Video Journal 9 pipper tonight
I pulled off a Double Zero trade tonight and added a Video Journal.
Click [Read More] to see Video.
Journal Entry for 46 pip profit trade last night
Click [Read More] to see video of EUR/JPY Trade last night, my first +40 pip profit trade in a long time.
Journal Entry – 11 pip profit this morning
Here is my attempt at a video journal. This is a movie of my trade this morning that netted 11 pips.
[Click Read More to see Video]
Should have traded when it fell back in channel.
Journal Entry from European Session Monday Morning
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I'm just now entering a journal entry for a trade I made this morning at 4:30 am. We had a breakout of the upper channel GBP/USD at 4:30 am this morning and I thought we may see a little volatility so I went long at the close of the candle. As you can see, it was quickly stopped out as the price entered back in the channel.
According to Rob Booker's rules, if the price falls back into and closes back into the channel, you can reverse your trade or place a new trade if you were stopped out.
I was stopped out and should have went short on the GBP/USD once this happened. I would have had a stop at the bottom of the channel which would have been good for 50 pips or so.
There's always next time.
Asian Session May 8th
Journal Entry
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I decided to trade the Asian session and shorted the USD/JPY. I was just stopped out at 0 profit/loss.
I shorted the pair on a break of the support trendline and a break of RSI trendline. It was good entry execution. I waited for the price to break the trendline and then waited for the 15 minute candle to close. After I was up 20 pips, I moved my stop to break even at 111.52. My limit was still 111.05, right above a lower support line. The trade was up as much as 28 pips where I typically would have closed the position. Tonight, I wanted to show a little restraint and patience so I waited. The pair never made it back down before stopping me out for a scratch.
Should I have taken the 28 pip profit? Would you have?
May 2nd NY Session #2
Funny how I was able to squeeze out a 11 pip profit on a trade that was absolutely discretionary. I was watching the GBP/USD and it was highly overvalued on the short-term charts with solid resistance at 1.8400. Even though the pair had reached a new high today, the MACD histogram failed to reach new highs (negative divergence on the 5 minute, not shown below). The I shorted the pair at 1.8380 with a stop 30 pips above at 1.8410. Once the pair ran up 15 pips, I set my stop to breakeven. It ran up as high as 26 pips but started losing momentum. I was watching for an exit on the 5 minute charts and once I noticed momentum and inertia decreasing, I exited.
15 minute chart below:
May 2nd NY Session
I'm in short trade right now, USD/JPY at 113.25 with a 30 pip stop. It's currently down 15 pips. I just really need a winning trade right now. I'm not going to do anything stupid though and I'll follow the rules and hopefully I'll come out on top.
I opened the trade at 8:30 am when we started to get some volatility. It has since dried up. There are no major economic releases today.
I'm about to get stopped out. I have to admit that I'm fighting with myself over the stop. I want to move it up so bad. I won't touch it.
I didn't touch it but I was stopped out. Wow, I don't know how many trades I've lost in a row. Since signing on with Rob Booker, I have 1 winning trade and 9 straight losers. One thing is for certain, I'm great at picking the bottom when I'm shorting.
Trade Details
The red thumbtack is where I went short. I was stopped out
2 candles later. I went short after a close below my lower channel.
The volatility dried up and the squeeze dissipated quickly after 8:30
am.
May 2nd Asian Session
I'm sitting here at 8 pm EST waiting to see if we get any volatility. I'm watching the 15 minute USD/JPY, EUR/USD, and GBP/USD. It's kind of unusual how much more comfortable I feel trading on the 15 minute charts. A couple of months ago I wouldn't even touch anything less than 180 minutes. I will go back to the longer term charts once I have a handle on the short term charts. Switching to the 15 minute charts sure hasn't helped my trading though.
I feel very motivated since signing on with Rob Booker even if it hasn't yet paid off. I am determined to be successful.
9:10 pm EST. No action here during the Asian session. I'm going to get up early tomorrow so I should probably go to bed soon. I'm watching the New York Yankee / Red Sox game right now though so I'll continue to glance at the charts to see if anything forms.
I was thinking a bit about my trade today and I'm thinking of 1 thing that could have saved me a loss. The rules say to set the stop to break even after the pair gains 20 pips. I'm only looking for 30 pips so why not cut it in half and once the pair gets 50% or 15 pips, set the stop to break even. I don't know if 15 pips is enough leeway but I can change the rules depending on how it works out. Today, the EUR/USD did reach at least 15 pips so if I used the 50% rule, I would have lost 0 and gained 0.
The EURO just pulled back to the 30 EMA. It looks like it is trying to make its way higher like 7 candles ago but with the long upper wick, it can't do it.
Monday, May 1st
I've been watching the charts since about 4 a.m. this morning. Specifically I've been watching the 15 minute JPY, GBP, and EUR. The Yen had a breakdown in Asian session trading so I missed that and felt that the pair was over valued once we got to the European/US opens.
The 3 pairs started getting a little action at around 8:45 a.m. EST and were able to close right at the upper channel line. With the E-12 holiday today, I'm a little hesitant in taking a trade with the thought that volatility may dry up.
I'm basically channel trading today and using regression channel with a standard Close trendline in between. I'm looking into the possibility of trading when a middle trendline is breached. Right now I'm only trading if an upper or lower trendline is breached.
It's 8:55 and all the pairs are trying to push furthur up with the Yen already up over a 100 pips. I'm waiting to see if the EURO can close above its upper channel. The GBP closed above its upper channel the previous candle and it up about 50 pips.
It's almost 9 and I have to decide if I want to take a long EUR trade. If I do, I'm following the rules.
I went long at 1.2671 with a 30 pip stop at 1.2641. I'm looking to get at least 30 pips from this trade.
I placed a limit of 30 pips on this trade and it has been as high as +12 pips. I've had issues in the past with closing a trade out at the first sign of a profit. I will not do this today. Good traders let their profits run when on the right side of the market and take their losses quick on the wrong side.
Looking at the Yen and GBP, they are leading the way here with the EURO lagging a bit. If I would have traded both of these when they closed above the upper channel with a 30 pip limits, I would already have been in and out of these trades with a profit. What if?
The GBP is up big right now. Too bad I didn't jump on this. I have to learn not to NOT trade because of a feeling I have. I don't know the next thing that is going to happen in the market, nobody does.
Reasons why I didn't take a trade in the GBP.
Notice it is blank. It was perfectly fine to take a trade in the GBP, EURO, and Yen today. If I followed the my trading rules, I could have taken a trade in all 3. Instead I decided to sit and wait since the EURO was lagging a bit. Maybe it is lagging because of the E-12 holiday. It looks like I picked the wrong pair to trade. As of 9:51, I'm down 6 pips on this trade. It ran up as much as 15 or so pips (not enough for me to move my stop up to breakeven)
Looks like there is some profit taking going on here in all 3 pairs. Let's see if the profit taking takes out my stop.
Bam, I just got slapped. I was stopped out. 30 pips. I was stopped out by a long lower wick that hit the 30 EMA and the pair doesn't appear to be closing below my stop. Tough luck.
Mistakes I made today:
None really. I decided to take a trade in 1 pair and not all 3 but this is really a matter of preference. It burns me because I'm on such a losing streak. I cannot be disappointed though because I followed the rules.
What I would have done different:
Next time, take the trade in all 3 or realize that EURO didn't follow suit with the other 2 pairs because of the holiday (I don't know if that is the reason but it sure seems like it)
Additional thoughts:
I'm trading 15 minute charts and it is always the right thing to do to wait for the candle to close. I did this but the candle that I traded right after was a pretty big candle because it opened right below the upper channel line. This was is totally discretionary.
I'm done today. See you tomorrow.
One other note, it is really important to set stops. I would never have thought the EUR/USD would drop to where it is now. After it hit my stop, I would have expected some consolidation at that level or maybe for it to continue upward. I guess you never know.
