The Trading Journey of Lurker

[lurkerlurker]

Drawdown

-997 on the month. This represents a large chunk of my profits given back to the markets.

In short, I lost this due to unstructured and undisciplined trading on various instruments and timeframes. Some of these losses were due to "fat finger", including an accidental gold trade which I immediately covered for a large loss (why my deal ticket was pre filled to such a large size, I'll never know).

I am entering a new stage in trading, where I will only take trades based on daily bars. I'm following trader_dante's "How to Make Money Trading" thread with some interest, and have already made a profit from my first trade in this style.

I will post all of my new trades in this journal as they happen, complete with before and after annotated charts.

I know I have tried the patience of quite a few traders who have tried helping me - I hope I will turn a corner soon. Intra day trading no longer suits my lifestyle, and I don't think it was a method of trading I was ever very good at, especially paying high costs to access the market through spreadbetting. Longer term positions should provide better results.

Interestingly, my twitchiness and discipline issues don't seem to manifest themselves as much when trading daily bars - I don't usually try to exit early for example.

I've also recently tried out binary betting - I seemed to do okay initially, however my average win was so much smaller than my average loss, so it was like picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. Not something I will try again in a hurry. I paid £100 to learn that it was not for me. That was my last attempt at short term "trading". I've now sworn off intra day trading, and would prefer the forex to indices in the future.

Finally, size kills. I did quite well selling the Dow up to £10pp in August, however with my limited account size and trading experience, I have no business being in the market in size greater than £1pp. I intend to use my IG account for the daily forex trades, and will be trading at £0.50pp in some of the more volatile crosses. I'm taking money management more seriously now, and when evaluating a (pin bar) trade I will take into account my equity and pass up trades which require a wide stop. I can't reduce my position size as £1pp (or £0.50pp) in some cases is the minimum, so some trades will have to be passed up. I might still post the charts, and the hypothetical trade in this journal.

 

[Hoggums]

-997 on the month. This represents a large chunk of my profits given back to the markets.

In short, I lost this due to unstructured and undisciplined trading on various instruments and timeframes. Some of these losses were due to "fat finger", including an accidental gold trade which I immediately covered for a large loss (why my deal ticket was pre filled to such a large size, I'll never know).

I am entering a new stage in trading, where I will only take trades based on daily bars. I'm following trader_dante's "How to Make Money Trading" thread with some interest, and have already made a profit from my first trade in this style.

I will post all of my new trades in this journal as they happen, complete with before and after annotated charts.

I know I have tried the patience of quite a few traders who have tried helping me - I hope I will turn a corner soon. Intra day trading no longer suits my lifestyle, and I don't think it was a method of trading I was ever very good at, especially paying high costs to access the market through spreadbetting. Longer term positions should provide better results.

Interestingly, my twitchiness and discipline issues don't seem to manifest themselves as much when trading daily bars - I don't usually try to exit early for example.

I've also recently tried out binary betting - I seemed to do okay initially, however my average win was so much smaller than my average loss, so it was like picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. Not something I will try again in a hurry. I paid £100 to learn that it was not for me. That was my last attempt at short term "trading". I've now sworn off intra day trading, and would prefer the forex to indices in the future.

Finally, size kills. I did quite well selling the Dow up to £10pp in August, however with my limited account size and trading experience, I have no business being in the market in size greater than £1pp. I intend to use my IG account for the daily forex trades, and will be trading at £0.50pp in some of the more volatile crosses. I'm taking money management more seriously now, and when evaluating a (pin bar) trade I will take into account my equity and pass up trades which require a wide stop. I can't reduce my position size as £1pp (or £0.50pp) in some cases is the minimum, so some trades will have to be passed up. I might still post the charts, and the hypothetical trade in this journal.

Hi Lurker - you remind me of myself not so long ago. Trading short term never suited me either - not that I spent much time trying to master it. I shall be reading to see what style of trading you go for. The only thing I would say is, be prepared for patience - sometimes it's frustrating watching your small trades go nowhere for days as you wait for the large move to happen. This was one of the biggest tests I faced.

 

[Atilla]

-997 on the month. This represents a large chunk of my profits given back to the markets.

In short, I lost this due to unstructured and undisciplined trading on various instruments and timeframes. Some of these losses were due to "fat finger", including an accidental gold trade which I immediately covered for a large loss (why my deal ticket was pre filled to such a large size, I'll never know).

I am entering a new stage in trading, where I will only take trades based on daily bars. I'm following trader_dante's "How to Make Money Trading" thread with some interest, and have already made a profit from my first trade in this style.

I will post all of my new trades in this journal as they happen, complete with before and after annotated charts.

I know I have tried the patience of quite a few traders who have tried helping me - I hope I will turn a corner soon. Intra day trading no longer suits my lifestyle, and I don't think it was a method of trading I was ever very good at, especially paying high costs to access the market through spreadbetting. Longer term positions should provide better results.

Interestingly, my twitchiness and discipline issues don't seem to manifest themselves as much when trading daily bars - I don't usually try to exit early for example.

I've also recently tried out binary betting - I seemed to do okay initially, however my average win was so much smaller than my average loss, so it was like picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. Not something I will try again in a hurry. I paid £100 to learn that it was not for me. That was my last attempt at short term "trading". I've now sworn off intra day trading, and would prefer the forex to indices in the future.

Finally, size kills. I did quite well selling the Dow up to £10pp in August, however with my limited account size and trading experience, I have no business being in the market in size greater than £1pp. I intend to use my IG account for the daily forex trades, and will be trading at £0.50pp in some of the more volatile crosses. I'm taking money management more seriously now, and when evaluating a (pin bar) trade I will take into account my equity and pass up trades which require a wide stop. I can't reduce my position size as £1pp (or £0.50pp) in some cases is the minimum, so some trades will have to be passed up. I might still post the charts, and the hypothetical trade in this journal.

Hi Tom,

Thank you for your words of support. I think no matter what at one point or another, losses will come along. I'm now in the opinion it can be good to put one in check. Winning too many calls makes one increase pos size and take greater risk. Not like me but as I say I think it was the intoxication of making too much money in such a short time period.

Obviously I couldn't handle the gains and so almost lost the plot. Reminds me of those immortal words - life is a beach and then I drown... :cheesy:

Learn from our mistakes and pick our selves up from our bootstraps eh? Reboot up the rear and off we go again.

I think daily and 4 hour charts have a lot going for them.

I too will be reviewing my trading system and reestablishing good practice.

Good luck and best regards

 

[gedward3]

Hi Lurker,

Ive read all of this thread and have picked up a lot of info from it which im sure you have. Ive also seen you on T_Ds thread which im sure your learning lots just as i am. Just a suggestion with regards to IG. Maybe you done the Tradesense program where you can bet from as little as 10p a go. If you have get 1 of your family to open another account with £300 for you and bet the minimum 10p a point so you can have a 30 point stop which means you can be wrong a hundred times before you lose your shirt.

Dont know if this is of any use but im working from a very basic strategy on currencies.

Im working on a daily timeframe to find an uptrend-Higher Highs and Higher Lows(reverse for downtrend). When i find the uptrend horizontal resistance touches twice im then looking for a third touch or breakout. I'll put a long buy limit 5 or 10 pips above the resistance and set my stops 20 or 30 pips below. I think its known as an ascending triangle. Im doing this with descending traingles as well and while im not making money im not losing money but i am learning screen time and am gaining 2 setups to my arsenal of weapons.

When ive mastered these 2 and can make a little money im going to find 2 more and master those.

It sometimes p*sses me of because i wanna jump in but i know im learning patience to wait for my setups. Only 2 at the moment and i reckon i'll have to learn a hundred more at least before im consistently making money. Hey im here for the long run so what the hell.

I hope this helps......

PS: Ive read somewhere that David Beckham is still practising his free kicks and Tiger Woods still has training from 6 Golf professionals...

Just shows the professionals are still learning so we have a very long way to go....

Find your setups and keep practising. All the best

-997 on the month. This represents a large chunk of my profits given back to the markets.

In short, I lost this due to unstructured and undisciplined trading on various instruments and timeframes. Some of these losses were due to "fat finger", including an accidental gold trade which I immediately covered for a large loss (why my deal ticket was pre filled to such a large size, I'll never know).

I am entering a new stage in trading, where I will only take trades based on daily bars. I'm following trader_dante's "How to Make Money Trading" thread with some interest, and have already made a profit from my first trade in this style.

I will post all of my new trades in this journal as they happen, complete with before and after annotated charts.

I know I have tried the patience of quite a few traders who have tried helping me - I hope I will turn a corner soon. Intra day trading no longer suits my lifestyle, and I don't think it was a method of trading I was ever very good at, especially paying high costs to access the market through spreadbetting. Longer term positions should provide better results.

Interestingly, my twitchiness and discipline issues don't seem to manifest themselves as much when trading daily bars - I don't usually try to exit early for example.

I've also recently tried out binary betting - I seemed to do okay initially, however my average win was so much smaller than my average loss, so it was like picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. Not something I will try again in a hurry. I paid £100 to learn that it was not for me. That was my last attempt at short term "trading". I've now sworn off intra day trading, and would prefer the forex to indices in the future.

Finally, size kills. I did quite well selling the Dow up to £10pp in August, however with my limited account size and trading experience, I have no business being in the market in size greater than £1pp. I intend to use my IG account for the daily forex trades, and will be trading at £0.50pp in some of the more volatile crosses. I'm taking money management more seriously now, and when evaluating a (pin bar) trade I will take into account my equity and pass up trades which require a wide stop. I can't reduce my position size as £1pp (or £0.50pp) in some cases is the minimum, so some trades will have to be passed up. I might still post the charts, and the hypothetical trade in this journal.

 

[rathcoole_exile]

The only thing I would say is, be prepared for patience - sometimes it's frustrating watching your small trades go nowhere for days as you wait for the large move to happen. This was one of the biggest tests I faced.

Tom,
over the summer I shorted PNRA (wrote Call). It didn't move for days, even weeks.
I finally thought to myself that the margin tied up in it could be put to better use elsewhere so I closed it for a loss of about $1,250 (the spread).
Sure enough three days later the Call would have been worth over $12k to me as Panera finally crashed.
taught me a LOT about patience I can tell you !

Garry

 

[lurkerlurker]

Lurker returns.....

I mentioned some time ago that I would be reviving this journal to focus on trading forex on longer timeframes. As many of you are aware, I am used to intra day trading but this has damaged my account (commission/spreads), my discipline (impulsive entries and exits), and confidence (erratic inconsistent results).

As I am just about to go out, I'm just going to quote my relevant post from TD's excellent thread (link in sig - new and experienced traders alike should read it).

Today I'm up +22 on the AUDCAD net of spread on an hourly tf. Good results so far. I'm also heading for a profitable week for the first time in over a month. Stay tuned!

Thanks for that. I think this will close below the minor S/R level at 8550. Unfortunately, IG won't let me move my stop in this close on the AUD/CAD, so I can't do a BE stop. As I am going out, I can't really leave this trade running.

Back when it had moved against me, I revised my target by half as I identified S/R at 50. I placed a limit order to take profit. I pulled this order when I saw the market was about to fill it, but after waiting another 15 minutes I was out of time. If I had been able to do a BE stop I would have, and I'll leave a "paper trade" here on that basis.

Anyway, I took the short entry based on TD's system entering a few ticks below the low of the pin, and set a stop a few ticks above. Even accounting for spread, that gave a decent R:R. I covered for +22.

I could post charts here, but TD already has, but since this is my first live forex pin bar trade, it will be going in my journal soon with before and after charts, and additional commentary.

2 trades today, both winners. These pin bars are really powerful. Just don't drop down to a lower timeframe and panic an exit if they move against you - as TD teaches, the only safe place for the stop is beyond the nose of a pin.

If I follow the system, this could be the first in a string of profitable trades. Bear in mind there may be some losers along the way, but this system has a high win % compared to what I am used to. I am the sort of trader who would prefer to win 80% of the time with 1:1 RR rather than 50% of the time with 3:1 RR. Also, I was damaging my account (and confidence) by overtrading on small timeframes and getting shaken out. I should be more comfortable with the longer timeframes.

Thanks again for showing us the way TD.

I'll edit and add before and after charts, entry and exit points, etc later.

 

[EFXandy]

Look here!

I will be trading index futures, mostly the Dow and FTSE. I am avoiding ForEx for the time being, and will only enter equities if I see a good setup. I intend to day trade without overnight positions at the moment, although in the future I would look to EOD / swing trading to catch bigger parts of moves.


Hi Lurker,

My name is Andy and I have been trading for almost 10 years now. I got started in Index Futures, and now I run a forex brokerage....so I have a good deal of experience in the industry. I am a pure technical trader, drawing charts daily.

The first paragraph of this reply is an excerpt from your fist post. Try to see how close to your "strategy" you have stayed, and how far you have strayed. Most traders fail because they let emotion get in the way....nothing you do not already know. I remember hundreds of trades that WOULD HAVE BEEN PROFITABLE, had I just stuck to doing what I said I would do.

I am sure you have all they answers within...it's a matter of listening to yourself. You have to give it time..you can't switch from one strategy to the next. That's what 95% of traders do...which is why 95% of traders fail!

Good luck...email me any time! I would love to talk technicals and trading discipline anytime with you.

Andy

 

[wwatson1]

sly move efx man

I will be trading index futures, mostly the Dow and FTSE. I am avoiding ForEx for the time being, and will only enter equities if I see a good setup. I intend to day trade without overnight positions at the moment, although in the future I would look to EOD / swing trading to catch bigger parts of moves.


Hi Lurker,

My name is Andy and I have been trading for almost 10 years now. I got started in Index Futures, and now I run a forex brokerage....so I have a good deal of experience in the industry. I am a pure technical trader, drawing charts daily.

The first paragraph of this reply is an excerpt from your fist post. Try to see how close to your "strategy" you have stayed, and how far you have strayed. Most traders fail because they let emotion get in the way....nothing you do not already know. I remember hundreds of trades that WOULD HAVE BEEN PROFITABLE, had I just stuck to doing what I said I would do.

I am sure you have all they answers within...it's a matter of listening to yourself. You have to give it time..you can't switch from one strategy to the next. That's what 95% of traders do...which is why 95% of traders fail!

Good luck...email me any time! I would love to talk technicals and trading discipline anytime with you.

Andy
QUOTE]

Your just trying to plug your site, if you know what you are doing as regards to trading why do you now run a forex site?? i have also been in the game 10 years and i can see straight through you, If we need to e-mail you we can check your profile, thats a sly way of getting your website address on the thread. I bet you would love to talk techniques it might get some more people signing up for accounts on your site!! tell me im wrong

 

[barjon]

link removed - andy please note and see guidelines concerning advertising.

 

[EFXandy]

Watson

Watson,

Thanks for your feedback. I had actually received a message from the administrator asking me to remove the link in my signature.

While it is hard sometimes to hear negative feedback on posts, it is extremely important to see the meaning behind all of the feedback, not just the good. I can assure you I meant no harm in my post.

As far as my trading record, it is not perfect..If it was where I dreamed it would be when I was 22 years old and thinking about what trading would do for me, I would be retired in South American on a nice beach...probably asleep right now...definitely not sitting at my desk @ 2:14 am responding to feedback suggesting my posts are bad! However, after 10 years I am still here. As you know, that in itself is an accomplishment. What I bring to the table is mistakes that I have made in the past, allowing others to learn from them....truly golden in my opinion.

I look forward to your posts.

Andy

 

[lurkerlurker]

Cable

Andy, thanks for the posts, feel free to stick around and offer on-topic advice and comments.

Barjon, thanks for keeping it clean.

I'm ending this week up again, after only 2 trades on the week. 2 profitable weeks in a row, but my account still hurts from October losses. Trades not terribly significant so not posted here live. Both taken from an hourly timeframe.

Following on from TD's thread, I'm looking closely at Cable as it moves into a key S/R zone. I don't usually use fibs, but I'm taking a look at TD's method, so they are on the chart for now.

It has been a little while since I placed an intra-day Dow trade, but I don't miss it for now. I think I'm a little less reckless, and more measured with my trades. Also, my average trade holding time in the last few weeks is over an hour, compared to sub 10 minute prior.

 

[EFXandy]

Thanks, Lurk

Thanks, lurker...see you all Monday bright and early!

Andy

 

[lurkerlurker]

I will be trading index futures, mostly the Dow and FTSE. I am avoiding ForEx for the time being, and will only enter equities if I see a good setup. I intend to day trade without overnight positions at the moment, although in the future I would look to EOD / swing trading to catch bigger parts of moves.

The first paragraph of this reply is an excerpt from your fist post. Try to see how close to your "strategy" you have stayed, and how far you have strayed. Most traders fail because they let emotion get in the way....nothing you do not already know. I remember hundreds of trades that WOULD HAVE BEEN PROFITABLE, had I just stuck to doing what I said I would do.

I am sure you have all they answers within...it's a matter of listening to yourself. You have to give it time..you can't switch from one strategy to the next. That's what 95% of traders do...which is why 95% of traders fail!

Thanks for the post Andy.

Here it is - that post was quite a few months ago, and since then I have pretty much traded the Dow alone. I've realised that it isn't the market for me right now. I gave up on the FTSE not too long after my first post, but stuck to indices in general.

I did say my long term plan was to focus on FX and higher timeframes, which is a phase I am entering into now. I also haven't done overnight positions yet, however that is something I am looking into due to the higher timeframes.

In short, I traded my initial intentions until I had recovered my losses. I then realised that continuing to trade the YM with a 4/5 point wide spreadbet market and a 5 minute chart was cutting up my account and would lead to the poor house in the end. I am now focusing on FX, which was my stated long term goal, and the higher timeframes.

It is quite enlightening to look back at my first post, and see how much I have stuck with the plan. Conversely, I've also deviated from many of my smaller plans more times than I would care to admit, but broadly I kept with day trading indices until I felt I was ready to move on to position trading FX.

 

[firewalker99]

Thanks for the post Andy.

Here it is - that post was quite a few months ago, and since then I have pretty much traded the Dow alone. I've realised that it isn't the market for me right now. I gave up on the FTSE not too long after my first post, but stuck to indices in general.

I did say my long term plan was to focus on FX and higher timeframes, which is a phase I am entering into now. I also haven't done overnight positions yet, however that is something I am looking into due to the higher timeframes.

In short, I traded my initial intentions until I had recovered my losses. I then realised that continuing to trade the YM with a 4/5 point wide spreadbet market and a 5 minute chart was cutting up my account and would lead to the poor house in the end. I am now focusing on FX, which was my stated long term goal, and the higher timeframes.

It is quite enlightening to look back at my first post, and see how much I have stuck with the plan. Conversely, I've also deviated from many of my smaller plans more times than I would care to admit, but broadly I kept with day trading indices until I felt I was ready to move on to position trading FX.

We all make mistakes before we find that one market, timeframe, style, method,... that suits us best. Which is why it's best not to dedicate any real money to the markets, until you've figured that out. Unfortunately, I was one of those that had to learn the hard way too... :|

Anyway, good luck on your fx journey. Lot less stressful and probably better suited for your persona I think. Best of luck!

 

[EFXandy]

Agreed...almost

We all make mistakes before we find that one market, timeframe, style, method,... that suits us best. Which is why it's best not to dedicate any real money to the markets, until you've figured that out. Unfortunately, I was one of those that had to learn the hard way too... :|

Anyway, good luck on your fx journey. Lot less stressful and probably better suited for your persona I think. Best of luck!

Firescootch (kidding, couldn't resist!),

The only thing I would change about what you say is about dedicating any REAL money...I hate demos. Not only are most demo atmospheres flawed, but it gives a trader the false idea that he/she is going to be a good trader. A lot of times it's very easy to get filled in a demo, while your real live orders are sitting unfilled. In addition, it's very similar to playing poker with fake chips. Everyone goes all in...all the time...with nada! It's just not real. So...if possible, find a place that allows you to put in MINIMAL funds and trade MINIs and MICRO MINIS, if available.

It's better to risk $500 of real money and learn if what you are doing is working, rather than playing with fake bucks, thinking you are good, and then losing a large wad of moolah.

That being said, very good point in your post. Much appreciated and good advice!

Andy

 

[lurkerlurker]

USDJPY daily pin has triggered - I'm not in - didn't get a safer entry from a lower TF and I'm not picking tops/bottoms from pins that stick right out without confluence.

Saying that, there has been a pretty big one way move up, and there is a chance of pins forming soon - will review signals if and when they arise. Good trading all. (I've a sneaky suspicion that this hour will close with a GBPJPY pin, but that is a good 60 pips and 10 minutes off...)

edit: Okay, not an hourly pin on GBPJPY, but considering taking the 30 min pin with the tighter stop and a smaller target.

 

[lurkerlurker]

edit: Okay, not an hourly pin on GBPJPY, but considering taking the 30 min pin with the tighter stop and a smaller target.

And out +20. It was a quick counter trend trade based on a lower TF pin than I would usually take. I set my stop and limit, and got out. First pin trade taken without the assistance of my website, but no surprise since it was a half hourly pin.

I don't see any other hourly signals, and I'll most likely be off to bed soon. Good trading all.

 

[lurkerlurker]

I was just ROBBED of a pin bar. GBPJPY was making a nice bearish pin into the close of the last hour, and in the last 1M before the bar closed it dropped, negating the pin, then had the audacity to fall another 20 at the first 1M of this hour! I feel cheated. It is down a further 30 in the time it has taken me to type this, and I was about to go short!

 

[lurkerlurker]

I was just ROBBED of a pin bar. GBPJPY was making a nice bearish pin into the close of the last hour, and in the last 1M before the bar closed it dropped, negating the pin, then had the audacity to fall another 20 at the first 1M of this hour! I feel cheated. It is down a further 30 in the time it has taken me to type this, and I was about to go short!

My initial reaction to this, if posted, would get me a ban! (to quote another member). It just came off 50 points!

 

[lurkerlurker]

Here is how it went down....

I'm quite bitter about this. I should have fired up MarketMaker a few minutes before the bar close to get my order in, rather than posting on T2W!