Best Thread My Journal at a Prop house
Morning,
Thanks again for all the comments
Had a few beers last night and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself. Defiantly going to write not drinking on a school night into the trade plan
Sticking with this Euro range that I had marked out. There was a lovely little reversal last night. I didn't get to trade it as it was late and I wasn't at the desk but thought I would post it any way as it shows how effective this range scalp can be.
The range as you can see is still holding strong. The first touch (green circle) would of been enough to get me short on a lower time frame and would of given me the scale out before being stopped out and the second touch would of put me short again and would hopefully still be short. Now as I wasn't at the desk I didn't get on either trade but im going to stick with the current setup as it still stands.
Back to waiting for price to reach either extreme of the range and turn around or to breakout.
Pozzy
Thanks again for all the comments
Had a few beers last night and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself. Defiantly going to write not drinking on a school night into the trade plan
Sticking with this Euro range that I had marked out. There was a lovely little reversal last night. I didn't get to trade it as it was late and I wasn't at the desk but thought I would post it any way as it shows how effective this range scalp can be.
The range as you can see is still holding strong. The first touch (green circle) would of been enough to get me short on a lower time frame and would of given me the scale out before being stopped out and the second touch would of put me short again and would hopefully still be short. Now as I wasn't at the desk I didn't get on either trade but im going to stick with the current setup as it still stands.
Back to waiting for price to reach either extreme of the range and turn around or to breakout.
Pozzy
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Thanks for the comment mate.
I used to trade USD/JPY but not so much anymore as found it a little choppy. As I'm at a prop firm they have limited me to only trade GBP and Eur at the moment untill I've built a bit more of a record. I did have a chat with them the other day and they seem keen to move me up to about 6 pairs so hopefully Ill be able to comment more on other rates.
Looks like a nice little range though, did you get a trade on??
pozzy
Some choppy Euro action probably down to a little nervous trading as people are waiting for reports on Greece.
Managed to snap my chart screen shots in real time so hopefully it should show things unfolding a little clearer.
So first off there was the breakout to the upside.
My bias is now bullish and gives me the green light to drop to a lower time frame and look for an entry.
Red circle marks the breakout high and I was looking for the long above the break out high which was an entry of 1.3665 (light blue line) that didn't trigger and price retraced back into its range and gave me a reversal signal. So exactly the same trade as yesterday except this time it is at the top of the range instead of the bottom. The Pink circles mark a lower high, lower low move so price saying that it wants to go down at a point of known resistance (my range high) and giving me a signal to short. My entry is at a break of the lower low so in this case 1.3630 (red line) and my stop above the pull back 1.3645 (dark blue line)
The trade triggerd and just came about 3 ticks short of my scale out but didn't make it and I was stopped out (can't win em all).
Things however reloaded and again price turned around at the top of my range (a known point of resistance) and so once again I was looking for the short.
Pink circles mark the lower high lower low move, entry again below the lower low to give 1.3630 (red line) stop above the pull back high (green circle) at 1.3640 (dark blue line) and the scale out at half the stop loss size at 1.3625 (green line). Scale out has been hit and the trade is now on and running with the worse case scenario being break even.
Coffee time me thinks!
pozzy
Managed to snap my chart screen shots in real time so hopefully it should show things unfolding a little clearer.
So first off there was the breakout to the upside.
My bias is now bullish and gives me the green light to drop to a lower time frame and look for an entry.
Red circle marks the breakout high and I was looking for the long above the break out high which was an entry of 1.3665 (light blue line) that didn't trigger and price retraced back into its range and gave me a reversal signal. So exactly the same trade as yesterday except this time it is at the top of the range instead of the bottom. The Pink circles mark a lower high, lower low move so price saying that it wants to go down at a point of known resistance (my range high) and giving me a signal to short. My entry is at a break of the lower low so in this case 1.3630 (red line) and my stop above the pull back 1.3645 (dark blue line)
The trade triggerd and just came about 3 ticks short of my scale out but didn't make it and I was stopped out (can't win em all).
Things however reloaded and again price turned around at the top of my range (a known point of resistance) and so once again I was looking for the short.
Pink circles mark the lower high lower low move, entry again below the lower low to give 1.3630 (red line) stop above the pull back high (green circle) at 1.3640 (dark blue line) and the scale out at half the stop loss size at 1.3625 (green line). Scale out has been hit and the trade is now on and running with the worse case scenario being break even.
Coffee time me thinks!
pozzy
Attachments
Greek news going on and to be honest I'm fed up of hearing about it!!!
My short trade was running and I had a break of a prvious swing high, This suggests a change in bias so I managed my trade and the stop was moved to entry and I wasstopped out. So 5 ticks on 2/3rds of the position and break even on the last 3rd resulting in a 10 tick profit (to one lot) didn't think it was exciting enough to post a chart of it
So I was flat on the Euro and again price moved up to this upper range broke out and yet again failed to trigger a long trade which still suggests to me that this resistance area is strong. The chart is looking a little messier as the turnaround was a little tight but it's the same trade setup.
The solid blue line is the top of the range. Light blue line at 1.3675 would of been the long entry, the pink circles marking the turn around on a lower low, lower high pattern and the red line is my short entry at 1.3650 which is below the lower low. Stop above the pullback at 1.3665 (dark blue line) and the scale out of 2/3rds at half the stop size which is the green line and has been hit. Soo +8 on 2/3rds of the trade and the last 3rd is running risk free.
Frustrating as this set up has been it's not really cost me that much. The first trade was stopped out and I made a small gain on the second trade so a small loss overall. The main thing is that eventually price is going to move and as long as I position myself correctly I should get paid in the end. Unfortunatley some days you have to work a little harder for your money.
Thanks
Pozzy
My short trade was running and I had a break of a prvious swing high, This suggests a change in bias so I managed my trade and the stop was moved to entry and I wasstopped out. So 5 ticks on 2/3rds of the position and break even on the last 3rd resulting in a 10 tick profit (to one lot) didn't think it was exciting enough to post a chart of it
So I was flat on the Euro and again price moved up to this upper range broke out and yet again failed to trigger a long trade which still suggests to me that this resistance area is strong. The chart is looking a little messier as the turnaround was a little tight but it's the same trade setup.
The solid blue line is the top of the range. Light blue line at 1.3675 would of been the long entry, the pink circles marking the turn around on a lower low, lower high pattern and the red line is my short entry at 1.3650 which is below the lower low. Stop above the pullback at 1.3665 (dark blue line) and the scale out of 2/3rds at half the stop size which is the green line and has been hit. Soo +8 on 2/3rds of the trade and the last 3rd is running risk free.
Frustrating as this set up has been it's not really cost me that much. The first trade was stopped out and I made a small gain on the second trade so a small loss overall. The main thing is that eventually price is going to move and as long as I position myself correctly I should get paid in the end. Unfortunatley some days you have to work a little harder for your money.
Thanks
Pozzy
Attachments
I usually wont take any new trades up to about an hour before a major announcement. The main reason is the spike. Even if price doesn't reverse its bias the spike is enough to stop me out so I try to avoid it. If I take trades up to an hour before it usually gives me enough time to get some of the profit scaled out to protect the position (or would of been stopped out) this isn't always the case though and sometimes I do get caught.
pozzy
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B
Black Swan
Frustrating as this set up has been it's not really cost me that much. The first trade was stopped out and I made a small gain on the second trade so a small loss overall. The main thing is that eventually price is going to move and as long as I position myself correctly I should get paid in the end. Unfortunatley some days you have to work a little harder for your money.
Thanks
Pozzy
I feel your pain, havn't had a morning session this bad for ages. Good for you that you've been limited to 2 pairs, I've performed equally badly on all 7 of mine this morning. Actually I should re-phrase that as I've stuck to the plan, taken trades on the usual signals, just hasn't happened for me. Manually stopped myself out of a few trades early, the only bit of pride I can take...
Mornings like this scare me..imagine if this is the FOREX market in 5 years time...
trendie
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hi PozzyP,
Great thread. Neat, simple charts.
Just to get some more background:
How many people do you trade alongside in your room?
Do you have any news-feeds running? ie, any continuous audio such as ransqwauk to keep you abreast of news?
Is the style you're trading what you brought in from your home-trading days, or were you taught this in-house?
Are you trading similar style/technique to your buddies, or are you given some leeway as to methods?
Is this the only set-up you trade, or do you switch depending on how you see the market condition?
How much education were you given to money-management and risk-control, or was the focus on trading set-ups?
Do you have a "working day" set hours? ie, do you get to switch off?
Do you prep in the morning with your buddies, with regards to news and events?
Hope thats not too inquisitive, but would be good to get a feel of the environment you trade in, esp as its in a prop-house.
Keep up the journaling.
EDIT: the only insight of prop-trading I have is from watching that "Million Dollar Trader" program a while back!! hence the questions!
Great thread. Neat, simple charts.
Just to get some more background:
How many people do you trade alongside in your room?
Do you have any news-feeds running? ie, any continuous audio such as ransqwauk to keep you abreast of news?
Is the style you're trading what you brought in from your home-trading days, or were you taught this in-house?
Are you trading similar style/technique to your buddies, or are you given some leeway as to methods?
Is this the only set-up you trade, or do you switch depending on how you see the market condition?
How much education were you given to money-management and risk-control, or was the focus on trading set-ups?
Do you have a "working day" set hours? ie, do you get to switch off?
Do you prep in the morning with your buddies, with regards to news and events?
Hope thats not too inquisitive, but would be good to get a feel of the environment you trade in, esp as its in a prop-house.
Keep up the journaling.
EDIT: the only insight of prop-trading I have is from watching that "Million Dollar Trader" program a while back!! hence the questions!
Hi Trendie,
Thanks for the post,
It's a fairly independent work environment here, theres probably only about 10 traders in my section of the floor and rarely is everyone in at the same time. The office is pretty large though and I think there are several prop companies combined so in all there are a fair few traders here but I'm not really sure who works for who and who trades what. sometimes things are pretty quiet and its the same as if you were working at home but usually these a good vibe in the air. Theres always at least one person that has some form of breakdown screaming huge amounts of abuse at the computer and storms out which always keeps entertainment level high (as long as its not you and lets face it we have all been there)
I didn't get any training here and had to adapt my style of trading to fit. I only really have one person that I report to (a risk manager) so there is no boss or anyone in charge. I was lucky enough to be fully backed and they are still very understanding and certainly feel like people are on my side and not on top of me to make money or watching every move I make. Even when I've lost money they have always been encouraging and not put any real pressure on which makes life a lot easier.
I had to trade for about 6 weeks simulated under the same circumstances as if I was live, so same risk control and stuff. They then looked at how I traded and allocated me a risk amount per day which they felt would give me enough room to move without them risking to much. I feel like the leash is a little tight but its understandable and I am trading their money and they have been very fair so cant complain. The more track record you build the more money they will put behind you.
Things are pretty relaxed and you can come and go as you please. I don't have any set hours or anything like that. I try and get in before 7 but on days like today the market is a little choppy not much going on I've taken a loss and can't really see myself doing much so I'm going to head off in a bit.
Don't really prep with the other traders and most people keep their trades fairly quiet. Also everybody seems to trade different things some guys trade metals, others bonds some indices so its fairly mixed. There is always a bit of market chatter though and the banter is usually alright to.
I use a variety of trading setups and I do intend to post them throughout the Journal but was just putting these up for now until I get used to posting and also didn't really think many would read it so its been cool to get some comments.
Thanks for the Interest.
Pozzy
Bit of a down day for me today. Found things to be really choppy and I got thrown around a fair bit, not to sure if you had similar problems. Instead of getting even more frustrated and annoyed I left the office early and came home. However having got home and being home for all of 15 minutes I thought I would just check whats going on and next thing 3 hours have past and I'm still sat here
So thought that I would try and make my first video post and try addressing another setup. I looked at a different pair as well just to try and keep it interesting. This setup works nicely for a wider range so it fits well with what we have seen with the large GBP moves and it also throws in some fibs so mixing it up a little. I'm not to sure if it's the traditional way Fibs are used but it works for me and provides a good way to scalp a larger range after a large move so I thought I would post it. The trade itself wasn’t fantastic and only made a small profit but It shows one of the ways I like to use fibs.
For some reason I couldn't upload it so I put it on youtube, (sorry its a little fuzz)
Its my first vid so don’t be too harsh :|
Pozzy
So thought that I would try and make my first video post and try addressing another setup. I looked at a different pair as well just to try and keep it interesting. This setup works nicely for a wider range so it fits well with what we have seen with the large GBP moves and it also throws in some fibs so mixing it up a little. I'm not to sure if it's the traditional way Fibs are used but it works for me and provides a good way to scalp a larger range after a large move so I thought I would post it. The trade itself wasn’t fantastic and only made a small profit but It shows one of the ways I like to use fibs.
For some reason I couldn't upload it so I put it on youtube, (sorry its a little fuzz)
Its my first vid so don’t be too harsh :|
Pozzy
I feel your pain, havn't had a morning session this bad for ages. Good for you that you've been limited to 2 pairs, I've performed equally badly on all 7 of mine this morning. Actually I should re-phrase that as I've stuck to the plan, taken trades on the usual signals, just hasn't happened for me. Manually stopped myself out of a few trades early, the only bit of pride I can take...
Bit of a rough one yesterday in the end... The Euro was a nightmare for me. Good moves Monday/ Tuesday though so still a few pips in the bank for the week. Lets hope for a better one today.
good luck
Pozzy
oiltanker
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watch the binary price over a big news announcement. often on nfp it will go to an extreme say above 80 or below 20 on the first spike. then it crashes back to the other direction.
the only book i found that talks about some advanced methods of binary trading is the book called 'Binary Trading' by john piper. its more a way of thinking. its not easy money. like any strategy it has pros and cons.
not to be confused with his 'Binary Betting' book which is a bit more abc.
binaries can offer an opportunity both when there is high volatility events such as news and in small range days of no trend [where one does not have to worry about being stopped out and hope you get a profit price by the end of the day]. trend days imo are better normally traded as the binary price usually won't offer any advantage .
the only book i found that talks about some advanced methods of binary trading is the book called 'Binary Trading' by john piper. its more a way of thinking. its not easy money. like any strategy it has pros and cons.
not to be confused with his 'Binary Betting' book which is a bit more abc.
binaries can offer an opportunity both when there is high volatility events such as news and in small range days of no trend [where one does not have to worry about being stopped out and hope you get a profit price by the end of the day]. trend days imo are better normally traded as the binary price usually won't offer any advantage .
Fairly dull morning for me so far, Would like to post a setup but I haven't really got one. Cant see myself doing anything until after all the GBP news. Tried shorting this morning and took a small loss so I'm staying out for now as price action is pretty poor.
The Euro range setup finally broke long yesterday afternoon but by then I'd had enough of being chopped around. I've posted a chart leading up to the breakout just to show how poor price action was, spike after spike making intrday trading a little tough.
Sorry it's not my most exciting post but sometimes the best thing to do is just wait.
Pozzy
The Euro range setup finally broke long yesterday afternoon but by then I'd had enough of being chopped around. I've posted a chart leading up to the breakout just to show how poor price action was, spike after spike making intrday trading a little tough.
Sorry it's not my most exciting post but sometimes the best thing to do is just wait.
Pozzy
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limey16
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Hi Pozzy
Just wanted to wish you all the best for your trading and journal, its really good to see. Keep it up.
Im A big fan of PA and using lower tfs for entries within a larger market view.
In fact your FIb vid gave me a strong sense of Deja Vu of a video I did on Monday on cable, lol . I trade fulltime from home but as an aside this year have started a charity account as well and been videoing some of the trades live..anyway took the same kind of set up at 50% fib of the large macro range Mondays move created. Nothing new in this game really is there. Its under March 1st on my blog if you want a "snap" chuckle.
If the expansion of instruments you trade in the coming months extends to Gold/Silver drop us a pm, will be able to help with something that may compliment nicely with your style of trading.
Before I go may I ask why you left home trading for Prop ? I often feel a bit isolated and do miss officebanter but cant say its enough to make me leave home as it were!
Anyway wishing you all the best
Jon
Just wanted to wish you all the best for your trading and journal, its really good to see. Keep it up.
Im A big fan of PA and using lower tfs for entries within a larger market view.
In fact your FIb vid gave me a strong sense of Deja Vu of a video I did on Monday on cable, lol . I trade fulltime from home but as an aside this year have started a charity account as well and been videoing some of the trades live..anyway took the same kind of set up at 50% fib of the large macro range Mondays move created. Nothing new in this game really is there. Its under March 1st on my blog if you want a "snap" chuckle.
If the expansion of instruments you trade in the coming months extends to Gold/Silver drop us a pm, will be able to help with something that may compliment nicely with your style of trading.
Before I go may I ask why you left home trading for Prop ? I often feel a bit isolated and do miss officebanter but cant say its enough to make me leave home as it were!
Anyway wishing you all the best
Jon
Hi Pozzyp
I just wanted to ask you about your trade management.
Do you always close 2/3 of your position at 1/2 stop target without moving stop before new swing point is formed and if you close some of it if it goes against you before it hits the stop?
I'm still experimenting with my break out system where I close 1/2 of the position once 1/2 stop target is met and apply trailing stop (same as initial stop size or based on ATR for that TF) - so it can only break even.
This is new to me and started thinking about it since I read about a famous trader. At the beginning he was losing and thinking would not get a job, but his boss hired him and explained to him that he liked the way he was losing.
Do you have any other ideas about stop management?
Regards
I just wanted to ask you about your trade management.
Do you always close 2/3 of your position at 1/2 stop target without moving stop before new swing point is formed and if you close some of it if it goes against you before it hits the stop?
I'm still experimenting with my break out system where I close 1/2 of the position once 1/2 stop target is met and apply trailing stop (same as initial stop size or based on ATR for that TF) - so it can only break even.
This is new to me and started thinking about it since I read about a famous trader. At the beginning he was losing and thinking would not get a job, but his boss hired him and explained to him that he liked the way he was losing.
Do you have any other ideas about stop management?
Regards
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oildaytrader
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Hi Pozzi
Have you tried to automate this strategy?
Cable 20 pips stop /filter isn't enough in my opinion, cause it kicks about with fakeys.What is your opinion on this?
O D T
Have you tried to automate this strategy?
Cable 20 pips stop /filter isn't enough in my opinion, cause it kicks about with fakeys.What is your opinion on this?
O D T
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the post, Checked out the trade, great minds think a like
To be honest mate I'm strongly considering moving back to home based. While I enjoy the office and it's nice to be backed by the firm I'm finding the cost is very high and a large amount of profits end up going on expenses and the advantages are fairly limited. Retail home based traders are definitely the future for the industry in my opinion.
Never traded silver but I keep an eye on Gold and often have a naughty punt so will drop you a PM.
Thanks
Pozzy
Enjoying the journal pozzyp!
Can you tell me how you moniter the news that has an impact on FX?
What are the sites you use for news and how do you judge what impact news items have on currency pairs?
Thank you
Hi Ultimatus,
I get a print out everyday at the office of all news announcements If you google "Forex calender" then you will be able to find exactly the same thing. They also have a squawk box there which gives a running commentary of news events and the markets.
I usually don't pay too much attention to news except for major events like Interest rate decision, GDP and NFP in which case I wont place a new trade up until about an hour before the event. A lot of the time on NFP I just take the day off as I find the markets chop around waiting for the figure.
Thanks for the comment
Pozzy
Hello mate,
I don't always close out 2/3rds at half the stop size and have experimented with soooooo many different ways of managing my trades. I find that scaling out 2/3rds works well for me on the range bound scalps that I have been posting but I do manage trades differently on different setups.
For example on my personal account, I often take longer term positions following a trending market in which case I compound into the move developing a larger position as the move gains momentum. It all depends on your trade objectives, for me on the type of set up that I have been posting, I like to get the risk out as quickly as possible that way if it takes me several attempts to position myself on a breakout I have kept the cost of my losses down to a minimum. I also find it takes the pressure off the trade which is a big point psychologically.
As I'm trading off price action I will always manage my stop to what price is doing. If I have a short position open and price is making lower lows and lower highs then price is still pointing down, If things then take a turn and a higher low, higher high forms then I manage my stop to that high as If price continues to make higher highs and higher lows my bias is no longer bearish so I don't want to be short.
I am a big fan of ATR and think it is a very useful tool but I don't use trailing stop as I feel they can stop you out early. Price might retrace after a big move but that doesn't mean it has changed direction so with a trailing stop you might get stopped out and the move is not over. On the flip side sometimes waiting for a full reversal pattern to occur can cost you 20+ ticks on a trade so it's really personal preference and what works well for you.
Hope that helps, (drop me a PM if you want to look at it some more)
Thanks
Pozzy
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