My Forex Trading Mood Is Better This Year Than Last

I was in gloom and doom mode around this time last year (2007).  Without getting too personal, I had just concluded a divorce so that definitely had a lot to do with it.  My advice would be to stay away from doing anything that involves risk, especially trading forex when you’re going through a life changing event.   Here was a post from last year:

Is my forex trading dedication waning, are my priorities shifting, or have I come to a realistic conclusion? I’m talking about the time I actually spend sitting at my computer trading.  There was a time when I was getting up way before the crack of dawn trying to trade the European session at 4 a.m. EST.  I also used to watch the charts closely during the Japanese session.  Those times are over though.  The time I actually sitting in front of charts has lessened by the month at this point and I’m not sure that’s such a good thing for someone at my stage of learning. 

I get a lot of emails like, "why don’t you do this or why don’t you do that" but the reality is that I just can’t do most of those things. Some of these "things" are trading the news and trading shorter-term charts.  I certainly appreciate the feedback but can someone with a limited amount of time actually be a trader? I’m not sure but maybe I’m taking the wrong approach to all of this.  Maybe someone short on time shouldn’t be trading short-term charts or trade news releases.  Maybe I shouldn’t even think about day trading. 

I’ve been trading a daytrading system for a while now mainly because it was a set and forget system.  I could set my orders, stop losses, and profit targets and wake up most of the time to find the trade already complete but this certainly doesn’t give you any flexibility.  Particularly, I’d find it very difficult to implement a breakeven requirement to my trading plan unless I automate this via a Metatrader broker.  So do I have to give up trading 30-minute and 60-minute charts and move toward 4-hour, daily, or weekly?  Perhaps I will have to do that. 

Some things remain the same as last year and some are different.  I’m still trying to be a forex trader but with a lot more success.   I still don’t spend a lot of time sitting in front of my computer trading but this is by choice.  I have strategies and plans that fit my trading personality now so I can scan charts quickly and know whether there’s a possible trade brewing.  I no longer sit and search for a trade.  This is the worst thing that you could possibly do and a common mistake inexperienced traders make.   I’ve modeled my trading style around my schedule and this allows me to day trade.  It is possible to day trade without sitting and staring at a screen in the middle of the night and all morning.  I find that my best trades are those that occur when a chart is nowhere in sight.  

I made my best trade of the year this month.  I traded jobs and left Bear Stearns two weeks before the blow up.  This will probably be the best trade of my life.

Success?  Time will tell.  Persistence… 

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