You really need to fight your demons. You seem to love jumping into the markets on highly volatile days
I certainly doā¦ I think I was getting frustrated because of the lack of available entries to get long. Still got a lot of work to do this month to get to my goal - but hey, all things are possible 
Right, an update for the week:
Gain: [B]3.1%[/B]
A bit of a messy week for me, but I did achieve my goal plus a bit extra to scrape back some of those losses from last week. No real noteworthy trades, but I did learn that when things are tough (i.e. when Iām recovering from drawdown) I cut my winners way WAAAAAY too early. Iāve unfortunately become very edgy when holding onto a winner, and so Iāve missed out on a large number of pips (examples - EURUSD longs from 1.2885 and 1.3025 and a GBPUSD long from 1.6205). Despite that, Iād rather be in the green than the red, so no complaints - but I will work on that this weekend and see what I can do differently.
I cut down on my risk throughout the week, Iāve only got 1.77% to go and then I can shift back into gear with some 2% trades again (looking forward to that after almost 2 weeks!). Essentially, to meet my monthly goal, Iāve got 2 weeks to pull in 11.77%. I donāt doubt that itās possible, and Iāll be giving it a good run when Iām up to 2%.
Anyway, just wanted to post an update for anyone who may be interested 
Thank goodness the retracement in my account seems to have ended for now and the rally is back on again
I was reading on one of these threads about how there is a gap of traders who were trading 4 digit accounts. After a brief talk with PureMuscle I decided to help fill that gap. So from now on I will be showing screen shots of what is going on in my account.
I plan on doing this so that:
- Everyone who looks at this can help me stay accountable.
- So that folks will know what a draw down on a 2K-7K account looks like.
- Hopefully, it will show what is possible in this market.
About Me:
I a total noob. I have < 20 live trades! (yep, that is right, there is the possibility that you could watch a noob self-destruct)
I have traded demo for about a year, which I quickly realized is nothing like putting hard earned money on a real trade.
Account:
FXCM Micro (laugh if you want-Iām still learning!)
Starting Balance: $2,000 USD
Plan:
Basically, I am trying to learn the tools that ICT has been teaching. I will take trades based on his concepts. Hopefully as time goes on I will be able to put more concepts together and become more consistent.
I will never risk more than 2.5% on one trade but more than likely you will see most of the trades that I take closer to 1% risk.
Image is blurry but is shows $2019.06. Iāll work on the the images!
Good stuff bro! 
You can try imageshack.us if youād like clearer images, just select āOptimise without resizingā.
Today was an Epic Fail, down 7.5%!!! I actually took 4 losing trades! I tired 2 London Open trades, a NY Open trade, and a London Close trade. I have no excuse for the LO trades but I have never attempted NY Open or London Close. So thatās my story!!! I managed to pull the plug on one failing trade just a little early, saving about .5% of my equity. I canāt get into my account to post a pic just yet but if I havenāt recouped anything by tomorrow evening Iāll be sure and post another screen shot.
Typically, I wouldnāt trade 4 times in one day. In fact I seldom take 4 or more trades a week but I though I should try a trade at a time different from LO.
I do plan on taking at least 1 more trade this week. I think I have identified SMT divergence, seen below. The only problem is that I have never used this tool to help enhance my trade selection. I really dont know HOW to use SMT.
PM if you have any insight please let me know, Iām all eyes! You seem to really understand SMT.
Hey guys,
Itās been some choppy trading for me this month so farā¦ Lets see what happens before the month ends.
Before I post my charts, I just want to add that I made 27% in last month, AGAINST the trend lol, but still following the basics, or close enough ;), to risk management. I think the thing that Iām learning the most is to look for the āBullsh!tā and although I fell for it trend wise ( And donāt ask me why, because looking back I canāt see how I shorted anything last monthā¦) I still made money.
Any way, back to my charts:
Dollar index looks to me like it found some support and is bouncing now. Sorry I trade with a US broker so no MT4 usdx charts for me 
Now the EUR on the weekly chart is at the top of and OTE area:
The Eur on the 15 mins:
I see accumulation in short positions in the Asian range, also a break above in the LO. This might be a short Judas because of the 40pip asian range? Finding resistance at, beleve it or not, 1.3080ā¦
Also note the āquickā SMT compaired to the GBP. Iāll post it in a 2nd post to keep the focus on the EUR.
I think Iām gonna take a fib from the high, and when it forms now, low of this swing on the 15 mins and enter on the sweet spotā¦ I anticipate it to be around the Asian high.
What would a decent stop be on that entry, 25 pips?
PLEASE! ICT and fellow ICT traders, comment on this as much as you can, thats the only way I can look at my charts open minded, I might be so zoomed in on this short now that I donāt see the better buy if you know what I meen. Also I would really like to know if there is a tool or consept that I am using wrong.
Thx for listening guys
I hope there might be some one out there that might also learn something from what I post here
Sybrand
(Forum tells me I got too many imagesā¦ Following belowā¦)
Dollar index:
EUR Weekly
EUR 15 mins
GBP 15 mins
I decided to put my entry order at 1.3075 and it just triggered. Iāll take 50% of my trade at 1.3005 and risked 35 pips to stop. At 1.3005 taking 50% I take what I risked on the trade and let the other 50% run, I think at least to the last major up swingās OTE area.
Lets see what happens 
Thanks for pointing it out bro - I am ashamed to say that I fell back into my old habits again yesterday 
Frustration got the better of me and I took completely invalid trades, including a 2.8% loss on one tradeā¦ I have this serious problem that if I donāt see any decent looking entries I will just take anything, like literally anything, even if it based solely on market flow or on a M5 divergence - Awful practice and Iām glad I got punished heavily. I can easily find patience when Iām down, but when Iām on a streak, thatās when it hits me and I NEED to see progress. Dammit itās heartbreaking to be collapsing on the exact same points as before - I know better!
Ouch bro - same story as me pretty much thenā¦ First of all I think youāre risking way way too much if you lost 7% in one day (look whoās talkingā¦ lol). I canāt tell what those two lines are on that divergence you posted, but it looks like GBP and EUR. Remember you should only ideally be looking for divergence during the killzones, outside of the killzones you might often have the divergence invalidated. Also, you need to throw the USDX into the chart too, so that you can see how the divergence between the EURUSD and GBPUSD tallies up against the USDX.
If you donāt mind me giving you some advice, I would HIGHLY recommend that you donāt try using a new tool on a live account without giving it a few demo trades firstā¦ Divergence is a wonderful concept and works like a charm, but it takes some time to get used to using it accurately, because it can give divergence in both directions sometimes (so which one do you take??), or else it can just collapse.
Anyway, letās hope today brings with it some profitability 
My personal view is bearish on foreign currencies and bullish on USD.
Well I took the exact same trade - so pretty much seeing the exact same signals that you are right nowā¦ But then again, I got completely destroyed by the market yesterday, so take my view with a high level of scepticism
This would be such a classic entry if this trade works out
Wow, we are in almost to the pip hahaha
Lol itās looking good so far Gonna lock some in!
I would like to get to a point where I lock in what Iāv risked. So when Iām at a 4% profit, I take 2% Which = to 50% of my trade. Maby Iām going to have to tweak that to 70% of my trade at a lesser amount of pips, what do you think?
EDIT: I decided to set my buy limit order to 1.3025 and will take 70% there.
Yes I apply the same concept of locking in profits once I reach double the amount I risked. I donāt think it would be a good idea to take some off at an earlier amount, especially when it looks like we turned the corner on the daily chart. But itās entirely up to your discretion. The one way makes major profits but has higher risk of coming out at breakeven, the other way has less profits but at least you are banking something.