670

 That’s 4.6% gains, which is like saying I was slightly better than 1:1.  What made the difference this week? More discipline is all.  Setting my support and resistance bands continuously throughout the day.  What I learned:

Consolidation occurs routinely. Ride out these moments.  Be patient with your lines of support.  Set it and forget it. Don’t second guess. Go through with it.  When I’m doing it right, there’s no stress. I’m learning throughout the trade when my mind is clear.  

Set the SL and TP based on the lines of support and resistance.  If you’re iffy about the trade, wait for the one with stronger signs.  Study more about the markets if you’re wondering about your trade. Take in information rather than worry.  Looking back at 1H, 4H, 8H, and 1D helps to get perspective, although it still comes down to what’s happening in the moment.  

Only use the trailing stop after being in the trade for an hour or so, and only to secure profit (in the green). If it’s a heartbeat (chart looks periodic), don’t worry about the trailing stop. You should trail a rally up or down.

If you start off strong in the day and get 4% or more, step out for the rest of the day.  All that said, I’ll do a little studying this weekend, and practice these things again next week.  Sunday is my 1^st marathon.

641

 Battered, but not beaten, not destroyed. It was actually a good week of trades, as far as execution. 3 out of 4 trades were executed correctly. The other trade I went "with my gut," and I watched as it betrayed me.  I have been setting up price signals, and that's been very helpful, because I can just put my phone away.  This was the first time I received an alert about my data usage, and it took me an hour to realize it was because I'd been watching the market throughout the day.

I also spent some time studying the Yen this past week.  I learned the US exports ($121 billion) mineral fuels, aircraft, optical and medical instruments, and machinery (including electrical) to Japan.  We import ($180 billion) vehicles, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and medical instruments. We export 10% of the natural gas imported into Japan.  China is a bigger trade partner with Japan.

So despite the losses this week, I am encouraged, and I refuse to give up.  It's the application that I have to get together.  Another positive in this past week; I resisted the desire to simply enter a trade, and I waited for entries. No entry, no trade.  Alright, off to the races.  Until next time.

680

 How did I get here? No strategy.  I lay myself before the court and plead guilty as charged. Despite all my study, I stepped on the court and played against my opponent, trying out moves on the fly.  My defense was terrible, my offense was even worse.  But I had a lot of energy! Looking back at my performance over all on June and July, there are some good takeaways.

I was patient with myself. Even when I fell, I got right back up. Switching from court trial, to basketball,  to chess metaphor, I tried different openings, some offensive, some defensive, to try and gauge my opponent.  And just like in chess, I got beat over and over again.  I have a lot of faith in abilities. I am confident that I can and will win this game.  Now, all the mistakes…

I set out to reinvent the wheel. I wanted to “discover” forex anew, as if nothing I read mattered. I threw technical analysis out the window, got rid of my Bollinger Bands, RSI, and volume indicators. I just looked at candlesticks, changing the time frames repeatedly, and making a decision based on where I thought it was going. Fundamentals? Nope.

I took small profits when I was worried about reversals, and I stuck around when in the negative, hoping for reversals! Yes, I cut profits early, and left positions open to reach the stop losses; backward AF.  I promise it felt so right though.

Instead of only 2 trades a week, as I did with my papertrading for MONTHS, I would go with my gut, jump out and jump right back in.  Basically, I did everything I read was wrong to do.  Most devastatingly, I acted on emotion.  So, with all that being said, it is time to be the professional I have meditated on being for almost 2 years now.  I knew time would fly, and I feel the pressure to get this thing right.

I started reviewing Mario Singh’s 17 Proven Currency Trading Strategies. I also visited his website for the 1^sttime. I like the guy’s resume for sure.  One thing I did right in the past couple of weeks is limit my focus to one pair – USDJPY.  What I did not do was study. Tonight, studying trade with Japan officially begins.

Going forward, I’m taking Mario’s advice in regards to having a specific strategy that tells me what to do; when to enter, when to exit.  This is a direct attempt to remove the emotion out of my trading. Having experienced it, and felt the pain in my pocket, I have an emotionalized desire to keep my emotions out of my business.

What’s the strategy? Oh, I’m coming up with it right now. So, let’s look at other good things that came out of the past 2 months.  I am much more comfortable on the mobile trading app. I can flip from MT4 to Oanda easily, compare spreads with other currency pairs, do some quick analysis, and calculate position size with relative ease. I’m built for day- and swing-trading.  75% of my trades are closed out before the day’s out, and I like that.

I’ll continue trading USDJPY.  I will also maintain the 4% limit of risk.  That takes care of everything except entering and exiting.  “We are how we trade, and we trade how we are.”  

1. Fade the Break – No indicator, straight technical. Identify the support/resistance level, enter when candle’s shadow hits the level, but doesn’t close to break it. Bet that it won’t break it, 1:1/1:2. Use M30/H1 timeframes.

2. Trade the Break – No indicator, close above resistance or below support (breakout candle). SL is ½ the range of the previous support/resistance levels. TP is still 1:1/1:2. Follow the momentum.

3. Trading the News – Rule of 20 – If deviation is >20%, trade in that direction. 0.5% for PMI and .2% for interest rates.

That’s enough for now. There’s plenty to start studying to make next week an exercise in self-discipline.  I’ll start with reviewing the charts, identifying the current support and resistance levels, then I’ll get to the news.  It’s just really beginning, n’est pas?