DionysusToast
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I shudder to think what a 30 quid flophouse in London would be like.
I'm itchy at the very thought of it.
Pony up you tight ******!
Lee Shepherd's Trading Diary
- Thread starter Lee Shepherd
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I shudder to think what a 30 quid flophouse in London would be like.
I'm itchy at the very thought of it.
Pony up you tight ******!
counter_violent
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Yeah sod that !
:idea: We could all pile round Robs
and he does a mean baby elephant salad!
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robster970
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Yeah sod that !
:idea: We could all pile round Robs
and he does a mean baby elephant salad!
Jesus CV - I forgot about that. Wasn't that the same week I invented the Chicken Tikka Masala and thought I was a culinary genius?
Incidentally the Mrs and kids are off again this summer for 4 weeks this time so christ knows what I will end up cooking......
@Lee - £6k profit cleared for last month and you'll only pony up £30 for a fleapit :whistling
C
cablemonster
You could always get a ropey B&B in Paddington for £50. I am sure you can top and tail with CV.
DionysusToast
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Guys - come to Bangkok - Robs wife is away so he can swing it. C_V can claim to be in Scotland. For other, I am sure we can think of something.
With regard to your quote below:
I'm not going to do any running commentary about how I did this and how I did that nor will I comment on how I did what I did when I did. I’ll just put it down to being lucky, the bottom line is just that, the bottom line and that’s all that matters. I think most of us are pretty bored of hearing what’s what etc, especially when we have our own trades to concern us about. Statements speak for themselves so I have posted mine for reference.
Keeping the journal up to date as best I can but more importantly showing my hand (as best I can), see the following attached for last month’s trades – to keep in with last statement it is dated from 28th March through to and including 30th April 2013.
Total trades = 22
Hi Lee,
I am a relatively new (and spectacularly unsuccessful) trader; I've come into this primarily because I need to find a new income stream and £6k a mnth would do me very nicely, thanks very much.
However, no-one said it would be easy, despite the fact that there appear to be hundreds of opportunities to make significant dosh every day. Even more apparent is the slipperyness of the market in that, as soon as one enters a trade, the bugger runs the other way! But then I guess most people have been there at some stage.
OK, what I don't understand is the reason for your Blog and please don't take this as a criticism, but if it is is primarily to say; "look at this, I'm making piles of dough and this is my diary, suckers", than that's perfectly OK, everyone's entitled to do that when they're winning.
However, if it is also intended to inform and help newbies as well as keep in contact with your mates across the industry then it doesn't and just frustrates. (We all like to be involved when we're gaining but feel ostracised when not).
So I suppose I'm looking for advice really. I initially went on a Learn2Trade course and, whilst extremely useful, is a seriously expensive way of learning and they, as a company, are designed to leech more and more cash from their 'customers'. Regardless of the fact that I do keep records and interrogate every trade, win or lose, afterwards, I am still making poor decisions both on entry and exit (tending to be an intraday trader) and consequently losing more than I'm winning.
How do I advance my knowledge and change the shape of the graph?
(I think that anything other than 'f*uck off' would be a bonus here
Wins = 14 @ £9,096.28 average of £649.73
Losses = 8 @ £3,559.43 average of £444.93
Biggest win = £2,231.04
Biggest loss = £824.19
Win rate = 63%
Trade ratio = 1:1.75 R/R
Monetary ratio = 2.55
Net = £5,536.85
PS: Don’t forget to take out or the black swan will fly away with it all
Unfortunately I cannot be as transparent as I would like to be so same as usual I'm afraid when it comes to screenshots - a lot of the data has been removed as certain levels may still be in play.
I've already got some trades built up and stacked for this coming month but as yet have not hit the exit areas so are still in play. NB: These could still produce a loss as most are not locked in yet for profit, although most are locked in for a small loss and/or break even.
PPS: I am expecting drawdowns in June so that will be a good month to see how losses in particular are handled. Although not yet set the drawdowns are expected to be as potentially high as £2k, this is due to the stop areas I have set for the target markets in play.
Lets see what this month brings and always remember that today's trade could be the start of a potential bad run that wipes us out. Having this in mind should help to keep the feet grounded at all times.
Cheers,
Lee Shepherd
Lee Shepherd
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I'm all ears. What's your point?
Shakone
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I think his post is lost in the middle of the quote.
Lee Shepherd
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lol, gotcha. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll read it now.
Lee Shepherd
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Hi Devonsent,
Firstly, I do this blog to show my hand. Thats it in a nutshell. This way when I meet people they know who I am and not some wannabe guy claiming to make a good buck or two. I am the real deal, although not a very rich one. lol, but I do make money.
Secondly, if you are coming in to this business to make money, YOU WON'T.
Plain and simple.
You go to work to earn money or buy scratch cards to win money, however, you don't start up a business to make money (primarily). You do it because of the love or passion. This has to come above the cash otherwise you will only ever focus on this one thing and that's bad news.
Dont worry, you are not alone in this camp, many come to make money, most lose and fail consistently. If you are passionate about trading then you will help yourself, no one can do this for you nor can they show you the golden route, it doesn't exist.
If you want my help then I will give you this, if you feel truly passionate about this business then I will guide you until I'm bored. I will know very quickly if you are true or not so please put me to the test, I enjoy it.
PS: Have a read of my next month (in a few days) blog. That will bring a little realism to your dreams. I gave the Dax £5.2k in one day, my losses this month are now around £1.2k. So, its not all roses. Better still I am expecting losses next month in the same regional figure. Money management goes beyond just what you have on your brokers account.
If you want, skype me.
and PS: Fill out a little more on your profile.
Lee
Lee,
Thanks so much for a reply that is far more measured and helpful than I, perhaps, had any right to expect. I shall go and add stuff into my profile in a minute but, if I may come back on a coupleof your points first . . .
People like Sergei Brin, Mark Zuckerberg or Dave Hewlett stared up companies either because of a passion for their work or because they wanted to get laid and these seemed the best ways to do it. Most of us, myself included, started up companies because we need the money and couldn't think of a simpler way to make it. I started my own company in 1987 and ran it, very successfully, for almost 23 years until it folded due, in the main, to a massive change in technology that I couldn't afford to invest in - that and the fact that we'd spent all the retained profits!
So I looked around at what I could do as I am probably less than easily employable by the majority of relatively short-sighted HR departments. I happened upon forex trading almost by accident and was absolutely gripped by it and I say this not as a gambler; I am not and never have been so it was not the 'thrill' of the bet that kept me in it but the enjoyment and the quite obvious opportunities. It annoys me that, every day, every hour, there are hundreds, thousands of pips just waiting to be taken and I have to continually rein myself in to examining just a few of the pairs; watching, examining and waiting for the right moment - which I almost invariably get wrong because I've either waited too long and it reverses or I've mised something obvious, like a bloody great resistance looming just up the road.
I think that, right at the moment, getting more trades right than wrong is far more important to me than making a a huge amount of money, though I'd be a liar if I suggested that I wanted to do this simply as a hobby - eventually, I need to make money from it and I wouldn't believe anybody who said that they were in it simply for the 'fun'. It's not bl**dy rugby, it's only fun if your winning though I accept that losing is as much part of the experience - I'd just prefer it wasn't the major part.
I would dearly love the help of an experienced trader who isn't going to want to charge me a million quid a day to 'explain' where I went wrong but who could offer advice, so I'd love to take you up on your offer - although, at very much the wrong side of 50, Skype is still a bit of a black art to me so I'll have to check it out properly. If it lasts until you get bored, then I will at least have learnt something (I hope) to take forward.
Tell me how I can contact you outside this.
Phil Stringer
Pat494
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I'll not pretend to be a guru of trading because I'm not. Lee has a good cred as a trader here and is probably not too worried by what seems to me to be huge losses, as above.
To have lots of practice and get up some confidence may I suggest what I have done - and that is to use MT5. You can test yourself on the real markets and only risk pennies. They have good charts etc. and all for free. If you are a programmer then even better.
To have lots of practice and get up some confidence may I suggest what I have done - and that is to use MT5. You can test yourself on the real markets and only risk pennies. They have good charts etc. and all for free. If you are a programmer then even better.
DionysusToast
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That's you opinion only and one that might apply to you but does not apply to many entrepreneurs around the world.
Many people start businesses to make money. Sometimes people see an opportunity and it's too good to pass by.
Most prop traders I know that went prop got into it purely because of the money. Some failed and some succeeded.
Just because you are passionate about trading does not make it a pre-requisite. In fact, I would say that being addicted to trading and not being able to get your mind off it is a curse, not a blessing. Look at old Dante - sleeping next to his screens and waking up at 3am to check them. Sure, that's passion but it's also an obsession.
Lee Shepherd
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Hello mate,
I have great respect for you as a person and as a vendor so I'm not going to argue this point with you. Maybe another time
You are of course right in many ways and I'm sure you can find examples. However, I tend to go by the mass majority and in that I (and i'm sure you'll) find is that most come into trading as a means to an end for something else. This involves the money and is one of the main reasons (often sole reason)why people enter and fail.
This is the psychological part that screws people over.
Anyway, I wont discuss this anymore with you bud as there is no definitive end, its just an observation based on personal findings.
Lee
Lee Shepherd
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Hello Phil,
Nice to meet you.
I can be contacted on skype, my details are on here on my profile page. We can also speak on here which is my preferred method otherwise my fingers start to bleed. Make sure you have a mic. I give my time for free so forgive me if I am not always available. I will also state that I enjoy a certain aspect of talking shop, not talking cr4p so if I feel you are like the typical average noob just after a quick and easy buck I will cut all ties quickly. If you are genuinely looking to trade and trade well and earn money then I will guide you to helping yourself and you shall do well if your heart is in it.
I have met many friends through T2W to which I have met up with and remain very close to some even now.
Commenting on your post in specific detail, again, I have covered some of this with the one above. Again just to reiterate, you will always be able to find conflicting arguments regarding why people do certain things, I just go with the majority. Just like trading really. Same thing.
Getting more trades right than wrong is an unnecessary thing to try and do. Never be afraid to be wrong in this game. Its only ever about making money (now I'm sounding contradicting, now there's a conflict for you). To explain, the money is the end result, to which you have to focus on at the beginning, this is done with strict money management and a rigid trading plan.
I will cover with you on our first chat a little about me and my history, this will help you understand my strong background in this field. I'll then look to get an understanding of your trading history, this will help me to analyse what you've done so far and where you are in the scheme of things. This I should expect to be in communication with you for about 30 minutes so make sure you have the spare time. We'll see where we go from there.
You could give a bit of a heads up and post some of your recent trades here if you feel comfortable doing so:
I would need to know:
Win rate percentage or number of trade
Total number of trades
Total sums won and lost
Target market and day and time of each trade
Capital employed
Having had your own business I would safely presume that you keep strict records and would have these to hand. It may be that you don't for whatever reason. IF you do not then you would need to obtain these moving forward before I could help further. You can do this by way of paper trading so you need not risk a penny. I would need a sample size 20 plus trades over a minimum of 1 week. This sample size is extremely weak so may not be accurate but may be a start to identifying certain issues.
Lee
DionysusToast
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Hello mate,
I have great respect for you as a person and as a vendor so I'm not going to argue this point with you. Maybe another time
You are of course right in many ways and I'm sure you can find examples. However, I tend to go by the mass majority and in that I (and i'm sure you'll) find is that most come into trading as a means to an end for something else. This involves the money and is one of the main reasons (often sole reason)why people enter and fail.
This is the psychological part that screws people over.
Anyway, I wont discuss this anymore with you bud as there is no definitive end, its just an observation based on personal findings.
Lee
Fair enough - it's all opinions @ the end of the day.
On an individual trade basis, we see more eye to eye. The worst thing you can do when placing/managing a trade is:
- think of how much profit you have in the trade
- think of how much loss in the trade
- think of how much you won/lost earlier
In my personal experience this leads you to cutting trades you shouldn't (those that go against you a little) and letting trades run way too long (not taking profits when you should).
It is hard to keep your head straight when considering the $$$$ during a trade.
tar
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Making money is not the issue , look at this Q1 report more than third made money last Q and this is for retail FX traders which is the worst area i guess , the real issue is to be able to make decent money consistently every year without betting the farm and with tolerable max DD .
Q1 US Broker Profitability Report Showing Signs of Optimism | Forex Magnates
Lee Shepherd
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Anyway, as some of my previous (vented) posts in the month of May stated, I had a good losing month. The dax alone took me for over £5.2k. Dam these meerkats.
Managed to pull it back somewhat but still ended the month on minus £1.4k.
I am also expecting losses next month (June) as well and is expected in the region of around £1.5k. These are the best months to publish as it details just exactly what one needs to do when it comes to the classic saying 'Money Management'.
Money management is not just about managing your brokers account; it’s also a major part in how you deal with personal expenditure etc. How many people do you know could survive without being paid for 2 months in a row, worse still how many people do you know could survive not only no wages for 2 months but also having to still payout on living expenses PLUS paying into the markets just to add salt to the wound. In essence paying to go to work.
This in itself can have a major impact on how one trades moving forward:
Cautious trading means you miss out on those opportunities.
Over trading/aggressive behaviour means you frantically look for opportunities that simply do not exist.
In short, just do the job. You don't hear of city traders saying 'I've just had a bad trade, I'm going home to cry'. Rubbish, clear your head and get back on it. Do or die. Man up.
Someone recently joked about me coming to London and paying only a nominal fee for a room instead of something more grand, it did make me laugh but there is a serious point here. This is on the back of me taking £5k per month from the markets. Let’s look at how much £5k really is:
£5k per month is a total of (over 12 months) = £60,000 per annum. Not bad some will say. I say it is bad, very bad indeed in comparison to what I have to do and risk to achieve this.
Now take out a few months for drawdown’s of say £10k, that’s easily achievable and I’m probably being kind here, that leaves £50k, now take out the fact that we have to have an insurance policy in case that eventful black swan wipes us out. We need to build a pot from it so let’s take out, say, 20% of the yearly expected total – that’s £10k over the year; this now leaves £40k. What about a pension fund, take out another 10% and that’s another £5k off, this leaves in my pocket:
£35,000
Now what about compounding – interesting one as so many people harp on about it. How am I going to compound from this amount, well I do, but I do it by living a reasonably frugal existence, this means budget rooms when I’m out playing, there’s no tax relief here.
So if I compound just £5k per year, not a lot. That leaves me with a whole £30k per year or £2.5k per month. Half of what most people see I take from the markets each month. Oh in case we forgot, what’s a holiday or sick day? What about expenses and so on, are these all for free?
Now let’s look at what I do to win this money. All day and all night I am on it like a fly on the you know what. I live eat and breathe it. I am worse than an addict and even after all these years I still do not get bored with a single day. I truly have found my vocation in life. I am doing it for the enjoyment, not for the cash, this is secondary. I keep my eye on the trade and not on monetary figures, this is insignificant to me. It matters not how much a trade has just rewarded me or taken from me, what matters most is how much I pay myself at the end of each month, if I can at all.
So, when people band around making money from the markets with just 1 hour a day, make thousands per month blah blah blah, do it in 6 months yeah whateva, I hope you can now appreciate that with all the hours God sends, all the passion in the world and a healthy bank balance and plenty of experience........ It really is hard to make a living from trading the markets. If you don’t enjoy it or have the time and support for it from others, it makes it a million times worse.
Anyway, rambling on:
Results for this month (May)
Wins = 9 @ £3,884.37 average of £431.59
Losses = 10 @ £5,296.05 average of £529.60
Total trades = 19
Biggest win = £1,022.79
Biggest loss = £1,129.25
Win rate = 47.3%
Trade Ratio = 1:0.9 R/R
Monetary Ratio = 0.73
Net = £-1,411.68 (Minus)
Good luck for this month all. Screenshot for verification purposes but as normal a lot of data has been removed as levels are still in play. The one’s I have shown are now obsolete.
Actually, nothing needs to be taken out this month as all previous levels have now changed.
Word to self: I am only as good as my last trade. The next trade could be the series of events that blows the account.
Regards,
Lee Shepherd
Managed to pull it back somewhat but still ended the month on minus £1.4k.
I am also expecting losses next month (June) as well and is expected in the region of around £1.5k. These are the best months to publish as it details just exactly what one needs to do when it comes to the classic saying 'Money Management'.
Money management is not just about managing your brokers account; it’s also a major part in how you deal with personal expenditure etc. How many people do you know could survive without being paid for 2 months in a row, worse still how many people do you know could survive not only no wages for 2 months but also having to still payout on living expenses PLUS paying into the markets just to add salt to the wound. In essence paying to go to work.
This in itself can have a major impact on how one trades moving forward:
Cautious trading means you miss out on those opportunities.
Over trading/aggressive behaviour means you frantically look for opportunities that simply do not exist.
In short, just do the job. You don't hear of city traders saying 'I've just had a bad trade, I'm going home to cry'. Rubbish, clear your head and get back on it. Do or die. Man up.
Someone recently joked about me coming to London and paying only a nominal fee for a room instead of something more grand, it did make me laugh but there is a serious point here. This is on the back of me taking £5k per month from the markets. Let’s look at how much £5k really is:
£5k per month is a total of (over 12 months) = £60,000 per annum. Not bad some will say. I say it is bad, very bad indeed in comparison to what I have to do and risk to achieve this.
Now take out a few months for drawdown’s of say £10k, that’s easily achievable and I’m probably being kind here, that leaves £50k, now take out the fact that we have to have an insurance policy in case that eventful black swan wipes us out. We need to build a pot from it so let’s take out, say, 20% of the yearly expected total – that’s £10k over the year; this now leaves £40k. What about a pension fund, take out another 10% and that’s another £5k off, this leaves in my pocket:
£35,000
Now what about compounding – interesting one as so many people harp on about it. How am I going to compound from this amount, well I do, but I do it by living a reasonably frugal existence, this means budget rooms when I’m out playing, there’s no tax relief here.
So if I compound just £5k per year, not a lot. That leaves me with a whole £30k per year or £2.5k per month. Half of what most people see I take from the markets each month. Oh in case we forgot, what’s a holiday or sick day? What about expenses and so on, are these all for free?
Now let’s look at what I do to win this money. All day and all night I am on it like a fly on the you know what. I live eat and breathe it. I am worse than an addict and even after all these years I still do not get bored with a single day. I truly have found my vocation in life. I am doing it for the enjoyment, not for the cash, this is secondary. I keep my eye on the trade and not on monetary figures, this is insignificant to me. It matters not how much a trade has just rewarded me or taken from me, what matters most is how much I pay myself at the end of each month, if I can at all.
So, when people band around making money from the markets with just 1 hour a day, make thousands per month blah blah blah, do it in 6 months yeah whateva, I hope you can now appreciate that with all the hours God sends, all the passion in the world and a healthy bank balance and plenty of experience........ It really is hard to make a living from trading the markets. If you don’t enjoy it or have the time and support for it from others, it makes it a million times worse.
Anyway, rambling on:
Results for this month (May)
Wins = 9 @ £3,884.37 average of £431.59
Losses = 10 @ £5,296.05 average of £529.60
Total trades = 19
Biggest win = £1,022.79
Biggest loss = £1,129.25
Win rate = 47.3%
Trade Ratio = 1:0.9 R/R
Monetary Ratio = 0.73
Net = £-1,411.68 (Minus)
Good luck for this month all. Screenshot for verification purposes but as normal a lot of data has been removed as levels are still in play. The one’s I have shown are now obsolete.
Actually, nothing needs to be taken out this month as all previous levels have now changed.
Word to self: I am only as good as my last trade. The next trade could be the series of events that blows the account.
Regards,
Lee Shepherd
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That is one of the best, most open, honest and valuable posts that I have had the pleasure of reading.
Thanks
Peace and pips (or points)
