It's Possible

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi Everyone,

I have been out of trading for a while due to the fact that I let my fears out grow my desires, but have decided to return to FX trading and face my fears and generate a lifestyle that I believe I am worth.

I have taken on a coach (who is not a trader) but he is a psychologist which will help with all the head spaces that I will no doubt go through.

One of the things that he got me to focus on was the emotions are emotions on the move that is that they need to move and not be blocked or stopped in anyway as they need to pass through and onto their next destination.

Now the reason for heading back into FX trading is simple, its either trading or finding a job-I have given the job a go but if it is to continue I will need to find a new one but I know from the past that trading gives you a lifestyle second to none as long as you are able to focus on executing your system to the letter.

Goals
-Trade btw 10-20hrs per week
-Bring in $3,200 a week or higher for 3 weeks in a row and then
-Rent a house for 6-12months
-Up weekly income to $5,600
-To have bought investment house by 2nd April 2015 valued btw $300-400,000

Pathway

1 weeks end 80 pips 3 contracts total usd $2400 income for week $500
2 weeks end 80 pips 4 contracts total usd $3200 income for week $500
3 weeks end 80 pips 5 contracts total usd $4000 income for week $1000
4 weeks end 80 pips 6 contracts total usd $4800 income for week $1000
5 weeks end 80 pips 7 contracts total usd $5600 income for week $1000

With pathway I have set myself two weeks to reach level 1 (week ends 1) that is to generate $2,400 in a week as this week is NFP and also to deal with whatever comes up, which is also why I have given myself 8 weeks to reach my level 5 goal just to deal with breakdowns.

Look forward to sharing and seeing what comes up.

Cheers

Will

 

[timsk]

Hi Will,
Welcome to T2W. It's brave to publish your goals in advance on a public forum like this - so good on you.

You may not be wanting any feedback from members to help you achieve your goals but, if you are, then it would be useful to provide a little more detail. Principally, what percentage of your account do the weekly financial goals represent? If you're returning to trading and aren't yet generating these kinds of returns - what are these figures based upon? If they are not based on live trading results, and unless you have a very large account, i.e. north of $300k - I suspect your figures are somewhat optimistic! IMO, it's better to lower your sites - at least initially - and to achieve very modest goals - than it is to have lofty goals that you stand little chance of hitting. The former helps to build confidence, while the latter will sap it dry in no time at all.
Tim.

 

[ffsear]

Depends on your style, but I found giving myself weekly and monthly targets very destructive. It made me force trades and make mistakes. Once I got out of that frame of mind, I became a much better trader.

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi timsk,

Thanks for your post and I hope we enjoy a successful journey here.

Hi Will,
Welcome to T2W. It's brave to publish your goals in advance on a public forum like this - so good on you.

You may not be wanting any feedback from members to help you achieve your goals but, if you are, then it would be useful to provide a little more detail. Principally, what percentage of your account do the weekly financial goals represent? If you're returning to trading and aren't yet generating these kinds of returns - what are these figures based upon? If they are not based on live trading results, and unless you have a very large account, i.e. north of $300k - I suspect your figures are somewhat optimistic! IMO, it's better to lower your sites - at least initially - and to achieve very modest goals - than it is to have lofty goals that you stand little chance of hitting. The former helps to build confidence, while the latter will sap it dry in no time at all.
Tim.

Well I have seemingly attracted the attention of the big two here.

I'm willing to share and be contributed too but will always listen to my coach as he is the one who has an invested interest in my success (financially) so I hope the info below answers your questions and feel free to ask more if you wish.

what percentage of your account do the weekly financial goals represent? Well since I'm trading at 500:1 leverage 3 standard contracts will cost btw app $600-$1050 depending on currency pair that grabs my interest ie AUD/USD or GBP/USD, I know this doesn't answer the question but I am hesitant to give the correct answer as it will cause a reaction as most people and rightly so only trade up to 3% of their account where I'm risking around $100-$150 per standard contract, so the first weeks first trade I would be risking around 6% of the account.

If you're returning to trading and aren't yet generating these kinds of returns - what are these figures based upon?
I am returning to trading but have been working long hours over the last few months live trading a standard contract and have been follow a system that has been producing excellent results when I have the nerve to stick to it with discipline. What I'm doing here is getting the feel back and creating the nerve to handle the compounding again.

I believe my goals are reachable but will be reassessing and the end of next week with my mastermind group and my coach. When playing these sort of games I believe one needs to surround ones self with a great support group. If I need to lower my sights it will be after this meeting but this is what my family believes I'm capable of and I trust their faith in me.

Anyhow I hope I have answered your concerns and thank you for your questions they are much appreciated and I will be posting my results after tomorrows nights trading and glad to say am in front after a nervous start to the week.

talk soon

Will

 

[PieterSteidelmayer]

Well since I'm trading at 500:1 leverage

You're going to need that coach. Good job he's not a trader or he'd be asking for fees up front.

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi ffsear

Depends on your style, but I found giving myself weekly and monthly targets very destructive. It made me force trades and make mistakes. Once I got out of that frame of mind, I became a much better trader.

I have found that if I don't have targets on a weekly basis then two things happen, firstly I over trade or secondly I hardly trade and sit on the market for ages reading books or something but mainly avoiding doing whats needed.

But thats what trading is all about finding out how best to understand how each person is different and his/her needs to perform in the given market.

Thanks for your input and looking forward to a successful sharing experience here at T2W.

cheers

Will

 

[timsk]

Hi Will,
Thanks for the comprehensive reply. That said, there's a lot in there which, potentially, is quite worrying. I don't know you from Adam, obviously, but if you were a new trader with little or no experience, I'd be really quite concerned. Some stand out comments include . . .

. . . but will always listen to my coach as he is the one who has an invested interest in my success (financially). . .

This could be interpreted in two way:
1) Your coach has trained you and is so convinced of his/her methodology and your ability to execute it that s/he has backed you financially.
2) You've paid for your coaching which includes an on-going subscription or other financial commitment on your part which, presumably, you'll cancel if you fail to make any money.
Fingers crossed it's the first one, without a claw back option in the small print of your contract!

. . . Well since I'm trading at 500:1 leverage 3 standard contracts will cost btw app $600-$1050 depending on currency pair that grabs my interest ie AUD/USD or GBP/USD. . .

That's a lot of leverage! As I'm sure you're aware, it's a double edged sword: great when price goes your way and a nightmare when it doesn't!

. . .I'm risking around $100-$150 per standard contract, so the first weeks first trade I would be risking around 6% of the account. . .

If you mean you're risking 6% of your account on each trade you take - then this is high. I would definitely advise you to scale right back and work up to this as your confidence builds - based on the plan - going according to plan.

. . .I believe my goals are reachable but will be reassessing and the end of next week with my mastermind group and my coach. . .

Phrases like 'mastermind group' send shivers down the spines of anyone who has been in this game for any length of time. It usually ends in tears - so I hope you are the exception to the rule!

. . . but this is what my family believes I'm capable of and I trust their faith in me. . .

As per my comment above, I assume the word 'family' in this context means your mastermind group? If you literally mean family, then their faith in you is entirely misplaced unless they are traders themselves and have seen a decent set of records based on live trades on which to make their judgement.

I'm not wanting to discourage you or dampen your enthusiasm in any way but, by the same token, it would neglectful of me not to mention these things before it's too late. Apologies if that sounds patronizing - I assure you it's not meant to be.

Best of luck.
Tim.

 

[Shakone]

So at your leverage of 500:1, you'll only need 20 pips or so cumulative loss to be wiped out. Have I understood that correctly? And given spreads of 1 or 2 pips, you're paying up 5-10% of your account just to trade. I'll be surprised if you make it past 5 trades before your money is gone.

You obviously have too much money.

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi Everyone,
I have looked at the above posts and hopefully will get to them in the next few days, just want to post trading results for the week and go to bed as I’m feeling tired at the moment.

4/04/2014 J9A47DA4 Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.082 - 0.92443 A$ -3 0.92422 68.17 2.1
4/04/2014 J9AL7ZA4 Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0825 - 0.92346 A$ 3 0.92366 64.95 2.0
4/04/2014 J9AK6RAZ Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0832 - 0.92376 A$ -3 0.92326 162.48 5.0
3/04/2014 J89EM5AZ Spot FX GBP/USD converted at 1.0827 - 1.65901 A$ 3 1.66002 328.06 10.1
3/04/2014 J89AXKA3 Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0825 - 0.92294 A$ 3 0.92374 259.8 8.0
3/04/2014 J88P6FAK Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0817 - 0.92382 A$ 3 0.92482 324.51 10.0
3/04/2014 J88HP8AC Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0819 - 0.9238 A$ 3 0.9243 162.29 5.0
3/04/2014 J88MP3AP Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0822 - 0.92321 A$ -3 0.92421 -324.66 -10.0
3/04/2014 J878NQAJ Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0828 - 0.92429 A$ 3 0.92329 -324.84 -10.0
3/04/2014 J87927BD Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0806 - 0.92477 A$ 3 0.9253 171.82 5.3
1/04/2014 J84SLWAH Spot FX GBP/USD converted at 1.0831 - 1.66446 A$ -1 1.66396 54.16 5.0

Finished the week with 32.5 pips and $946.74 AUD infront with the only loosing trades being against system (human error or lack of discipline).
Looking forward to next week and accepting what the market will give me.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had a nervous start to the week and picked up confidence as the week progressed.

Will go into it more in the next few days.

cheers
Will

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Ok first trade of the week was a nervous trade and was just a single standard contract that I put on just to get into the game which had a 5 pip limit on it which was executed nicely.

1/04/2014 J84SLWAH Spot FX GBP/USD converted at 1.0831 - 1.66446 A$ -1 1.66396 54.16 5.0

Wednesday I didn’t manage to get to trade as I was too rushed and not organised.

Thursday was much better, first trade entered correctly and exited after 5 min red hit extremes and P.A crossed 1 min blues and managed 5.3 pips with 3 standard contracts.

3/04/2014 J87927BD Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0806 - 0.92477 A$ 3 0.9253 171.82 5.3

Second trade I was lazy and didn’t checked all the criteria and entered against the trend 15 min trend and of course was taken out by stoploss for -10 pips

3/04/2014 J878NQAJ Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0828 - 0.92429 A$ 3 0.92329 -324.84 -10.0

Third trade was a panic trade and entered from confusion and feeling rushed and of course was taken out for another -10 pips

3/04/2014 J88MP3AP Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0822 - 0.92321 A$ -3 0.92421 -324.66 -10.0

After regrouping myself by doing the techniques my coach had taught me the next trade went much better, entered following the rules and managed the trade correctly and made 5 pips

3/04/2014 J88HP8AC Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0819 - 0.9238 A$ 3 0.9243 162.29 5.0

The 5th trade for the day I felt much more confident in trusting myself to follow the rules and again entered when the system required and managed 10 pips
.
3/04/2014 J88P6FAK Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0817 - 0.92382 A$ 3 0.92482 324.51 10.0

6th trade for the day after entering correctly struggled and showed signs of retracing so I locked in 8 pips and exited the tade.

3/04/2014 J89AXKA3 Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0825 - 0.92294 A$ 3 0.92374 259.8 8.0

The last trade for the night went nicely as I waited for the retracement and entered according to the rules and managed the trade and exited after 5 min criteria was setting up for retracement and made 10.1 pips

3/04/2014 J89EM5AZ Spot FX GBP/USD converted at 1.0827 - 1.65901 A$ 3 1.66002 328.06 10.1

Now Friday was NFP so didn’t really expect a lot before NFP and the market was looking quite grapy or at least it was in my mind.

The first trade after I refocused myself with allowing all the negative talk in my head to move on and started to look at how to make pips instead of how to stay out of the market, went well and after waiting for the set up managed 5 pips.

4/04/2014 J9AK6RAZ Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0832 - 0.92376 A$ -3 0.92326 162.48 5.0

The second trade for the day I entered after the criteria was met and exited after extremes was reached and made 2 pips

4/04/2014 J9AL7ZA4 Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.0825 - 0.92346 A$ 3 0.92366 64.95 2.0

The last trade was entered correctly and exited correctly and managed 2.1 pips
4/04/2014 J9A47DA4 Spot FX AUD/USD converted at 1.082 - 0.92443 A$ -3 0.92422 68.17 2.1

All in all I am pleased how the week went but did allow outside influences distract me at times, which is just another way of me avoiding the trading room.
Now my focus is on for next week.

Cheers

Will

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi Will,
Thanks for the comprehensive reply. That said, there's a lot in there which, potentially, is quite worrying. I don't know you from Adam, obviously, but if you were a new trader with little or no experience, I'd be really quite concerned. Some stand out comments include . . .


This could be interpreted in two way:
1) Your coach has trained you and is so convinced of his/her methodology and your ability to execute it that s/he has backed you financially.
2) You've paid for your coaching which includes an on-going subscription or other financial commitment on your part which, presumably, you'll cancel if you fail to make any money.
Fingers crossed it's the first one, without a claw back option in the small print of your contract!


That's a lot of leverage! As I'm sure you're aware, it's a double edged sword: great when price goes your way and a nightmare when it doesn't!


If you mean you're risking 6% of your account on each trade you take - then this is high. I would definitely advise you to scale right back and work up to this as your confidence builds - based on the plan - going according to plan.


Phrases like 'mastermind group' send shivers down the spines of anyone who has been in this game for any length of time. It usually ends in tears - so I hope you are the exception to the rule!


As per my comment above, I assume the word 'family' in this context means your mastermind group? If you literally mean family, then their faith in you is entirely misplaced unless they are traders themselves and have seen a decent set of records based on live trades on which to make their judgement.

I'm not wanting to discourage you or dampen your enthusiasm in any way but, by the same token, it would neglectful of me not to mention these things before it's too late. Apologies if that sounds patronizing - I assure you it's not meant to be.

Best of luck.
Tim.

Thanks Tim for your reply and to answer your concerns.

"This could be interpreted in two way:
1) Your coach has trained you and is so convinced of his/her methodology and your ability to execute it that s/he has backed you financially.
2) You've paid for your coaching which includes an on-going subscription or other financial commitment on your part which, presumably, you'll cancel if you fail to make any money.
Fingers crossed it's the first one, without a claw back option in the small print of your contract!"

Well mate its the first one and also I have been demoing this system for around 5 months with very good results but going live is always different.

With your concern with the Leverage it doesn't bother me as it is much lower than what I use to trade back when I was trading for a living before I lost my confidence.

With the mastermind group it is a technique I pinched from Napoleon Hill, and if you know about Napoleon Hills mastermind technique you will also know they don't have to be living either but mine are.

With my comment about family and that they believe in me was in reference to the fact they know what I was producing before and believe I can do it again since I have a much stronger foundation behind me than what I did when I burnt out.

Tim you have not discouraged me at all I actually appreciate it as it makes me feel looked after and if I was a complete novice and I was in your position I would give the same advice.

My main issue is getting to trust myself again after I let greed take over.

And again Tim thanks for the comments.

Cheers

Will

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

So at your leverage of 500:1, you'll only need 20 pips or so cumulative loss to be wiped out. Have I understood that correctly? And given spreads of 1 or 2 pips, you're paying up 5-10% of your account just to trade. I'll be surprised if you make it past 5 trades before your money is gone.

You obviously have too much money.

So at your leverage of 500:1, you'll only need 20 pips or so cumulative loss to be wiped out. Have I understood that correctly? And given spreads of 1 or 2 pips, you're paying up 5-10% of your account just to trade. I'll be surprised if you make it past 5 trades before your money is gone.

You obviously have too much money.

Hi Shakone,

My spreads are a little lower than 1 or 2 pis and I would have to do a few more loosing trades to be wiped out and if I did go backwards I would scale down my trading commitments.

And surprise I have made it past 5 trades mate although I did have a few nerves knocking at my door.

cheers

Will

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

You're going to need that coach. Good job he's not a trader or he'd be asking for fees up front.

Hi PieterSteidelmayer,

He is pleased with his return this week and has set me new goals to work on this next week.

And your right I do need my coach and also believe if people are serious they should also have at least one coach.

Cheers

Will

 

[Forexmospherian]

Hi tmttwaiwritp

So far a very interesting thread and I wish you well on your new trading journey.

I am always interested to talk with traders who lost their confidence on any part of their past trading - whether it was after just 2 yrs - or after 3 or 5 yrs of success.

I suffered mine over 4 yrs ago when i have been compounding a $50K plus account FX intraday trading and got to that stage I moved up from 5 lots a pip to 10 lots then 15+ and hit my financial and psychological wall at just under 25 lots per pip.

That combined with my first 7 consecutive losses did my head in- and put be back over 6 months.

Since then I have improved as a intraday FX trader - but rarely go over 12 - 15 lots a trade and now - never compound - but instead withdraw profits on a regular basis

I have since heard even traders with high win ratio's of over 70% ( on over 1000's of trades) still have the odd "black swan" 10 -15 losers in a row.

I believe I have therefore been lucky as I can live with 2 - 4 bad trades a day with 5 -7 pip stops - but if I do ever end up with more than 10 losing trades in a row - i might suffer a similar set back.

Having 15 or 20 or even more consecutive wins happens fairly often - but in the back of my mind I will not allow myself to compound and try over 25 lots again - in case my previous experience happens again

I would be interested to hear what really knocked your confidence back and look forward to your ongoing performance


Regards

F

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi tmttwaiwritp

So far a very interesting thread and I wish you well on your new trading journey.

I am always interested to talk with traders who lost their confidence on any part of their past trading - whether it was after just 2 yrs - or after 3 or 5 yrs of success.

I suffered mine over 4 yrs ago when i have been compounding a $50K plus account FX intraday trading and got to that stage I moved up from 5 lots a pip to 10 lots then 15+ and hit my financial and psychological wall at just under 25 lots per pip.

That combined with my first 7 consecutive losses did my head in- and put be back over 6 months.

Since then I have improved as a intraday FX trader - but rarely go over 12 - 15 lots a trade and now - never compound - but instead withdraw profits on a regular basis

I have since heard even traders with high win ratio's of over 70% ( on over 1000's of trades) still have the odd "black swan" 10 -15 losers in a row.

I believe I have therefore been lucky as I can live with 2 - 4 bad trades a day with 5 -7 pip stops - but if I do ever end up with more than 10 losing trades in a row - i might suffer a similar set back.

Having 15 or 20 or even more consecutive wins happens fairly often - but in the back of my mind I will not allow myself to compound and try over 25 lots again - in case my previous experience happens again

I would be interested to hear what really knocked your confidence back and look forward to your ongoing performance


Regards

F

Hi F,

Good to hear from you.

I had been compounding a lot more aggressively in the past and was trading a few more contracts than you were when you hit your wall, add a couple of zero's. Part of me misses that person who had no fear and expected every trade to win, but I know now that even though I was very successful back then it was a recipe for disaster.

These day's I am building my confidence back up by mastering the things that I had become afraid of, the ones that are not to big at first and then the bigger ones come next.

I don't know whats worse, being really successful at trading and then loosing it or getting back into the game and entering trades to only be frustrated at times by the amateurish behavior that one (myself) displays. The nerves just get in the way of a flowing trade sometimes. Your ability to stick to the rules goes south every now and then. lol

Anyhow glad to hear your doing well and soon I will be doing well again and retesting my limits.

Would be interested in knowing how you are going along the way with your journey so please keep me updated on your trading.

Cheers mate

Will

 

[Forexmospherian]

Hi Will

No problem - its always good to share experiences on the never ending journey

I have stayed under max 15 lots per pip nowadays on FX - normally scalp 6 -10 lots and then leave on 30% trades with stops in profit.

Also I withdraw profits as and when I have a few extra thousands in - as i dont like to trust any broker organisation - even with the security cover from UK regulators etc

So i work on constant balance from $50 k to say $75K and aim for 30 -50% per month - yes - per month - with no compounded

Great months over 50% - bad months 10 -25% - but no way down to investment type low returns of 3 -7% per month - waste of time unless you are on several millions of capital

I have stayed 11 yrs with just FX - and now cover 4 -6 main pairs with EJ favourite and EU just a pain really although only 0 2 -4 pip spread is handy at times

Normally - 10 to 20 trades a day over 12 hr window and i work only say 4 -7 hrs in those 12 hrs

I can imagine you know the rest - daily targets - 50 pips - some days over in under 2 hrs and then trading off profit %'s - other days I can be on 13 trades and still not hit 50 pips

Every 3 months its gets easier - but not really testing myself - due to my age and being semi retired

Will keep in touch


Regards


F

 

[tmttwaiwrltp]

Hi Will

No problem - its always good to share experiences on the never ending journey

I have stayed under max 15 lots per pip nowadays on FX - normally scalp 6 -10 lots and then leave on 30% trades with stops in profit.

Also I withdraw profits as and when I have a few extra thousands in - as i dont like to trust any broker organisation - even with the security cover from UK regulators etc

So i work on constant balance from $50 k to say $75K and aim for 30 -50% per month - yes - per month - with no compounded

Great months over 50% - bad months 10 -25% - but no way down to investment type low returns of 3 -7% per month - waste of time unless you are on several millions of capital

I have stayed 11 yrs with just FX - and now cover 4 -6 main pairs with EJ favourite and EU just a pain really although only 0 2 -4 pip spread is handy at times

Normally - 10 to 20 trades a day over 12 hr window and i work only say 4 -7 hrs in those 12 hrs

I can imagine you know the rest - daily targets - 50 pips - some days over in under 2 hrs and then trading off profit %'s - other days I can be on 13 trades and still not hit 50 pips

Every 3 months its gets easier - but not really testing myself - due to my age and being semi retired

Will keep in touch


Regards


F

Hey F,

Great to hear from you again.

I was just laughing at myself when reading your post, I use to put a trade on and leave it until I was around 80% in front on the trade and it wouldn't bother me if it was up or down and it would take anywhere from a day to a month to reach target-now these days I scalp to enter a trade and depending on headset I'll ride it to quota or exit on a break of an indicator, but the thing I was giggling about was that I wonder if I became a scalper because of the huge loss I had about ten years ago when I blew a 7 figure acc through stupidity-maybe I need to take my nerves out running to get them fit again lol.

I'm with you about the brokers they all promise the world and then sh@t happens.
Talking about brokers "admiral Markets" heard I was getting back into the game and approached me the other day but I don't know these guy's from Jack and not really ready to take on clients again at this stage- do you know anything about these guy"s? - the deal looked good but I'm just focusing on getting the trading mind tuned right first.

Glad to see your trading and taking profits, maybe look at why or what has you stay at this level-A book my coach told me to read is "Act with Love" which I have just started and the techniques are helping me overcome my mental scars.
The books not about trading its more for relationship coaching but I am giving it a read as the way I see it I'm in a relationship with the market and I'll do anything to get it to work.

Glad to hear that it gets easier every 3 months

Regards to testing yourself personally for me I'm just getting ready to walk again then I'll look at testing myself.

Anyhow talk soon mate

Will