My FX Journey... From Dream To Reality

[macilme]

DAY 30 UPDATE (04-18-19)

Hey Journal

How’s the pip hunting going guys?

No of Trades so far: 7

No of Active Trades: 2

Profit Trades: 2

Losing Trades: 2

Break Even Trades: 1

So what’s happened since the last time?

USDCHF reached take profit and some:

I’m out fully on both positions opened at entry, even as price seems to keep surging on,

PS: two errors came out of this trade:

First, I opened only half position (split into two) Instead of a full 2% as strategy dictated, I set limit orders sometime later but price never retraced back to that level as you can see:

Second, unfortunately I couldn’t access the SSI reading needed to decide whether to close both positions or just one and leave the other running (Poor internet connection). I’m working on ways to prevent this in the future, gimme a spanking if that affects my trade another time.

What did those two issues cost my trading account? Well, only 3% equity gain, coming at a time when I’ve been hovering just above break even for the better part of three weeks.
This is another reason why demo trading exists, I get to make the mistakes here so i don’t make them playing with real money. It also shows why taking advantage of trading opportunities best as I can is damn important as you never know the ‘trade of the month’ before hand. This USDCHF trade would have set me up by a nice tentative 5% profit for the month.

So these rules have been added already to my evening routine (yep, evening routine comes first now, as it’s evening here on my end at New York close, why didn’t I think of that before? ).

Alright, what other thing?

Ah yes, UJ is still playing around juuuusttttt above that former resistance level, little price movement but I’d say that level is confirmed as price has managed to stay in consolidation above it a three days in a row now, see below:

buy order on this pair is already active and we’re looking to see what happens now.

Finally, NZDUSD finally makes a confirmed breakdown today, candle hasn’t closed yet but it’s more or less almost certain to close below the level as seen below:

Coming off of that triple top I’d say I’m trusting that breakdwon even more, if it is in line with my breakout strategy I’ll be shorting this on New York close, hopefully we get to see it move further down netting some pips and then turning around for a retest of that level again, giving a convincing PA to go short.

Alright, that’s my story for the day, How’d trading go for you guys today too, would love to hear?

[Nathaniel_Imas]

Maintaining trading journal can help any forex trader to maintain his trading performance and control his performance the way he is planning. Though there can be many divergences between reality and expectations, a trader however should try to work with specific planning. It is good to see that you are trying to evaluate your trading performance in specific manner.

[momo3HC]

You`re welcome and yes, I also think such number of pairs is too much. 3 to max 5 may be is enough.

[ria_rose]

Hahaha! I also know how encouragement from other people helps you keep going! So I try to also share this with others. Let’s make this a productive week!

[macilme]

DAY 34 UPDATE (04-22-19)

Hey Journal

Another beautiful week guys, I think I’m getting used to being here haha.

No of Trades so far: 7

No of Active Trades: 2

Profit Trades: 2

Losing Trades: 2

Break Even Trades: 1

So the holidays ensured that we say no spectacular movements in the market since late last week, hopefully the holidays made up for that for you guys (it did for me ).

So, anything new today?

Uh… no, well… yes if we count new entry orders I guess.

USDCHF Long
Remember about the USDCHF error we talked about the last time?, Turns out I shouldn’t have closed both positions afterall, I finally was able to access my SSI readings and it was just what I expected:

SSI was still in the trade’s favor, damn!. Ah well, I have taken measures to prevent this kind of stuff in the future so this is the last time it’s gonna hurt me.

Guess what though, another entry opportunity decides to show up on the same pair as its finally broken out of a pretty strong resistance level we were worried about on the last trade, this on is a go according to my strategy so I have limit orders above that breakout candle. I’ll update on how things progress on this one.

NZDUSD Short

No question about the breakdown on this one, quite an emphatic one it was, coming of the heels of negative news for the Kiwi last week price has now managed to strongly stay below the old support. Another go according to strategy here so limit orders set below the breakdown candle as well.

Both the US500 and USDJPY trade which are currently active have nothing spectacular to report, no SL’s or TP’s hit so we still watching those ones.

@momo3HC and @justshell, thanks for pointing out your concerns, I do agree with the fact that watching too many pairs could be a problem, but only if it turns out to be too much watching. To give you an idea of what I mean, I typically spend an hour a day watching all 30+ pairs and deciding whatever I’m trading (If I find anything fitting) for the day, it takes a full 24 hours to form the 36 new candles i need to look at on the daily timeframes, someone who trades the hourly would have to watch 36 x 24 = 864 new candles every day. It’s obvious which is unsustainable there.

@ria_rose thanks for keeping in touch as always, hopefully this turns out exactly as you mentioned.

[macilme]

DAY 35 UPDATE (04-23-19)

Hey Journal

How’s the pip hunting going this morning (It’s 10:00 AM my time here).

No of Trades so far: 9

No of Active Trades: 4

Profit Trades: 2

Losing Trades: 2

Break Even Trades: 1

Yeah, that’s right, we got two brand new fresh outta the oven trades this morning to check out … Both USDCHF long and NZDUSD short got triggered this morning, no surprises there:

USDCHF

NZDUSD

That brings my total running trades to 9 Trades since the big bang (yep , where it all begins haha).
We’ll see how these two little babies turn out in the coming days.

Guess what else I found out, turns out my FXChoice demo account couldn’t trade USOIL , and to think I’ve been eyeing that one since like forever. Same way I couldn’t trade Gold or Silver, it hurts !

But you gotta take what you get right? It’s too late for me to go starting off on another demo now, we’ll just have to see where this ones get us.

Alright, that’s it for this morning guys, I’ll pop in if anything interesting comes up, otherwise…

I’ll see you on the other end tomorrow guys… have fun pipping

[macilme]

DAY 36 UPDATE (04-24-19)

Hey Journal

Another trading day today (It’s 10:00 AM my time here).**

No of Trades so far: 9

No of Active Trades: 3

Profit Trades: 3

Losing Trades: 2

Break Even Trades: 1

Yas! I closed my second half of Trade no 2 from the 3rd April at TP2 a nice profit:

US500 closed at TP2

Initially I placed the limit order for the exit right at the resistance line, I however exited the trade manually as I felt there’s no telling what might happen right at the level, closing out the trade 5pips shy of target felt like the right thing to do rather than risking all the profits from 20+ days ago. I have updated my trading Journal to prevent this kind of limit orders at exit in the future by accounting for some pip difference from the exit levels.

My other open trades aren’t doing so bad:
USDJPY is still doing it’s thing right on that level as it had been doing for the past few days:

USDJPY

USDCHF managed to stay well above entry yesterday, will we see something different today?:

USDCHF

NZDUSD managed to do the same as it’s cousin:

NZDUSD

That’s it for yesterday’s candles journal, let’s see what they do today…

enjoy the rest of the markets today guys

[callumxx5]

Nice updates. Keep it up.

[macilme]

DAY 37 UPDATE (04-25-19)

Hey Journal

End of the month looking no so far away anymore

No of Trades so far: 9

No of Active Trades: 3

Profit Trades: 3

Losing Trades: 2

Break Even Trades: 1

Two interesting things coming around for this morning’s update:

I got to close half position on NZDUSD short and moved my stop to breakeven:

NZDUSD

Will we see a blazing run down to the next TP2, will the price reverse and take me out of the trade at BE? Guess we’ll find out in the coming day or two.

I have a limit order set for EURUSD at the moment, if it ever get’s triggered, I’ll be sure to keep you updated journal.

So it was pretty much just plain sailing yesterday, let me know if yours was any better :).

Catch you later Journal

[macilme]

DAY 38 UPDATE (04-26-19)

Hey Journal

How’s the day looking so far everyone?

No of Trades so far: 10

No of Active Trades: 3

Profit Trades: 3

Losing Trades: 3

Break Even Trades: 1

So two new things happened today:

EURUSD short got triggered:

We’ll see how this one goes, I expect the possibility of a reversal after that momentum breakout if it’s weaker than we’d like, but also that the new resistance above which we place =d our stop should hold the bridge.

USDJPY does the unwanted, hits my stop:

I really didn’t expect that to have any serious likelihood of happening, but it did, along with 2% of my equity!! Well, It’s only the first losing trade on my breakout strategy so I’ll take it with some good feeling at least.

Other trades still in play, and hopefully we see more greens than red today and next week.
See you around Journal.

[macilme]

DAY 41 UPDATE (04-29-19)

Hey Journal

And so another week begins?

No of Trades so far: 10

No of Active Trades: 2

Profit Trades: 4

Losing Trades: 3

Break Even Trades: 1

Weekends look longer now than what I’m used to haha… that’s a good sign :).

So what’s new this first day of the week?, Well let’s see…
There were three active trades as of last week ending and this is how all three are doing now:

NZDUSD Short

Guess the market decided that that surge lower is long overdue for a retrace, it did retrace and took out the other half of my NZDUSD short at breakeven, no complaints there though.

EURUSD Short

This one in a bit of an attempt at a retest of the last broken key level as expected, Let’s see if the level holds, actually I should hope it does and protect our stop in the process eh?

USDCHF Long

This one’s still doing quite well above entry, it’s been stalling last couple trading days but today’s candle is looking alright so far, let’s hope it ends higher.

Now new trades since these last ones though, that’s all the activity on “the field”… Hoping for more positive actions as we go along.

How’s Monday treating everyone on the markets today? Hopefully good.
Catch you guys later.

[Diabolo888]

a bit dull so far after some interesting activity on Friday. Best of luck with your trades.

[justshell]

yea, that’s how Mondays tend to be sometimes. EA made some nice moves to the upside though. I was able to grab some pips on that pair this morning

[macilme]

Thanks @Diabolo888 and you’re pretty much correct on that one, mondays are generally slower than we’d all like to see.

Nice to hear you were able to skin some trades @justshell, I wish I was haha… let’s hope tomorrow offers better opportunities to trade.

[ponponwei]

Is that a Trello screenshot I see? I love how detailed and organized you are!

[macilme]

DAY 42 UPDATE (04-30-19)

Hey Journal

And so another week begins?

No of Trades so far: 10

No of Active Trades: 2

Profit Trades: 4

Losing Trades: 3

Break Even Trades: 1

Well, Monday may be the slowest of days but it sure did damage to my open trades quickly :(.

We two trades open and both aren’t looking anything stellar at the moment:

EURUSD Short

Not groovy EU! Not groovy at all!!
I remember talking about that horizontal level the last time, I remember hoping it’d hold, I remember being pretty positive about it also, what else do I remember, ah yes! I remember price playing really nice below and keeping my account looking nice and sweet… there’s so much I remember about this trade now and so little of that left. Well… let’s see what happens to our stop loss now, will it get hit?

USDCHF Long

I remember thinking yesterday looking at those pinbars on this pair yesterday and how ugly they look (PA candles always look ugly when they show where you hate them to haha ), should I get out before things go south, but then I’m sticking with my guns on this one, the strategy with which I entered prevents me from exiting based on PA criteria. we’ll see how it works out in the end.

Aaaannnddd… it’s month end!!!
Drum Roll Please!!!

I’ll be popping in here today to review my trading for this month, well the past 42 days actually. So that’s more like a month and a half, watch for that one.

@ponponwei, Thanks for the compliment… I’ll be talking more about the Journal later today as well…
it’s where the all the data is after all, here’s how it’s looking now:

pretty different from day 1 uh?

Well it should all be interesting to look at later in the day (New York Close for me) as the past few days have had much less action than I’d have liked. We’ll catch up then guys.
Have fun “Pip Hunting”

Hassan
Nigeria

[jairusmaloba]

From my calculations you’re trading a $1000 account with trades of 2%. However, you enter upto 5 setups making this 10% of your capital locked up with possibly another 40% locked up in margin. Your stop losses go upto 130 pips. If Im correct you must be receiving numerous margin calls. And if it was a real account would you be able to stomach it?

[ponponwei]

What a beauty! Thanks for sharing your process with us! Your trade journal entries are well-written and are so detailed. Consider me a fan.

[macilme]

DAY 42 UPDATE (MAY 1ST 2019)

Hey Journal

Wow!!!.. It’s a new month. I really did keep this up for a month!!!

NOW WHO’S THE BOSS?!!!

So we’ll do the usual first as always, and then we’ll move on to the End of the month Review.

No of Trades so far: 11

No of Active Trades: 1

Profit Trades: 4

Losing Trades: 5

Break Even Trades: 1

Trade stats increased by one more trade today:

CADCHF Short

There’s something different about this chart, I bet you wouldn’t have noticed at first glance, unless you’re really familiar with this pair that is. All previous trades I’ve been taking have been on the daily charts…

This one isn’t and this is the daily chart of the same pair now, alongside the H4 chart:

I have enclosed the area on the daily in the same box as on the daily so you can see what I’m looking at. nice BEEB forming at a daily level on the chart, so I had a limit order set below the Bearish engulfing candle, it’s currently active and we’re hoping it reaches first TP at least, then whatever the market gives after we’ll take.

Well, on more not so good news is the update on my:
EURUSD Short

You guessed it, I’m out at full Stop loss and that’s another hit to my account, more than I’m hitting the market in recent days On the flip side we might be seeing a good PA candle forming at the recent high to the left of price on that chart so we’re watching out for that.

Next up?
USDCHF Long

Well I finally pulled the plug on this one, it was obvious price was struggling as seen by the upper wicks on the last few daily candles, I could have waited for price to retrace back to the former resistance and hold as support but there’s no point holding on to a trade when you know it’s highly likely to go lower. Getting out on that one later than I could have did however cost -0.16% of my account. I’ll take that rather than a full loss,
I haven’t changed any of my strategy though in case you might be wondering, it’s on my exit scenario case to do just that when price action is showing red flags.

So in summary for the day, I’m out on the two old positions I was holding and in on a brand new one.

…
…
…
…
END OF THE MONTH REVIEW

This is something I really have been looking forward to, mainly because it’ll be my first official “check up” since we started on this Journey together. Also I’ll be able to show you guys a glimpse of how that works. I mentioned at the beginning of this thread that I’ll be using Trello Boards for my local Journal recording and analysis.

Here’s how my Journal looked like at the start of everything right up on the first few pages of this thread:

Bare but promising

Here’s how it looks now 11 trades later:

Zoomed in:

Each column you see here is a list dedicated to a single currency pairs, all pairs I watch have a list here.
If I take a trade on a currency pair, the details go into a card on it’s parent list, and subsequent cards are either updates of the existing trade or a new new one altogether if there’s a new trade.

Let’s take the last trade I got into for example:

There’s a single card on it’s list since it’s the first ever trade I’m taking on the pair. On the card you can see the labels (or tags) detailing a summary of the trade:

AP - According to Plan
BEEB - Bearish Engulfing Bar

I think the rest are pretty explanatory, I could open up the card for even more details on the trade:

The arrows there show the three sections of information I store on a card. This all happens for every new card (one everyday for active daily chart trades, and one every 4hours for active H4 chart trades)
This is more or less how my journal looks and works.

Now that it’s the end of the month and I might want to analyse my trades, I filter based on the information I need using the labels attached to each card. Please note however that there are still too few trades to reach any statistically significant conclusions about my trading. What I can discover and which I did though, is measure the quality of the trades I’ve taken in the last trading month and measure it against the standard they were based on. A general example might be taking a look at all PA trades I have taken since inception:

I have filtered the Board (that’s what Trello pages are called ) to show only trades taken based on pure price action:

If you were wondering why I decided it was time to start looking at the 4 hour charts for PA trades, this is why, I was only able to find and take two trades looking at the daily time-frame based on this strategy. My Journal tells me that to reach my monthly target of 5-10 PA trades comfortably every month. I need to start taking trades on the H4 charts as well.

what about breakout trades:

Journal tells me we’re doing just fine with the numbers on this one…

I could go on…
Journal says most trades have Reward to Risk of 1:1 which means either my win rate need to go up higher or my R:R need to change, I’m a high probability trader by nature and therefore keeping my R:R and getting to work on improving my conversion rate. A 60% conversion rate on my trades for this month alone would have seen my account up by roughly 4%.

These and many more are what I get from my Journal… I have shown some examples just so you can see how I use my Journal… Hopefully it wasn’t a event .

So that is that really for my month end “Check up”.

We’ll only be getting back to this in another month’s time, but by then I’ll have implemented some of the things I noticed the past month and further reviews means it’ll be even more effective as a tool to improve my trading, so watch out!

That’s enough rambling for just one post I suppose, If you haven’t yet fallen asleep along the way haha .

We’ll catch this tomorrow and talk more about the markets, less about what I do behind the scenes…
Enjoy the pip hunting guys…

Hassan
Nigeria.

[jairusmaloba]

Your journal is very impressive, I must say. Keep it up.