Starting again again!

[andys0506]

Ok, as title says, I'm gonna start again with. New year, new ideas, new discipline (most important bit!)
I've been spreadbetting on and off for around 5 years but not consistantly. I've done 6 months then stopped for a year then started again. Always small amounts, roll of around a couple of hundred quid, max of around 50p per pip. You get the idea

Its a new decade, I want to succeed this time! So I have a plan, be consistant, work hard, and grind my bankroll up so that I can trade at £5/p whilst risking a max of 5% per trade. For this I need an account around £3000. I am starting with £50 :cheesy:

Because I want to start small, I have opened an acount with PartyMarkets who allow trade sizes down to 10p, so thats where I have started.

I will be trading just the gold market, off of a 1 hour chart, using just support and resistant - particularly pivot areas, where price changes from support to resistant and vice-versa. You wil also find a couple of fibs on my charts too. That is all.

I really want to make it work this time. I tried last year, but became impatient with my trades. I have done lots of reading - thankyou to Trader Dante! and now realise that being in the market all the time is WRONG. Waiting for the market to come to me is where its at

So, there we have it. I will try to post here daily with my thoughts and results. Wish me luck (but actually luck has nothing to do with it!)...

 

[The Artist]

It's nice to see commitment to success!!
As long as you start again because you can't stop trading rather than because you want to get £3k, you should be fine!!

 

[andys0506]

Ok so quick update as to progress this week so far:
9 trades; 8 wins 1 loss:
Pippage: 10, 30, 10, 30, -60, 25, 20, 26, 28

My stake sizes vary depending on size of my stop, so that I risk nomore than 10%. I know this is high but I am willing to risk this amount for now as I have faith in my hit rate. As account grows I will slowly reduce my risk per trade to get to around 5% when I reach £3,000 (if I do!).

So far my (very small) account has grown 43.8% this week.

I currently have one open trade:
Short from 1122.3 SL 1126.3

As time permits I will go into more details as to the whys and wherefores of my trades.

 

[advfntrader]

why not try larger timeframes, with only 10p per point you could trade daily ?

 

[andys0506]

why not try larger timeframes, with only 10p per point you could trade daily ?

I actually use the daily chart to draw my major lines and then trade off the hourly.
I aim for 3-5 trades a week, currently making 1-2 a day, and I'm looking for something around 5% per trade. To be honest I don't have specific targets as such. I will let a trade run for as long as I feel it can go on the hourly timeframe. I'm not happy seeing a 40 pip profit retrace back to BE. I take profit and then re-enter if I feel the move is confirmed by price action. Hence my choice of hourly rather than daily.
I move my stops during a trade to lock in profit but giving wiggle room. So as new consolidation areas are made I will move my stop to there and so on. I have no real target, although I have some knowledge of where the market may stall because I have already drawn my sup/res lines and fibs on the chart.
However I DO have a fixed RISK. This I think is important. With my confident hit-rate I am happy to risk 10% at the moment. Nomore. Often within an hour of opening the trade I will move stop to BE as long as it still leaves enough room for the trade to work.

 

[andys0506]

That short @ 1122.3 was stopped out by that big move up from the ascending trendline Also lost another 25 pips on a stupid reaction trade.

This is my new rule, nice and big so that I don't forget in future!
If a trade is stopped out DO NOT enter until at least the next hourly candle starts

edit: ... DO NOT enter until after the NEXT hourly candle COMPLETES!

I need to avoid getting suckered into fakeouts...let the market calm down before re-evaluating.

 

[andys0506]

Amazing, I go all week with an almost 100% hit rate, then the day I post on here it goes t1ts up!
Anyway, re-evaluated, and I'm now short from 1127.8 with SL @ 1132.8 risking 10% of my account on this one.

If you pull up a hourly chart and zoom out you will see the pivot levels which give the SL and entry levels.

 

[Black Swan]

Amazing, I go all week with an almost 100% hit rate, then the day I post on here it goes t1ts up!
Anyway, re-evaluated, and I'm now short from 1127.8 with SL @ 1132.8 risking 10% of my account on this one.
If you pull up a hourly chart and zoom out you will see the pivot levels which give the SL and entry levels.

 

[Jaydee]

This


10% of your account of what is part skill and part chance is hyper risky. Have you thought of lowering your risk level to absorb downswings/negative variance?

 

[normbeef]

This


10% of your account of what is part skill and part chance is hyper risky. Have you thought of lowering your risk level to absorb downswings/negative variance?

Andy your going to the poor house using 10% risk on a single trade.. your system seems non existent... do you even have a trading plan ???

It is not important how much money you have in your account, you seem to want to risk more because your capital is small... its a classic way to blow all your money.. if you have been trading for 5 years on and off you should know this by now...

 

[andys0506]

Yes perhaps you're right. My goal is to risk 5% per trade which I know is still high. But I wanted to try and by a little riskier to begin with to boost my account quicker. My thinking being that the larger my account gets the smaller I make each trade risk (in %age terms). Bad thinking I guess as I just have more chance of wiping out.
I woke up this morning to find that the ascending triangle had broken upwards sharply and price has consolidated above 1150 (50% fib level)
Opened a position around 8am this morning: Long @ 1153.9 SL 1149.9

 

[Pat494]

Find the mentality of an angler.

Patience is what you need.

Dont be in such a hurry. The markets will still be around tomorrow.

Looks like the sad case of a little knowledge too :::::::::::etc

 

[andys0506]

Find the mentality of an angler.

Patience is what you need.

Dont be in such a hurry. The markets will still be around tomorrow.

Looks like the sad case of a little knowledge too :::::::::::etc

You are so right, and I know you are so right.
What worries me the most is I know you are right but don't listen.
Friday is a prime example - was up 40 odd % on the week after being pretty disciplined. Lost one trade for -10%, then within 2 hours had lost another 4 trades halving my account in one fell swoop.

I need to work on my discipline, that is my problem.

 

[barryb]

Under-capitalised, too high risk, unproven strategy, fatal combination.

Do yourself a favour, and dont trade any real money until you have enough to risk no more than 1-3% per trade. Trading at 10% is killing you emotionally and more important financially. You should be able to take a loss without it causing you emotional discomfort.

For you to reach this stage you need to have a method which you have paper traded and for it to have been profitable for a minimum of 2 months, therefore you know it has an edge, so you have no problem in taking the losses to get the winners. You also need to be trading at a risk % level which doesn't cause you emotional discomfort when you have a loss.

 

[Pat494]

I need to work on my discipline, that is my problem.

May I further suggest you take up something simple and free like jogging/walking.
Set your schedule and stick to it to learn discipline
( You'll get fit too !! )

 

[Black Swan]

Find the mentality of an angler.

Patience is what you need.

Dont be in such a hurry. The markets will still be around tomorrow.

Looks like the sad case of a little knowledge too :::::::::::etc

I quite like this analogy...be as funny as fook watching anglers display the lack of patience/control some traders display...kicking over bait, breaking rods, swearing at the (lack of) fish, blaming the currents/phase of moon/life in general being against them...

Agree with your jogging/running reference, I only took up running 4 years back, never a x-country runner at school and had been a gym rat for decades. First few months at running had to take a break 15 mins out then run the 15 mins back. V. restless mind whilst running too... Felt like an age before I could 'join up' the two 15 min segments, all seemed so daunting, then it just clicks...

 

[andys0506]

I used to go to the gym 3 times a week, but haven't been for over 3 months now.
Exercise is important to your mental health, I have started taking bike rides to get some needed exercise, but the damn snow has put an end to that for the last week or so. Don't much fancy skidding across the road! Hope to get back on my bike in a day or 2

 

[Black Swan]

I used to go to the gym 3 times a week, but haven't been for over 3 months now.
Exercise is important to your mental health, I have started taking bike rides to get some needed exercise, but the damn snow has put an end to that for the last week or so. Don't much fancy skidding across the road! Hope to get back on my bike in a day or 2

IMHO get the fitness/state of mind right and everything else will follow...not just in trading... And no matter how many times you hear the cliche there are more important things than money. Nothing is as important as your physical/mental health, particularly if you have young loved ones who don't even realise they're reliant on you to bring home the bacon....

Had a conversation with a v.well known/successful trader on Saturday, he mentioned that trading is a lifestyle choice. With that in mind it's important that we re-structure or lives to accomodate trading. For example, my key area of activity is 8am-4pm but throughout the day I'll constantly keep a weather eye on the charts, but experience (still v. limited) now tells me that there are generally 4 periods throughout the 24 hour day when I'll have to (on average) make key decisions...Knowing that (and working off longer time frames ) allows me to take the odd 'breather' throughout the day...By adapting and adopting this structure it also means I'm around/available to do all the Dad duties throughout the week, without obssessing about the markets constantly.

 

[andys0506]

IMHO get the fitness/state of mind right and everything else will follow...not just in trading... And no matter how many times you hear the cliche there are more important things than money. Nothing is as important as your physical/mental health, particularly if you have young loved ones who don't even realise they're reliant on you to bring home the bacon....

Had a conversation with a v.well known/successful trader on Saturday, he mentioned that trading is a lifestyle choice. With that in mind it's important that we re-structure or lives to accomodate trading. For example, my key area of activity is 8am-4pm but throughout the day I'll constantly keep a weather eye on the charts, but experience (still v. limited) now tells me that there are generally 4 periods throughout the 24 hour day when I'll have to (on average) make key decisions...Knowing that (and working off longer time frames ) allows me to take the odd 'breather' throughout the day...By adapting and adopting this structure it also means I'm around/available to do all the Dad duties throughout the week, without obssessing about the markets constantly.

Thanks for the post - you really sound like you have it all worked out :smart:
Can I ask how long it took you to get into this state of mind and lifestyle?

 

[Black Swan]

Thanks for the post - you really sound like you have it all worked out

Moi? No way, still a beginner bud, have taken off my stabilisers (a couple of years back) but I stll have the odd wobble, or two...or three... I'm just starting on this journey really. As for the state of mind/lifestyle that's always been the same tbh, whatever job/profession I've found myself in over the years.