my Test Strategy

bkchoy1

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HI All,
I have decided to start a journal on a strategy and monitor it here. I have been a member of t2w for sometime now but i would mostly read and see whats new..

This time around i have a little bit more time so i put some more time studying the market and working on my strategy.

I will be trading the fx.

My strategy it is a fairly simple one, but the indicator i use and trading style came about due to some obstacles and problems i was facing during trading.
Right now the only other problem i have with this system is that it requires me to be in front of the screen once i take on a trade..but i am working on that.

when i make my first trade i will update it here.

thanks
 
My first trade
USDCAD
long 1.0480 sl 20pips

here is the image
 

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missed trade @ 1.0500 long
was away from my PC
need to figure out a way out of this...

Will not be trading the CAD for this strategy..
spread after 5.00PM is around 4.0 pips
been sitting at the PC for hours now...and the CAD hasn't moved.
Well it is after hours..but today i had the time..and this pair is the only one that had a signal to trade
im tired and need to go to sleep.
I will be closing the trade right after im done writing.
maybe only trade eur, gbp and jpy for this strategy.
trade now closed at 2.3 pips profit..

021610 - The missed trade would have caused a 20 pip loss..
if i continued with the cad, i would be down approx 120 pips..
but this is the nature of my trading strategy.

one setup will most likely consist of many trades
sometimes even over 15 losing trades in a row
This is exactly what i want to know..is how much/how many times will i lose after all is done with the one setup.
 

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Do you want feedback? If so, perhaps you could give a little bit more info about why you are entering.
 
Details of my strategy

For a few years now i have been trading the markets part time.
I recently been putting a lot more thought into it.
around 10+ years ago i put my first MA on a chart and since then been looking the the markets technically. It is so funny..that after using tons of different indicators, systems and strategies, reading books, and watching DVD's about the markets.. right now i have ended up with a MA for my indicator.
At one point a few years ago i was deeply immersed in Fib. I studied it a couple years but really not satisfied with the result.
I am not using any fancy software now, but i was using tradestation and DT before.
Right now it is the free software which comes with the FXCM trading software. It has more than i need.

My Test system.

My strategy is basically to take long positions in pullbacks in an uptrend.
I use the Daily chart to check the direction of the trend and the use the minute chart to make the trades. how ever one doesnt really need the minute charts as you will see why later.


I was looking for different ways to define a trend..tried different indicators but wanted something real simple. The HH and LH doesnt work for me, because it can and will require some judgement . Just wanted to be able to glance at a chart and know exactly which way i will be trading, No trendlines,fib, s/r... nothing.

So this was it.
The decision was just to add 2 EMA's and when the short EMA is above the long EMA then go Long and Vice Versa. Very very simple.
Next thing was this, when in a trend should i take a position?
higher high ? ( by this i mean the HH within the particular trend defined which i have mentioned), or buy above the high of the last bar? or this or that?. I tried different ways, but not completely satisfied.

So i decided that the best time to take long positions is when the price is below the EMAs while in an uptrend, and vice versa. This now created 2 more problems for me. first is if the price keeps going lower, then when should my system tell me when i am wrong? By the time the EMA crosses down, the price may be a long way down, what should my SL be? I needed to find how i can find the lowest price possible in a retracement, and still be out of the market soon enough when i am wrong.
This was the first problem. The second was when the market goes rangebound...the EMA's practically go flat or keep crossing and killing. And I still wanted to continue trading the signals.
The solution for me I found out would be to use the same EMA's but for the low and high of the daily bars rather than the closes. This would mean the EMA's are following the lows and highs of the day. So at this point I now need 4 EMA's on my daily charts.

13 day EMA of high
21 day EMA of high
13 day EMA of low
21 day EMA of low

What this does now is if the price crosses below the 21 day EMA LOW in an uptrend, it would be at a much lower price, and at the same time, if the EMA crosses over, the losses will be a lot less. The same for a downtrend. I was satisfied with this.
Now how would it perform in a non trending market?.
When you place the MA's on a non trending market, the MA's create a "floating" S/R line.
which worked perfect to me, because i would not be trading between the two pairs of EMA's, Therefore minimal or no losses.
This created yet another problem..Where should my PT be?, In a trending market, i need to be in as long as possible, if I did this in a range bound market, the market will keep coming back and stopping me out. So I made a decision that, the PT will be once the price crosses the shorter EMA HIGH, I exit. Even in a trending market.

So just to repeat, In an uptrend ( the 13 EMA low is above the 21 EMA low), and the price crosses below the 21 EMA low, then prepare to go long, if the 13 EMA low crosses below the 21 EMA low, then exit. if the market goes your way, then exit when the price crosses the 13 EMA high.

As many or all of you probably know the strength and limitations of indicators. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. The intention here is when they do work, is try to squeeze out as many pips as possible from the market, and when it doesnt, i need to exit with as small a loss as possible.

But how was i to achieve this? This would probably mean that I would need more winners than losers, or less winners with huge gains, and small losses. All of you reading know this. Calculating RR seemed too complicated especially, when I am pyramiding, and I didnt want to get too mathematical.
I for one assume there is a 50/50 chance the market will go in either direction.
At any moment the market can go X amount up or the same X amount down.
This would mean no advantage for me. If this is the case, then if i went long and the market went against me to X amount, I would lose Y dollars, and make Y dollars if it went the same X amount my way. What I needed is that if the market went X amount my way, then I should make y dollars + some more. How do I cut my losses?, Maybe I thought that if i cant find practical ways to cut my losses then best way is to increase my gain in any given trade. This is the reason for my pyramiding.

wow...I don't think I have ever written this much since my school days..

Now I asked myself..., but what about the times, when the market is moving strong, and doesnt retrace enough to trigger a signal?, and if it did retrace, then How would i take advantage of the trend if i decided to take profit when the price crosses the 13 EMA high ( in an uptrend), When do I pyramid?, when do I add to existing positions?.



This I will continue some other time, very tired..need to sleep.

Exiting the AUDUSD trade..do want any open trades today while i am sleeping.

later
 

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Feb 17th 2010

good morning

short AUDUSD .9020 sl 20pips
 

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Feb 17th 2010

USDJPY also triggered short

short 90.90 sl 20 pips
 

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Re: Feb 17th 2010

USDJPY short triggered

short 91.00 sl 20 pips
 

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was away for a bit.
Added position to audusd
.9010 sl 20 pips
 

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Am heading out for a few hours. Leaving the positions as they are.
will not me watching the markets.
will post when i get back.
just got back.

USDJPY
90.80 short stopped out -20 pips
91.00 short stopped out BE

Its hard to make any adjustments when i am not around. In this particular case i would have not done anything different even if I was in front of the screen...but my worry is the next time may not be the case.
Looks like I am the only variable in my test strategy...
I have to find a solution for that..maybe hedging might be able to help me..will look into this.
 

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AUDUSD
Added another position
short sl .8980 sl 20 pips
 

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