Update: Priceline Reached, Waiting for Break & Self AnalysisSo things are going to plan, so far, we saw the rally, the market failed to break yesterday's high. And price has followed the breakout pattern and returned back to the price line. A break through would put this move comfortably back in profit like I mentioned in my last update. These are all positives. But I can't help but thinking about the fact that I could have been 80 pips up on this move instead of 15.
I usually wake around 12:30 am to check the charts and get ready for the London open. But this morning I actually didn't wake until 7:00 am, which cost me because had I woke up, I would have managed this trade slightly different, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to critique this position, in hopes that you guys can learn from my mistakes.
1. My first entry wasn't good...both of my orders were designed for different scenarios, you can see in my original post for this trade that I was speculating about two reversal points, but I couldn't be sure which one it would be until it played out. In order to avoid losses, I placed the stoploss for my first entry above my second entry. The downside to this, was that my average fill was still too low to be safe from price going against me. You can see that my second entry came within 10 pips of the highest high we've seen these past couple days SO...if that had been my only entry, I could have run a much tighter stop and made a lot more money.
2. My biggest mistake was not taking profit when price got back down to my first entry. This would have freed me from that first entry and given me an opportunity to get back in at supply with a tighter stop and better RR.
If you're wondering how I find these supply zones, I use the fib tool and I look for a spike with the open and close within a 31% ratio (like the one in the top left corner). Keep in mind, a spike can last more than one candle. So a candle that gets engulfed by another can also be considered a valid spike, so long as the open of the first candle and the close of the engulfing candle lie within a 0 - 31% ratio. For a bullish spike, take the fib tool from the lowest point and drag up to the highest point. Do the opposite for bearish spikes. A bullish spike must be followed by a bullish candle to be considered valid, and a bearish spike must be followed by a bearish candle to be considered valid. Spikes should only be used to mark supply and demand zones if they happen in an area of value, or POI.
I also use the distance between (highest highs and the next highest close) or (lowest lows and the next lowest close) as supply and demand zones as well.
3. You can see that had I done this I would have been able to get back in, and be over 30 pips up now this second time around, putting me at around 80 pips taken these past two days. I should have done that. If I felt like a rally was coming then it would have been wisest to exit my position at demand and get back in at supply.
I hope you guys can apply this to your trades and avoid this mistake in the future!
Selfanalysis
EURUSD Kicking myself!!The fact that I missed both of these is getting on my nerves, especially since using regression lines to spot patterns like these is a good 30% of my strategy. I've been incorporating supply and demand into my strategy over the past month or so, and I think I've gotten too focused on just that. Somewhere along the line I stopped tracing regression lines through my fractals and it cost me close to 150 pips over the last two days. I've taken 75 pips over the past two days which is always good but there's no denying that I can improve big time. Waking up to an 80 pip drop in price after you had written the entire day off... Got to stay focused on everything to really take my trading to the next level. It's tough.
Are you confident ?Another Forex Trading Snack.
I posted up a earlier a trade that failed me and my original setup. Sudden volatility struck fast and hard!
Ok, I will admit it, for a moment my emotions were crushed. I went from trading my setup emotionless, to just about packing it all in for the day!
What changed?
A bit of self talk changed my fear of having just lost, to playing the statistical odds of my setup again.
The first top red arrow was my failure due to increased and sudden volatility. My second attempt was the lower second red arrow by the pink trend line. Both the first and the second order was to sell AUDUSD and both orders were almost at the same price & stop zone.
Some might say why did I try it again?
Sure volatility was still in the market, but it was my original setup along with the 21 SMA ( black line ) that gave me the confidence that after almost climbing for a week straight, this one was ready for a pullback. In addition to that increased volatility didn’t break the 21 and hold it, but price action went right back to the lower channel trend line. My thought was if it breaks lower and holds the break, the 21 would bend lower and hold the buyers at bay until even the buyers of the past week would take their profits, thus adding to the down side pressure.
In early Asian trade and as I type, my trade looks fine, stops are at break even (BE) and if I got out right here and now—what once was a 30 pip loss is now a +20 pip gain if I took it off. Because my stops are at BE should they get hit there would be zero effect to the account balance as it sits now. If that happened I’d take a 30 pip daily loss on these two trades. Not a bad loss average if that happened.
Because the odds are in my favor, I’m leaving it alone till early Europe’s market open to see if it drops farther. Because if it drops farther I could take a 20, 30, 40... you get the picture. I can finish my trades with making more then I lost to begin with. That’s adding to my confidence and positive consistency in trading.
If this happened to you earlier, would you have had the confidence and or conviction to try again after getting stoped out suddenly by volatility??
Would you, or do you keep statistics on trading setups / trade plans or strategies, in order to give you more convenience and or more consistent results?
Would you have entered the trade the second time changing entry, stops, or just did as I did , same everything?
Finally do you trade Every time you see your setup as your strategies say are the best to trade, or do you second guess the setup—only to see at times the trade leave without you?
The goal is self improvement! By me posting this it drives the point home in my mind that I need reminders too.
Hope this helps in a small way in your trading journey.
In trading you either make dust or you will eat dust!
Al the best.
This is not trading advice. It is however a real experience in my trading day. Off to the next trade!
Journey of 1000 psychological trading hacks.Join me - to boldly go where 'no man' has gone before. This is the Final Frontier.
I take on the big issue - head on.
This is the one that is more likely to make the biggest difference to achieving consistent profitability.
I assert that it technical and fundamental analysis are not most important issues in trading - at all! If 'everybody' could simply do proper technical and fundamental analysis and make load of money, then everybody would be rich. It's never happened. It ain't gonna happen!
I say that our enemies lie within. I say that dealing with the enemies within - by self-analysis, is the path to unlimited gains.
AND - it's not just me saying so.
Could this be your 'Mission Improbable' or your 'Mission Possible'? The choice is yours.
This post is in keeping with Tradingview's text-based analysis guidance
To boldly go beyond technical analysis towards self-analysisHaving been on Tradingview for the last few years, I've observed that perhaps 'the most important' aspect of trading is hardly ever discussed. I'm not sure why that its.
Look, this is a loser's game. How? Read on.
Some key estimates:
1. 90% of traders will lose money consistently. .
2. 80% of trading success depends on managing individual psychology.
3. It is possible to be consistently profitable even with a 30% win rate.
I say that there is an invisible wall that affects many new and seasoned traders. How would I know? I've been there - and head-butted the wall!
The difficult aspects of trading:
1. Managing risk
2. Self-deception
3. Finding reasonable entry and exit points.
4. Being disciplined - staying disciplined.
5. Changing patterns of cognition
6. Changing patterns of behaviour.
7. Managing external influences.
8. Managing emotions.
Core trading skills to develop:
1. Finding trends early enough.
2. Calculating acceptable losses.
3. Exploiting trends.
4. Understanding when not to enter a trade.
How do new traders get conned?
1. They have ideas or beliefs that there is some magic formula or system of trading that will work to beat the markets.
2. They are influenced to join training programs, most of which deliver little or no strategies for coping with the difficulties.
3. They move from program to program spending on 'hope'; losing as they go.
4. They spend on signalling services.
The difficulty is that many traders have a difficult time seeing their own psychology. Note - I'm not talking about psychology in general or the stuff you find in textbooks. So a trader could focus on all manner of trading methodology and still have a very big problem.
Dig deep fellow traders. The markets are their to punish you but also the markets are sound teachers.