New hick trader

Beginner Questions
1

There goes the neighborhood! :stuck_out_tongue:

Iā€™m new to trading. Iā€™ve always been interested in it because it gives me peace just watching the bars going up and down. I can sit and watch it forever. So my goal now is to escape out of my dream job (Systems/Network Admin at a fortune 100 company), to work on my dream business (become a pipper :smiley: ).

I traded for the first time in the month of Nov. last year. I lost half my ($300) seed money in my first week, then made it back and doubled up on it over the rest of the month. This is after I took one of the courses offered at FXCM, and so got my $500 class fee back too after making the required 10 trades the first week trading. Probably part of the reason I lost so much was that I was trying to get those required 10 trades in quickly (before a month was up after the course).

I took what I intended to be a short hiatus from trading to try to get some tests required for my job out of the way, because Iā€™m still relying on this to pay the bills. I donā€™t do well with tests. Iā€™ve had countless instructors tell me that I know the stuff, yet I canā€™t pass the tests. I just want to move on and get to pipping! :cool:

So now in April, Iā€™m back to trading, and find myself down the first week again. I evaluated what Iā€™m doing, and found that I am going totally willy-nilly and not doing any real planning. I got to looking at Kowabunga strategy and found it very interesting, along with something I read around here - the inside bar.

So Iā€™ve rearranged, reconstructed, and reconstituted the Kowabunga strategy to be what I call, Kowabungaļæ½. It includes the inside bar for an entry/exit/reverse alert within the Kowabunga strategy. It is a more complicated strategy, but with a high probability of great entry/exit points that looks like it will collect a very high percentage of pips. I back-tested it for just April 10-12, and it is up between 100-150 pips each day (if I remember right, for the 2 days total it is up about 275 pips), with about 8-12 entries, and no losses that I remember off the top of my head. I didnā€™t write down my data, I just looked at it and then the wife came home. Iā€™m looking to forward test it now, just to make sure that my backward thinking isnā€™t interfering with my backward tests.

The Kowabungaļæ½ is a strategy that requires constant monitoring (a few quick glances per hour), unlike Kowabunga where you can set it and forget it. Iā€™m also testing the 20MA and 30MA on the 15 minute chart for more entry points on a trend. So far, the 30MA looks better as the prices dip every once in a while and break through it. It is nice to add to a winning position.

I have to say I like this forum from the couple of days Iā€™ve been here. Lots of great ideas and people.

Happy pippinā€™!

HiTekHick

2

So how long are you in a trade on average? Also, are you getting most of the signals at times that you are willing to watch the market? I think if your trades last longer than you are willing to watch, or mostly occur at the wee hours of the night (when I assume you have to sleep for your job :wink: ), then you might be in trouble. This is assuming you have to watch the market, and canā€™t rely on any kind of notifications, like you say.

Given your situation, I think youā€™ll either have to go short-term, to the extent that you can open and close all your trades while you are sitting down for a ā€œtrading sessionā€. OR, go long-term, so you donā€™t have to check it at all hours of the day. However, Iā€™m guessing your system will fall apart at significantly different time frames. Thatā€™s certainly what Iā€™ve discovered haha.

But anyways dude, I hope you can work something out. I just like to remember that even if Iā€™m earning pip profits, I might be losing out in the real world if Iā€™m spending too much time to get those pips!

3

hitekhick,

Good work on combining two systems to come up with you own.
Sounds sophisticated.

I like your confidence.

:slight_smile:

4

I know how you feel. I prefer family over pips.

:slight_smile:

5

So how long are you in a trade on average?

I didnā€™t look at the details on this. But Iā€™d say generally from 1 hour to 3 depending on volatility and range vs. trend.

Also, are you getting most of the signals at times that you are willing to watch the market?

Iā€™m up at almost any time of day and can watch it whenever I have a position open and/or use stops. Havenā€™t you heard? Sleep is for the weak! (I learned this from playing vid games during all the hours I wasnā€™t working. Of course sleep was eventually needed - thatā€™s what weekends were for!)

[B]But anyways dude, I hope you can work something out. I just like to remember that even if Iā€™m earning pip profits, I might be losing out in the real world if Iā€™m spending too much time to get those pips![/B]

Wife has given me free reign on grabbing pips. She is 100% behind me to make this happen. Of course she still gets attention! I can leave the PC during the middle of the day when everything is quiet! I am also looking at getting this system working to the point where I only have to sit at the computer for 2-3 days a week. Of course Iā€™ll be playing games while trading! But donā€™t tell the wife that! :wink:

Pipgod, I regained that confidence when I finally sat down and analyzed what I was doing wrong this week. Nothing will stop me from reaching my goal other than myself. That kinda bites due to the fact that I have no one to blame but me. But Iā€™m always analyzing what I do right, and what I do wrong. They both will sharpen my trading skills to do better.

I am very good at trading, itā€™s just a matter of knocking off the rust. Just one of my many, many talents that God has given me.

6

I forgot - I did miss that 30MA trend entry at 01:15 EDT @ 1.9809. That would have been a very sweet entry! There will be more!

7

Welcome, hitekhick!

I have to say I like this forum from the couple of days Iā€™ve been here. Lots of great ideas and people.

I agree with your assessment of the forums.

Please share your progress on the K^2 layout. Good luck with your trading.

8

I didnā€™t make any trades, either because Iā€™m gun-shy of pulling the trigger on Kowabungaļæ½, or I just fell asleep, or wasnā€™t near the computer when something happened. What can I say? Iā€™m getting weak in my olā€™ age. I need to get back to eating RAW food so I have my energy and donā€™t need but 3 hours of sleep a night/day. But on the other hand, I wouldnā€™t be able to sit still at the computerā€¦ Thatā€™s what working out is for, eh?

If I did pull the trigger last night and got the first entry in @ 1.9785, I would have been able to collect 100 pips this morning. Even the 1.9809 entry would have been very nice.

Iā€™m wanting to get this system scripted so I can at least have my computer scream at me to wake up and do something, but I just donā€™t have the time right now.

On the positive side of things (there is one?)ā€¦ I didnā€™t loose any pips last night! I didnā€™t gain either, but thatā€™s ok. Iā€™ve learned that my system is good, I just have to gain more confidence in it.

But now I have to run for a bit. Gotta go poke around at RLā€¦ And hope it doesnā€™t pip backā€¦ erā€¦ poke back. :o Dog decided to crawl up on my lap, so I have to type this on top of him. Funny dogā€¦ We call him Tootsie Pup. A Dagle mutt (Dashound/Beagle). Heā€™s groaning because Iā€™m bothering him typing. All he wants to do is sleepā€¦

Speaking of which, I tend to really ramble when Iā€™m tired. Just an FYIā€¦

9

Soooo many **** words I could use for having an appointment today @ 11:30am EDTā€¦ Butā€¦ I shall refrain from using them and be happy that I lost no more money this week. Iā€™m pretty good at trading news, but I should wait to knock off a bit more rust before I try it again.

Hope those that traded the news made it good.

Enjoy the weekend folks, and see you on the flip side - pippinā€™ hard! :cool: