Back to Intraday trading FX to make consistent profits
First weekend of September and I am not going away again for a few months, - so an ideal time to get this thread back on track.
My FX trading system is not totally rigid - why would you do that in a dynamic market place ? - so I am flexible enough everyday to adjust to what I am faced with by the market makers.
I normally start most mornings between 6 am and 6 45 am UK time - ie pre European Opens.
Basically - the market makers always want to catch everybody out - via their timings and their actions.
Monday's for instance are not normally busy days - many traders don't bother trading Monday because they thinks it's too slow and ranging - and similar dont trade a Friday because - its the end of the week and maybe can have more volatility and therefore more scary etc..
My comments would be - get that idea out your head - if you are planning to go full time etc - you trade 5 days a week - ideally from 7 am to 5 pm - ie 10 hrs - but not sitting staring at screens for 10 hrs - simply because you dont have to .
Nothing wrong with leaving trades on over night or in the "graveyard" Asian session - but ideally set your stop in profit - even if its just 5 pips - then you need not worry about what ever happens.
OK - so we are looking at approx 10 hrs to make money.
That will sort out the lazy - get rich easy lot - ie they don't get up before Midday and the idea of working 8 -10 hrs must be really frightening
OK - Micro manage your time and your trading and your advanced money management. Ideally you want to be profitable every hr - put yourself under pressure - and if you cannot hack it - well do you honestly think you will make tons of money from trading ???
I trade normally 10 to 20 times a day. I will not know for example whether I will make 14 trades on Tuesday - or only 9 trades - or even 19 trades. Ideally I look for 1 to 3 trades per hour. Most trades will last under 15 mins - some maybe 30 mins and then I will either exit 100% - or leave 30% on with stops in profit.
Some hrs - I might not even get 1 trade in. Other hrs - I might make 4 trades - I go with the market flow and whats happening - meaning normally I am more active 7 am to 9 30 am - then maybe Midday to 1 45 pm and then maybe after 2 30 pm to 4 pm.
I personally dont like making just one scalp in an hour and getting it wrong and losing 2 or 5 pips. If I get one good scalp in over 7+ pips in say 10 - 15 mins - then I can take another 1 or two more trades during the rest of the hour - knowing even if I lose 3 pips on them - I am still up in profit - even if it is only by a few pips.
By Midday - ie approx 5 -6 hrs into my trading day - I have normally been trading for less than 90 mins and watching the screens for less than 2 hrs - even though I have covered a time window up to 6 hrs. I might have taken a minimum of 4 trades and maximum of 10 trades - and then I can judge were I am in terms of additional cash in the kitty.
I personally dont like having more than 4 bad trades in a day - but for example - I can have 3 bad scalps in the morning - lose 9 to 15 pips - but have 5 good scalps over 7 pips - with 2 going into 30% stakes and making me another 30 -40 pips.
Trading just 3 -5 trades a day for me is really not enough in this numbers game. Yes its great if you make 4 good scalps and get them all correct and make 50 pips net and think - that's it I am done for the day - but they are rare mornings and also even if I hit my 50 pip daily target - I just dont stop if I have another 3 -5 hrs of prime time trading still available - why would I ?? If you say - "R though - you could lose all your gains" - then obviously you have not taken your money management to an advanced stage enough yet ;-)
However I found in the past if I traded 30+ timeS a day - it was too much time effort focus - concentration etc etc - and I could get burned out in a busy month
So 10 -20 trades a day is my normal range - what's your ???
More to follow on this topic over the weekend
Regards
F