February 2008. results

-177 pips

-9 %

I destroyed all my profits from January and more in 2 or 3 days. Last week was ok, I'm up 45 pips on smaller size. Well it's all trading process and learning.

Lately I don't trade beautiful trades, I just scalp a lot. On the other hand I can see the light in the tunnel regarding averaging and running small losses in wiping month of profits. I can see that any small loss will be gained in good trades and it's only trouble when I don't want to take it. It's all about self esteem in trading.

I still get mad on some losses and usually those are the trades that I didn't plan to take a loss on them. Yes, there are two types of trades now. Trades on which I plan to take a loss and the ones that I don't. It's stupid I know, but those compulsive trades just sneak in. Sometimes I plan to take a loss than change my mind, lol.

I'm also thorn between swing trading look at things and scalp trading the trades. I still want to take big profits but always just scalp. Why than I don't just scalp and take many scalp setups? No, I wait for in my mind swing setups and make scalp trades of them. The thing is that maybe they are not so good for scalping and there are more less risky just scalp moments.

Other thing is that I should stick more to wait for 1R on taking profits. I don't even talk about more than 1R.

The biggest issue of all is so strong reversal and fade the trend attitude. I really don't have the idea how to cope with that, I don't even try. I noticed that only when I'm in just scalping frame of mind I can take the signals of b/o or trend continuation. I must say that it's easier to spot moment for reversal because you just had action and some kind of reversal is reaction. There is always reaction only the size of it vary. On the other hand trend develop out of the blue. Many times something that look like possible trend in developing or something like that just happen to be nothing. In the end what is the use of trend trades when I can't stick in open profit and let it run.

Reckless

First I got caught reckless in spike for -26 pips loss in gbp/usd, too wide s/l and no clear plan for exit. After that I was scalping all over the place with clear s/l levels but with less discipline on t/p part. On some trades exit was ok although it wasn't 1R but things just changed. Last trades in gbp/usd I had s/l at 38 and t/p 18 but I couldn't wait for it, too bad.
With scalping I gain back big part of initial loss for day end with -2 pips.

I start to use again 1min candle charts wit b. bands on it for my primary trading screen.

First thing in the morning I didn't want to trade, I was fed up with yesterday trading for a whole day. I think it would be wise to listen yourself, on the contrary I started trading and got big loss.



Eur/usd scalps were sweet with 0.5 pips spread much easier than 2.5 in gbp/usd and usd/chf. I was hesitating in that last short but I short it, quick exit saved me.

Sometimes I enter the trade because it's near support but trade doesn't cooperate at first. While it head in my direction in the end I'm full of it and totally change my opinion. Now thinking why did it come to support in the first place and I forget on my reversal plans.

Nervous scalping

Not nice trading but +28 pips.

Long trading day

For me it's better not to do any long term TA if I'm not prepared to trade that. Yesterday I was busy with analyzing the markets. Today when setups came I didn't want to take them and what I do in situation like that I take opposite trade.

First in aud/jpy I found 99.50 as big resistance point, there was action around it and I didn't take side in direction of break out. Luckily I got out on b/e on minor reaction. Also in usd/jpy bigger time frame chart reveled that break out through trendlines failed and that market is heading up. I short it because it's up too much. +1 pip




Not very clever trade in usd/cad, no reason for it. +2


This was best trade of the day. I sensed that market is in for break out up at the right moment and follow that information with the trade. It staled for too long for a b/o and I took +5.


Here I was betting on possible melt down, because it started nicely to go down and than bounced near 800 level. Too long, I was happy to take out something. +5

News feed earlier said that market is heading to take out option barrier at 160. When action stopped I was hoping on fast reaction back to 160. +5

For me very ugly day for trading and I was in the morning totally in bad mental state for trading decisions. It's always better for me to scalp fast and don't think too much.
+18 pips for a day

Oanda eur/usd spread down to 0.5 pip

Well Oanda gives another nice surprise. Just now spread on my platform for eur/usd pair is down to 0.5pips. It's quiet day and probably that kind of spread is unrealistic for every day. Current 0.9 regular spread on eur/usd is quite small, but 0.5...

Back to trading

I had nice rest from trading. I didn't even look at charts for the whole time. I cut my regular size for 1/3 and got to get about 60 pips to go back to previous size again.

-6 +8 pips

Shut down

I lost -106 pips today, it's about 5.5%. With my recent loses I'm now down -214 pips or about 11% from last account high two weeks ago. I'm doing the same thing all over again and just keep losing. I lost all my reasoning and trade just like a zombie.

I will stop trading for some time.

No gain, no loss

Gbp/usd didn't want to go lower. I didn't use that information to go long. Good thing is that I tried to go in the direction of the trend.


Bad trade, I didn't want to go out on small stop.



Stupid trade, impulse trade, impulse to go against the trend.

Best trade of the day in gbp/jpy, constellation of gbp/usd and usd/jpy gave me idea that it's some kind of blow off top. I got scared with no reason and made exit just before trade went my way.

A lot's of scalping today

I was very aggressive in taking profits, too aggressive but I don't blame myself. After big loses last week I just need to take any profit as soon as I got one. It's the only way presently I can trade. Only eur/usd trade I should let run, market movements were telling that it will go up.
+12 pips

I'm out of focus

It started well, I shorted market started to go down. In a second gbp/usd reversed back up while eur/usd kept sliding down. I held to b/e, to small loss, to stop loss. There I moved my stop and re shorted with another position. Got stopped. Started to short strong market with no reason, just some fighting response. Of course with hope that it will reverse back heavily. Well it didn't. I had chance to exit near break even for that set of 4 trades (4=crazy) and wisely I did exit.

After that I done some scalping, all profitable and took down the loss for the day from -60 to -44 pips.

I'm thinking now that I have to be more passive when it's about losing. I want to prevent loses and that impulse is so wrong and costly. I trade like I expect that I will have no loses, like no trade will be loser. I'm not prepared to lose, and I should on every one trade.
I know that I'm stating obvious facts, but I have to when I don't act on that.

It's especially hard to me to trade rational after I lose big like two days ago. Now I'm in state of mind get back lost and it's not good to trade well. I freeze, and let loses run and start automatic responses that cost me week's of profits.

Plenty of mistakes

After small loss in shorting eur, I picked the bottom but took only about 5 pips from it. It was bottom and market went up 40 or so pips in next two hours. I was aware that it could be the bottom but I needed wins because of my recent loss. It was a mistake.

Than came short in gbp/usd with small positive exit because thing didn't really move. It was ok call.


After gbp/usd news at 10.30 I bought, mistake was that I didn't exit on b/e or so after initial gain but it went to far triggering some -18 stop loss. Now I was mad and quickly reentered and it run my way. I was greedy and put another position on that immediately went against me. That was also big mistake. If I stayed only with one trade it would be ok.
Than I was sweating with two positions, I had a chance to exit with 2x7pips around 10:47, but I stayed, another mistake.
Good thing was that I finally exit those two positions, but with a loss. That put me at -20 for a day after +8 or so.
If it won't go up it will go down, so I shorted. It was relief to be on winning side, I took quick gain after first impulse down just to bring my daily loss down to -13 pips. Gbp/usd didn't stop there it slide down 10-15 pips more, but that's fine I'm happy with what I got.



Than I shorted usd/jpy but no momentum there so I made an exit with small loss. It did make some down move later but it could go up also.Bad call was not to hang on on my eur/usd bottom. Bad scalping was after 10:30 gbp/usd news.

In the end I scalped some eur/jpy bringing total loss for a day to - 5 pips.

I lost 74 pips today

It was -101 at some point, than I gain something back. I was in another open loss of about -90 but it got back to b/e. In the end I was trading 5x bigger position than usual.
Problem with the trading insanity is that you don't have control when it starts and you can't end it easily.

It all started innocent, I tried to pick the bottom because it slowly broke support below 795 and it could quickly bounce back. I lost -4 pips on that trade and I should all end it there. The idea didn't work, I tried and that's it. But I stick to buying, market traded slowly lower. That slowness tricked me. Loses got bigger, risks to get it back also got bigger and that's it.

It happened to me numerous times. I can't learn trading without trading live and those are my usual mistakes and problems. Well yesterday I was at some point in open loss of 75 pips doing averaging and I got out flat. You can't do bad trading day after day and don't get caught.

Fear

I feared to buy at 711, I feared to exit first short at stop level resulting in 75 pips in red three trades combined. Next two trades were ok, but I feared when I was in them. Fear is driving my trading. +2+6+1=+9

MSFT bids to buy YHOO, that's why I'm happy that I don't trade stocks

Let's say that you have nice big short position, maybe leveraged, that you are trailing. After news like today your stock gap up premarket 60%. How big are your loses?

In forex any such big news event can probably move market 100 pips or 200 pips in a second. But if you have some kind of stop, whatever the slippage you will be out of your position.

Sending probes with no luck

First in eur/usd I tried to pick a bottom for a bounce back up with no luck for -1 pip.



Later I started sending probes in gbp/usd for break through 930/40 level and it was all wrong. Range trading was on and I had nice exit for last trade when buying finally picked up again. Positive trade in gbp/chf cut my loss in half. All trades were with 1/3 of the size so total loss was -3 pips in regular size.

Maybe good decision would be not to exit those last trades when they finally started to go in profit direction. But I had enough bad emotional luggage to stay in.