Made $531 yesterday, 8.8%. That’s $2,385 for the week, 39.75% on the $6K capital I’m using. Total since April 11 is $9,880, 329% profit on the original $3K I put in. Struggling to make some adjustments but thankfully things are going well. Was reminded this week of a few of my rules (which I broke). 1. Never trade against my funda call or soon after against a data release 2. Always scale out profits.
Will be setting up a new myfxbook as my broker transferred my account to a new server.
Have a great weekend everybody!
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Well. Congratulations. That sure is a stellar performance to date. Well done. Nothing else I can say or add (for a change).
Was much less than I had wanted to make this week, considering I doubled the capital used. Made just about the same as last week and the week before that. Took a losing day too after 3 weeks without a losing day.
Sad day. One of the traders who was very supportive of me when I was consistently blowing up messaged me after I was asking for his opinion on something.
“Sorry. Doubling down on losers is amateur. my name I try to help you with things, but you really don’t listen. You just do your thing. Which is fine. I just don’t have the time anymore.”
But I don’t double down on losers. I was asking him about increasing capital.
Keep getting reminded that how I trade is unorthodox. So I don’t know if this style is ever going to be consistent. More disturbing is I have a lot of respect for that guy.
Yeh listen up.
Before you get all down in the dumps and negative and let it affect you…
I think the dude was being a bit harsh to be honest. Dunno. Maybe just being cruel to be kind.
But I am going to be very frank with you here (although I think you already know this):
My one and only and single issue with what you’re doing to generate these gains is indeed this business of adding positions while the trade is going against you. It has worked perfectly up until now and your results show it. But this is why I asked you the other day: could your account withstand a spike such as that EURCHF debacle bearing in mind that you may have a number of positions open at the time of such spike. Same as on AUDJPY that I know you’ve just looked at on my behalf. If the answer is yes: I don’t see the problem. Spike aside: do you have a limit as to when you’re going to cut a loss regardless of how many positions you may have open on a trade and are you able to force yourself to close out even at a loss once said limit (if only in your mind) has been reached. And I know you sometimes leave trades open overnight. Could your account withstand those radical movements even if you’re not around to call it a day on the trade. Only you can answer these questions.
Now as you well know: I scale-in to full positions limited to a maximum of four signals. Let’s say for me a full position is 10 units (or lots). So I will scale-in 1+2+3+4=10. That is my limit. And the TOTAL position size is based on that formula that I was busy with on the other thread (this because like you I do not use stops so calculating position sizes isn’t easy). Point I am trying to make is that I have a set rules in place to begin with. My full and final position size is calculated before even taking the trade. And this scaling-in is very different from simply adding four (or more) full positions as and when the trade is going against me. And of course I have a very clear cut exits (profit or loss it doesn’t matter at the time i.e. I have to be out when signaled regardless). In other words: I don’t hold a trade hoping and wishing it’s going to come back to my now average price or better.
So what I’m saying is that I PARTLY agree with your mentor. But as I say: I don’t think the wording was warranted. But I also don’t know the history.
Now I know you’re not going to take the above too well. And yes we trade very differently. And yes: my gains are a joke compared to yours. All I can tell you (and you can take from it what you will): the ONLY TIME I have EVER lost money with my trading system (and by lost I mean as near as darn to wiping the account out and back at the time it was INDEED a LOT of money) has been for the very same reason i.e. instead of stopping myself when I had one full position open I continued to add to the losing position and to make matters worse it was done on an exponential basis. And it only took ONE sustained move on ONE particular trade for things to end in disaster. Actually I lie come to think of it. It’s happened twice. The year before last on the US Dollar Index. And the end result was exactly the same (well just not as bad as my Gold trade of last year). And just to add: not just me. I sat and watched somebody years ago lose $10 000 USD right in front of my eyes in the space of an hour doing the exact same thing (remember it well being GBPJPY) i.e. simply adding positions as the trade went against him. No plan. But I will admit he really had more money than sense and was not a trader by any means i.e. more of a game to him at the time. But of course he had cash to burn and was able to walk away without giving it a second thought.
Now you don’t have to answer anything. And as a matter of fact I’m quite happy to delete this post if you don’t think it appropriate. Just think about what I’ve told you. And if you do have a plan in place and you’re sure of it: then it’s really not for me or your mentor to rain on your parade. But just know that bad things can, and do, happen when you least expect it. And it is VERY difficult to cut a large loss particularly after you have been doing so well. It hurts if nothing else and depending on how large the loss is it can actually be a physical pain. Ask me how I know. No feeling in the world like it writing off tens of thousands in a single click (that took you months to generate) and then sitting back with heart racing and staring at the screen in disbelief. And it takes a long time to recover emotionally from that. Taken me over eight months this time. And nobody but nobody will be sympathetic and supportive. Mentioned before: when you’re doing fantastically you’re a hero. But lose big ONE time and you’re perceived to be an idiot (which in hindsight is probably close to the truth because you should not have lost so big in the first place).
And actually: it shouldn’t be a sad day. It’s a good day. If nothing else it’s a reality check and has given you time to pause and think about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. And you have the answers. Just as long as you are honest with yourself with those answers.
P.S.
And just so we’re clear I am not saying to adopt my scaling-in approach at all. I detail it merely to demonstrate the difference between scaling-in and doubling down (or worse). The idea being that maybe it will give you food for thought as to how you can still keep doing what you’re doing but within reasonable limits and with a clearly defined exit strategy for a loss. I suppose if you had a fixed $ amount in mind as to where you would cut a loss then it doesn’t really matter then how may positions you have open. If you can stick to that i.e. it’s not easy. But even if this is case: not something you can leave to chance overnight so bear this too in mind.
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Thank you for your input Dale. A few things.
- In no way was that guy my mentor. Not at all. He trades using daily signals, took over 6 months to make 10% on a prop qualifying account
- I do not “martingale” willy nilly, I always have a plan when to add to “losers”
- I’m well aware that I can blow up at any time, which is why I’ve set aside more than double my capital from profits
- I have clearly defined exits for loss, they’re just not as tight as most traders set and never have they been hit in the past month and a half
- With 6K capital and almost 7K set aside it’s not that hard to take a 1K loss in a day, especially since I’m averaging 500$ a day lately
- I’ve blown up more than enough accounts and lost more money to understand the risks of what I’m doing
- I’ll let my stats speak for my style. It seems to have worked so despite all the negativity I’ll continue doing what I’ve been doing.
Well. There you go. That looks like a well thought out plan to me. So I don’t see the issue then.
Issue is mental. Sad to have a guy support me when I’m down then abandon me when I’m up just because he disagrees with what I’m doing. As I always say, people trade differently. We do what works for us.
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I could have sworn I addressed this somewhere but I don’t see it on this thread:
Hate to say it (possibly again) but you are going to have to handle negativity. Those gains are out of the ordinary. People will be skeptical. And people will be negative. Especially those that are not making money or making very little. So just don’t let it get to you then.
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In the past month and a half I have closed trades at a loss and had losing days. 3 days. Lost $30, $120 and $175. Took the hits and moved on, made more the following days than I lost. Easy enough to do, what with the stats showing a 9:1 gross profit to gross loss ratio.
I don’t mind random strangers being skeptical. Used to it. Just affected because it was a guy I chatted with regularly the past 6-7 months.
Well. For what it’s worth: win or lose I’ll still be your friend.
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Win hopefully hahaha. Will visit you when I turn the 3K$ into 100K$. That’s a promise. “Itaga mo sa bato” in Filipino, which means write it in stone.
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But I will tell you this:
Wipe out because of the adding positions strategy (let’s call it that for now) and I’ll scrape the money together for a plane ticket and come over there to kick your ar*e. And I’m a big dude!!! LOL!!!
You might be heavier than me but I’m probably taller than you. I’m 6 foot 4. And I did Tae Kwon Do when I was younger.
It’s not an adding positions strategy. It’s a tranche entry and exit strategy. Plays to normal market volatility. Damn it people who watch markets 6-14 hours a day will get it.
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I’m 5 foot 8. But for sure you’ll be faster than me!!! LOL!!!
But I’ll make a plan. Besides: hedge fund is at stake here!!! LOL!!!
Busy since yesterday. Sorry haven’t updated much. Made just $235 yesterday, made $758 so far today. Still on track to hit my daily average goal of $500 a day. Will try to find time to update in more detail later.
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Woke up to another $321. Soooo drunk last night, hung over now. No trading until the US session I think.
