailing stop. The last 2 hours of the day really picked up momentum so I wanted to see how far it would run. It didn’t run a whole lot further and hit my trailing stop so I am out of this trade now. Got out with a small gainer.
Tim I am glad you are able to find value in my posts. I would encourage you to start your own journal because it is something that has really helped me. It has forced me to stay disciplined where I couldn’t before. I’m not sure how much of this you have read but if you go back you will certainly see from my earlier posts that I have struggled in the past and still have a long way to go for myself. Looking back over my own older posts is something that help me avoid repeating the same mistakes from the past. I hope you can look back and see how i struggled psychologically throughout some of my posts and learn from my mistakes.
I did not start this journal to help anyone other than myself, but there are definitely some lessons I’ve learned along the way that can help other people who are just getting started.
Had a trade open last night long on the NZD/JPY. I felt like the 81.00 level was a good support level from the past and I saw a pin bar close just above that line. I placed a pending order just above the high of that bar and went long from there. Price kind of hovered right around my entry through the night and the morning making me a little nervous. After all it was a Friday so both the Aussie and Asian sessions were done for the week. In the early afternoon price rose as I had expected and gave me a nice little victory. I decided to get out near the end of the day so as not to hold the trade through the weekend. I could see this pair continuing the recent up move but I am happy to escape with my profits in hand.
In doing my review of the month I wanted to post an update of this trade as I mentioned further review. I took a small loss and thought I should have gotten out at break even or taken a small gain. You can see where I entered long and how it progressed throughout the month. The pair went lower and would have taken out my original stop for a full loss had I not moved it forward. It would have rebounded later but not before taking me out. It seems to me that moving my stop loss to break even faster is the smarter move here and remaining risk averse is how I would like to proceed. I think the day in question from my original post happened to be a bit more volatile than average for the pair, and that may be a sign for me to get out of any trade. Looking back this justifies for me the reason to adjust a stop loss throughout managing a trade and doing so aggressively. I think the right decision in this case would have been to move to break even sooner than I did, and moving forward I will put that logic into practice.
Good job on the review. Keep up the good work.
I finished the month down .60%…Obviously I wish I had a positive month and could have had back to back winning months but it wasn’t in the cards. I started the month with a break even trade followed by 5 straight losers. I made a few mistakes managing trades and it’s possible I took some imperfect setups according to my strategy. I think I managed the psychology side of the trading well and did not let it get to my head and affect y confidence. After the losing streak I ended the month with a break even trade and 4 straight winners to get back to .6% loss.
The thing I want to work on the most is protecting my account. I want to move winning trades to break even faster and reduce my risk overall. My first goal is to not lose money. I struggled this month managing my trades as well as I would like so that will be my focus moving forward.
One thing I did well is cut my losses early. I didn’t take any full 1% losses this month which speaks to my commitment to reduce risk during a trade. If I think a trade has gone south I want to get out quickly and ensure my losses remain as small as possible.
I had 2 trades break even this month, 5 losers, and 4 winners. Counting the break evens as winners gives me more winners than losers only by 1 trade. My final win percentage was 55%. I would like to see that percentage above 80% each month to make sure my account continues to grow. I will keep working to improve and learn from my mistakes and let’s hope that November is a positive month.
Had a Short on the GBP/USD trigger this morning before I woke up. Have well formed pin bar with a high right around the round number of 1.5500 which proved to be a key level in the past. I see this pair is in a small down trend so this trade continues the trend. I think the pair could find new support around the 1.5200 level and I will look to get out around that level. I will monitor the trade and reduce my risk as it progresses. If this trade turns on me I don’t want to lose any profits I currently have.
This trade took an interesting turn. I probably should be out of this trade at break even but I was less aggressive in moving my stop. Some news came out yesterday that was worse than expected for the dollar and turned price around right at the release time. The day finished with a pin bar going in the opposite direction. I have decided to try something new here. I have placed a limit buy order at the same level as my stop loss on this trade. If I am completely wrong about my first trade I am prepared to take this trade in the other direction.
Final update. Price moved further down in the direction of my trade giving me a chance to get positive. I moved to break even as soon as I was able to do so and canceled the second order. Price tested yesterdays lows which would have given me a decent profit, but I decided to let it run its course. Price came back and stopped me out about 5 pips above break even. It definitely could have been worse and I am glad to be out at break even. I have to continually to remind myself that not losing money is the first best thing to do. I want to move to break even at my earliest opportunity in a trade.
Had a short trade trigger on the AUD/USD last night. Looking at the 2 daily bars merged together shows a pin bar right to the 72.000 level which has show support and resistance in the past. This trade grabbed my entry point but has moved against me through the night about 20 pips. I will hold through the morning but if it does not turn around I will look to cut my losses.
Yes its good to keep a journal for reference, and it should be made according to our ease.
This trade managed to fight back and get me closer to break even but not quite all the way. I moved my stop up accordingly and watched it as it got closer but eventually it triggered my stop and i took a small loss.
I decided to take a trade outside of my trading plan last night as well. GBP/JPY approached an area that I had been watching for the past week or so. You can see that a trend line I had marked intersected with the support and round number of 185. I thought we might see a bounce so I took long entry. I only risked 1/4% on the trade because it was out of my plan. There was no bounce and it took out my stop.
Potato,
Pin bars will not make you competent. News release at the current trend will give you momentum as to how traders respond. I love your discipline, but you need to let go of pin bars and trade what the sentiment is out there. Metals are up? Advantage for AUD…Down?..Get pummeled.
You have great potential to be a top notch trader. Read Kathy Lien updates at bkassestments.com
She will give you overdose of the world’s economies…I love it.
Potato, am rootin for ya.
Just to let you know, I have had the worst trading week ever…?really, with all signs in front of me?
Sometimes I want to play crystal ball and buck all odds…my mistake.
Tim