Hope and Fear
Position trade ideas and execution
Indices, GBP/USD, EUR/USD
My main goal:
Maintain focus on long term trade ideas, execute trade, follow idea to its conclusion
The Journal will have my thoughts and ideas written down, modification of ideas etc
The Journal will give close to live entry update if a resting order is not used
The Journal will have stop and target price levels given at entry
I will not enter into any method or selection of price levels debate etc and ask mods to remove any rubbish other than my own
The Journal will have more than enough detail for any one interested to play dot to dot with the levels given, I will answer a serious question via pm if I get some spare time and the question refers to a Journal entry or entries
GBP / USD
flat at moment
trend week up, obvious R at 50% retrace at 17253, price forming possible flag
day double top in play, full consolidation possible / range 15980 - 16580
price is pig in the middle
trade taken ~ Day possible range, 3 tops H1, entry intra day at highs in M5 with 1st, see how it goes
Stop moved to day location 16670 (100 risk)
move to BE + 70 if price trades 16340
if trade holds good will look to add in H1 if I get the opportunity (away from pc much of tomorrow so trusting to luck )
1st Target 16070
2nd Target 15980 (if 1st add in)
3rd Target 15270 (if 2nd add in)
re enter at 16576 at (11:55)
Stop at 670
running total
+ 16 from 2 trades
open trade at + 116
"if trade holds good will look to add in H1 if I get the opportunity
1st Target 16070
2nd Target 15980 (if 1st add in)
3rd Target 15270 (if 2nd add in)
Trade closed out at 16336 at H1 rotation lows + 240 (15:10)
Discretion used
price at valid D1 location just above mid, will attempt to re-enter next week if time and opportunity align themselves (busy next week, an influence in decision to exit)
running total for Gbp /Usd + 256 - (1 sept forward spread 12) = + 244 and flat
"Euro / Usd trades from same period
running total -211 & flat"
"Professional traders have always had some system or other based upon their experience and governed either by their attitude toward speculation or by their desires. I remember I met an old gentleman in Palm Beach whose name I did not catch or did not at once identify. I knew he had been in the street for years, way back in Civil War times, and somebody told me that he was a very wise old codger who had gone through so many booms and panics that he was always saying there was nothing new under the sun and least of all in the stock market.
The old fellow asked me a lot of questions. When I got through telling him about my usual practice in trading he nodded and said, "Yes! Yes! You're right. The way you're built, the way your mind runs, makes your system a good system for you. It comes easy for you to practice what you preach, because the money you bet is the least of your cares. I recollect Pat Hearne. Ever hear of him? Well, he was a very well-known sporting man and he had an account with us. Clever chap and merry. He made money in stocks, and that made people ask him for advice. He would never give any. If they asked him point-blank for his opinion about the wisdom of their commitments he used a favourite race-track maxim of his: "you can't tell till you bet." He traded in our office. He would buy one hundred shares of some active stock and when, or if, it went up 1 per cent he would buy another hundred. On another point's advance, another hundred shares; and so on. He used to say he wasn't playing the game to make money for others and therefore he would put in a stop-loss order one point below the price of his last purchase. When the price kept going up he simply move up his stop with it. On a 1 per cent reaction he was stopped out. He declared he did not see any sense in losing more than one point, whether it came out of his original margin or out of his paper profits.
"You know, a professional gambler is not looking for long shots, but for sure money. Of course long shots are fine when they come in. In the stock market Pat wasn't after tips or playing to catch twenty-points-a-week advances, but sure money in sufficient quantity to provide him with a good living. Of all the thousands of outsiders that I have run across in Wall Street, Pat Hearne was the only one who saw in stock speculation merely a game of chance like faro or roulette, but nevertheless, had the sense to stick to a relatively sound betting method.
"After Hearne's death one of our customers who had always traded with Pat and used his system made over one hundred thousand dollars in Lackawanna. Then he switched over to some other stock and because he had made a big stake he thought he need not stick to Pat's way. When a reaction came, instead of cutting short his losses he let them run - as though they were profits. Of course every cent went. When he finally quit he owed us several thousand dollars."
I sometimes think that speculation must be an unnatural sort of business, because I find that the average speculator has arrayed against him his own nature. The weaknesses that all men are prone to are fatal to success in speculation - usually those very weaknesses that make him likable to his fellows or that he himself particularly guards against in those other ventures of his where they are not nearly so dangerous as when he is trading in stocks or commodities.
The speculator's chief enemies are always boring from within. It is inseparable from human nature to hope and to fear. In speculation when the market goes against you - you hope that every day will be the last day - and you lose more than you should had you not listened to hope - to the same ally that is so potent a success-bringer to empire builders and pioneers, big and little. And when the market goes your way you become fearful that the next day will take away your profit, and you get out - too soon. Fear keeps you from making as much money as you ought to.
The successful trader has to fight these two deep-seated instincts. He has to reverse what you might call his natural impulses. Instead of hoping he must fear; instead of fearing he must hope. He must fear that his loss may develop into a much bigger loss, and hope that his profit may become a big profit. It is absolutely wrong to gamble in stocks the way the average man does.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator By Edwin Lefevre
Lesson: Every one has a modus operandi - a method- a system by which they operate. Do Not deviate from that method or system if you understand it and it has treated you well. Adjust, fine tune - yes.
- Learn to reverse your natural instincts. Re-read the last paragraph again.
Exit Gbp / Usd Friday
The real reason for exit :?:
trading open and closed profit and loss, balance books, loss of focus on trade idea, fear, fear of leaving money on the table, the need to be right in the short term
etc, etc, etc, etc
a past post by myself a long long time ago, many waves have broken since then
"From NQ in Cornwall ~ Fistral Beach you get a great view of natures market at work watching the surfers catching waves, depends on their skill and experience which waves they can catch and for how long.
Primary Waves and their smaller brothers and sister’s
You see it all ~ Scalpers going for short quick rides right up to the large position players who will sit for hours waiting for the right Wave Set, they climb up and stop out many times, (short paddle back to take off) then they are up and you just no this time they’ll make every move at the correct time , skipping effortlessly from set to set avoiding all the dead waves and dumps and finding the true Wave that will carry them all the way to shore. It’s a hell of a long paddle back to take off and a long wait for another good Wave, they don’t mind they know it’s worth it.
Cribber to the beach only top quality wave riders make this one
(very large wave that starts up when the swell is 5ft +)
You see surfers making careful board selection ~ Long board or Short true honest
You see all the surfer’s all gathered up out there watching the Sun going down , comparing notes etc best board/Wax/ area to sit and wait. Looks like a great forum out there.
Andy @ NQ
Direct answer to ~ am I a Surfer Posted later on thread ~
The eye opener is watching the experienced Surfer (trader)
ride the waves, watching him stop out then try again all choosing different spots for take off , no right or wrong just a good take off spot for their skill level
No man I am not, but do live where stated, moved there 7 yr ago. I appreciate all skills done well in any field.
The Surfers attitude to life if he is a true
(not a wk end dude with is brand new VW) is probably the best traders attitude to adopt ~ IMO
They care about surfing, life interacting with others, They are not competitive by nature and they don’t seem to bother about tomorrow much just the here and now. They ride the waves to become one with nature and don’t care to much about money as long as they have enough that’s cool
There lack of attachment to money gives them an edge in what they take part in LIFE.
I removed the money from the trading game 6 months ago when I realised I was just constantly breaking even. Thought about what I new, thought what’s logical, which waves do I want to ride, wrote it down and traded it on a demo account, Great results for my level of ability.
Went Live a few months ago / still got me part time job (everybody part time in NQ) going ok not setting world on fire yet, but do you now what, I don’t care anymore, I am in full control of my method and me, and if it don’t work out and I cant become a full master of this trade, I am having FUN learning and taking part. The downsides covered
So ye I am a surfer, we all are if we choose to be,
I am a Surfer on the snooker table, a Surfer at work and most of all I am a Surfer when I trade.
If you feel the heat, feel uncomfortable in any way, what ever you’re doing, you’re doing it wrong "my Dad said that"
Step back and say what can the surfer do for me and the search goes on "I said that"
Will Post again, just taking a break and concentrating on Surfing and having FUN
Andy @ NQ
Intra day trade period of my life is well behind me, I enjoyed all aspects of the challenge
The Journey was all that I expected, I would have prefered another result but my own shortcomings let me down with regards to making money day in day out from this game
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/pla...t/50362-breaking-your-rules-3.html#post820614
I am very happy that my mind is at peace with the game and the world again
Managed to find good work within a couple of months, a real good crack in a small local firm associated with my old trade, happy days again
Thanks for all the help I received along my journey by so many, if I posted the list I would sure miss someone out, you no who you all are .........
thankyou
My mobile is always on and I wait for your call, you no who ......... thanks for all your help over the last couple of years
Will always be on the look out for a big trade idea, its in my blood
Its FUN and you never no till you bet
if I get one ...........
I might try and hang onto the Board and Wave for just a little bit longer next time and hope for the best
all the best
Andy
