Trading journal

Trading Discussion Trade Journals
567

Today and yesterday, I didn’t take many trades. Just two or so, just in case.

The yen is retracing for now, I think. I’m not sure what it’s doing. I think it’s still trending.

The best thing for me to do right now is just to wait. Stay on the sidelines and be patient.

I missed a giant upswing in several JPY crosses. Actually, I was short CAD/JPY, and had trouble seeing the possibility of going long.

I took some time to analyze my errors. And I definitely need to study consolidation.

I’m taking time now to study charts and decide what I need to do going forward.

It’s not a good feeling to miss out on such a huge swing. But you gotta let it go and move forward.

There will always be more trades.

For now, I took a couple GBP trades. Other than that, I’m just gonna keep studying and figuring out how I can catch unexpected moves better, and not get stuck in my expected outcome.

568

For the last two days, I was watching JPY crosses. Waiting for a reversal. Also, I’ve been upset with myself for missing such a huge upswing. All the JPY crosses.

So, with that on my mind, I’ve been waiting for the reversal. But when I didn’t see it, I went back to bed. “There’s no point. Everything is still trending. May as well just go back to bed.”

For two days, I was in a bad state of mind for trading because of my regret/disappointment.

I’ve been ignoring everything else in the market. I was pretty upset, and decided it was better to stay out of the market if I’m emotional.

I go back to my complete routine this morning and check up on my other pairs. Of course, I missed entry signals on some EUR pairs.

Now, I’m feeling twice the guilt. I stayed out of the market because I was overwhelmed by my emotions (frustration, confusion, overwhelmed).

And now I’m feeling worse because I missed entry signals that would have made me feel better.

I need to just keep patient and wait for entry signals.

No desperate trading.

I placed some trades with JPY, but limited trades because the huge wicks are suspect. I think there could still be some bullish momentum with JPY crosses. So, I took a couple JPY trades just in case they turn bearish.

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569

I’m not going to execute my strategy perfectly. I think I have to keep that in mind.

It’s a process. As long as I’m learning from my mistakes, I shouldn’t go crazy.

I guess I do put pressure on myself, and it contributes to frustration.

But I’m getting better. I recently had some nice profits. I lost most of it because I didn’t close. But that means I’m on the right track.

And thats’s a good sign. It’s enough to keep me going. And when I finally get it right…LOOK OUT!!

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570

I’m realizing how much I procrastinate.

It’s not something I like. I’d like to be a person who can just work work work.

But I think that’s not me.

I do forex for 30 minutes at a time. Sometimes, I’ll go for 45 minutes. Usually, though, the routine is forex for 30 minutes, 10 minute break. Repeat.

Lately, that 10 minute break has been stretching for 20 or even 30 minutes.

Now, I’m not happy about it. I’ve been trying to understand why I procrastinate.

This time, I decided to be fair to myself rather than just look for a remedy right away.

I live alone. My life is quite isolated. I’m away from my friends and family. I don’t really go anywhere or do anything.

This is by choice. I made this choice to isolate myself in order to focus on my personal development. And it has immensely helped. Yet there are pros and cons to everything.

And I think trying to work too hard over long periods can burn you out. However, you CAN keep up a strong pace over long distances.

So, to be fair, I’ve been maintaining this isolated lifestyle for the past several years. Sometimes, it’s boring, and I’d rather be doing something fun rather than working.

I hear stories of people working hard and grinding for hours and hours.

But, I doubt even Warren Buffet sits in a room alone and reads for 12 hours straight.

When I hear about highly effective people who work hard, I have no idea what that really means. Does Jeff Bezos work alone on his computer doing research for 14 hours straight? Just bathroom breaks and that’s it?

Does he take a break for lunch? How about stretching his legs out and walking around his office for 3 or 4 minutes? Does he ever need some fresh air and just goes outside for 20 minutes?

I have no clue.

Perhaps, he does. I don’t know. For now, if I’m procrastinating, it’s ok. I’ve been showing up and trading everyday for the past couple years. And I’ve been consistent with my isolated lifestyle for several years.

I should give myself some credit for showing up consistently. For me, that is my grind: showing uo and doing my trading every day. Sure, with less breaks I could be done 30-45 minutes sooner, but those breaks allow my brain to relax and get ready for another bout.

I’m working on taking more controlled breaks. But, I’m not gonna beat myself up over this one. It’s tough isolating yourself and keep going.

I have no interest in changing my path until I reach my goal. There will be set backs and advances. As long as I keep showing up, that’s a plus.

571

I just finished my work for the day. My goal was to update/review all my W1 charts. I finished it exactly on schedule. Now, I can relax, eat dinner and go to bed.

My charts had so many drawings on them, plus MAs. I got rid of all those on my D1 charts, but not the W1. It felt like spring cleaning.

It’s been long enough since I checked my W1 charts. I thought maybe I could save time by just updating my TLs on D1. Nope. Zooming out really helps seeing the bigger picture.

I have one trade with CNH as the base currency: USD/CNH. I really like how it moves, however, it requires such a large margin. I’m realizing that the money I used for CNH trades could be put to more profitable use in other currencies. So, no more CNH base currency trades. I’m gonna ride this one out for the first upswing on W1 (hopefully), and after that I’ll be saying goodbye to CNH.

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572

I’ve been really digging this song lately!

573

I finished my second phase of weekend work. First was the W1 reveiw. Second was review D1 set ups and note them in my spreadsheet. Done.

Now, I have to decide which orders and trades I’ll be placing. The problem is that my margin is mostly tied up already. I have margin left for maybe two more trades, possibly three. After that, I don’t want to use any more of my margin.

However, I already decided that I wanna wait for some JPY and AUD action. But which ones, I haven’t decided yet. I’ll work on that later today. For now…nap time!!

Also, I procrastinated a lot less today. I procrastinated starting my work and just opening my laptop. But once, I opened it and got started, I did better. Recently, when my 10-minute work break is over, I jump on my phone for another 20 minutes or so.

Today, I put my phone to the side, away from me. And I used the timer on an older phone of mine that has no internet on it. It worked well! I didn’t jump online at all. Except during my break to post that song I’ve been listening to.

I have a strong habit of spending too much time on youtube. Especially, when I should be working. 30 minutes could have passed by, and I thought it was just 10 minutes. That’s not good.

And in the middle of my break, I remembered something I wanted to look up online. Instead of going online, I just wrote a note to myself to look it up later.

Overall, I’m content with this less distractive way of working.

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574

Another thing, during the break when I wanted to research something online…the reason I wanted to do it later was because when I look up stuff that makes me think, it won’t feel like a work break, and I’ll just want to take an even longer break before I start working again.

The purpose of my work breaks is to give my brain a rest–no thinking!! Just relax and do something mindless. So, I watched a movie during my break. Nothing to provoke much thought. haha

After that, my brain was ready to go!

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575

Well done. Does your phone have a recording feature? If so, take notes like using those old dictaphones. I find that useful when I don’t have a pen to hand - like everywhere except your desk. Sometimes I forget so if they are really important I set a phone alarm called “write down recordings”

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576

Haha yeah it does. I used to have a recorder for voice notes, years ago.

But right now, I want to reach for my phone less during trading time. I don’t have the discipline to keep it close, use it, and not start goofing around online.

Thanks for the suggestion!!!

577

I’m almost done with my trading for the day. No new trades. I had some losses over the past couple days. I took those trades, just to follow my strategy. My strategy says to take the trades.

However, trades often have unexpected elements that can cast doubt or create confusion.

I took the trades and lost. This time, I’m not losing track of the trades that I’m following. In the past I would take a loss on a trade, forget about it and go trade something else. Then by the time I come back to the first pair that I lost, it’s trending and I missed it.

I’m keeping track on my spreadsheet, and I’m not getting lost in my data. I follow the same pairs, and I’m trying to pay close attention to what’s happening.

But sometimes, my gut says to wait. I started taking pics of patterns where my strategy applies. And I just study them sometimes. Just stare at them, observe what’s going on in the chart, and just talk to myself about it. The idea is to plant little seeds in my brain about when it’s a genuine signal and when it’s not quite time yet.

The strategy will take care of itself, but there’s a grey area where I could be jumping in too early, and I could be taking unnecessary losses. If my gut says no, but the strategy is saying to take the chance, what do I do?

I say it’s worth taking the risk because the entry signals are limited. And if this entry signal is wrong, then it will give me a clue as to what’s going on. All I gotta keep doing is just keep on eye on my selected pairs, watch for signals, and try to keep fear from affecting my decision making process.

It’s weird when you finish your wok faster than usual, and you kinda find yourself just sitting there asking yourself, ¨Well, what am I supposed to do now?¨

It’s like you’re supposed to be working until 17:00, but you finish at 16:30, and you have an extra 30 minutes before you leave. It can be a confusing surprise.

I have books to read, charts to continue studying…plenty to do besides simply saying ¨I wanna go back to bed.¨ At least not every time.

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578

Hi @dushimes

I like your journal. After reading your posts I feel compelled to answer with an anecdote or two from real life. This one reminds me of my core competence - project management. During the past two years I have done a lot of work for clients in the realm of “discovery”. In particular, at two different kinds of business, the discovery exercises were based on being presented with a problem, looking at different approaches to how that problem may be mitigated, then recommending a course of action from at least three possibilities which should mitigate or eliminate that stated business problem either the fastest, or cheapest, or with the biggest improvement of quality. I analyzed in depth about 30 out of 160 software tools in use, matching them against the technology roadmap of the business (a five to ten year look ahead) and created formal discovery reports on all 30 - being those most urgently requiring review and recommendation before the next contract renewal was due.

Six out of thirty warranted urgent action as those that could contribute to imminent cost saving, simplification of business process or exact fit with the near term technology roadmap, but fifteen of them were non-starters in terms of improvement. And that is strangely pretty close to the same ratio I have found in the last few months of my analysis of those trades that are “in the zone”, warranting a daily review of price action before deciding to enter a trade. Bear in mind that my attention is solely focussed on crypto pairs, not Forex pairs, but I don’t think it matters. The fact is, only one in six or less result in a subsequent price action that tips my decision in favour of entering that trade. Five out of six never actually end up meeting the entry criteria.

And I think that summarizes an approach to your dilemma that may improve your success ratio. Like my paid work for IT project management, five out of six times my recommendations end up with a “do nothing” recommendations, as is the case with my success ratio of entries versus analysis of crypto pairs. :slightly_smiling_face:

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579

Haha. Sometimes, the best thing for trading is to stop trading and sit on the sidelines. Taking trades for something to do is a terrible idea.

And once I reach the bottom of my spreadsheet, and all the corresponding pairs have been reviewed, it’s time to punch out.

And yes, there’s plenty of backtesting I still want to do: consolidation breakout, retest levels.

Plus, I’m reading about ETFs now, as well as other studies I have. So, there’s never a shortage of things to do.

But when I finish earlier than expected, I do have a “what now?” feeling. But life’s too short to be standing around staring at the wall.
And forcing trades is a no-no.

Btw, @Mondeoman thanks for taking time to read here. Not just here but all over this forum. I appreciate it, and lots of others do, as well. Thanks!!

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580

I had a thought today about how many times I got faked out by retracements.

I thought it was a reversal, but it was actually a retracement within a channel.

So, I think I should take some time to study retracements.

And sure, I could look up youtube videos about retracements, but I prefer to do my own research. I should look at the charts and look with no one’s influence or opinion. What are the charts telling me? That’s what I want to learn for myself. I want no one’s interpretation, but my own.

I believe that everything I need is in those charts. If I watch another person’s video, I learning HIS way of thinking; not my own.

I need to sharpen my own perception of the charts. And then I need to try trusting them more.

581

On the weekend, I have three tasks for trading:

  1. revise W1 charts (all day Saturday)
  2. revise D1 charts (most of Sunday)
  3. review and choose best setups for this week (Sunday afternoon, and part of Sunday evening)

I actually finished reviewing all the W1 and D1 charts today. That’s a first.

I’m not sure why it went better today. Perhaps not getting distraced by my phone helps.

Also, I deleted a couple pairs from my list: AUD/SGD because it requires a high margin that can be better used elsewhere, and GBP/DKK because of its awful spread. Why bother when there are GBP crosses with such narrower spreads? Oh, it has a nice setup? Well, chances are that there are 7 or 8 other GBP pairs also setting up for the same move, with narrower spreads.

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582

I finshed my work just now. Much earlier than yesterday. I’m not sure why, though. Perhaps because I had already chosen which pairs I was going to trade, and most of the trades had already been placed. Today was mostly about checking up on yesterday’s trades and seeing how they’re doing.

Most of them are in the red. So, either I’m wrong or they just need some time. It’s too early to tell right now. GBP is gonna reverse soon, I hope, and same for JPY. We’ll see what the next 10 days brings.

I look at so many smaller trades, and I see what happened, and all I can think is ¨man, I could have made some nice little profit if I had taken that signal¨. Of course, it’s easy to say what I should have done once the move is complete. Easier said than done.

But there are so many opportunities with retracements and little moves during consolidation. I started thinking that I should make a diagram or cheat sheet. It’s reallly just a trading strategy, but more elaborate. A web diagram, if you will.

If I see this, then this, then that, then I should go long. Etc, etc. But for multiple scenarios. Then, I could back test it. It would take a while to make something like that, but worth it.

I just see so many of the same patterns over and over. All I keep thinking is ¨I should have taken that signal and did this or that and made so much money¨.

I often find myself in doubt. Should I take the trade? Is it best to stay out? But what if I miss the move? I need something that can help me with this thought process.

Just recently, I was in doubt about going long or short. And I couldn’t think clearly. I felt like no matter what I did, it would be wrong. That’s not skilled trading, nor is it displaying faith in a strategy.

But what if I had a diagram (already backtested) that makes the decision for me? I just have to follow the web diagram. I wanna explore this idea. It sounds fun. Of course, fun is not something one considers when actively trading, but this does put a smile on my face.

583

I’m realizing that one reason I lose trades is because I’m still trading what I want; not what I see. And the reason for that is that when I recently saw a trade, I told myself days ago that it would stay bullish for a while more, and yet I still kept shorting it.

I was shorting it because I was in disbelief of what I saw. Here’s how it unfolds:

  1. While reviewing the chart I understand that the pair’s major trend will remain bullish.
  2. I see a retracement and at the moment of placing a trade, I suddenly convince myself that it’s a reversal signal because that’s what I want to happen and I don’t want to miss out.
  3. Now I’m conflicted due to what the charts have told me, and what I don’t want to miss out on. So, I place a wishful trade that will not win.

The reason for this, I think, is that I have nothing concrete that tells what I should do, prior to opening the trade.

So, what could work is placing a note or instructions during my chart review. After reviewing the other charts, I could come back to the first pair and follow the instructions.

Once I start thinking about the trade, my emotions come out (fear/greed) and they impede my logical thinking. But if my instructions are laid out PRIOR to placing the trade, perhaps this will help me bypass emotional interference.

If that’s the case, perhaps a web diagram won’t be necessary. I should try using the tools I already have (my spreadsheet) before I make new ones. That would save me a lot of time. I actually already started the diagram, but I’ll try making better notes on my spreadsheet before I go further with the diagram.

584

The more I think about my mistakes, the more I realize how simple trading is. It’s super simple.

If I follow my strategy, I’m guaranteed to make profits. However, the ONLY problem is ME.

Just me. Any strategy that has successfully backtested will work in live trading. You just have to know when to use it and when to wait. Well, each strategy has its own challenges.

In my case, it’s about knowing when to sit out and when to start jumping in. And that’s where my mistakes lie.

I have my strategy and I see where it should have worked soooooo many times. But, I just get so lost in my head. My emotions start running, and that’s it. Once my emotions start, logical thought goes out the window. Now, I’m no longer following my strategy (even though I THINK I am), I’m following the fantasy in my head where I place an order, everything goes according to plan, and I wake up to big profits in my account.

This is still desperation. It lingers. Perhaps it never goes away. I don’t know. I’m trying not to trade desperately, though. Trading desperately is much worse than what I’m doing. It’s taking trades that aren’t even signals and increasing risk as a hail Mary trade.

I’ve done that. I’m not doing that anymore. Even though I get lost in my emotions, I’m not trading wrecklessly. That’s a plus. But, it’s not enough. And I can do better.

By the way, a trade I missed out on, a huge JPY upswing…I saw that pair was bullish for a looong time, and I hadn’t even noticed. I’m not sure how I missed that one.

But, I noticed it now, and I’ll have to check on things like that during W1 reviews.

585

Lately, I’ve been focusing on reversals. But the problem is that I’m applying that strategy to every situation.

Reversals are for specific situations. And I’m using it for too many situations.

I’m using the wrong tool for the wrong situation.

A trend is continuing, and I’m not taking advantage of it because I’m so stuck on reversals.

I tool box should have more than one tool, but you gotta know when to use a hammer, and when to use a screwdriver.

Right now, I’m just using a hammer. And that’s why I missed out on so many recent swings.

There are clues that the trend will continue, but I’m in disbelief because I want it to be a reversal sign.

And when I want it to be a reversal sign, but it isn’t, then I’m feeling lost and confused.

I’ve been studying consolidations lately. What I think would be best is to just keep an open mind.

Let the tell me what I should do. Instead of anticipating a buy or sell signal, I shouldn’t anticipate anything.

Just let the chart tell me what to do. The trend is your friend!!

586

It’s funny. I’ve been fixed on reversals so strongly that now I have to UNLEARN what I know and teach myself to be opem to what the chart is telling me.

The problem will be limiting myself to certain scenarios.

Essentially: consolidation, momentum, and S/R.

To be honest, consolidation and momentum are opposite sides of the same coin often.

But, sometimes, they differ.

So, to be more concrete in my strategy, perhaps I’ll end up developing that diagram after all.