TalonD look at the 27th post in this thread.
Pivotsā¦thats what Iāve been missing! I mean Iāve used them before, but they got dropped along the way for some reason. Now my way has evolved to pretty much the way you describe, except that I am using a CCI histogram indicator instead of macdā¦and I like eurjpyā¦and I trade in the Asian sessionā¦lol.
I use an mt4 strategy tester simulator, and being a bit under the weather this weekend has allowed me to just sit and practice, and what a difference adding the pivots made! You could say itās been āpivitalāā¦
Due to my timezone and full time job, I needed to find/create a strategy that could milk out 20ish pips during the Asian session, and while I was starting to make some headwayā¦getting 20 pips now seems much easier!
So I look forward to forward testing in real time and although your analysis and trades wonāt be when I can match, I still look forward to them.
Thanks 
Thanks!
I donāt think youāll mind if I quote this in my thread. I think itās worth repeating there.
ā¦ ā¦
I use two trend indicators, if they both are showing the same trend then I look for breakouts in that direction. This filters out a lot of trades, only get about 7 or 8 a month but it increases the win rate a lot (68.2%) and increases the avg. win while decreasing the avg. loss as of right now it averages 240 pips/month with an avg win 2.8x bigger then the average loss. BTW TalonD, just thought about using Bolls to help determine OB/OS, this could be a nice filter as well
Make some room because I wanna jump on this bandwagon!!!
I totally forgot how useful pivots can be. Iāve traded daily & weekly highs/lows with pretty good results, but never really had a strategy for breakout trading days.
This week Iām going to test a strategy looking at monthly pivots/weekly pivots. On a daily and 4h chart, in conjunction with a lot of price action analysis. I look at COT reports and news releases for the week and pick a few currencies to watch that I think will have some volatility to work with. Keep in mind that taking trades on 4h chart means I donāt have to tip-toe around news releases because theyāre part of normal volatility for that timeframe. Iām looking for trades with 1.5R to 5R ratios. Reduce my position as the trade goes in my favour but try to leave at least half for the max payout. Move stops as the market S/R levels in my direction.
My ideal is to always be moving to a situation with MAX POTENTIAL, and MINIMAL RISK. Thatās the essence of profitable trading from what Iāve seen on the charts.
your method is great and it does sound so easy, though we know it is not. I have learnt a similar method from greg wilson and his trading journal on forex facotry. His strategy is based around the daily pivots and previous day high and low, support and resistance levels.
However a key to his trading is the term trending momentum which he looks for in potential setups. He states these setups offer the highest probability risk/reward potential.
He has gotten to an elite trading level were he makes 20k+ a day, but it took him the best part of 7 years to get there.
The most important tool of any method is execution, which comes with experience which comes with practice. Without correct execution using the methodolgy discussed can be a futitle and a frustrating experience. Forex is ruthless and mistakes are rarely forgiven.
So advice to any newbies, is that you have the foundations to becoming a top trader right here.
To get there will take practice which will bring you experience. This method will take you more than a year to get good at it, thats if your determined. Already you have been given enough to practice with and all that you need to know, the rest you have to learn through experience, and screen time in front of the charts which this method requires alot of, and is something you need alot of.
The Short in the Cable on March 4 was entered in with a Limit order @ 1.5127
Initial Protective Stops are always entered in 30 Pips and I adjust as the trade unfolds.
The Long on March 5 was entered in with a Limit order @ 1.5000 same initial Protective Stop 30 pips lower.
Both were relatively low in drawdown and thatās the benefit of solid trade entry techniques.
You need to trade right into the bearish candles on Longs and Sell right into the Bullish candles for Shorts. You will find the Dealing Spreads cover rapidly, assuming your trade is profitable, and you are closer to your profit. I never chase the marketā¦ if I didnāt expect a reaction in the first placeā¦ I let it run.
Let the less informed traders chase the pairsā¦ if you want low risk entries and awesome fillsā¦ trade right into the Support and Resistance levels. When you have a solid understanding of how the banks and dealers move flows and where they take actionā¦ you will have no problem letting trades pass you by if you didnāt get optimal entry on it initially.
There are plenty of setups per week and over the month to prepare for and control and minimize risk. Do your homework or prepare to get schooled.
As for my methods being easy, all of trading is easy. It is our minds and fear/greed/ego/emotions that muddy the waters. Humans are poor at following rules. Think about it, if drivers would stay on their side of the road how much safer the roads would be! Same applies to tradingā¦ you have to be disciplined. Itās your money afterall. 
Agree!
I fail to find anything useful in any of that.
There seems to be a lot of commonality in successful approaches to trading
http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/29084-bollinger-band-trading-mas.html
A few of you are wondering okay pal, what should I aim for after I develop proper risk management and sound trade techniques with that $100 I made selling my golf clubs and old baseball card collection? Iām not getting to the mint on Benjamin Franklin afterall!
Okay letās play with the money management side of trading. This assumes you have developed patience and excellent trade selection, mind you. Letās assume John Doe worked part time to save up a grand to bank roll a Forex Account.
Letās also hypothetically assume he has outlined clear risk controls and his trade management skills are now at a comfortable place as it relates to his own comfort and skill level.
Letās assume John Doe is going to hunt for a 20 pip trade Mon-Fri. Only one trade of 20 pips is the goal Mr. Doe has set his sights on as a daily objective. Mr. Doe will look at each Daily session in the hunt for the daily objective.
What would he hypothetically see if he was profitable over the week with 100 pips? Enter the power of compounded interest coupled with sound trading techniqueā¦ fasten your seatbelts::
Equity
Jun-11 $1,000.00
Jul-11 $1,300.00
Aug-11 $1,690.00
Sep-11 $2,197.00
Oct-11 $2,856.10
Nov-11 $3,712.93
Dec-11 $4,826.81
Jan-12 $6,274.85
Feb-12 $8,157.31
Mar-12 $10,604.50
Apr-12 $13,785.85
May-12 $17,921.60
Jun-12 $23,298.09
Jul-12 $30,287.51
Aug-12 $39,373.76
Sep-12 $51,185.89
Oct-12 $66,541.66
Nov-12 $86,504.16
Dec-12 $112,455.41
Jan-13 $146,192.03
Feb-13 $190,049.64
Mar-13 $247,064.53
Apr-13 $321,183.89
May-13 $417,539.05
Jun-13 $542,800.77
Jul-13 $705,641.00
Aug-13 $917,333.30
Sep-13 $1,192,533.29
If John Doe risked less than 2%, in this example the risk was actually 1.5% per trade, his monthly return would be 30% compounded. As your equity increases your realized gains purchase your money additional leverage without increasing your overall risk exposure. You could comfortably absorb ten losses in a row and still have more than 85% of your equity to trade with.
Still think it takes a lot to make it big in this business? Patience and solid discipline as well good trade management could reward John Doe with the above results.
Remember that post I mentioned how one could make over one hundred percent annually with just twenty pips a week? Now again imagine Mr. Doe says he has worked hard enough and now wants to scale back his efforts and allow his million dollar account to simply earn him 6% a month now for the remainder of his life. Imagine Mr. Doeās life after that event? Mr. Doe can now earn 6% a month on one 20 pip trade per week! His time is free to start a new baseball card collection and pick out a nice new set of golf clubsā¦ imagine how sweet Mr. Doe finds life after this goal? His annual income has reached a potential one million dollars! :eek:
John Doe is probably very happy he took the time to develop as a trader before putting his hard earned money up and risked it on little or no understanding of the Forex market and the risks associated with trading it!
Hope this inspires you!!!
Itās probably the single most reason Iāve stayed with it this long so farā¦lolā¦and I have my spreadsheet, which pretty much matches yours, close by. Gotta love that compound interest, but for some reason getting/keeping that 20 pips each time was more elusive than first thought. 
i think all are inspired, i think that is why they are spending time on forex in the first place.
Now i dont doubt your maths, and iām sure it has been done, but you arenāt seeing the level of trader you have.
Sure this compounding $1000 to a million in 2 years is not beyond you from this day on, but i doubt there are many here on this forum who could go close - cause they arenāt at your level yet. To get to that level of experienced consistency takes time. how long have you been trading?
That is twenty pips/day 5 days a week for 115 weeks. Now lets see how many of your students manage there 20pip/day for one week. Sure they might make 100pips, but theyāll probably loose 300 in the process. It is skill and art to know the right time to execute.
Now is everyone going to enter short into a bullish candle as it approaches the previous day hi or R1?, lets see what happens when there stops get triggered and there 30 pips down, then they go long but then price fades as it was a false break making a new high and now there 60 pips down for the day. Thats on monday, now they have a long way to get back to there 100pips for the week from there. It doesnāt take much for the market to move 30pips against you - even if your right - just not yet - as your timing was out, sometimes it is simply a 123 candle pattern that could wipe you out for the day
It all comes down to experienced execution, the market will shake out all that it can.
Iām sure many of you have started with micro accounts and it might seem worthless in your efforts to try to profit trading it. You shouldnāt overleverage this account simply due to the modest dollar amount.
I can email the Wealth Spread Sheet I put together and it already has a 100 USD starting account balance in it. The numbers are self explanitory and the yellow box can be changed to whatever you expect to start your live account with. It tells you what to risk per pip and monthly, weekly and daily dollar goals. All under 1.5% total risk per trade.
Remember my previous postsā¦ you want the majority of your trades made on profits earned and not out of pocket funds. So think small at the start and expect time to factor into your success. This combats the emotions and it will feel like paper versus actual dollars as you make and lose it week after week.
Take a peek at how time, patience and sound trading can do for even a lonely Benjamin Franklin over a short period of time. Hope this tool helps keep your focus on risk control and goal setting!
Jun-11 $100.00
Jul-11 $130.00
Aug-11 $169.00
Sep-11 $219.70
Oct-11 $285.61
Nov-11 $371.29
Dec-11 $482.68
Jan-12 $627.49
Feb-12 $815.73
Mar-12 $1,060.45
Apr-12 $1,378.58
May-12 $1,792.16
Jun-12 $2,329.81
Jul-12 $3,028.75
Aug-12 $3,937.38
Sep-12 $5,118.59
Oct-12 $6,654.17
Nov-12 $8,650.42
Dec-12 $11,245.54
Jan-13 $14,619.20
Feb-13 $19,004.96
Mar-13 $24,706.45
Apr-13 $32,118.39
May-13 $41,753.91
Jun-13 $54,280.08
Jul-13 $70,564.10
Aug-13 $91,733.33
Sep-13 $119,253.33
Oct-13 $155,029.33
Nov-13 $201,538.13
Dec-13 $261,999.56
Jan-14 $340,599.43
Feb-14 $442,779.26
Mar-14 $575,613.04
Apr-14 $748,296.96
May-14 $972,786.04
Jan-14 $1,264,621.86
Precisely why you need to put in the chart time and expect to spend months and perhaps years before youāre consistant. This business is loaded with flash in the pan windfalls and traders who get lucky. Solid income based gains are only a result of development and practice.
This should be viewed as a career and not a hobby like my previous posts. You wouldnāt want that new college graduate performing your surgery for you would you? Your account is in your handsā¦ and nobody will care better for it than you.
I present these hypothetical results as merely an inspiration to take the time to build understanding and when you are consistantā¦ gains can build quickly from small starts and without overleveraging or overtrading.
Ideally you would think Mr. John Doe would lock in his 20 pips and allow the market to give him a daily bonus when applicable to help cover the costs of the obvious eventual losses that will nibble on his progress.
This is a puzzle Iām laying out one piece at a time. When the elephant stands in front of you and you are hungry, what is the best way to eat it? One bite at a time.
thats fine,
just dont promise me[B] all the ice-cream i can eat as well[/B]
I remember that oneā¦ :D:D
Iāve promised nothingā¦ and certainly ice cream tops the list of the things not promised.
Every trader is in control of his or her actionsā¦ and Iāve made it a point to highlight the controls that are needed to atleast survive this business.
Donāt put words in my mouth or imply I make or made promises of riches by reading a string of posts. There is too many factors outside of our control that will make a formidable offense against each of our pursuits in profitability. :rolleyes:
Trav understand the origin of this thread. The new or aspiring FX trader in mind.
Many come into this business with a throw the dice mentality and expect to push a few clicks on their mouse and the Magic 8ball Forex ATM will deposit funds into their accounts.
Big success is possible with little risk per trade and by not overtrading. That is the point here. Not that I can turn anyone into the next elite 20k a day FX trader, a claim I have never made nor would.
My length of trading is already mentioned in the first post you apparently skipped over or failed to closely read. With all due respect, your stance comes across as pesimistic and bordering on bitterness. Would I be correct in assuming your personal progress has been less than favorable?
If Iām mistaken, and you are profitable and you are the resident FX star contributor, than by all means sound off.
yeah ok, i did read your first post (i just re-read it though), as i have read all your posts. I dont mean to come across as bitter and twistered - just a little jaded.
I am by now means a resident star, i am still fighting my own battles, unfortunately, but i am climbing rungs on the ladder.
I do like what you present as it is the path i have chosen - though i am not there yet - but then again if i was i would be suprised - but i am closer than i was 2 years ago.
For your compounding examples, you use a rate of 30% per month. How long did you have to trade before you could make 30% consistently, and did you have training or something else that might have shortened your learning curve?
Iām here for the long haul, and my dream has always been 10%/month. Iām glad that my goals are modest in the eyes of a pro!