Having graduated from the School of Pipsology, I have just completed my first week trading a demo account with Axi Trader. I chose Axi Trader purely because they have 5 day candles based on New York Closing. Save for the disruptions from my 20 month old son, I have the luxury of plenty of time on my hands, having spent the last 2 years vegetating in rural NE Thailand living on my saving. So I have been able to really throw myself into the studying and now exploring the exciting world of charts, charts and more charts.
This first week I have spent getting to grips with the MT4 platform, Price Action, Support and Resistence, Pivot Points and the position of Stop Losses and Take Profits. Forgeting 2 reckless trades on Gold today, I made a total of 50 trades across the 5 days. 7 are still active tonight and 4 are pending. Of the 39 trades which closed out. 21 were winning providing 421 pips and 18 were losing trades with a deficit of 553 pips. I am not too concerned about these results as I am sure I learn an awful lot more when a trade goes against me than for me. At this point in time, and probably for the next month or so, it is all about experimenting. There is nothing like watching a live chart and if you have a position, you watch the action more intently. Hence the reason for the high volume of trades made.
I lost a number of pips purely through experimenting with the platform. Better to make these silly mistakes now rather than later. As far as I can see from my first week, the most difficult part is correctly positioning stop losses and take profits.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this first week and a couple of times the “penny has dropped”. Looking forward to next week when hopefully, I can work on the position of those stop losses and take profits!
Incidentally of the 7 trades remaining open tonigh 6 are positive, only one is negative but nicely poised!
Congrats on your first week…and yes, the penny does drop often, esp when you’re just starting out. And on the trades, fair enough but once the experimentation is over, you may want to downscale the number of open orders…
Do update this thread later on, will check it out.
Daxter 1962, is that your first week of trading any demo account? Besides, it also seems that you’ve learned a lot before you’ve even started. Please keep us posted on your demo trades, we’re interested in knowing what happens as you trades unfold.
Thanks. When I have everything sussed in my mind, I fully intend reducing trading to a much more conservative level. However, if the price action is right then you simply have to make the trade.
I would say how having no job to interfere with my studying and now “trading” in invaluable.
Regarding the Short on the AUDSGD. I closed my position taking 105 pips and immediately opened a new position. The price ended up 15 pips but providing the fundamentals or market sentiment do not change to cause a significant change in price action, I think the price will move back in my favour on Monday.
Sounds like you’re well on your way on to success. I know you said you plan on scaling back- but I would just like to second or third that sentiment. It’s better to take a handful of really good, optimal set ups than a bunch of set ups that look mostly good.
If you’re trading Price Action- which I saw in there somewhere- the Stop simply goes behind the S/R level or candlestick signal you’re trading. With Price Action- you want to have clear, well-defined signals. You’ll see signals like pin-bars and engulfing bars all over the charts; but they aren’t indicating a GOOD trading opportunity unless they’re pulling back from the trend or bouncing off a range level.
As to your short on AUDSGD: I would’ve just looked at the overall position. If I’m trading a long-term trend, I’ll leave it open. If I’m trading a breakout, I’ll close the trade. Price will often open at a different point that it closed as. This is referred to as “Gap”. You’ll run into the periodic weekend where some major event happened and major institutions/governments taking action yanked the price in a drastically different way. So be wary of that. I definitely would have waited to open a new trade until I saw what price it opened at in the coming week.
I use MSN Caps for keeping track of stocks for different reasons. This is run by the Motley Fool. It tracks companies with just a single stock purchase price when chosen (do your own math), but there is much more to it (and the others above) than can be told here. They also keep running accounts of Top Ten stocks (daily/30 days - good/bad). There is a ton of detailed useful information available.
Regarding my losses being bigger than my gains, I think therein lies my problem. I was making trades which had moved too far from the S/R levels and although the stop losses were positioned beyond the S/R levels, any reversals resulted in big losses. Whereas, if I had opened the trade at a reversal or pull back at the S/R level, any reversal of the trade would only result in a small loss. I will try and refine this next week.
I spent yesterday, going through the charts of many currency pairs looking for potential set ups for next week. I am keeping these logged in a note book and they will be watched carefully.
I note you comments regarding AUDSGN. Without a doubt you are right, but reopening the position will maintain my concentration on the movement of this pair, so I will be able to see the error of my way by the resulting loss, that may or may not occur.
Thanks for your comments they really are appreciated.
A couple of rules of thumb if you’re trading price action.
Get in on the candlestick after the signal. Even if it’s placing an order in the direction you want to go and waiting for it to be hit. If you miss a signal, you miss a signal. No big deal. There will be many more.
Have a hard pip limit on your stops. My limit on daily is 125; on 4h it’s about 60. If the stop will be farther away than that I don’t enter the trade because it will take so much longer/more to hit and the chances of taking my 1:2+ risk reward are much less. Given the way that news events can rock particular currency pairs; I don’t like to be exposed in the market any more than I have to be.
Doing pre-examination work is definitely a good idea. Once you get more accustomed to the strategy you’ll just be able to look at the chart and see a potential opportunity. Personally, I just go through and look for the candlestick formations I trade. Once I see one; then I will analyze that chart to see how good of an opportunity it is. Saves a ton of time. I check about 10 pairs and it takes me maybe a half hour a day.
If you find it hard to maintain concentration on pairs; cut down. Focus on the major and commodity pairs. You’ll still find plenty of opportunities. You just have to learn to be patient and strike when the opportunity presents itself.
If you’re trading 4h charts; there’s no real reason to trade a ton of pairs.
And still be wary of your USDSGD trade. Even if turns out well; that’s still not a good habit to get into. Cause it won’t always go well.
Thanks. Excellent advice. I will take it on board. I am essentially looking at the 1 day charts, then if I see a candle(s) at or about a level of S/R, then I check the 4 hour and maybe 1 hour charts. In my first week I have noticed there is an awful lot of noise (is that the correct term?) in the 1 hour and below charts so I am reluctant to rely on them when deciding whether to make a trade or not. I am using an Aussie based broker who uses the New York Close with 5 daily bars. Apparently 5 daily bars provide a more reliable reflection of price action. I am living in Thailand, so I switch on my PC about the time Tokyo opens and I turn it off about the time London closes.
Once again thanks for your input. Have a good week.
You’re right in using a broker that uses 5 solid candlesticks. It’s considered the standard for people that trade Daily charts which is what makes it more reliable. The more people that see an actionable signal; the better chance of something good coming of it.
You’re also right in that charts one hour and below have much more noise. Newbies are generally advised to learn on 4h or dailies because signals are clearer and easier to spot.
Based on what you said (and I agree in your approach, it’s a standard price action approach). You can find a signal on the daily then switch down to the 4h to find a good entry for yourself. I generally don’t but I’m sure you can take more pips by doing so. I would stay away from analyzing too many time frames to find an entry. There is such a thing as over-analyzation and you end up looking for a perfect opportunity that never presents because there are too many conflicting signals.
Just because it’s appropriate on the 1h doesn’t mean it is on the daily.
