I wanted to start a log of my trades. I’ll post what trade I made and why including any other extra commentary I feel is relevant. I invite others to give me their thoughts on my trades so I can possibly improve or gather new information I hadn’t thought about before.
I am a new trader which is why I don’t want to fall into bad habits. I have been trading demo for almost a year. I use MT4 charts with Oanda broker (for spreads).
I don’t know how long I will keep updating log, but for now I think I’ll stick with it for a bit.
I use a 2% risk or less on every trade with a 1:1 risk/reward ratio. I figure if I can find even decent setups, then I should win over 50% of the time since chance alone will yield 50%. My goal is to make 2% of my account per week. If I make a winning trade earlier in the week, I will not stop trading for that week if I still find a setup. The 2% is just a guideline to have something to shoot for.
I like using H1 and H4 charts for my trades. I am unable to constantly stare at my computer all day due to other obligations, however I don’t like having to wait a week to close out a trade so the H1 and H4’s are somewhat of a middleground. I usually trade in the direction of the trend, however I sometimes will countertrend if I see an opportunity. I don’t have an objective set of rules to make my trades since I feel that there will never be two days alike, however I do not blindly make trades.
I am more of a price action type of trader and use a 200EMA on all charts in addition to a standard macd and a 10,3,3 stoch (not too fast, not too slow).
I think that about does it so I will post a trade that I made earlier today as my first. If I feel the need to add on some other details or if somebody inquires about something, then I will be more than happy to oblige.
After the close on the 12:00 candle I took a long position. The candle had formed a strong bullish pinbar, it closed right at the upwards trendline, and it was at the intersection with the 200EMA. Stochastics were also showing oversold conditions.
As of now, I have taken t/p 1 and have set one half of my t/p 2 at 0.9300 as a limit order. After taking t/p 1, I have moved s/l to break even. I will see afterwards if the trend is still strong and if so, I will probably take another fraction off the table at the trendline around 0.9313. From there I will see if it breaks the trendline. If so, I will let it run, if not then I will take the rest of profit if it does anything except consolidate in which case I will wait a bit more.
Seeing as how it will probably not hit my t/p by the weekend, I will hold on to the trade since I find that many times the gap goes in the direction of the last swing (in this case up). If it gaps up, I will close trade on Sunday at open. If it gaps down, I will wait for it to come back up since this is also a common occurence.
Moments before close, I decided to take 25% off the table and I reduced my t/p 2 to 25% of my current position which is again at 0.9300. Will see how weekend shapes up.
Ended the week at +1.5% from starting deposit. Currently have a trade at +1% that is open.
EDIT: It is a new week and I have taken about 15% of my profit off the table around the open. Still waiting for price to hit t/p 2 or breakeven.
My initial capital is not very large, however I feel the most important numbers are the percentage increase/decrease of an account per trade rather than the monetary value which sorta takes away from that. As I stated in my introduction, I risk no more than 2% per trade. Again, the amount of money expressed in dollars is irrelevant. I will normally trade with two positions of equal size where they are each risking 1%. I find it much more easy to take some off the table if I trade in this fashion. So my t/p 1 and t/p 2 are the profit targets for each of the one half trades. My s/l will be the same for both. I use 1:50 leverage, although I don’t need that much. Next week may be a bit slow since I’ll be taking my final exams, but I’ll try to make some trades.
EUR/JPY has made a recent weekly high on open. Price is above 200EMA and is on it’s way up to a major trendline where I have placed t/p 2. My stop loss has been placed right below three consecutive bullish pinbar type candles. There is also major support levels right above the stop. Lets see if Tokyo session can push price higher.