Every true, good advice
Hey I’m trading bollinger band reversals on the daily chart too and I would have had a couple losers on gbpusd and usdchf if I hadnt of used stop orders to enter the trade. The trades never triggered and just went the opposite direction. That’s one thing you can try but I think your tennis coach was right. If its not broke don’t fix it! But yeah 1 week isn’t enough to make a proper decision either. Maybe backtest it manually and then forward test with a demo. Most importantly though, try and enjoy it 
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I found one of my biggest problems in the past was over-trading and trading too many correlated pairs.
If you have 10 pairs opened at the same time then chances are you’re either going to make money on most of them, or lose money on most of them. When buy/sell signals open on a bunch of pairs all at the same time then beware, the market is usually setting up for something.
If a big move happens then it usually affects the entire market. So be mindful of not just how many pairs you have open on 1 currency, but on how many trades you open simultaneously at any given time.
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I was going to ask this too, but how would you know after the fact?
I like this idea. But what happens if you get to the end of the week and you’re nowhere near your goal? Maybe just set a goal if you’re moving in the right direction? Or a separate goal if your trades aren’t working out?
My younger idiot self fell for this at the casino. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on the way to the restroom, and took at peek at the roulette wheel. 10 reds in a row. I put $50 on black. Red hit another 5 times.
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Hello, @steve369 @tabiuslee @Johnscott31 @MattyMoney @comandantechanch @Damilare1212 @alphahavoc @Falstaff @Mondeoman,
Thanks for your feedback on this thread. Great conversation and good advice. In case anyone’s interested, I entered 6 trades on Monday: CHFJPY, USDCAD, USDCHF, CADJPY, GPDUSD, and GPDJPY. I chose these pairs based on the strength metrics suggested in this thread: Trading the Trend with Strong Weak Analysis. I’m also trying to use the Bollinger Band methodology in this thread: Price Action, Market Structure & Bollinger Band. I figure that if I can catch a good entry using the Bollinger Bands in the direction of the trends I should have some success. I woke up this morning ahead $120, but I’m back to $0 as I write this. We’ll see what happens.
Again, thanks for chiming in!
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I am wondering do have a daily or weekly Goal in Mind. Most traders feel you cannot compound your account on a daily/weekly basis…I used to be one of them …
I may have a T/P set but I will take it early once Goal is met. If Set trade On Daily, H4, or H1 chart you will see your Profit come and go until hit days or weeks. Takes patience and small lot size to keep drawdown low. If your trading on Smaller time frame you take profits almost daily riding the higher high’s and Lower low’s. Still keep lot size low but small daily profits add up.
tabiuslee
My goal is to increase my trading account by 3% each week. So, for a $5,000 account, the target would be $150. BUT, I don’t just punch out after I hit my target. If I can get 4-5%, I take that too. AND, if I can demonstrate consistency with my system, I will consider increasing my lot size to generate larger profits. Currently, I’m trading micro lots of 0.1.
To prevent myself from over trading, I’ve set the rule that I can only trade between 7:00-7:30 a.m. and 9:00-9:30 p.m. I don’t trade Sunday evenings and I try to close all my positions by noon on Fridays.
Also, my SL is 100 pips (catastrophic failure). I don’t define a take profit, but I will consider taking profits when (1) I reach a 1:1 RR (so 100 pips), (2) a candle that started at the 20 SMA reaches the outer Bollinger Band (or vice versa), or (3) it’s Friday at noon.
Those are the details for now, but this is definitely a work in progress.
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@tabiuslee What is your weekly goal? And, have you tried to scale up, or do you trade the same amount each trade?
Did you mentioned what time frame you trade?
I do not think having a monetary goal of increasing your account size each week is a good goal.
I think it’s a terrible goal - but it’s trap many if not all beginners fall for.
I can understand why you have that type of goal - if you have worked in industry, particular sales and marketing the idea is to increase sales and set targets
Well that might work in industry, or you own business but it doesn’t work in trading.
In business, you have a certain amount of control over things, you can target specific markets, improve your selling skills, cut costs, employ more people etc
In trading you are totally 100% reliant on what the market gives you - imposing your will on the market somehow is not going to work
It’s where so many fail, including many of those who have been highly successful in others domains of life.
We have very little control of results in trading. Trading has more in common with fishing or farming than it does other types of business.
Farmers know there is a time to reap and a time to show.
I think a big part of the reason you are trading so often, and why many choose the day trading path generally is because it’s the closest thing to moving towards these financial type goals set by business.
It’s hard to sit and wait for the right trade to come along so many blag themselves into believing by trading often they are doing something - most often all they are doing is chasing their tail.
There is only ONE goal to have in trading, and that is to execute your edge consistently every time.
Monetary goals will do nothing but get in the way of trading results - the fur coat story in the classic Reminieces of a stock operator (the bible of trading) lays this all down perfectly well.
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I’m trading daily candles. Trying to let the trends play out.
Great observation. It’s very easy to fall into this trap. And then revenge trading when you line up a row of losers.
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Good stuff. Thanks for this.
I have been pondering how to respond. I just know it was not until this year beginning of 2021 that I started compounding my Account. I have Grown from $300 to over $1600 now. Trading US30 and NAS100/USD .01 and .02 lot size just playing it super super super safe and taking my daily goal when I hit it or if I go in drawdown just wait and wait for reversal and catch the up on my next 2 or 3 days goals I missed. Averaging 3% day 15% week. No stop loss. Only recommended for experienced traders and demo first. You have to practice Risk management and patience. I use 1:1500 leverage. London Close and New York Open the First hour EVERYONE can make all their PIPS their is you practice first.
tabiuslee
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Wow! Love it.
Gives me more to ponder. I’ll see where I stand on Friday and go from there.
Thanks for sharing.
Really great advice Matty. I couldn’t have said it better. Im starting to get back in the game, and your advice sounds right on the money to me. G
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That sounds like a winning combo for sure. Write down your rules and stick to them.
@glucas2 you should check out these threads too.
Best of luck to you both.
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Also: “Hopefully, get a good entry, then just ride the wave for a bit”
Also: “I’m over trading - not being selective enough”
Also: “I figure that if I can catch a good entry using the Bollinger Bands in the direction of the trends I should have some success. I woke up this morning ahead $120, but I’m back to $0 as I write this”
Did you enter these trades on a live account or on a demo account?
Did you backtest your decisions for: entry, stop loss, take profit, indicator(s) and actual entry levels in a journal? I may be mistaken, but use of words like “hopefully”, and “I figure that if I catch” seem to me to be indicative of hopium and prediction.
A successful trader does not predict, but writes a trading plan with specific inputs and outputs, then back tests this plan to demonstrate if and in which conditions it generates a positive edge. I am not criticising your actions, because we have all been there some time in the past.
You had noted how much your account was up (or down), but I think the most important change of approach needs to be "how much is at risk as a percentage of my bank, and does this align with my rules of not risking more than x% of my bank at any time with the total number of trades I have live at any point in time.
I (and I am sure other commentators) am looking forward to continuing this thread. If anyone else feels my comments are not conducive to good psychology and money management, please speak up.
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There speaks the voice of experience. Priceless.
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