My journey journal...from demo to live...and beyond

[MikeWolski]

Journal.

So, this is end of day Thursday. This is what I was looking at.

What do we have here? Well yeah, price is sitting pretty much right on the green line. What do you think I’m going to do? It looks like a possible trend change. Things are pointing downward. So. Price is sitting right at 144.232 . Look up at the indicators’ values. The green line (21) is at 144.198 . And that’s where I put an entry order. In actuality, it ended up at 144.20. The dotted line there is where my entry order now is. Also, I decided to put in a stop loss order. At the yellow line, remember? So that will be at 145.290 .
Let’s take a look at what happened.

I got stopped out.
But the funny thing is, now, price didn’t continue on up, like it did with the CHF. Say if I didn’t have a stop loss in place, I would’ve been in better shape right now. Well, I guess I still have another chance to get in at the green line. See, I don’t know how this is all going to play out. (Mister Obvious here) But, what I do want is to be prepared to get in at the beginning of a possible trend. That’s all. And I guess this one here is just another cost of finding out whether it will happen or not.
I hate the Pound.

Ok. So, that’s that. Let’s see what my Comms look like now, since I got in right where I wanted.

Now this is something to feel good about. All I really care about is being in a trend from the beginning to the end. Oh, and just so you know, I did not put in any stop losses yet. So, there with the CAD, I didn’t get stopped out. Also, actually with all 3 of them, my principle of waiting to the end of day serves me nicely. I believe where price ends up is pretty important. Man…just look at the AUD/JPY! That is a thing of beauty!
Can you imagine the turmoil anyone would be going through during that day. Price is everywhere. I’m glad I’m not in that emotional roller coaster ride anymore. So, if you look at all 3 of them. Where I got in is precisely where the crossovers began. I was prepared. All entry orders took, at the right time. So, I see this as like stage 1. Now, all I do is wait to see whether this will turn out to be a good trend or not. And all I’m concerned with is the 2 lines. As long as the yellow is below the green, I’m in good shape. I will stay put with these trades until there’s a change. Well, maybe if it turns out really great, I could add more size to them. But that won’t be anytime soon.
Ok Journal. At least I can feel good about some of my trades (Unlike the Majors). I wanted to give you step by step on my thinking as they progressed. You know, I really don’t care about the money right now. All I want is to prove that by getting in at the beginning of a trend, staying in it till the end, will be the way for success of my trades.
I do want to show you what else I’m kind of keeping an eye on. Well, you know me, I must have the big picture playing in the background. So, let’s take a look at what’s transpiring, in the market.

It’s the EUR. They are trending high against everyone. What I am wanting to do is just know this. And I want to see the eventual change. Until then, there is a lot of traders winning with going long EUR. Also with the CHF.

They have just took over the GBP. Top row, 3rd one over from the left. And you know, sometimes I wonder how much the safe haven aspect of them is really true. Are they more safe haven? Or do they just tail the EUR? That is interesting to me. Cause the EUR is a risk asset by nature, well, compared to the USD anyway.
The EUR and CHF do run in tandem together. And that would be risk-on style, in technical terms. But fundamentally speaking, they are a safe haven asset, and that bodes risk-off. I just don’t know. It is incredibly interesting nonetheless.

Then, of course, my favorite, the GBP.

Looks like I have to send this and come back.

[MikeWolski]

Journal.

The Pound.

Ok. So, what is going on? Sure looks like all of Europe is having a field day. I know there’s so much being written up on all of the causes that back up the rise up. You know, the French sentiment etc…But who really, really knows? I mean, it’s nice and everything, to read about. But, one thing you cannot deny is it’s trending!
And boy do I wish I could have been in it. See, in moving forward from here, I wish, when I keep you updated, that we can both see when the next one happens. And we will talk about it. There WILL be a transition to another currency that will undergo a major trend. It’s just gonna take some time. I won’t guarantee that I will be in on it, due to the fact that I’m still practicing and concentrating on the JPY exclusively now. But, I am practicing and looking now at the field as a whole. I want to see this dynamic take place in whoever it may belong to.

Now, let’s see how the Yen is comparing with the big dogs above. And in conjunction with the field as a whole.

Yeah, so this is nothing real new. (shown you already a lot of it) But this is what I see. The Yen has been coming off a pretty big trend. In regards to the Comms, yeah, it consolidated. They broke the trend and then ranged. All you have to do is look at the spread between the yellow and green lines. Nothing really that major, especially in contrast with the other 4. Now there was a definite trend change. The Majors took out the Yen, and it was quite lengthy also. But my question would be this. Does the USD/JPY take the lead? Sure you would think that I would ask that at this time. Because of the difference between the USD and the other 3 now. The USD is just on the precipice of a trend change. See, the Yen took out the Comms. Now it seems like the Dollar is next. And I just wonder if Europe will follow suit. I’m not saying that it should go this way either. What I do know is that Europe is very strong now. And it can be for quite some time. No one knows how long for. But, you have to admit, if they somehow fall apart, who would be the next strong currency to possibly take over? Surely the JPY could be a possibility.
Let’s back it up a little bit. I wanted to see when this last, current strong trend first started. Take a look.

The GBP starts the trend on 4/20. Five days later the EUR starts (4/25). The the CHF (4/26). Then finally the USD on 4/27. And I just looked. The Comms basically officially turned at about in the first week of May.
I don’t know. What does all this tell me? Well, the USD surely isn’t the front runner. And the Comms just do not have any strength. At the present time, the Commodities are not in control.

Well, all I know is that I’m gonna keep all this in mind. See how it plays out. But at the present time, we have a very strong EUR, CHF, GBP in that order. And the Yen is making some headway in the middle of the pack.

Ok Journal, got to run.
We’ll talk later.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!

So, let’s see. Another week in the books, and more stuff that I am learning about. And guess what? Your gonna hear about it!

Ok Mike. Talk to me. What’s going through your head?

Well, this week was a bumpy ride. Boy oh boy. Well, let me show you. Remember my excitement with the Comms, and how I got in real nice with them? Things kind of changed. This is what I was looking at on Tuesday, end of day. (the new day candle just hasn’t begun yet)

Yeah, OK. So I took a hit. Well, my first question to myself would be, what did I do wrong? Well nothing!
Like, you know, it happens. I mean, I was definitely ready for a trend to begin, but, it just didn’t. At this point anyway. The only thing I was contemplating this week about this was the stop loss aspect. As you see there, I don’t have one. Those white lines are where I entered. But look at the NZD/JPY one. Man did that hurt. shrug What can I do? There’s good and bad with my rules of a one-look-a-day. Cause you never know when you will get a surprise like this. Look. It’s ok. I understand that this is all about the cost of finding out if a trend will begin or not. This is my mission though. And I’m definitely learning because of it.
But, there’s more to the story. So. What did I do, at this moment? I remember. I kept thinking that the trend is over. Honestly, that middle one kept my mind memorized. Trend over. And that means I’m out. So, that’s what I did. I jumped. And here I was, not in any trade. I was kind of bummed cause it’s more exciting being in a trade when my end of day look happens. I was like, it just doesn’t matter now. So, Wednesday’s results are in. Not a whole lot of change. I’m more accepting now, that I’m just not in the market. It is ok. Let’s just see how it plays out.
Then I remember reading an article. This really stuck with me. You know how you will get an opinion from an analyst from such-and-such bank or hedge fund. Well this person really, and I mean really thinks that the GBP is gonna tank, and they will have a very hard fall because the brexit thing is just not over. That got me to be looking at the Pound closer. So, guess what I did? On demo, I just did a little bit of practicing. I wanted to see if I could get in on a down move with them. I’m still torn with the notion of keeping with the JPY only, to wanting to branch out to the other currencies. Well, why not do the practicing on demo? I forgot exactly when I placed these trades, but it was some days ago. I put on 3 entry orders, at the green lines. This is what happened.

Take a look at that. Isn’t that something? Yeah, that’s really nice. Sorry for not being all that excited, but, dog-gone-it, this is not live! You can plainly see where I sold those at. Man, I couldn’t have executed that any better. Those 3 were the only ones that I took, because the setup was just there. And this was all beforehand. See, this is the game for me. Getting in at the green line simply has to do with preparing before price gets moving. Look at the right one (GBP/CAD). Just look at exactly where the yellow line crosses over the green. Previously, price spent 3 days lower before it finally crossed over. And then the other 2. We haven’t even witnessed the crossover yet! And now price is so far below the green line it’s just impossible to get in at it now. Well, guess what. I got in there. Boy, that is what I call getting a good jump on the trend.
Yeah, this is all nice to see. But, I need to see it for what it really is. It’s practice. It tells me that this whole system is possible.
You know Journal, I do have some good news for ya. Let me tell you what I did come Thursday.
So, yeah, my mind has been on the Pound, like you’ve seen, but I still am committed to the Yen. So then, I thought, why not go in with the GBP/JPY? As you should know, they are not my favorite pair, only because I got burnt too many times. The pain still lingers. But, I’m thinking about this analysts’ sentiment. I’m seeing a good setup on the chart. And here we go. I’m getting in.

This is how it happened. It was at end of day Wednesday (I think) . I decided to place an entry order. And at the time price was a bit higher, than my entry spot. So, what happened was price kept rising up. My entry did not kick in yet. Then the next morning when I woke up, at the London open, I seen (because I get news updates on my phone all the time) that their GDP figures were not so good, below expectations. So, I had to take a look, and I mean it was a quick look, at my trade. I had to see if I got stopped out. I was pretty shocked. The way it looked was like I got stopped out, but in fact, my trade never did get started. I came to realize that price was on it’s way on up the whole night and leading up to the data time. Then price took a dive. So on the chart it looked like I got stopped out, cause I put a stop at the high from the previous day. Needless to say, I was relieved. Of course I was not going to alter anything, and I just let it run it’s course.
And what do you know…take a look at what happened on Friday.
Money.
So yeah. I’m happy. Oh, and by the way, the reason why you see there why my entry point is not exactly on the green line. That’s because I had to make a decision that night. See, what you see there is not my broker. My 8 & 21 EMA lines drawn, from my broker, do not match those that you see there (NetDania). I decided to use my broker’s green line price point, for my entry. I don’t know why they are different, but they sure are. Maybe because their end of day closing time is probably different. I don’t know. So I went with my broker’s green point. I’m sorry, but I still can’t get to looking at my broker now to show you (maintenance scheduled time still going on now).
Ok, so that’s all nice and good. I do have one more surprise for you. I am in with another trade. The AUD/JPY. I got in at the same time with the GBP. I mean, the setup was conducive, and I went with it. You can see my entry and my stop there. So, 2 trades I’m in at the present time.

Now Journal…here’s another lesson that I mind mapped. (I’ll have to show you sometime my ‘Reasons’ Mind Map on all of the things that I am learning, on the subject of ‘Why I cannot get in, stay in, and end a complete trend’ ). Do you remember that I just jumped out of this trade, there at the big green candle? I just got done telling you, above, that I was fixated with the NZD/JPY, and therefore I jumped. Well, with the NZD, yeah, look above, the yellow line did cross back over the green line. But not with AUD/JPY! As I now see. Well, I have that down now, that I need to be patient and wait for the crossover. Look. If I would’ve waited one day, I would have seen that doji candle. That means indecision. I could’ve been ok with that. And then the very next day would’ve settled me down. And I could’ve still been in the trade. So, this is another lesson for me. I’m collecting these reasons (like I said in a mind map) and hopefully will learn how to handle it better in the future.

Ok Journal. Gonna get some more coffee now. Send this out. And come back with some other thoughts I have. I want to talk big picture stuff.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Ok Journal.
So, what do we got? Well, we know that the EUR has been on a tear lately. So that’s who I’m going to look at first. Right? They’ve been the strongest on the daily. But, looks like things are changing now. Look.

Well, not the top dog anymore. Where did the NZD come from? I mean, I knew they have been quite strong lately, but this is demanding much more of my attention now. So, it’s the NZD & CHF now that have trended higher against the EUR. Just look at price and the green line on those 2 charts. Ok. I’m wrong. (I guess I could’ve just erased that previous sentence I wrote about trending higher.) The EUR IS still trending higher than everyone. Yeah, with the NZD, CHF, their prices have dove lower now than the green lines, but that doesn’t make then trend higher. Only until the yellow lines have crossed over the green lines does it make the trend begin. I just cannot assume this is gonna happen, in which there will be a cross over. This is like a change happening in slow motion. You know, think about it. It’s like the dawn of a new day. When exactly does it get light out? Uhhhh…well, it’s such a slow process, and practically impossible to tell when. It’s gradual!!
Very, very gradual. But it does get more and more obvious. I remember spending the night on a beach before, when I was young. I was in the Army. Stationed in Virginia Beach. I had a lot of free time. Weekends were the best! Man…what good memories. I was with someone when the sun was coming up, right on the beach. (Now, don’t get me wrong. We were fully clothed. I wasn’t a bad kid back then) But, I experienced the dawn of a new day. And that is something to witness. It’s magical. …Ok…maybe I was in love also…I don’t know…but that whole experience was…memorable…
Sorry.
Where was I?
Oh, the transition. Yeah, it’s very very gradual. Just like, maybe, a trend change. Technically the EUR is still trending higher than everyone else. And in my mind, trending means the yellow line (in this case) is above the green line. So, I guess we can say that the first sign of a trend change, before it actually happens, is when price shoots lower. As in the case with the NZD, & CHF. Price moved down in between the 2 lines. Then goes below the green line. But we also know that those 2 lines can ride very close to each other for a time.
Bottom line with the EUR is, the strong trend is breaking down. Or should I be saying that there’s a reprieve of their strength. A breather happening.
So, that made me look at the NZD. Let’s see what they look like.

Well, they are trending high against everyone, except the EUR & CHF. That was a shocker to me. I just did not see it coming, maybe because the Comms haven’t been in the limelight lately. And there seems to be a real divergence between them and the AUD. I don’t even have an opinion on which way that might go. Who leads who? But, now, after looking at this, how about this analysis? Since NZD has been climbing, and the EUR has been declining, why wouldn’t I take the chance on that particular pair? Well, look. Price has shot below the green line there at EUR/NZD. So, it’s like too late to the party. Unless price rises to give me another chance. Well, how about the NZD/CHF? EUR, CHF, same thing. Looks like price is dead at the green line. In fact, it looks like it retraced down right to it now. Well, given all that, it sure seems that, that is the trade to get into. Does it not seem to be some serious confirmation going on there?
I don’t know. I really don’t.
Oh, and this is something else I’ve been contemplating. You know, I think I’ve gotten away from the idea of different time frames. I’ve been concentrating so much, and staying on, the daily time frame. Well, what about the higher ones? Weekly. Monthly. I guess I always wonder how much of a real factor they play into the smaller daily one. And this is what I want to throw out there. Take a look. Monthly time frame here. JPY.

It’s really a tie between the JPY & the USD. They both are trending high against all of the other currencies.
Now look at the USD.

So, according to this chart, the EUR is stronger than the NZD, in comparison to the USD. In fact, the EUR price has broken up over the green line, but technically has not started to trend high yet.
I don’t know. It’s just all interesting, that’s all. But, at least I have a good reason to be hanging onto the JPY, cause if their still trending higher on the monthly, then there’s a reasonable chance they can get their mojo back on the lesser time frames.

So those are some of the things that I’ve been contemplating Journal.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!
Well, it’s nice and early, coffee hot, and I’m ready to type. This was quite the week I had Journal. Cause guess what? I was off of work, and on vacation! Yep, the entire week. So you know what that means…I get to spend so much more time working on my business. We didn’t go anywhere, or plan anything like that. It was nice to just not have to go to work. I did wake up every morning nice and early (you better believe I kept my alarm on for 3). I’ve been accomplishing much. And it’s been nice to catch some good naps during the day! So, yeah, ok, that’s nice. Put your ears on now Journal, time to listen.
Well what a week we’ve had huh? End of month happening. NFP happening. Yeah, it’s been something alright. But to start it all off, man, what was I going to do this week? My trading style centers around a once a day look at the market and analyze. So…does that mean this entire week I was not going to watch the market? Or how about trying my hand at some intraday day trading? Maybe I could make some money and build up my account this week? Hmmmmm…
Nnnnnnnnope. Man…I’m not doing that. That’s gambling to me. I’ve been down that road before. But the thing is, I’m not prepared for that. I don’t have a strategy proven, tested, or any kind of method of going about it. Plus this time only comes around twice a year, so. Well, what I did was I kept an eye on the market, and my trades from time to time. And it was all out of curiosity. See, I know the reason for my one look a day. And I did not want have that altered. My trading time frame extends out for days and weeks. So, I just made sure that I kept with the plan. No decisions were made until the end of day came. But…I got to tell ya…boy…when Friday am came, I had my eyes glued to the market. NFP time. I’ll get to that shortly. But, I had to deal with the end of the month scenario first.
Well, let’s see. If you remember, I had 2 trades running. GBP/JPY and the AUD/JPY. They were and have been looking good for me. I was successful in getting in with them at the beginning of the trend. I call that stage 1. I guess I never did explain to you my 3 stages, to my trades. (Those would be titled under my ‘manage’ mind maps). Here it is. The first stage is successfully getting into the trade. You’ve seen it. It’s a task. It’s not always successful. Sometimes I will get faked out. Or I will get stopped out when it’s still technically trending. But, the idea is, to get in the trend at the beginning, which, for me, will be at the price level when the 8 EMA crosses over the 21 EMA. And of course I’m only dealing with the Yen pairs (JPY strong). Stage one will last until I’m cruising. It’s like being on a roller coaster. I got in at the top, and I’ve just started the turn down. The wind is blowing my hair back and I know for sure I’m in the trend. But this also must last more than one week. I need time to tell me that I’m definitely in it. Then comes stage two. The cruising part. My goal is just to stay on board. No matter what, as long as the yellow line is below the green line, I absolutely need to stay in it. And I want to. To the end. Then comes stage three. I’ve had to be in it for some time now. When the crossover takes place (yellow crossing up over the green), at an end of day closing, it’s over. Stage three will be similar to stage one in that the timing will be tricky. Unfortunately I don’t have any experience with this yet, but I look forward to it. Stage one, I’m collecting experience. I definitely found success. And not every time either. But I’m only going to get better from here on out. Way much more experience is yet to come. Stages two and three I have not had any experience with yet. (As you have well know Journal) But…I got a little secret…I believe I have just entered into stage two, at the present time. Don’t worry. Your gonna hear about it pretty dog-gone soon.
Ok. So. Back to the beginning. I got the 2 trades running this week. And all I’m looking at, and waiting for, is the end of the month. Wednesday. Evening. And I got to tell ya. Nothing really happened! I mean, I was really shocked. It surely seemed like the market was nothing but waiting for Friday to come. I didn’t see any trend changes take place. No profit taking either. So, yeah, at about 8pm my time Wed night, I took a picture of my account balance. The month was over. And that was that. I do have to tell you that I was pretty occupied the whole first half of the week with trying to get more money into my trading account. Geeeeeezzzzz. Talk about pulling hair. Between me having to sign up with Skrill, getting an account going first, then the money transfer into that, and then money from that, to my broker, all was such a long ordeal. Oh, and then into my account! I really wanted my account to reflect the added funds before the end of the month. If you remember Journal, I have a long standing goal being this. ‘Every month my trading account increasing’. One way or another, I will make that happen. Be it from an outside source or not. And sadly to say, I needed to get more money in there. It’s ok Journal. But, that was definitely one of my goals this week. Well, I made the transaction before the end of the month, but it wasn’t reflected until afterwards. Yeah, after I basically yelled at them via an email.
‘It’s supposed to reflect only after a couple hours’ my butt! Anyway. That kind of screws my numbers up. I’ll talk about that a little bit more later.

Well Journal, I got a whole lot more coming here. Must take a time out now.
Be back very shortly.
Mike

[MikeWolski]

Hey Journal.
Now I would like to talk about what happened after the end of the month, more specifically NFP. I guess I’ll start on Friday morning. Boy, I was struggling with the notion of whether or not to get all wrapped up in the NFP show. But, for the most part, I did. I spent a couple hours in the morning just watching my Yen pairs. It was crazy. Honestly, I was in a mesmerized state of mind for awhile. Iwas trying to play out what would happen if there was good news for the US. Then I played out the bad news scenario. It’s kind of tough because I’m not all that concerned about what the US does. How is it gonna affect my 7 pairs? Well, I do have the USD/JPY. I’ll show you what I was looking at that a.m., without giving it away. (I’m sorry I didn’t think ahead of time for a live shot at that time) I chopped off the last candle, which was Friday.

Now pretty much all morning price was at about 111.50 - 111.55 . It was hanging all around the green line. And that’s my ideal place to get in at! What am I thinking? Well, to back it up a little, I was remembering when I missed the trend entrance (by not being prepared) when that monster red candle hit (smack in the middle there). Then I thought, at that time, that I could get in if it ever would come back up to it. Honestly, I didn’t think it would. I was wrong. I’m trying to learn from this bad thinking. Cause it did! I actually had a couple more chances there for a couple days. But I didn’t. So, now here I am with another chance. Price was riding right on the green line again. But now, it’s NFP time. One the one hand, I was thinking of the reason for that last green candle. Was this like a springboard for the good news that was about to come? And I don’t know about you but I kept thinking that the US economy is on the up and up. I ended up thinking there’s more of a chance of there being good news from the jobs report. And on the other hand, just look at the chart. It’s pointing downward, from the middle to the right side. I mean, that’s just what a trend looks like! Well, this is what I did. I was going to play the ‘what if it goes really bad’ for the USD. So, I put in a sell stop order right at the 111.000 line. Actually you can see it there (white line). And I put in a stop loss at the green line. That’s about 50 pips.Should be good enough. And all I can do is wait for the results. What else was I looking at? Oh, I remember. Yeah…the one I’ve been getting burned on lately. CAD/JPY. This is what I was looking at.

And why wouldn’t I be? Price, and both lines are on top of each other! Well, I remember now. I seen a news flash that oil took a dive. So, that led me to take this trade. I went in with a market order and just got in. You can see the red line as my stop loss. I figured I could lose like $3.00 worth. The white was my entry. So, that was about it, for any action for me to take that morning before the news broke loose. To capsule it all. I was (have been) in good with both the GBP, AUD. Those were running nicely and nothing needed to be done there. I placed an entry order for the USD. And I got going in with the CAD. All of them, of course, going south (JPY strong). I figured if it was bad news, that should give
strength to the Yen, and help these pairs out. Remember, these 2 big dogs are on top, in the monthly time frame. And not to forget about the other 3 pairs, NZD,EUR,CHF, well, they were just all out of reach. Well, to be honest about it, it did place an entry order for the Swiss. (I have to at least be prepared). Oh, I know why. Cause one of our guys here in B.P.'s wrote up this pair (CHF/JPY). And when he explained that he thinks it’s time up for the Swiss, and strength back to the Yen, well, that surely spurred me to at least make the far away entry order. Plus I agreed with his analysis. And I do have a long standing entry order made already for the NZD. That just might never get filled, who knows.
Ok, that’s all nice and good. What happened??!!!

I’ll just show you.

Well, hello!! Yep, we had some bad news for the US, and a sea of red showing everywhere. Well, except with the NZD. So, let’s talk about it. Yeah, I witnessed it. NFP surely did not produce a wild swing. Sure, you have the initial few seconds of back and forth jitters, but after around 5 seconds or so, it started heading south. It was not real fast. All I know is I was feeling pretty good, and secure about my decisions. I was watching the USD/JPY for the first couple minutes. There was no doubt about where price was going. Yeah, MY WAY! So, yeah, I was happy. And then I started looking around and after a lot of minutes passing by I noticed the GBP. I kept thinking, man…they are really tanking. You can just tell which way price is wanting to go. It is marching to a beat, relatively speaking. It’s like…going so well…down…then a pretty good spike on up…little bit of fear hits you…you know you have to wait and see what it’s going to do next…then it drops a whole lot more…yeah, your relieved…it is going this way for sure…And then I got to thinking. I want to take a little bit more advantage of this ride. So, I put in another position. Just another 1k, since I already have one from before. Take a look at it, top row, 3rd over from the left. The very top white line is where my first entry is at. Then you can see at that last candle (Friday’s) where I got in at (half way down). I put in a stop loss there at the green line, for that trade. And then the one right below them is the CAD/JPY. Oh yes,that ran down real nicely also. So then, that was that. About a half hour later, I close it all up. I’m not going to watch that all day. Every now and then I’ll check in to see them. And every time, it’s been good news. And that is what I was talking about earlier Journal. I think I am entering in stage 2 now. Look there. I got the left top and bottom (USD, AUD), and the third one over, top and bottom (GBP,CAD). The onlyone that looks iffy is the CAD/JPY, because the 2 lines are not that far apart from each other. The good thing is that price is quite far on down. You can see I got an order waiting on the CHF, and the NZD. I guess I just need to be prepared with those. And I think before the week gets going I should place one with the EUR also.

Well Journal, I’m gonna get going.
The weekend is early, and I got so much more I want to get out to you.
Mike

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[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal.
Ok, so this time, I would like to talk about my account. I know it’s been awhile. But it’s good to be accountable. Plus I just want to get it into my head about my finances. Am I doing good? Not so good? Do I need to be working on anything in particular? Things like that. I just want to get all around it, that’s all.
So…what’s the bottom line. Well first, I want to put this all into perspective. What’s the most important thing to me? My goals. And when it comes to the dollars, I have a monthly goal regarding them. This is the one thing that I can always look to, to see in what kind of state my finances are in. So this is one of my goals. " Have a monthly trading account balance that is continually growing ". See, I know where I need to get to. In this area of it, I know I need basically a whole lot of money. And I wanted to start out with the most easiest goal to achieve, that actually fulfills the statement of whether I’m getting closer or not. In order for a ship to get to where it is going, it has to start from somewhere and then to end somewhere. From point A to point B. And if it only moves an inch, then technically it is closer to the destination. That is progress. See, I always want to know, deep down, that I am making progress. It’s like a confirmation thing. I always want to feel good about my efforts on something. In this business I have realized how hard it is to be actually good at it. I’m talking about in areas of achievement, consistency, profitability. It is difficult. So, the only thing that makes sense to me is to boil it all down to manageable attainable parts. When it comes to the money part of it, how can I put it in the most simplest way for me to be able to accomplish it? Give myself something to feel good about. A confirmation of things telling me that I can do it. See, I’ve always been like this. I’ll strive for something alright, but I need to know that I can get there. So I like to put up goals to reach. Sometimes the problem will arise when I put up some unrealistic goals. And Journal, you should remember when I did that way back when. It’s back a few hundred pages ago. It is so embarrassing. AND HARD! This endeavor is very difficult. Now that I’ve been knocked down to the dust, it’s time to get smarter. It’s time to get more realistic. Now, you can’t tell me of an easier goal to have than simply to make an increase. You can see that it is not measured. To me it actually means not decreasing. We know that in this business it’s all about winning or losing money. I guess in the beginning everyone thinks of that possibility of being rich, or just making a whole lot of money, or making a lot more money than they have been used to, or even the same amount that their used to, or just enough to live on. But the more realistic notion is whether you can prevent losing it all or not. When I think about it, the yardstick that you measure how much you make should not be put at 0. It should be put at how much you put in, which will be a negative number. And then when you get to breakeven, that looks pretty good. I guess it’s all about how real of a possibility (one thinks) it is to lose what you put in. It is very real. In fact, it is most probable and likely.
Anyway, I’m looking for an increase. I’m using monthly time periods to measure myself. That seems like a good amount of time, like a benchmark, to see how much I can progress.
And here we are, at the beginning of June. I’m sort of stuck on what to do. Believe me, I tried to transfer $100 to the account before the end of the month, but those dummies didn’t do it until the 2nd. So therefore, that makes me look like I didn’t accomplish my goal. Now Journal, you also need to realize that when I say I want an increase in my account, I didn’t say how. And I’m not implying anything either. It doesn’t necessarily need to be generated from the market. I learned my lesson. I’m not going to put that pressure on myself. Especially when I’m not quite through and through on my strategy yet. One of these days, sure, when my strategy is being played over and over again. When I go from stage 1 to 2, then to 3 and back again, and am comfortable, gaining more experience, seeing much more progress on it, yeah, then I will feel more confident in making higher goals than where I’m at now. I just want to see the ship moving. And you know, another thing. I actually am doing quite well at my full time job. I’m definitely making more and more money each week. Between raises, bonuses, being super busy, oh, and being more motivated, I will further my business because of that.
Yeah Journal, I guess you don’t know how I generate money at my job. I’m not a salary guy. My paychecks are different every week. It all depends on my output. It’s all about how many hours I produce. That’s how I get payed. Even though I will be there 40 hours a week, doesn’t mean I will get 40 hours of pay. Every car that I fix, or service, will have a certain amount of hours corresponding to it. It all depends on what I have to do on it. So the actual amount of time that I get it done in doesn’t matter. But, the quicker I get them done, the more cars I can do. And that means more hours I can collect in a day. Just think of it as a salesman who only gets paid by how many books he may sell, and that’s his paycheck. It’s not the amount of hours he puts in a day, it’s how many he can sell in a day. For me, it’s all about the hours made. Times my rate. I’ve been generating more and more hours over the past couple years. For a week, I’ve been hanging around in the 60’s & 70’s. Meanwhile I only work around 40 hours of course. Lately I’ve hit 80 a couple times, but that was when I had to work a Sat. (6 days). So when I say the more motivated I am, that means something.
I will make more money there for the purpose of being able to put in more money into my business here. Believe me, I think about this everyday at work. I feel like there’s a direct correlation between how hard I work there and at the same time I’m furthering my business venture.
Man, am I off track here. Sorry Journal. I just like to type. You know it.
Well, what am I going to do? I have to put down a figure for my trading account. But those idiot’s couldn’t get my account straight until after the month turned. Do I go with the actual amount? I did take the picture live when it turned Jun 1st, which is 8 pm my time, on that Wed night. Well, since it got in there 2 days later, I’m just going to add it like it went in when it should. This is the shot of my account, at that time, while I had 3 trades running also.

So, this is where I’m keeping my records for this particular goal. It’s an excel sheet.

Well, I did it. But explained it to you. I did add a 100 to what my account portrayed. It kind of feels like cheating. I don’t like it. But, dog-gone it, when I talked to my broker, and he said it will be in there today, the 31st, what more can I do?
Then after yelling at them later on, did they finally get it in there.
But anyway, all I want to do is see my trading account balance have an increase every month. I thought about what to do with the business account. And I’m not going to put any pressure on that, just yet.
Journal, this is all going to be much clearer when I show you my mind map on something. I am working on a vision/goal/objective mind map that will surely put all things into perspective.
Ok. You did it. I’ll throw this out there now. This is the outline of the mind map that I want. I wanted to do this first, and then will complete the real one next.

So, to get back to my whole entire point. It will become clear when you will see my vision statement. And then for that to come true, I will have to complete the stated goals. And then for each goal to be accomplished will require the objectives to be met. It’s all about what I’m working on, to get to (?), for to get to (?), to finally arrive to (?). Now that’s what I call putting it all into perspective. You’ll see it soon enough. And it will make all the sense in the world.

Ok Journal.
I don’t want to stop typing. But I got to take a break now.
I do have so much more going on with my business.
Be back.
Mike

[MikeWolski]

Hey Journal.
Well, this is it. Time to go back to work. The end of vacation time is over. I am ready to get back into the normal swing of things. I actually need to get back into the moving of the body, cause when I’m working, I’m very active. I’ll be sweaty and exhausted by the end of the day. At least this keeps me alive. (And surely this all will be substituted with running, when I go full time with my business. I used to be a runner, long ago. (Miles and miles)
But anyway, I do feel good about what I’ve accomplished during this time off, on my business. I mean, I am always working on it, but I do feel like I am getting things more set up now. And that’s what I want to show you now. This is the continuation from what I posted last. So, here it is.

Now, it would take a whole lot to follow everything that I got down. Meaning all my mind maps that lead to everywhere. So, this is kind of like the beginning of where I want to go. I know I keep saying to you Journal that one of these days I will show you the things that I work on. It’s a lot. I mean, I have mind maps that detail out my strategy (which is pretty exhaustive), mind maps of my core trader skills, my values, even my daily routines, and many different things that I am working on. It’s on going. Pretty much anything real important to the building up of my business. In time, I’ll reveal them all.

Ok Journal, it’s off I go.
Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.
As long as I have my vision ahead of me, I’ll be ok.
That’s what keeps me going.

Mike

[anon5370623]

Are you creating these "algorithms by your own? They look really useful for newbies as they vividly describe how everything should work in trading from the point of money management?

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!
I’m doing just fine. Everything has gotten back to normal. The body feels good. Went back to work, and all is ok there. Made some good money this week. Back to my routine of things, so far so good. And the market …well, that is never a normal thing. Yeah boy, this week, it went a rocking all right. In my mind it was all about the UK this week. And you know I got some skin in the game. I’m not really in any bad shape. You should know that I’m always hoping for some safe haven play to happen in the world. And I did get a good boost this week. I’ll show you. All I got to say is …poor Pound. Boy did they get a hammering. I’m sorry, but that surely did me some good. Remember I mentioned a little bit ago that I read an article of a money manager who thought that the Pound and the UK will have a hard Brexit? Man…is that coming true, so far. Their election didn’t turn out the way ‘She’ wanted it to. I mean, I kind of feel bad because I like her. She’s like my Trump. If I was living over there, surely I would be upset. Probably more than I can imagine right now. But, on the other hand Journal, you know that I’m in bed with a strong JPY. And those two things are on opposite sides. Risk-on vs. Risk-off. This week turned risk-off because of their results. I’m so sorry UK !!!
But I got to tell ya. There is definitely something really interesting happening in the market. Man…it’s the NZD. I mean, it seems like nothing can stop their strength. This is nothing I haven’t seen before, but you have to admit, it looks different. Mainly because they are pretty much by themselves. They are no longer running side by side with the AUD. Or even Oil, meaning moreso the CAD. The correlations have broken down. I’m telling you, those 3 used to run like horses together. Well, not anymore. The risk-on pack is divided.
That’s all good and nice. Let’s see some results.

Let’s see. Bottom left one, AUD/JPY. Yeah man, I got stopped out. You can see where my stop loss was at, the red line. The white line just above it is where I got in at. Looks like I got lucky on Thursday, second to the last candle, but not on Friday, the last candle. So, the question is, what do I do now? Yeah, you can see why I have the rule about seeing where price ends at the end of the day. Back on down there. But technically speaking, it’s still trending, cause the yellow line is still below the green line. Well, it is climbing up and getting closer to the green line now. One the one hand, it’s kind of ashame to have a stop loss up set up there. I only look once a day. I wouldn’t have even seen that spike in real time, and after the fact, would’ve been fine because price came right back on down. If I think this is a sign of a turn of the trend, now is a good time to get out. But what if that was a full candle? That stop loss would be my saving grace, and I would be pretty happy to get out of there at pretty much break even. See, this is the experience that I need right now. It’s all about when the trend is going to end. And I need to know when am I going to get out of the trend. Technically speaking, the trend is over when the yellow line crosses up over the green line. That hasn’t happened yet. But these 2 doji sort of looking candles just might be telling me something. Like giving me heads up on a turn of the trend. Well, I do need to recognize the fact that the yellow line is moving up. Man…now that I keep looking at this…I’m thinking I wish I didn’t have a stop loss set. Don’t forget, I’m out of this trade now. And I wish I wasn’t. Cause now would be a good time to exit all of this, taking the money and running. But nope.
Oh well. Maybe all I need to do is put the stop loss much higher. You do see that it was set under where I got in at. See, I was thinking of my rule about protecting my profits, when I set that. So, I should be happy to be not losing any money. Yeah man, I need to remember that all of this is not my money until the trade is over. Honestly. Ok Journal, thanks. I do feel better. When the ending comes, then it’s over, and not before. The fact here is that I didn’t lose any money. And I’m going to be a little bit more generous with where I have my stop losses placed. And my plan here is to not get back in, but to wait and see how this all plays out. I kind of think that the trend is going away. Yeah, I bet you that the AUD is going to tail the NZD. Let’s just see.
Now the top left, USD/JPY. Yeah, this one is going ok at the present. You can see that I was lucky enough to have my stop loss at a higher level in which I didn’t get stopped out. Nice. It still is trending. But the bad thing about this one is that I got in on the late side. Meaning I didn’t catch this one at the green line. I remember now. Yep, 6 candles from the right is when I got in. Remember NFP day? I was watching it at that time and put in the entry order before the news came out. I put it at 111.00 . To back it all up, the plan is always to get in at the green line. And that is not what happened here. And the reason for that is to have more room for the trade to play out before the trend comes to an end. If I would’ve gotten in at the second chance (which was where the yellow line actually crossed over the green line) I could of had this cushion while the yellow line starts coming on up. But I got in on this way too late. So, what do I do now? If I stay in it till the yellow line crosses, that actually could be in the negative for me, by the time that might happen. Yeah…I think I should bail on this and start over. I mean, if I couldn’t get in when I’m supposed to, then that skews up the whole plan. Plus it looks like it’s coming on up anyway. And another thing, if I’m going to do the day trading thing, for one day only, I need to come up with an exit plan at that time, also. Well, I’m going to get out of this as soon as possible.
Now with the CAD/JPY, bottom and 3 over from the left. Well, here’s a repeat of the scenario where I set a stop loss, it gets hit, and comes on back down. Just like with the AUD/JPY. So, what did I determine? Looks like I need to be putting the stop losses much higher. Maybe there’s more credence to the end of day price settling that I should adhere to. Yeah, just higher of a stop loss, that’s all. Bottom line here is, I got in at the correct time, price came down, but looks like it wasn’t for much of a time. A short trend. Nothing I did wrong. Well, except for the stop loss. That I will correct.
How about the GBP/JPY, right above the CAD one. That’s something to feel good about. I don’t know if you remember, but I did put on another position on NFP day, 6 candles ago. Well, this is what I was looking at, end of day Wed.

This was just before they all were going to the polls to vote. And the next day was going to be a doozy. I don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t see where I put on the second position there. But it was right about at the 143.00 area. In the middle of that big red candle, that was NFP friday. Btw…the white line up there is where my first position was entered, and the red is the stop for it. So, what am I going to do now?
We got a major move coming the very next day. So this is what I did. I jumped. I was up a few dollars on this added position, and I just thought that it could be a disastrous outcome. I just hopped out. But I kept my original position unchanged, with the stop loss there. Well, what happened?

Money.
I’m so sorry UK.

And if you look up there, I got in with the EUR, and the CHF. The white lines are where I got in at, with a stop loss (red). I know I am a little late getting in, but the slopes are pointing downward, and I at least wanted to get in before it was too late. Even though the yellow line hasn’t crossed over the green yet. Oh, and how lucky am I with the stop loss placements? Close, but no cigar. I’m just lucky it didn’t get hit, on both of them. Even a little higher wouldn’t hurt. Well, I just hope the trend will take on these. We’ll see.

So Journal, I’m going to go for now. (Gonna try to take a short nap.)
I do have more stuff to throw out there.
Teaser?
Ok.
Bitcoin.
Yep.
Etherum also.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Hey Journal.
I got some time now.
Ok. So the secret’s out. I’ve been contemplating buying some Bitcoin for some time now. And finally, I got it done. Look. I’m no stranger to Bitcoin. Boy, I can remember back in like 2013. I used to talk to my brother about the market a lot. And we’ve even talked about the Bitcoin craze back then. In fact, he even bought 1 coin. He payed $80 for it. That’s where the price was at back then. Then after some things that went down, he ended up selling it back. But, the point is, I remember thinking how that was going to revolutionize the currency world. I was convinced. But, that was during the time that I was pretty new to the currency market, period. So, there was a lot of learning going on for me. And that was put on the back burner. I have never forgotten the fact that if he would have only held onto that Bitcoin, he would be in good shape today. Thanks to the media for recently hyping it up (on my forex news sites even), I got serious now about it. So, yeah, I own some. And let me tell you my plan for this. This has nothing to do with my business. This is what I think about it all. I am convinced, and believe that this will be a currency of the future. Maybe in like 20 - 30 yrs. I just do not think this will go away. And all I want is a little piece of it. This will be like investing long term for me. Sure, maybe along the way, after many real big dips, I would keep collecting more and more. But won’t get crazy about it. I’m making it like an insurance plan. Also, I’ve always thought of wanting to get in to a future thing. Just like I wish I would have seen how big computers have gotten, and invested in, way back in the '80’s. Man…do I remember sitting down with a cousin back in around '81 - '82. He was showing me MSdos. He got into computer programming back then! Line by line…white letters on the black screen. Very primitive stuff. And now look. Computers rule the world. But I didn’t know that was going to happen back then. If I did, I would have somehow invested into it, or at least followed it. I haven’t talked to Eric or seen him since. Just don’t know if he continued on with computers or not. Anyway…that’s how I see this, for the future. I mean, talk about everything going digital. Why not? Currency.
Well, that’s kind of where I am coming from. I believe it will, at some point in the future, will catch. And I just want to have some stake in it. So, I found out how, and bought some Bitcoin, when I was off of work last week. Then, only like a day ago, researched what Ethereum was. And I like it. Then bought some also. I bought $50 worth of each. Here’s proof.

So, as you can see, I’m actually making money as we speak. Yeah, there was a $2 fee for each one. But, I’m actually surprised of how much of a balance I have already!! I mean, I simply do not plan on even touching that for years to come. We’ll just see what happens. And you know what they always say…only invest what you are willing to lose. If that all goes belly up, believe me, I won’t be too heart broken.

Ok Journal, well thanks for listening.

Oh, and by the way…if BabyPips is still around in say another 20 years, then I’ll be able to look back onto this post, and see how it all started. That would be so cool!

Mike

[robfx17]

Thanks mike for the sharing…i just read through ur post and i’ve experienced all of those. The different is that i am so eager to go live. So i only trade my demo for couple of days. And as expected I lost some money too in the process of learning. You can say that I like the hard way. It is easy for me to learn by experience and to train my phycological minds in trading. Yes…indeed…our emotions is the main key facto that contribute to succesd and failure.
Looking forwad on your jouney…

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal.
Man…I slept in Journal. I’m sorry. I just don’t know what happened. You know, sometimes I just don’t hear the alarm. Well, I guess my body needed it. I’m just one who always wants to be productive. So…I don’t know…I’m just bummed. The sun is up and everything. Maybe it’s because I had to work yesterday (once a month Sat.). But, I did wake up before work at the normal time and worked some. Man, it was a tough day at work also. Boy…I tell ya…working that hard, at my day job, keeps me alive. Sometimes I wonder how I can continue doing it. But, am always, always, thankful that I can. And so here we are, my time with you Journal. I’m sorry it’ll be limited. So, I’ll try to get the most important parts of my business.
Well, what’s more important than my open trades, huh? Yeah, I have 3 going. Remember? My long time running GBP/JPY. And the EUR/JPY, CHF/JPY. Here they are.

Well, let’s talk about the Pound one, in the middle. That has been one of my best trades so far. In fact, it looks like I might have gone through all 3 stages. I got in where I wanted to. The first stage was successful. The second stage is staying in the whole ride down. And I did, but I was not so successful in adding position sizing. Let me refresh your memory. Look at the 7th candle from the right, the real big red candle. Well, that was the election results for the UK on that Thursday. I was in a second position leading up to that candle. But I remember pondering at the time of my ‘one look a day’. That was just before the results. Boy, it could’ve resulted differently. Ok, so, in hindsight, yeah, I lost out with the added position, but I was still in the trade from the beginning, so it wasn’t a total failure in regards to stage 2. And if you look closely, there’s no stop losses. I took them out of all 3 trades. (I’ll talk about that shortly) So now, here I am, and I think it’s time to exit this trade, being stage 3, the exit. The yellow line is moving up close to the green line, signaling the end of this trend. Surely it can be otherwise, but look, the trend has been riding out very nicely for some time now. It was a good ride and now I’m getting off. I just hope there won’t be a big gap before the open.
Now for the other 2. I don’t know, what can I do, the trend just doesn’t take. The yellow line just does not want to go down. One thing I did that was balsy was to take out the stop loss. I did that on Thursday night, just before that last candle started. The reason being is, price moves much more faster than both the yellow and green lines. And at the time (second candle from the right) I don’t know where price is really going. And at the present time the yellow line is below the green. This all has to do with whether the trend is going to start or not, which is my stage 1. And the other thing going through my head was my daily end price principle. How much do I trust that principle? Well, enough to take out my stops. And that’s what I did. Look at the right (CHF/JPY). Now that’s success! At least I can feel good about that one. I believe in waiting for and counting on where price ends up at the end of the day. You must remember how many times I have gotten stopped out, and then for price to spring on back to me. Well, I finally got it on this one. All I’m saying is that I should put more weight on end of day price than a stop loss. Ok. So what about the EUR/JPY ? I took out the stop loss there also, but it didn’t come all the way back down. Ok, so, that’s my cost. And I think that might be telling me that it wants to go up more. I’ll accept that. And the other thing with that trade there is I really got in late with it. See where I got in at? The white line. That’s way lower than where the green line is. So, yeah, it hurts. I mean, relatively speaking. I mean, I can’t see my broker now, but I think it’s like only less than $10 worth.
Bottom line here is, I’m jumping out. The Yen is done trending high.
But boy, since I’ve been keeping track, guess what’s been going on in the field? Interesting stuff!!
Look at my table.

Well, all I’m doing here, on the daily time frame, is working from right to left. Every once a day look, I just count up how many trending highs (according to my 8,21 ema method) each currency has, and tally them all from the strongest down to the weakest. And look at what has happened!! Journal, do you remember me asking you what’s going to happen to both the AUD, and the NZD? Like who’s leading who? Well, now we know. It’s clear. And to boot…look who’s joining them! The CAD! Well, well, well…Where did all the Comm’s come from? I guess the NZD has been the leader all along. Look…I don’t know how long this will last, but you have to think, is the AUD just getting started? And I’ve been noticing the CAD for some time now. There was one day that they just rocked the market, (only a few days ago) and their off and running now.
I should show you.

Ok, I’ve found the day. It was Monday of this past week. Count 5 candles from the end, against everyone. Every single candle was CAD strong. On the daily time frame here, they are trending high against everyone, except the NZD. But is presently chopping that trend down (bottom, second from the left).
Man…I just bet that every trader out there gets confronted with this con drum. It’s the ole ‘hindsight’ dilemma. How can we see something coming…and yet…not realize it…until it passes us by.
I’ve seen the NZD take off. Watched them, day by day, get stronger and stronger. And the same with the CAD. And now…we see the AUD coming up strong…are they next? Probably.
Look, you know that I’ve been concentrating on the JPY, only (with my trading) . I’m just wondering when is the right time for me to branch out and concentrate on the field as a whole. On the one hand, I don’t want to get too spread out and not be proficient at my strategy. But, on the other hand, I don’t think there will ever come a day when I’ll be able to trade with 100% accomplishment, every time I put on a trade, either.
I guess I need to be looking at my results much more closely.
But…you know what? This always gets me. **There are always big trends taking place in the market **. And one of these days I want to be apart of them, whoever they are. This takes me back to MasterGunners method. One of these days I’ll get there. I must be patient with the process though.

Ok Journal. Got to run.
We’ll be in touch.
Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal.
So, let’s see. If we’re gonna talk about my trading…then there’s not very much to talk about. I jumped on the onset of the open last week. This is definitely the time period that is not conducive for my trades. I haven’t been in since. But, I keep track of what’s going on. And it’s always interesting. As I have noted last week, the Comms have taken control. And this continues. Sure enough, the Yen has just faded away. That puts me out. Ok, so, am I still making progress? See, that question will always be the most fundamental, most important thing to me, about my business. At first, you kind of think, and it looks like, I’m not going anywhere. Yeah, I’m saving some money, and it’s not being taken away by some bad trades. I am following my strategy plan, which keeps me on the sidelines, that’s all. But, other than that, I still get up early and am working on something, at least.
I’ve thought a lot about this. ‘What exactly am I doing, on furthering my business?’. I mean, I have the strategy in place. I’m a swing trader. Therefore my trades take days and weeks to play out. And then the results.
Man…talk about taking a long time…Yep…it sure is.
But, this is what I’ve been doing. I have figured it out. I’m constantly working on my structure. Strengthening it, reviewing it, monitoring it…well, even building it. See, I believe I have learned how to properly build my trading business. Remember the classes that I paid for? Well sure! I do believe that I have been given all of the tools, methods, & framework for it. There was so much though that I couldn’t put it all together in that amount of time that I had then. Well, now is the time to put all of the pieces together. I just wanted to get my strategy all set up and operating first. Yeah, that took some time to do, as you know. But anyway, I’ve been working on my business structure. I have been telling you Journal that I’ve been working on this stuff, and that someday I’ll show you the specifics. I’m getting closer to that, don’t worry Journal.
Man…check this out Journal. One day last week, me and Trish were dining out. And I got a phone call. Guess who it was? You won’t believe it. It was Terry! I was like…stunned…scared…shocked…afraid…
He was like, ‘Hey Mike! It’s Terry.’ Man, it was like Judgement Day had arrived. It was time to atone for all my sins. I mean, I’m talking to the Godfather of trading. The All Knowing One. (I just esteem him to the highest degree.) He was like, ‘So Mike, are you still trading?’. I said ‘yes of course’. He asked how’s my demo trading going. All I said was it was going good. There was a good bit of silence. I was just caught off guard, and couldn’t fill in the empty time with anything. Actually, I didn’t want to talk to him. I mean, where do I begin? What can I say? I haven’t kept in touch. I’m not apart of the team anymore. I’m off doing what I think I should be doing. I just kind of disconnected from them. So he says, ‘Well Mike, I’ve been thinking about you lately. And I’ve been wondering if you would join us in another Core Trader Skills class. As my guest.’ That’s the 3 week course that I took back in Nov. And all I could say was, 'Uhhhhh…well…uhhhhhh…ok…" He says that he really wants me to be there with them. He wants my input into the class. This will start up in a week from now. So, then, that was that. It was a quick call. I got off the phone and Trish was like, ‘you ok?’. And then I told her. I was like in a catatonic state. I don’t know what just happened. So then I started to think about how this is going to affect my working schedule. It’s not pretty. Man, I remember the anguish I went through back in November. Even though it was only like an hour before my regular quitting time, it’s still like pulling teeth. I just cannot be leaving my workplace like that. The job is pretty demanding. Plus I’ve been having to stay late most days, to get all the work done. Tuesdays and Fridays, cutting out an hour early, believe it or not, is not easily done. Plus I’d be sacrificing a lot of money also. Well, after thinking about it, I decided to not attend the class. I emailed him, early morning, the day of. I just told him I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s too much of a conflict to my day time job. I do feel bad. Oh, you know, I did say to him on the phone that I haven’t forgotten about him. So…hopefully he got that. I know that someday we will hook up again. Well, if he doesn’t die away that is, cause he’s pretty dog-gone old. Well, we’ll see what happens.
Let’s see, what else was I wanting to tell you about. Oh, guess what? I bought another book. Yeah, it came on Thursday. And I’ve been reading it a lot since. Very good book. “The Undoing Project”, by Michael Lewis. I forget how I came across it, but boy am I glad I found it. It’s kind of different. In fact, I honestly don’t know where it’s going, or even if it’s a trading book either. But, in any case, it is telling a story about one author that I highly esteem. So far in about 3 chapters the author is giving a biography of 3 different people. One of them is Daniel Kahneman. Well, that guy is a genius. I have one of his books, and that one book has made the biggest impression on me of all the books that I’ve bought. “Thinking, Fast and Slow”. Well, now I know where he came from and how he grew up. Talk about growing up in bad times. Nothing is worse than being a Jew in the middle of the Holocaust, in World War II. That was him. His story is something else. But anyway, he’s a psychologist. And in my opinion an absolute genius. So, we’ll see where this book goes. So far, it’s the biographies of certain guys. Story telling. History telling. And very interesting.
So Journal, honestly, that’s what I’ve been doing lately. Nothing but reading this book. You know I’ve been wanting to get back into reading. And now is the time. It’s been fun.

Well, off I go. To read.
Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!
Here I am. I’m finally back. Yeah boy…I’ve been busy. Well, as you know, I come visit you on the weekends. But last weekend, impossible. It was a family function. I took a trip down to Florida for some days. It was a gathering of the brothers and our Dad. The 5 of us. It was a nice healthy reunion, because it’s been some time since. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to fit any kind of work in, let alone my weekend ritual of journalizing. Believe me, I always love taking advantage of the opportunity to work on my business during vacation time. That’s rising up early, and accomplishing much. But…not this time. I had to abide by different rules. Mostly, staying up very, very late. My alarm clock would be going off, and we were still up. So, it was like that the whole time, every single day. I’m not a night person, I’m definitely a morning person. Oh well, nothing I can do. And now, finally, getting back to normalcy. Last day upon me now, before I go back to the normal normal. I finally managed to arise early (2:30) . So, it’s only me, you, and coffee right now. I’ve been wanting to review myself, the business, and my on-going focus.
Where am I at?
(This is already at the forefront of my mind, given the fact that I have articulated this stuff as of late.)
I am incomplete.
I am on a mission, to fulfill myself.
I will not rest until I have uncovered what I want to be in life. In other words, this is exactly what I think I was born to do, and become.
I am a trader. I am a business owner.
I cannot wait to see how good of a trader I will be. Smart. Cunning. Patient. Endowed with a real traders mindset.
Becoming a successful, fully independent, business owner. Managing a very lot of money, with the calmness of a kitten, and the fierceness of a tiger. In total and complete control.
This is what I want to be. This is who I am. But, at the present, I’m still a caterpillar. Working on the transformation.
And guess what…it just takes a long time.
So be it.

Yeah…that’s nice…
Where we at? Big picture and move on in.

• Monthly goal. Honestly I didn’t have time, at the end of the month, to add some dollars to the account to make it simply higher. I am only short about $20 max. I will this week.
• Well, trading wise, I’ve been on the sidelines. The JPY has been the weakest currency. No trending high there. No trades.
• Been trying to work on my structure. I have ideas of strengthening and putting into place some core trading values. For instance, I’ve been trying to solidify my ‘decision making process’ mind map, in order to utilize that as a working tool. I just want the stuff that I have learned to be put into practice. (Man…that sentence is so funny to me, because of what I want to write next). Also I plan on revisiting my ‘Learning’ & ‘Practicing’ mind maps. Again, I’ve been thinking about these tools, and have been wanting to incorporate them in such a practical application. For instance, when I ‘think’ about the important aspects of my business, I should be thinking in the best way, in which will be explained in my ‘thinking’ mind map. Same goes for ‘learning’. I want to truly learn the things that I need to learn. I need to figure out the absolute best way for me to actually learn, and how to learn, what I need to. Also ‘Information Processing’ is another aspect of myself that I need to better myself at. So, I view all this as building up my structure. I want these important things in place. It’s kind of like making the soil rich beforehand. Only then can I grow some real good stuff.
• Was reading that awesome book. Talk about genius’s. Daniel and Amos are monsters when it comes to figuring out how humans decide things. Awesome insights into our minds.

One thing, before I forget. I do want to open up another mind map. I think this is one that I need to keep before me. I got this idea from my one brother, who is such the intellect. Ok, more accurately the philosopher, scientist, engineer (by trade), & theological student that he is. Of our many talks together, he was very much interested in what the ‘mind of a trader’ is like. I gave him as much as I could about that. You know, things like how to be a totally objective, non emotional, probability seeking robot (person). It is interesting stuff. Being an emotional human, and a trader are 2 totally different people. And he was wondering and asking if there were any emotions to be desired as a trader. Just as we, as humans, have emotions, as gifts for other people, is there any emotion conducive, helpful, for a trader? You know, to become a more well rounded person or trader. Well, all I could come up with was that it seems to me that emotions are for people, not for business (the market). And I think the word love was even mentioned. Is there any room for the emotion of love in the market? In any case, my point here before I forget, I want to draw up a mind map. Titled ‘The Traders Mind’. I think I might have learned some of this during the classes that I took. But I would like to collect all of the attributes in one place, find my strengths, weaknesses, and simply just become that. Oh and how about another mind map in which will spell out being human. Hmm. Nah. Ok. Maybe an ideal human, to an ideal trader. Anyway, that’s all nice and good. I just want to have a clear focus of the ideal traders mind.

Ok Journal. Believe it or not, this took a long time to write. Much thinking has gone into it.
So, time to skoot.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!
Well, I finally have some good stuff to talk to you about. Yep, I’m talking about some trading. So, let me set it up for you.
You should know by now Journal that I haven’t been in the market for quite many days now. And we all know why, because the dog-gone Japanese Yen has been the worst currency for a long time now. That just leaves me on the sidelines. Sure, it bothers me, and during this whole time I start questioning whether I’m making any progress in my business. Day by day, week by week, all I’ve been seeing is my life pass me by.
All I’m doing here is getting old, not trading. * Will I ever be put back into the game coach! *
That’s been my sentiment lately.
But…
This week happened. And I must explain. Cause I’m a bad boy, or …I’m a genius.
Look Journal, I’m not saying, and it’s just not true, that I always look at the market. Anticipating when to get in is not what I’m doing. I’ve definitely have grown up and out of those premature feelings that you get in the beginning. You just want to be part of the action in the market. I remember. But, with everything that is true within me, I can say that I have and am sticking to my game plan. What’s that again? Simply waiting on the JPY. To get strong. And even more specifically, waiting for my 2 EMA lines to start crossing, for me to get in. But, I must explain what happened this week. At my work.
I forget what day it was, something like around the middle of the week, I took a look at the market. See, there are many times in a day, at my workplace, that I have to go up to the parts department counter, and ask for some parts. Whether it be just an oil filter, front brake pads, or something bigger, sometimes I’ll have to wait there at the counter if the guys behind there are busy. So, I’ll be leaning there, and just pull out my phone and see if anything is happening in the market. A common occurrence, no big deal. And most of the time I only get a few seconds anyway. But sometimes a few minutes also.
Well, that scenario took place this week. I forget exactly what I was looking at, but something just grabbed my attention in a big way. And I’m standing there, saying out loud, ‘you know what…I think I need to get into the market right now’. Then, of course, the other side of my mind is yelling at me like, ‘are you kidding me? You don’t trade this way! Those days are long gone. You have a plan to follow now. You just don’t trade on the fly like this. First off, we need end of day price to come, etc…etc…’ But, I have to tell ya, this went deep. As I look back on that moment, the only thing that explains it was the trader in me seen a major opportunity. With all things considering, (the JPY being sold off forever, the USD losing it’s grip, and some USD economic indicator figures dropped majorly ) I pulled the trigger. I must have been looking at the USD/JPY. I couldn’t believe myself. I just do not trade like this. On one hand, I was feeling ugly, impatient, greedy, (newbie ish) . But, on the other, this was something I just had to do. I didn’t care. I needed to get in at the top of the turn.
And I’m going south. Of course, at the time, I rationalized it off by knowing that I went in with only a .01 position size. That’s 10 cents a pip. But, in any case, I’m trying to guard myself against thinking that this will become the way I trade. I know how things can escalate and then get out of hand. But I simply do not like to trade this way! I AM more patient than that!
I even said out loud that I can’t believe I’m in a trade now. So…let’s just see what happens.
Well, the way it turns out was, in hindsight, WAS a turn. I think it was on Friday that I definitely got the confirmation. What big red candles have been painted!! And somewhere along the line I have gotten in with another Yen pair. Not only that, I added some position sizing with the 2 pairs that I’m in with. So, I have 2 trades running to date. The USD/JPY and CHF/JPY. Let me show you here, and let’s talk about it.

These are all the Yen pairs. I’m in the top left one and the top right one, (USD/JPY and CHF/JPY). I got in at the dotted white lines. Ok…So…now you see…I’m gonna say it…I AM A GENIUS!
So, let’s dissect the charts. First things first. The JPY has not trended high for some time now due to my trend indicator, which is the relationship of 3 things, price, 8 EMA line (yellow), and the 21 EMA line (green). When the yellow line is above the green line, that means the other currency is trending higher. When the yellow line gets below the green line, then that means the JPY is trending higher. And of course PRICE is what moves the fastest and first. You can see on the whole top row how we are starting to see the yellow line moving down closer to the green line. Of course what makes that happen is current price (the candles). The bottom row (the COMM’s) hasn’t seen that turning down yet. That just tells me that we, presently, are not seeing a big picture risk aversion market sentiment yet. But, it sure does look like it with the USD/JPY.
I do think at times that that pair is the most prominent one. Kind of like the benchmark. Others do take cues from it.
Here’s my 2 trades at a close up.

Well, I do want to mention something on the USD/JPY (left one). Wednesday and Thursday candles show interesting price action candlesticks. I just wonder how many price action traders have thought that those were indicating a move up north. I mean, they are sort of similar to doji type candles (long wicks). But, it looks like price was testing the waters on south before heading there (and of course this is all in hindsight).
Price action trading is interesting, but I just cannot put my trust into it. I just stay aware of it, that’s all.
So anyway, my trades must have been taken on Wednesday (dotted lines). And man did I catch this at such a sweet spot. See, my plan is to catch the cross over of the yellow line below the green line. At the ‘V’.
And how in the world would I have done this with the USD/JPY ?? Price just moved way to fast. Of course I could have put an entry order AT the green line. That would’ve worked. But I’m still technically taking a chance that price wants to continue to move down, and bring down the yellow line below the green. Because technically speaking, these are not trending yet. In my book, that happens when the crossover happens. And I need to remember that I simply do not know what’s going to happen in the future. But…there are indications that point to the Yen coming back alive. Because history has ALWAYS made that a truth! They always seem to come back and trend high for a time. I just happen to think that time is coming imminently.
But, boy, did I catch this one ahead of time. In fact, Journal, you probably remember a few pages back here in my journal, we seen this very thing happen with the USD/JPY. Price just shoots down so quickly, that I missed the move. I even chalked it up on a mind map of the reasons why I cannot get into a trend from the beginning. Well, I got to say, I learned (well my mind did) something. ‘Live and Learn’ my favorite motto.
Bottom line this week is I made 7% on those trades. Their still running. And I’ll keep it that way and see how it all turns out.
I do want to do some serious documentation during this time. I mean like every single detail on my trading. Like why did I get in? How? Just to answer any and all questions relating to what are all of the factors that make me get into the trades. Every little detail. Well, I’m gonna try. Cause I think this possibly might be another Yen run. Hopefully it will turn out that way. We’ll just have to see. And I want to take advantage of the possibilities.

Ok Journal. Got to run.
Thanks for listening.
Busy, busy weekend it has been.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!
Well here we are, Sunday early morning, coffee is hot, finally got my screenshots ready, and I’m ready to type.
Ok, so, Journal, are you sitting down? Good. Cause guess what happened this week? And I’m not talking market either right now. Personal stuff is always most important.
Last Sunday, my daughter, brought into this world, another human being. That’s right Journal! You can call me Pap pap! I’m so happy. Little Eric Jr. He’s a cutie pie. It has been a long time since I held an infant. 27 yrs ago with her. AND I’m a grandfather while still in my 40’s !! (Phew…only in a couple more weeks from now and that won’t be true)
…long pause…thinking…
I just don’t know what to say. Of course there’s much I can talk about that. Life is a beautiful thing. Well, I just know one thing. He’s gonna have the best pap pap that ever lived. I’m looking forward to being close to my grandchild. Good times to come, for sure.

Ok, so, that’s nice. (Well, that’s really nice, actually)
How did my horse do this week? Yeah, as you know, last week started a JPY move on a couple currencies. And it’s still continuing Journal. Picked up a few more along the way also. I had a couple sell stop entries kick in. I mean, I’m not killing it, but definitely in the positive. Cause, as you know, some pairs just take so much longer to work out. But, you have to see the big picture. So far, it seems like the Yen is staging a comeback. IF it is true, for a good long Yen run, then I caught it at a good time. Only time will tell. This is what I’m holding out for. And I want to take full advantage of it. So, let me show you what the field looks like.

And instead of explaining each and every trade, there they are.
Top left (USD/JPY) going picture perfect. It’s technically trending now (crossover took place) and I got in beforehand. The next one over, on the top EUR/JPY, the dotted line is my entry order, but it hasn’t hit yet. Then the GBP/JPY entry trade kicked in, at the dotted line, and is turning out nicely now! The last one on top row is the CHF/JPY. This was gotten in last week. I’m in twice here, top dotted line and lower dotted line. Price is not really moving down much. I’m just going to hang in there. BTW…I do not have any stop losses in place. This is a lesson I’m learning from the last Yen run. Since I check in at the end of day, I will always have that option to get out at that time. And so far it’s just a waiting game. And speaking of that, my real loser here is the NZD/JPY. Bottom row, second one over from the left. The dotted line is where my entry order kicked in. But price bounced back on up to the top. Boy, come Thursday, I was seriously thinking of cutting my losses. Look at the second to the last daily candle there. I was looking at a minus $10 and change. That’s a little much for me. But…I kept the trade running on hold. Then Friday’s doji candle made me feel much better. Triple top, or head & shoulders pattern, looks good for me to just stay in and hope it drops on out. We’ll just have to wait and see the outcome. When it comes to the AUD, and CAD, (bottom left and third one over) I’m not even touching them yet. Although the AUD looks like I should get the entry order placed at the green line soon. But Mike…why don’t you play the AUD like this is a top? Like you did with the USD?
Uhhhh…Well…Uhhhhh…When I think about it, the Aussie is on a tear. They have been so strong lately. And according to my other table, they look to over take the CAD on strength. I don’t know. Bottom line is they are too strong now. See, this is the con drum. How much emphasis do I put on fundamentals in conjunction with the technicals. I can say that they look to be at a top right now, technically speaking. But fundamentally there is a strong case for risk-on. And also you have to think about the CAD being on such a tear lately also. I don’t know, we can go back and forth on this. Strength has been bouncing back and forth from the NZD, then to the CAD, and this past couple weeks the AUD. The NZD did signal a dropping. And I just wonder if both the AUD, CAD will follow suit now. Look, I just don’t know. But my plan calls for catching the crossover down. I can’t get too greedy here and think that I can always catch it before hand. Is it a real tell-tell that the majors up there are signalling an across-the-board Yen run? Just maybe. Cause I seen it before, many many times. But when you look at price action with those three, ((l) big red candle, (m) triple top, ® consolidation flag ) you can easily build a case for a JPY turn on down.
Bottom line…I need to be ready, and have some kind of entry orders waiting, that’s all.
Anyway, I’m doing good. I do feel my trades have been getting better. This is the game, and I absolutely love it.
Btw Journal…I’ll show you what I do at the end of every day. It’s a table that I keep. This keeps me abreast of what’s going on in the market. Whoever has the most trending highs takes the strength. I have the daily line up, the weekly line up, and monthly line up.

In the middle there is what July 1st looks like on the monthly time frame. The NZD, on the monthly time frame, is trending high against everyone. The GBP, is trending low against everyone. Then on the weekly time frame, I have the strong down to the weak line up, (July 2, 9, 16, 23). And there’s the daily also. You can see in the last 2 days of this month the AUD is now trending high against everyone. And the JPY, on the last day, finally has moved on up. They are trending higher than the USD. You can actually see the crossover the Yen did on the USD at the above chart.
This gives me a flow and perspective of the market. I believe it helps a lot. There is order in the market. We’re gonna see if the AUD will spend more time up there or not. And whether the JPY will continue to rise up the ranks…or not.

Ok.
Pap Pap out.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Good Morning Journal!
Well, are you ready to listen Journal? Cause I got a lot to get off my chest. Also there is something I’ve been wanting to expound on for some time now. But first, boy, do I want to show you the action in the market.
Ok, so, this is where we’re at. You have to remember, just the last time in here, that the Yen has been making some strong moves. And precisely, I showed you that they are trending high against only one currency now. The USD. (Of course, who isn’t, right?) Well Journal, let me tell you, it’s continuing.
But first, this is what’s going through my mind. In my trading, all I’m doing is waiting on the JPY. I play when they are being bought up. And since I watch and keep track of the entire field, I don’t know if they will eventually rise on up to the top and be the strongest, dominating currency, to eventually show long trends across the board, or not. Of course that’s what I want to see. But I just cannot assume that’s going to be the outcome. I am trying to remind myself of this. I shouldn’t assume anything, period. But…it’s tough Journal, cause, like the case is now, they are getting some good traction going. And I fall trap to the idea that they can eventually strong arm other strong currencies. I guess what I’m trying to say here is…I wonder how much of an affect does the JPY have laterally across the other currencies? I think I have a tendency to wish that to be true. And, surely, that is not a good thing to do. Maybe when we hear ‘risk-off’ prevailing in the market do they naturally tend to transcend across the others. But the question is, is that the only reason why traders go long the Yen? Their safe haven status? Well, how about their economy? I mean, they have been falling short of their 2% inflation target for ever. I remember when their new central banker head Kuroda and Prime Minister Abe first came on the scene. That’s all they’ve been shooting for is 2%. And they just cannot get close to that. They are so far from that it’s not even funny. Nobody knows quantitative easing more than them. It’s just simply awful. Anyway, I’m just pointing out the other reason for why traders would normally trade a currency. And I don’t think it’s because of their economy.
Anyway, I guess I need to remember that all the 7 pairs are not always correlating to one another. Sometimes, but not always.
Oh, yeah, and let me show you how I tasted a bit of that defeat this week.
Man…the NZD…This is what I was looking at, the close of Wednesday.

You see where I sold it at, the bottom dotted line. It has just gone up since. I have no stop loss in place. Believe me, I’ve been getting a little worried about this trade. You can see where price went down, snagged my entry order, and turned north. Yeah, so, seeing the strength the Yen is having on the USD, and thinking there’s gonna be some correlation, I’m hanging in there. Well, for how long will I be? Look, price just broke through resistance. So I’m sitting there, nodding my head, seeing a - $17. and change on this trade. That’s too much for me! So, the first thing that enters my mind is that I need to wait till the end of the week. I have just seen it a million times the turn-around during a week. Look…there hasn’t been one this week yet. End of day Tuesday was sitting right on top of the resistance level. Yeah, I gave it one more day. Ok. Now what? It could simply just go higher and higher. Forget about a ‘turn’. Then I’m thinking that I’m being like a newbie and won’t cut my losses. “Am I afraid of taking a loss”…???..Well, the smart side of me says, absolutely not. I’ll cut that right now. And that’s what I did. I refuse to be the one who won’t cut your losses short. So to speak.

And here’s the evil.
Hindsight.
Yep, I cut my losses alright.
Maybe not.
Look Mike, this is the game. In fact, I remember this week that one of the BabyPips guys was short this pair also. And he took his loss also. That kind of made me feel better. (Sorry!!)
It’s just a loss. Their gonna happen. But, at least I can remember that there is some merit to the fact that in a weeks time, a turn normally happens. That’s all. Maybe I will incorporate the ‘weeks time’ into my plan.
It is something to remember.

Now, Journal, how about some good news.
Oh yeah Mike, bring it.
Yeah buddy!!!
Who’s trending?

And this is my goal. Whoever is trending, I want to be in it. Top left is the USD. I’m in there, twice, at the dotted line. Also I’m in the top right one, CHF/JPY, twice also, both dotted lines. And the only other one is with the GBP, top row third one over from the left. So, needless to say, I’m very happy with the way this is turning out. So, it was at the end of day on Friday that I took pics from my phone of my account, before the broker shut down for the weekend. This is what it looks like.

So, given my loss this week, and where I stand now, I’m up 28%. This is the total from when the JPY has begun their run lately. It started with the USD. Remember when I was at work, and broke all kinds of rules and got in with them initially? Then with the CHF? That’s when it all started. So, my goal now is to see how I fair during this time. Like I said a little while ago, I would like to keep detailed accounts of my trades during this time that the JPY is on the run. Like…total % amount accrued, wins, losses, how my entries were, how my managing went, how my exits went, how my risk management turns out, money management plays out, and anything else I need to learn, when it’s time to trade.

Ok Journal, I still have some time left.
That’s what’s going on in the market for me. I want to come back with something that I’ve been wanting to talk about. That I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

Mike

[MikeWolski]

Ok Journal, so, let’s see if I can get this out. (There’s so much I want to convey)
It hit me one day recently, about the ‘system’. The trading system. And it’s funny that it had so much in common with another thread posted recently, about what exactly is a trading system/method?
See, to back it up a little, every trader must have this going through their minds. The end of the road. Where you really want to end up. Whether making a lot of money, or (like me) just wanting to get to the full time status. We have in the back of our minds the goal, and then of course the road to get there. And that naturally brings the sense of…‘a long time’. I know that in order for me to get to the full time status I will need X amount of dollars in the bank. And it’s a lot. That is kind of what’s depressing. My plan is to trade my way there. I mean, it only makes sense. If I can keep on trading part time, and over time generate that amount of money, then I will have deserved to do this full time. It’s the proof in the pudding. I will have gotten good enough to do it. But, if we really knew how long it is going to take, then there’s a good chance of giving up on it. Simply because it’s going to take a long time. That’s what I’m talking about here. You know, others might be like this also, but, for me, I know that I always need something to hang on to. A vision. A goal. The prize. The thing that I can wake up to and feel good about that no matter how long it’s going to take, it will be worth it. But sometimes, when you look at the road to be traveled, and how long it’s going to take, that can weigh on you. Especially year after year that goes by. I don’t have a problem with staying on the road. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will spend the rest of my life pursuing my dream. This is a given. I’m bent this way. I am a trader and I won’t deny myself. Besides, nothing makes me more happier than this venture.
But, there is an encouraging perspective to have. For the short term. To keep you going. And it hit me. And it sure does help matters, on a daily basis, when you know that it’s gonna take a great amount of time and effort to get there.
It’s been under my nose the whole entire time. The Earth will not tremble when I say it, but when I explain it, it will make all the sense in the world.
It’s all about your system/method. Also your entire business operation. Bottom line, how do you do it?
See, I know that I will need a large amount of money to start. I can’t get around that. But what actually is more important than that is my entire trading system. To be specific, it’s the strategy coupled with the operations of the business.
I was in a conversation with someone recently. It went like this. “If you had the money right now, to start your business, would you do it?” And as honest as I am to myself, I said no way. I am just not ready yet. I do not have a track record of proving myself time and time again. I do not have the proof, over months and months, to show that I am capable of consistently increasing my account balance. That’s why I believe it’s best to trade your way there. That will be all the proof you need, to yourself and possibly to others.
But, let’s step back and look at it this way. I really don’t think there’s a difference between having a $1,000 balance or a $100,000 balance. If you work the system, without regards to how much is in the account
in a consistent manner, protecting the account, perfecting the method, building the business, then theoretically speaking, working with 1K would work the same as with 100K. Say we started in Jan., with a 1K account balance. And we are looking at an entire calendar year. We will then have 12 times that we will be looking at results. They say somewhere around 7% a month is considered a good return. So then, at the end of Jan, how close did we get to making the account balance around $1,070.00 ? Wow…that doesn’t seem too hard to do. Huh? Then month 2 would be like $1,145.00 . Month 3 would be $1,225. Month 4 would be $1,310. Month 5 would be $1,401. Month 6 would be $1,500. Month 7 would be $1,605. Month 8 would be $1,717. Month 9 would be $1,837. Month 10 would be $1,965. Month 11 would be $2,102. Month 12 would be $2,249.
Well, I don’t know about you, but that is encouraging enough for me. Definitely doable. Slow and steady wins the race huh? Basically you’re, a little over, doubling the account in a years time. Well, Journal, all you have to do is go back to the beginning of this journal and see that when I first went live, Jan '16, with $1K, I doubled my account in 3 months. Actually in the 4th month (April) is when I doubled it. Then that’s when I crashed it. On month 4. I know, I know, I know, …I was out of control. Don’t remind me. It’s all in black and white for ya anyway. My point is, it’s definitely doable. The hard part is consistently.
So again, my point really is this.
It’s the system.
If it is in place, the way you approach the market, the way you get in and out of trades, the way you operate on a consistent basis, the things you constantly do as you run the business, it shouldn’t matter how much money you are playing with. Because when someone gives you $100,000, are you going to trade the way you know how to trade? Are you going to operate in the same, second hand nature, way that you know how to? Will it be business as usual?
It should be.
And that, Journal, gives me hope. I don’t need to be thinking of how much money I will need to start up my business full time. All I’m going to do is work my business part time. Work on my system. Prove it month after month, after month. And in this field of uncertainty, when I can get comfortable making the percentage that I need, then maybe when/if someone approaches me and asks "If you had $100,000 right now, would you go full time, I would definitely say yes, cause I have proof already.
All I need to do is concentrate on the process. You know, I wonder if I can even pretend to run a business full time? Sure it would be tough to, given the fact that I am not home all the time. But, how about some strategies that hone in on a slightly different time frame? I do know that one of these days that I will want a strategy for every different time frame. Like a long term one (monthly t.f.), one for the weekly t.f., daily, maybe even 8 hr, surely 4hr, 1hr would be intraday. But, there shouldn’t be any reason why I couldn’t delve into those soon. You know. Hey…if my crossover system is working out good, then why not just adapt it to the different time frames?

Well Journal, I think I got it out there.
Time has run out for me now.
Got to run.

Mike

[TradeViper]

Hello Mike, I am assuming you are a real person and not a “pigment of imagination” by the site owners/overlords. So a few friendly observations.

1. You appear over-weighted JPY
2. I would recommend you get some levels on your chart .
   a. High, Mean, Low, different time frames
3. Watch your emotions
   a. When you step out into your Hub, you must abandon all thought of hope, self
   fulfillment, feeling good, purpose in life etc.
4. What is your exit for your GBP/JPY
   a. how much longer are you going to hold it

The Ever Observant VIPER