I lost about six percent of my account this week.  So what!  This is the only negative thing I can say about January.

The Positives of January 2008 

I increased my account balance by 6.8% this month even though I suffered a minor losing streak this week.  I obtained more satisfaction from other non-monetary accomplishments though. 

1. At no point did I feel like I took on too much risk.  I set my maximum loss per trade to 2%.  This was greatly assisted by using my new position size calculator.  I sized my position before every trade.
2. I had the potential for 2R on every trade.  I realized this potential on all winning trades except for one which I exited based on discretion.  It turned out to be the right move.
3. I did not jump on a trade due to boredom, a recommendation, or because I was bored.
4. I did not enter too many trades at once.  In fact, I only had one position open at any given time.
5. I only moved my stop loss once.  This happened today when I moved the stop to breakeven.  This was based on discretion also.  It turned out to be the right move.
6. At no time did I let emotion get the best of me.  This is always a work in progress and I understand that not every month is going to be this easy.  There will be months where my emotions are tested more than others.
7. I followed my trading systems with no modifications.  My entry rules and exit rules were followed. 

January was a good month and it feels great to kick off the new year on positive ground.  Nevertheless, I don't feel overwhelmed with confidence or convinced that this is nothing more than short-term success.  Therefore, I'll continue to work diligently as I always have.  

I hope everyone did well this month also.  Feel free to comment on your successes or failures.  We're all going to have our ups and downs. 

Read or add comments about this item.

No. 1 :

Hi Rich,
I ended up at 5% for the 3 weeks of January, this was up to about 10%, but NFP week put a stop to that! Like you, I can't say I'm unhappy a winning month is a new thing for me!

Submitted by Craig • 2008-02-01 19:10:33

No. 2 : Great to hear

That's great to hear Craig. We've been doing this forex trading thing together for a while now... Hopefully this will be our year of consistent profitability.

Submitted by Rich • 2008-02-01 19:47:44

No. 3 :

Let us hope so, we have certainly worked hard for it.

Submitted by Craig • 2008-02-01 21:38:22

No. 4 :

Congratulations Rich!!! I always wished you the best from the deep of my heart since I started reading your blog (somewhere in spring 2007). I am very glad that you were able to come back from that break you\'ve taken.
Now you are saying that you feel differently - like you are more stable, less prone to take unnecessary risks, in fact your trading experiences must be totally different now from what they used to be. That\'s exactly kind of metamorphosis I have experienced after I took a break because I failed miserably and busted my account.
Now the key is to try to analyze the process of what have happenned. The stages you have passed may look something like: desire to become a trader - hard work, process of numerous trials and failures - FAILURE and big disappointment (death of desire) - break - success. Is that something what you can relate to?

Submitted by Alex • 2008-02-03 12:50:09

No. 5 : my results

Hi, nice to know this blog and its owner.

I'm more an experienced learner :))) - 1.5 years
than a trader - only 3 months of live trading.

I've started my forex journey with a mini account.
This month was quite successful for me. I'm +14%. But NFP news took me off guard. Lucky me I had no positions open - lesson is learned.
I'm very concentrated now on my trading discipline and I liked a report from Rich on his discipline this month.

Well, that's it. I don't want to sound boring :)
Nice to know you, and good luck to all of us in February. I'll return back with my montly report next time.

Submitted by May • 2008-02-03 16:26:27

No. 6 : congrats

Congratulations. Good to see you only risking 2% of your account, very wise. Also good to see you are adoptng a more patient approach and only trading one position at a time. This is exactly what I do and it works well for me.

Submitted by James • 2008-02-04 11:27:07

No. 7 : Re:

Alex, I can't tell you how right on your comment is....

Congratulations Rich!!! I always wished you the best from the deep of my heart since I started reading your blog (somewhere in spring 2007). I am very glad that you were able to come back from that break you\'ve taken.
Now you are saying that you feel differently - like you are more stable, less prone to take unnecessary risks, in fact your trading experiences must be totally different now from what they used to be. That\'s exactly kind of metamorphosis I have experienced after I took a break because I failed miserably and busted my account.
Now the key is to try to analyze the process of what have happenned. The stages you have passed may look something like: desire to become a trader - hard work, process of numerous trials and failures - FAILURE and big disappointment (death of desire) - break - success. Is that something what you can relate to?

— Alex

Submitted by Rich • 2008-02-05 00:03:17

No. 8 : forexcalc

Hi Rich

Just to let you know your risk calculator is awesome. I have a spread sheet that does this and I know how much trouble it is to get this kind of thing right, especially when you have a non-USD based account and you are trading the crosses.

keep up the good work

Submitted by Caprica • 2008-02-08 21:48:10

No. 9 :

Thanks Caprica.

Submitted by Rich • 2008-02-08 22:01:15

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