I guess some of you have already seen my thread on the HLHB system. It’s been a very interesting experience and I’ve been using that system ever since I started demo trading. I just thought it was pretty simple, straightforward, etc. So I gave it a go. It works great for other people, and even if it has worked for me too, it’s just now that I’ve come to realize that maybe, it’s not the best system for me. AFTER ALMOST A YEAR WITH IT. I’m so frustrated.
Am I the only one who feels like this? What do you guys do when you feel like you’re stuck and that you’re back to square one with your trading?
Thank you @midwest. I guess there’s really no use in moping around and worrying where or what to do next.
Is this also what you did when you felt this way? I’ll try to read more about different strategies and just take my time in trying them out. I hope I find the one that really suits me.
How time flies! I remember you starting with that setup but I hadn’t realised it was already a year ago!
Actually, I don’t think you have been trading the HLHB system at all. You just had the same chart setup. But I haven’t seen you working with the system’s 150-pip trailing stop and 400-pip targets. And I think that is significant because you would benefit from analysing how you, personally, were trading that setup and then why it has not been producing the results you were hoping for.
From what I saw of your postings, you were entering positions based on the system rules but were exiting entirely on a discretionary basis whenever your profits looked threatened or whatever your feelings were about the current price movements taking place. (I’m not saying this was wrong, but it is perhaps important in analysing where you are today with your trading)
I am not saying you should have followed the rules exactly, only that this does point to a principle that may be a starting point in analysing what is not working for you here. I.e. are you looking for a (semi) automated type of system where you just follow the rules or a discretionary type of method where you decide yourself about your entries and exits and appropriate levels based on your readings of your chart.
I think you are more of an intuitive than analytical person and it might be a hard exercise for you to carry out, but I think you need to step back a bit and analyse both your desires and your capabilities regarding a trading method as well as the more physical and environmental limitations on your trading activities.
If you can build a detailed profile of your trading desires, possibilities and limitations then it may be easier to identify a trading style that would best fit that profile.
Such issues might include:
How much time do you have available to watch screens
How much time do you want to spend watching screens
Do you prefer to manage your open positions as the price unfolds or simply use “set and forget” strategies.
Do you prefer longer term trades (e.g. 2-3 days) or intraday whenever you happen to have the time
Do have the equity to run longer term trades off daily charts requiring greater room to breathe or are you limited to short term trades with close stops
Do you prefer to watch many instruments or just one or two
Are you able to walk away from your trades and turn to other obligations or do you need to watch them
Are you able to concentrate and react quick enough to work from tick charts or 1 min charts and trade intensively for a few hours a day
Do you prefer/need to follow fundamentals and apply them to a greater or lesser extent in your decision-making - or to trade entirely off TA signals (whether indicators or PA or a combination of these)
I think you may be at that crossroads where you realise that it is perhaps more important to know who you are and what you want and what you are capable of rather than just what setup sounds sensible and easy to use.
If there is no progress, the first step is to stop trading to avoid possible losses. The next thing to do is to look through all recent trading records to find possible problems. Then, after it is possible to define several issues, it is necessary to test them using special software for backtesting like Forex Tester or something like that.
The backtesting would help to check the changes to the underprforming strategy.
Anyway, it is necessary to revise each strategy time to time, even if it works fine.
I vaguely remember you coming on to Baby Pips around the same time I did. I have been learning to trade for the past year (with some breaks along the way for various reasons). Since that time I have personally learned so much. “Trading is easy… Learning to be a consistently profitable trader is hard.” That is a quote I heard a while back. I am not sure of your learning process but one thing I have heard repeatedly from various podcasts and forex coaches is the importance of backtesting and the importance of psychology. Hopefully you backtested the HLHB system to see if it was profitable based on your trading lifestyle. The work is hard but you find out on the front end if a strategy works for you. There is a website you may want to look at that has put me on to what I think will be a successful path for my trading journey. It is a paid website but there is a NO RISK 14 DAY TRIAL FOR $1. And there is no auto re-bill after the 14 day trial expires. The community is awesome and the coaches on the website also do multiple youtube videos and podcasts outside of the website that are always free. It may be a way to get you rejuvenated and get your trading career back progressing forward. it is TierOneTrading.com. I’m not trying to sell you anything but I remember you being new like me and hope you don’t give up. Hopefully this helps.
Trading strategies are highly individual dependant, I have realized this after testing multiple strategies and only settling on a few, some strategies just don’t click with you and forcing yourself to stick to them is just bad. e.g. Some strategy may have low R:R, you may not want that so it wont’ suit you.
The only thing I can suggest you to do is find strategies that suit you, and backtest and forward test them to see if you like them and if they are viable.
I do this a lot, I usually have a few strategies I’m backtesting one by one, most I don’t like right away due to things that I can’t adhere to.
Nope moping doesn’t help, as one of my instructors says “I am the best loser I know” just move on. But I am very serious about writing down you trading plane and reviewing the stats the adjust the plan and morph into a new strategy based on results.
In this manner, you will construct a strategy that fits your personality and will last until the next review. But that is how you become intimate with your charts and the plan. And that intimacy what it takes is what it really takes to become a consistently profitable trader.
Indeed sometimes after long years learning but still facing difficulties it could be leading us to fall in desperation, but in trading forex I am only treated as part-time, so if ready with capital in account hence will start trading, but if facing margin call hence will break awhile and not rush to start again, something that I realize is no perfect system and risk always involved in trading
Hi Manxx
What you say is very true. A trader has to be comfortable trading his or hers preferred method and time frame. Me I am a short term price action trader. So five minute charts are the only charts I trade.
I have tried long term trading and all I have successfully done is lost money. I see your system, which I am not familiar with, uses a 400 pip take profit and a 150 trailling stop. I have used trailling stops and find that whilst they are effective they can also limit the amount of profit the market will give you. By that I mean that if your trade gets to 350 tics and your stop is at 200 tics if that price pulls back to your stop then yes you made 200 pips (happy days) but you left 150 pips on the table. That’s big bucks. That’s why I believe that at times taking the money when it is on the table and price action suggest your taget will not be reached is not a bad strategy.
This is not meant to be a criticism just a general comment. I use discretion all the time and most of the time I get it right as price is king and the market will only give you what it is prepared to give you and nothing more.
The HLHB is not MY system and i do not personally trade it either. It is one of the standard methods promoted by BP under the “trading” tab above and developed by Hucklekiwi Pip.
I agree with you totally about automated trailing stops and never personally use them for exactly the reasons you mention.
Naturally, there are times when one might move a stop level to lock in a profit or if price exceeds a certain TA-based level, but this is usually with longer term trades.
Well judgment; basically trading with a specific tool is an illusion. Traders need to work on technical & fundamental analysis instead of trading tool.
Hi Ria, I am with you 100% and from what I see in the group of traders I am with, this is completely normal and even shows you might be on the right track. From what I understand of trading, the progression is as follow:
1 - we start: read a few books, open a live or demo account, get a few wins, think we have it figured out, get losses bigger than the wins… lots of people stop there, others go to the next step:
2 - find an edge in the market: it takes a few years to develop technical knowledge, own our own psychology, derive methods and organisational tools and discover strategies with an edge. At this level something incredible happens: Even with all of that… IT STILL DOESN’T WORK!! Grrr (just trying to express the frustration we feel). We usually feel stuck. Some quit. Some stick with it. We get to the next step:
3 - we stick with our method which works - it is the TRADER that does not work. I can tell you I have at least 8 different ways to screw up my trades. I do good for 70% of them but then… I have recurring mistakes (self sabotage such as: jumping in opportunities because they look good (instead of really analyzing rationally), be too fast in my execution and place the order poorly, trail my stop too aggressively in the early stage of profits and get a small winner instead of a nice big one) and the list goes on and on. The self sabotage can be corrected with discipline (rehearsing the perfect answer till we do the right thing automatically) or psychological work (letting go of underlying emotions leading to screwing ourselves over). I am currently in this phase of work and honestly, it is an act of faith since my results are not improving. But because I trust I can evolve into trading flawlessly one day (flawlessly: not making mistakes when i implement my trading plan), I believe I can get to the next step:
4 - getting the results of the trading systems (=make more profits than losses consistently, as mistakes are eliminated and my approach to the market has become second nature). Then the challenge is to grow the account, trade with more risk on, and keep doing good - with a balanced mindstate.
Oh my gosh. I’m kinda embarrassed that you’re seeing me like this because I did not want to disappoint you, especially you’ve been very supportive in my learning. Sorry.
BUT this was super helpful @anon46773462! Reading your post made me realize so many things and I’m actually planning to grab my journal to write the answers to the questions you mentioned, and yeah, maybe take some time to really think about what I wanna do. As much as I don’t want to admit it (cause you know, I wanna think that I know myself and that I know what I want), I can’t deny that I forgot about these things while “following” the system. I thought that as long as I follow the system for my entries, the rest won’t really matter. But I now know it doesn’t work that way. Thank you again for giving me some of your time. I think it’s best if I step back a bit from trading (maybe for like a week) and just think of where I go from here. I’ll definitely continue though! I just wanna be more sure about how I’d go about it.
Thank you so much @J_C_Anderson! Yes! This is what I plan to do for now. I just hope that it doesn’t take so long before I finally find the one that I can work with. Have you ever gone through this stage?
It’s me again. As usual. 
It works great for other people, and even if it has worked for me too, it’s just now that I’ve come to realize that maybe, it’s not the best system for me. 
AFTER ALMOST A YEAR WITH IT. 
I’m so frustrated.
I hope I find the one that really suits me. 
I thought that as long as I follow the system for my entries, the rest won’t really matter. But I now know it doesn’t work that way. 
Yes! This is what I plan to do for now.