My Trade Journal

Trading Discussion Trade Journals
1

Starting this thread to list my notes as to why I am entering a trade and how I manage that position and what the outcome is.

I will be listing trade reviews and also analysis of levels I am watching in anticipation of the trades.

This is a demo account and so looking to trade 3 months before going live.

I will be looking at key S&R levels and trading off these and will look to trade in main direction of trend although will at times take counter-trend trades if I think we could be turning to resume longer term trades.

Thoughts and advice welcome, looking for consistency and so happy to receive criticism and thoughts if they are constructive and well intended.

2

This is the level (7805) I was watching on Sunday before the market open and I was initially looking to see the level fail and get short. If the level is to hold then the overall trend could be resuming and so will be flexible and trading small until I am more sure of trend direction.

On Monday the level was hit and the price bounced returning to the level on Tuesday AM and breaking the low. As price returned back above the level I decided to short at short term resistance. The level failed and I was stopped at a small loss. I then shorted as price rejected the next area of short term resistance but was again stopped out for another small loss.

Price then bounced of the “level” two more times and so I thought the initial dip below the level on Tuesday could be stops being taken and then price would resume overall trend so I decoded to look for a long.

This morning I marked up 7838 and decided if price returned here it would be a good area to bounce and get long.

As price hit 7850 twice and moved higher I decided to chase price as I thought we would be looking at a breakout above 7868.

This was a mistake as I was chasing price!!

When I took the stop here, I then resumed my bearish interest and so went short… again a mistake as I lost sight of the earlier level I was watching at 7838

Having watched price hit 7865 I decided to close this trade manually and re-looked at the chart and saw that the 7838 level had been hit. I should have been long as per my plan… I have now gone long again with a 25 pip stop.

Now, I am OK with the first two losses as these were based on my pre-planned analysis. Trades 3 & 4 showed me chasing price and could have been avoided.

Trade 5, again I am OK with this as I using pre-analysis to get in having seen price bounce of 7838.

This trade may not work out but again it is being traded with a plan and so I will hold.

7905, 7915 & 7920 will be overhead resistance and will be key to longer term trend being resumed or continuation down.

I would post a chart but new users can’t. Having just noticed this at the end of the text, I will explain the levels. 7805 is the Aug 15 low and was tested again on Friday 29th Sep. Having seen price bounce off again 7838 was now the previous day’s high and so good support.

I’ll post charts once allowed to better clarify current and future positions.

Starting Balance - £10,000
Current Balance - £9959.32

3

Stopped out again overnight at the 7838 level.

Didn’t trade this morning but price did use the old support and turned resistance offering a sell at two occasions at this level during both the Asia and London sessions.

The 7805 level again was tested and rejected too. 7754 is now a level to watch but no open trades today. 7710 could also be a target on the downside.

4

First trade of the week was placed yesterday going long GBP/USD @ 1.3138.

The entry was based on 1.3150 being a pre-determined level of the daily low from the 14th September and price on the short-term H1 had broken upwards and so is counter-trend.

I took the long on the support at 1.3138 and held overnight. During this mornings opening price again bounced from the 1.3150 level again and I held until being stopped out having moved the stop during the trade and being stopped out for a 40pip gain.

Errors:

The error was in moving the stop too aggressively. It should have been moved under the new swing lows in which case I would have still been in the trade. Maybe the 5 prior losses beforehand influenced my decisions in wanting to ensure a winning trade but I know that placing the stops under the swing lows in the long run will ensure greater pip hauls and so I need to stick to the plan in the long run.

1.3220 is now resistance and I have support at 1.3150. Daily chart shows the downtrend and so if we get back below 1.3150 then shorts back in play but if we get above 1.3220 then 1.3270 is in play. 1.3180 is yesterdays high and could eb an area to long to the 1.3270 area.

Above 1.3270 and we could be in line with the weekly trend which is bullish and so still options on both sides in play.

Again I would post a chart but still as a new user I am unable to.

5

Two trades in the last two days. First was an entry long having watched price bounce off the 1.3180 level and I chased the price, which was an issue and an error as I was chasing price as fearing I was missing out.

I took a 30pip stop loss and was stopped out.

Stupidly as I was stopped out I realised it was just taking some stops out and was also back at the 1.3180 level so had I waited for the retracement this is an area I would have gone long and so I decided to re-enter @ the 1.3187 level.

When I woke this morning I saw price approaching the 1.3270 level which was the resistance I noted above but as it had already moved from this area on the overnight trading I thought it may breakout and so held but moved the stop loss up.

After the bounce at 1.3237 I decided if we broke below I should exit and take some profits. I was stopped out whilst at work and when I saw the down-move I thought that after price had dipped below 1.3214 it could be a short, as it was the open of the day.

Price then dropped sharply to 1.3150 and although I had this as support I thought it would be a hunt for shorts tomorrow but in the interim period price has bounced back above the 1.3270 level and so maybe the bullish bias is back fro tomorrow??

That said as I am typing the 1.3265 level could be interesting? Stop raid at 1.3240 but I think that is S&R that has worked well so Asia could push higher overnight?

6

Bought at market 1.3266

Stop @ 1.3236

Initially looking for 1.3340 area

7

Stopped out on the above trade for a 30pip gain.

No trades this week. Set a limit order at 1.3220 last night for this morning’s open but price only got to 1.3212 and so missed the move.

8

Hi N,

It will be helpful when you can start posting charts since it’s hard to follow at this point. I can’t remember how many posts you need before you get to that point. I just posted on other people’s threads and built up my post count, and then I was able to post charts relatively quickly.

It’s hard to offer any thoughts, I’m not sure if I just missed it, or if you didn’t mention what pair you were trading on those initial trades - but I didn’t see it. I kind of follow with the GBPUSD one you mentioned on Oct 5, but still hard to keep flipping back n forth between charts and your post… I’ll be watching for future posts. Good luck!

9

Hi,

Thanks for looking at the thread. Yes, primarily it is GBPUSD I am trading but the early posts related to the AUDUSD.

I’ll look into the post count and get some charts up from Sunday so it’s easier to follow along.

One trade Friday, lost 10 pips selling the GBPUSD which could be an error as price had hit and bounced away from a long term target @ 1.3102.

As I was watching the price early morning, I saw that we were retracing to an old low (1.3132) from the 19th October and when price rejected at 1.3143 around 08:00 on Friday I decided to short after it bounced at 1.3116 and re-touched 1.3132.

The immediate flow was down but when I was stopped at 10pips I knew the 1.3132 level was important and so should have had more conviction in seeing the flows change and gone long like I did a few trades ago as noted in post #4.

The 1.3102 level was a high level support line as it is an area where the initial run up between the 6th and 13th October was being bought and so seeing a bounce here and change in flows should have been better noted. Maybe as I was trading off my phone in the AM before work was not ideal as I don’t have the areas noted on here but then again I knew the area so maybe making an excuse to myself for the error.

1.3140 & 1.3160 also offered good intra-day longs too but I wasn’t at the charts and so didn’t get the opportunity to trade these.

I’d still like to see price back above the 1.3220 level before I start just looking at longs and so will keep an open mind.

If we get above 1.3220 then I would be looking for longs in to 1.3320 and 1.3400 in the next week.

Hopefully get some charts up on Sunday.

10

No charts yet and no trades so far this week.

Just noting down some levels on EURUSD for my files as may trade these levels should they be hit.

1.1880
1.1660

There’s a big uptrend on the daily chart and back above 1.1880 would be looking for longs.

Below 1.1660 longer retracement and so would look for shorts.

11

20171024_073438.png2499×1330 138 KB

12

Took one trade this afternoon after the large move up this AM. I waited fro price to retrace to an old area of resistance and expected some support.

Entered long at 1.3233 but was stopped out after moving my SL up to +15 given it was nearing the end of day.

With that said, after price re-tested and again bounced at 1.3225 I have decided to re-enter as I think we could trade higher overnight.

GBPUSD 251017.PNG1366×582 12.4 KB

13

Only got 10pips on the overnight trade to add to the 15 from earlier.

14

Have re-entered long at 1.3194 after price rejected an old S&R level.

Stop will go below 1.3180 level.

Looking to see if we can resume back above 1.3280.

20171026_133919.png2527×1338 148 KB

15

This trade didn’t work out and we appear to still be in the range, stopped out for -15pips.

EURUSD has dipped below that 1.1660 noted above and will be interested in any price action back at this level going forward.

16

Two trades last week, the first a short on GBPUSD after watching the 1.3280 high being taken I wanted to see it back below this level again to any up move afterwards. In late London session I shorted at 1.3295 and price hugged this level through Asia and then back in the London session started to trade off.

My initial target was 1.3080 and having seen the big move down after the rate announcement I decided to take all the position off at 1.3140 for +140pips.

Having closed the trade, I knew it was an error.

I had missed the sudden drop as I working on someone else at the time and so when I opened my platform to check on the position and seeing it 140pips in profit, I decided to take the money but I knew that it was most likely a retracement and so should have, at the very lest left some of the position on and waited for my target which was hit a few hours later.

So a good win, but a lesson learnt.

Going forward, I need to think about how I handle moves of over 100pips in such a short time and whether it is better to take the position off as I did, or wait for the overall move to take place, which isn’t always certain to happen anyway.

I suppose as I continue, I will experience more of these trades and then I can make a more informed decision in 3 months time.

GBP Short.PNG1358×582 13 KB

The second trade was the EURUSD which, as I mentioned above, I would be interested in the PA around that level in future.

All week price was in that area and having watched on Thursday the price trading back above the level but closing below, I decided I would enter a trade and saw a little resistance at 1.1648 and went short with a 30pip stop.

The price consolidated until NFP where it wicked up, took mt stop and then traded lower for the rest of the day closing at 1.1608.

Trading around high news events is always risky with your SL but, I traded the plan and took my level and so I’m not too disappointed. Still think we have lower to go with this pair and so will be looking for more short entries next week.

EUR Short.PNG1360×585 12.2 KB

17

Isn’t it irritating when that happens ? It happens that you get stopped out, then the expected move tkes place without you, really quite often too. But to have put your stop where it wouldn’t be harmed would have been wrong on that particular trade imho.
Some will say "Don’t trade when news is expected"
Anyway, good to report your losers as well as the winners :sunglasses:

18

Thanks for the comment, and yes, it is irritating but is part and parcel of the game. I think every trade should have a defined risk and subsequently a SL order as a loser can quickly get away from you and ruin many weeks / months of hard work.

People will say don’t trade when news is expected but usually those news events are the catalyst for the move.

IMO, a good technical level is an area to be interested in and then you are involved in the larger moves.

That’s how I see it but trading is so complex that others see it different and so stick with what you feel gives you the best edge.

Hopefully I am improving as this thread moves along and then I can really start to build an account up.

19

Charts I am watching this week and their price levels.

AUD 051117.PNG1358×583 12.6 KB
EUR 051117.PNG1361×586 11.7 KB
GBP 051117.PNG1359×584 12.4 KB
USDCAD 051117.PNG1364×583 12.1 KB

GBPUSD - Bias - Shorts
EURUSD - Bias - Shorts
AUDUSD - Bias - Shorts
USDCAD - Bias - Longs

Basically I think the Dollar is getting strong again and so want to trade in its direction.

20

You may be right, but if you take all four of those and you are wrong about the dollar,- that’s 4x your risk tolerance down the pan - maybe look at some unrelated pairs to spread the risk ?